#are there any unique challenges faced by being such a large collection of fresh water? i immagine a lot of bioregulative stuff is easier

[artemisbarnowl]

This isn't unique to North Americans but it's easy to take shots at them so they'll be the example for today. "No you just don't get how large moose/great lakes/other landmark type natural feature is!!" Yes, I do. I understand the concept of moose and their relative size, despite never seeing a living one in real life. Yes the great lakes are very large lakes. That's cool I guess. This isn't hubris, I'm just a person with experience in judging source material, extrapolation, and access to pictures. I'm also not automatically astounded by something being the large/largest of its kind. Also it's sorta annoying when that's all you say about it. Yep the polar bear's a big bear. It has other more interesting features that aren't reliant on external comparisons though.

[krispydreamerbeliever]

Secret Garden Challenge

Welcome to the sims flower garden! Each flower here is unique, fun, and provides a fresh (or floral, if you will) way to explore newer sim content.

Rules:

Play on normal lifespan

Minimal money cheats allowed

The career and aspiration for each generation must be mastered unless stated otherwise

Besides this, there is freedom to do whatever you please

Generation One: Rose

Color: Red

Roses are a strong flower that symbolize mystery, attaining the impossible, and love at first sight

Traits: Paranoid, Family-Oriented, Insane

Aspiration: Strangerville Mystery

Career: Military (Covert Operator)

Live in Strangerville

Complete the Strangerville Mystery Aspiration and get to the top of the military career (Covert Operator pathway)

Master the parenting, fitness, and logic skills

Marry your first love and maintain a strong romantic bond

Have four children (any of whom can be the heir) and be good friends with all of them

Generation Two: Sunflower

Color: Yellow

Sunflowers symbolize growth and vitality. They are unafraid of being tall and standing out from the crowd

Traits: Outgoing, Self-Absorbed, Materialistic

Aspiration: Master Actor/Actress

Career: Actor

Master the acting, media-production, and DJ mixing skill and get to the top of the acting career

Achieve maximum celebrity status

Be part of the drama club (afterschool activity) as a child/teen

Marry at least twice to two different celebrities, and have very lavish weddings

Break up at least one marriage (just for fun, or to marry. Up to you)

Generation Three: Jasmine

Color: Purple

Jasmines are flowers with attitude. They are majestic and symbolize wealth, grace, and admiration.

Traits: Perfectionist, Snob, and any other trait of your choosing

Aspiration: World-Famous Celebrity

Career: Style Influencer

Master the charisma, painting, and writing skill and complete the Style Influencer career (either branch)

Achieve at least level 5 of the photography skill

Open a successful fashion boutique

Complete the postcard collection. You secretly yearn for close friends who won’t use you for your influence!

Generation Four: Snapdragon

Color: Green

Snapdragons are fascinating two-faced flowers. They symbolize both cordiality and deception

Traits: Cheerful, Jealous, Kleptomaniac

Aspiration: Archeology Scholar

Career: Detective

Complete the archeology, selvadoradeon culture, and handiness skills and get to the top of the detective career

Achieve at least level 8 in fishing

Be a scout as a child and/or teen

Spend at least one day in Selvadorada every other week and explore the jungle

Learn all the new Selvadoradan recipes

Complete fish collection

Generation Five: Aster

Color: Light Blue

Asters symbolize daintiness, peace, and patience. These beautiful blue flowers are known to have healing properties

Traits: Dog or Cat Lover, Loves the Outdoors, Loner

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals

Career: Gardener (Florist) and Veterinarian

Master the gardening, flower arranging, and veterinarian skills

Optional: Get to the top of the gardening career, florist branch. (This is more of a day job. Your real passion is being a veterinarian! Personally, I’d go for it and see how far you get)

Own a 5 star veterinarian clinic

Maintain a garden

Have the dog or cat (or both) hangout trait on your house

Generation Six: Sweet Pea

Color: Pink

Sweet peas are small, yet hardy fragrant blossoms. They are associated with good times and achievable dreams

Traits: Foodie, Ambitious, Hot-Headed

Aspiration: Grilled Cheese and Master Chef

Career: Culinary (Celebrity Chef)

Master the cooking, gourmet cooking, and mixology skills

Complete both the grilled cheese and master chef aspirations

Get to the top of the culinary career

Successfully run a 5-Star restaurant

Learn to cook all experimental dishes and collect their pictures

Generation Seven: Water Lily

Color: Dark Blue

Water Lilies are lively flowers that bloom even in the dirtiest pond water, and come in every color under the rainbow. They represent beauty and enlightenment

Traits: Bro, Childish, Geek

Aspiration: Friend of the World

Career: Social Media (Internet Personality)

Master the charisma, video gaming, and the comedy skill and get to the top of the social media career

Master the pet training skill and have a fully-trained pet that is simstagram famous

Be close to your grandparent (you’re a friend of the world just like they’re a friend of the animals)

Live in San Myshuno and go to every single festival you get invited to

In your freetime, compete in video game competitions

Learn every recipe from the San Myshuno food stalls

Generation Eight: Daisy

Color: Grey

Daisies symbolize innocence, fertility, and purity of intention. They are often given as gifts to new mothers

Traits: Unflirty, Creative, Music Lover

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Political (Activist)

Master the charisma skill and two instruments of your choosing

Achieve at least level five of the singing skill

Busk in your free time and earn money by being a living statue

Have triplets (you can cheat for this)

Have each of your children age up with at least one good parenthood trait

Complete one collection

Generation Nine: Honeysuckle

Color: Orange

Honeysuckles are associated with happiness, sweetness, and laughter

Traits: Goofball, Good, Insider

Aspiration: Leader of the Pack

Career: Scientist

Master the fitness, baking, and bowling skills

Be the leader of a popular club and meet up at least once a week

Throw one of every party, and achieve gold in at least five

Marry a club member

Be a frequent visitor and seller at the flea market

Generation Ten: Foxglove

Color: Black

Foxgloves represent power, influence, and secrets. They are associated with spells and enchantment.

Traits: Evil, Genius, and any other trait of your choosing

Aspiration: Master Vampire/Mansion Baron

Career: Criminal (Oracle)

Master the herbalism, wellness, mischief, and programming skills and get to the top of the criminal career (more life means more time to gain skills!)

Turn into a vampire as a young adult

Turn your partner into a vampire and marry them, and have at least three children

Befriend the hermit of Granite Falls

Eventually create and live in a large and lavish vampire mansion that will stand the test of time for generations.

[sulx2]

Secret Garden Challenge

Welcome to the sims flower garden! Each flower here is unique, fun, and provides a fresh (or floral, if you will) way to explore newer sim content.

Rules:

Play on normal lifespan

Minimal money cheats allowed

The career and aspiration for each generation must be mastered unless stated otherwise

Besides this, there is freedom to do whatever you please

Generation One: Rose

Color: Red

Roses are a strong flower that symbolize mystery, attaining the impossible, and love at first sight

Traits: Paranoid, Family-Oriented, Insane

Aspiration: Strangerville Mystery

Career: Military (Covert Operator)

Live in Strangerville

Complete the Strangerville Mystery Aspiration and get to the top of the military career (Covert Operator pathway)

Master the parenting, fitness, and logic skills

Marry your first love and maintain a strong romantic bond

Have four children (any of whom can be the heir) and be good friends with all of them

Generation Two: Sunflower

Color: Yellow

Sunflowers symbolize growth and vitality. They are unafraid of being tall and standing out from the crowd

Traits: Outgoing, Self-Absorbed, Materialistic

Aspiration: Master Actor/Actress

Career: Actor

Master the acting, media-production, and DJ mixing skill and get to the top of the acting career

Achieve maximum celebrity status

Be part of the drama club (afterschool activity) as a child/teen

Marry at least twice to two different celebrities, and have very lavish weddings

Break up at least one marriage (just for fun, or to marry. Up to you)

Generation Three: Jasmine

Color: Purple

Jasmines are flowers with attitude. They are majestic and symbolize wealth, grace, and admiration.

Traits: Perfectionist, Snob, and any other trait of your choosing

Aspiration: World-Famous Celebrity

Career: Style Influencer

Master the charisma, painting, and writing skill and complete the Style Influencer career (either branch)

Achieve at least level 5 of the photography skill

Open a successful fashion boutique

Complete the postcard collection. You secretly yearn for close friends who won’t use you for your influence!

Generation Four: Snapdragon

Color: Green

Snapdragons are fascinating two-faced flowers. They symbolize both cordiality and deception

Traits: Cheerful, Jealous, Kleptomaniac

Aspiration: Archeology Scholar

Career: Detective

Complete the archeology, selvadoradeon culture, and handiness skills and get to the top of the detective career

Achieve at least level 8 in fishing

Be a scout as a child and/or teen

Spend at least one day in Selvadorada every other week and explore the jungle

Learn all the new Selvadoradan recipes

Complete fish collection

Generation Five: Aster

Color: Light Blue

Asters symbolize daintiness, peace, and patience. These beautiful blue flowers are known to have healing properties

Traits: Dog or Cat Lover, Loves the Outdoors, Loner

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals

Career: Gardener (Florist) and Veterinarian

Master the gardening, flower arranging, and veterinarian skills

Optional: Get to the top of the gardening career, florist branch. (This is more of a day job. Your real passion is being a veterinarian! Personally, I’d go for it and see how far you get)

Own a 5 star veterinarian clinic

Maintain a garden

Have the dog or cat (or both) hangout trait on your house

Generation Six: Sweet Pea

Color: Pink

Sweet peas are small, yet hardy fragrant blossoms. They are associated with good times and achievable dreams

Traits: Foodie, Ambitious, Hot-Headed

Aspiration: Grilled Cheese and Master Chef

Career: Culinary (Celebrity Chef)

Master the cooking, gourmet cooking, and mixology skills

Complete both the grilled cheese and master chef aspirations

Get to the top of the culinary career

Successfully run a 5-Star restaurant

Learn to cook all experimental dishes and collect their pictures

Generation Seven: Water Lily

Color: Dark Blue

Water Lilies are lively flowers that bloom even in the dirtiest pond water, and come in every color under the rainbow. They represent beauty and enlightenment

Traits: Bro, Childish, Geek

Aspiration: Friend of the World

Career: Social Media (Internet Personality)

Master the charisma, video gaming, and the comedy skill and get to the top of the social media career

Master the pet training skill and have a fully-trained pet that is simstagram famous

Be close to your grandparent (you’re a friend of the world just like they’re a friend of the animals)

Live in San Myshuno and go to every single festival you get invited to

In your freetime, compete in video game competitions

Learn every recipe from the San Myshuno food stalls

Generation Eight: Daisy

Color: Grey

Daisies symbolize innocence, fertility, and purity of intention. They are often given as gifts to new mothers

Traits: Unflirty, Creative, Music Lover

Aspiration: Big Happy Family

Career: Political (Activist)

Master the charisma skill and two instruments of your choosing

Achieve at least level five of the singing skill

Busk in your free time and earn money by being a living statue

Have triplets (you can cheat for this)

Have each of your children age up with at least one good parenthood trait

Complete one collection

Generation Nine: Honeysuckle

Color: Orange

Honeysuckles are associated with happiness, sweetness, and laughter

Traits: Goofball, Good, Insider

Aspiration: Leader of the Pack

Career: Scientist

Master the fitness, baking, and bowling skills

Be the leader of a popular club and meet up at least once a week

Throw one of every party, and achieve gold in at least five

Marry a club member

Be a frequent visitor and seller at the flea market

Generation Ten: Foxglove

Color: Black

Foxgloves represent power, influence, and secrets. They are associated with spells and enchantment.

Traits: Evil, Genius, and any other trait of your choosing

Aspiration: Master Vampire/Mansion Baron

Career: Criminal (Oracle)

Master the herbalism, wellness, mischief, and programming skills and get to the top of the criminal career (more life means more time to gain skills!)

Turn into a vampire as a young adult

Turn your partner into a vampire and marry them, and have at least three children

Befriend the hermit of Granite Falls

Eventually create and live in a large and lavish vampire mansion that will stand the test of time for generations

[jaydcstories]

SAM by John Dee Cooper © 2020

Chapter 10

Sam kept on running. It was all he could do. The horse’s hooves were thundering behind him. He knew that he only had to get through to the other side of the lake and he would be free. But the ground was giving way. He couldn’t get a grip with his bare feet. He was slowly sinking into the mud.

Someone was calling his name. It was a new name. He’d never heard it before — but he knew it was his. And there was a light in the doorway of a house. A young slave, dressed in white was holding out his hand. But the distance between them was too great and Sam was sinking lower and lower into the mud. There was nothing he could do to save himself.

He opened his eyes and realised that he was falling. He cried out. The cold stone floor was rushing towards him. He tried to protect himself but he couldn’t move his wrists or his ankles. Then with a jolt he remembered. The stone floor stopped moving  and the agonising pain in his arms came rushing back.

“Hold still and drink this.”

It was the boy in white. Paul’s boy. He spoke softly but his voice was firm and caring and edged with the kind of melancholy that belonged to a lonely eighteen year old slave. He was standing in front of Sam holding a wet cloth. He’d been using it to wipe Sam’s body down, cleaning up some of the mess left by the electrodes and the whip. As soon as Sam’s eyes opened he pressed the soaking cloth to his lips.

“Drink it. Before they come back.”

As Sam moistened his lips (there was hardly enough water left in the cloth to drink) the awareness sank in that nothing had changed. He was still hanging by his wrists and ankles face down over the stone floor of the old cottage. His muscles were still sore and his back still ached — but at least those fearful metal electrodes had gone.

How long had he been unconscious? He wanted to ask the boy but his throat was too dry and he couldn’t even manage a hoarse whisper. In any case the boy was already edging away with his head bowed as the two young Masters made their way back after their short break.

They’d finished playing with the electricity once Sam had fallen unconscious. There wasn’t much pleasure to be had in watching a limp slave bouncing around without any reaction, so they’d taken the opportunity to get some fresh air while Paul’s boy cleared things away and cleaned Sam up.

While they walked, Paul told Jack more about his work with the Baron and how much he owed his benefactor.

“Until I met him, I had never really appreciated the true value of owning a slave. It’s easy to take them for granted. Mostly they’re just nameless drudges doing the work that needs to be done, disposable, exploitable and, fortunately these days, in plentiful supply. But for the private owner they can become a rich source of enjoyment and a lasting pleasure. It takes discipline and hard work on the part of the owner to bring out the full potential of a slave, to transform him into a possession that’s unique and precious, but it can be deeply rewarding — on a financial as well as a personal level. You should always keep your eye on the market and be ready to trade your slave for something newer and maybe more challenging. That’s how the Baron’s stable has grown over the years into one of the most admired slave collections in the whole of the Reich.”

“So what’s next?” asked Jack, running his hands enthusiastically over the body of his freshly woken slave, taking a moment to enjoy its naked vulnerability. “We still have an hour or so before lunch.”

The sudden touch of his Owner’s fingers triggered a shock of anguish in Sam and he began to sob uncontrollably, tugging at the chains that held his wrists and ankles and spluttering out an incoherent plea begging to be let down because he couldn’t take any more and he was sorry for being such a feeble and disappointing slave — but his tongue got caught in his mouth and he couldn’t get the words out.

Jack looked down at him and smiled. He was beginning to understand now everything that Paul had been saying and with a growing sense of confidence in himself he quietly stroked the slave’s neck and playfully ruffled his hair to calm him.

“I thought we could try some hot wax,” suggested Paul. “It’s not quite as dramatic as pumping the slave with electricity but you can get some surprising and colourful effects.”

The black leather bag Paul’s boy had brought in from the Baron’s car was fetched. It contained a quantity of large brightly coloured beeswax candles with heavy wicks that were designed to keep a healthy flame burning for long periods. Paul lit four of them and lined them up on some bricks directly underneath Sam, causing the boy to squeal and jerk his body as the flames brushed against his stomach.  

For a while they played with the position of the candles, adding more and raising the height of the bricks so that the slave had to go into even greater contortions to stop his stomach getting scorched and his balls getting roasted. Jack relished the display of muscle as the restless body rolled and twisted — like a hunk of live meat on a spit, he thought — and when he put his hands on the slave’s rib cage he could feel the frantic heart beat and the panic coursing through the boy’s veins. With the help of his new friend, Jack was discovering ever fresh joys in the ownership of this fine, muscular young slave.

For Sam, this was worse than the electric shock treatment. At least then he’d been paralysed by the current and there had been nothing he could have done to fight against it. Now he was constantly having to twist and heave his body into contortions to avoid getting burned and it was putting an intolerable strain on his arms and stomach and leaving him breathless.

There was a moment’s relief when they took the candles away, and he was able to relax his stomach and ease himself down a little — but it was only a tiny moment because that’s when the first drops of  wax landed on the back of his neck. Hot caressing blisters of heat clawing down between his shoulder blades and creeping along the length of his spine. It came in slow isolated drips at first, like pin pricks, and though not as painful or powerful or terrifying as the electric shocks, it set his nerves on edge, crawling and spreading in patterns of growing intensity, gathering in hot pools and solidifying in thick layers across his back and trickling down between his thighs.  

“Help twist him over,” said Paul, “so we can play on his chest and stomach.”

This shift in his body position came as a momentary relief to Sam. Facing upwards, there was less strain on his back and he was at least able to watch the hot wax as it dribbled across his torso, making his flesh curl and quiver and, in spite of his hopeless misery, teasing his senses and stoking his blood till his cock ached and he wanted to scream and punch the air with it’s thick hammer-head — which his Master saw and began to play with, trailing the hot wax along the broad shaft and over the spreading balls.

He loved watching the lusty young slave’s involuntary arousal and the way in which the powerfully restrained body was being systematically encased in a richly colourful lava of cooling wax, like the skin of some rare and exotic animal, and he thought about all the other new and exciting games he was going to be able to play with this boy in the weeks and months to come.

Over and over they rolled him until there was hardly an inch of bare flesh left untouched.

“And now for the bit I love,” said Paul as he produced a small steel hand roller studded with spikes. “Use this to break up the wax and watch him squirm as you roll it over his sensitive spots. It won’t do any damage, but it’ll probably hurt like hell.”

Here was yet another new game. Jack took it slowly, beginning with the slave positioned face upwards so that he could enjoy the reaction as the spikes dug into the chest and stomach, cracking through the hardened wax and leaving a neat pattern of shallow pit marks in the exposed flesh as it moved along. Then he flipped the slave over and attacked the stiff contours of the back and the more satisfying pliable region of the buttocks.

Sam was sobbing through all this. He was dazed and confused by so many conflicting assaults on his senses — aching limbs, sore muscles, scorched skin all giving way to uncontrollable waves of sensuality and deep arousal. As the tight covering of wax broke away from his skin and the steel spikes dug into him, he writhed and twisted in a futile effort to break free of it all. His sobs became spasms rippling down into his belly, feeding his already hungry cock until it was twitching and bursting to come.

Jack grabbed at the chance to see his slave come while he was still bound hand and foot and swinging in mid air. Pulling him round face upwards once more, he teased the angry cock until, with a mighty yell and a force that nearly knocked Jack’s hand away, Sam threw himself into the wildest and heaviest orgasm he’d ever known. It came in so many waves that Jack had difficulty maintaining his grip and by the end of it was having to clean himself up with a towel that Paul’s boy had been carrying ready for that purpose.

He spent a moment or two gazing at the exhausted slave who was gasping for breath and struggling to find some comfort in his twisted bonds, then put his arm around Paul’s shoulder and said cheerfully, “Right then, let’s go and have some lunch.”

And so they returned to the house to discuss the morning’s events over beer and sandwiches while Paul’s boy was left to clear up the mess and tend to the drained and exhausted body of Sam.

JOHN DEE COOPER’S ALL-MALE SLAVE STORIES OBEDIENT SERVICE GOOGLE GROUP

[bryonysimcox]

Life in Lockdown: Week 8, Spain

It’s been seven of the weirdest days of our life: where the freedom of vanlife turned into quarantine in a 4m2 space. I look back on our documentary progress and life in València under lockdown.

The week started with the announcement that the biggest event in the Valèncian calendar, Las Fallas, was cancelled. This came as a real shock to us (just as I was wrapping up last week’s blog post) and at the time, almost felt like a bit of an over-reaction. Of course, those closely following the development of Coronavirus around the world, and particularly in nearby Italy, would understand the motivation behind such a big decision.

On Tuesday morning I attended a free event about Innovation and Design in cities, hosted by a group called ‘Designscapes’ who are conducting research on the topic in the hope of developing public policy. I’d been invited by Ramon Marrades who we’ve been working with at La Marina, and I quite enjoyed attending an academic event after being outside of the urban design industry for a while. I wrote an overview of some of the key takeaways from the event here, which included speakers from the International Centre for Design and Research, Aalborg University and The Tavistock Institute. Unfortunately, the event was considerably impacted by Coronavirus, and not only was attendance greatly reduced but many of the speakers were also unavailable to be present.

Attending the Designscapes Policy Forum was certainly a wake-up call about how seriously Covid-19 might begin to affect public gatherings, but I would still not believe the situation we’d be in just one week later!

While the cancellation of Las Fallas had affected some of our commercial work, the next few days felt as though most other things were unaffected. Plans for the documentary that our channel Broaden are making about La Marina charged ahead.

On Tuesday afternoon, we met up with Ramon to discuss people we’d like to interview about La Marina, València’s seriously impressive waterfront precinct. He took us inside ‘La Base’, the old headquarters for the Swiss Alinghi sailing team, a relic from when València hosted the America’s Cup back in 2007. La Marina now uses the building for events and offices, and while it’s not yet used as often as it could, it has so much potential and is one of many cool assets in the marina.

(images, left to right) Attending the Designscapes forum on innovation in cities, enjoying the sunset on the marina blissfully unaware of the lockdown that would soon be in place, and moody scenes from inside ‘La Base’, a building full of potential.

Filming for the documentary began on Wednesday morning, when we interviewed Manoel, a charming guy who has worked at La Marina for over a decade. Starting out as a deck hand, Manoel is now a senior staff member managing the nautical side of the marina, with its hundreds of moorings and associated facilities. It was fascinating to learn more about the operational side of running a place like this, and we were even treated to a guided boat ride around the marina which offered such a different perspective on this place we’ve both been documenting and staying in for over a week.

The following afternoon, we filmed our second interview, this time with with Julia Pineda, a socially-oriented architect from the co-operative practice ‘Crearqcio’ who has worked closely with La Marina. I was especially interested in the community engagement she had done, and the participatory processes with local residents and other stakeholders to explore names for new streets and decide on future uses for buildings there.

As George and I continue to work together as a videography duo, we’re refining the process of interviewing people, arranging shoots, preparing equipment and getting the perfect footage.

(images, left to right) Taking a boat ride around La Marina, speaking to Julia in Crearqcio’s office, and interviewing Manoel on a gloriously sunny day for the documentary.

Friday the 13th did indeed turn out to be pretty unlucky, as that’s when the situation in Spain relating to Coronavirus really escalated. We managed to squeeze in another interview with a member of La Marina’s team, the third of five interviews we had planned. Barbara was really accommodating and positive on camera, but even just the general vibe in the office while we were filming communicated that things were about to dramatically change.

By early evening, we were informed that some of our other commercial work would have to be completely cancelled, as all operations in Spain were starting to completely shut down. 

It was Friday evening when warning came of the state of alarm which Spain was about to enter.

The declaration was made on Saturday: to ameliorate the spread of coronavirus, everyone in Spain is to stay at home, leaving the house only to buy groceries or medicine. All bars, restaurants, museums, cafes, and any other establishments that carry out public activity are to be closed and no one is to use public spaces. As the week continued, further measures have been put in place, such as the closure of the country’s land borders.

And that is pretty much when the predictability of my and George’s lives ended. Just like that: an extreme measure is brought into place which affects every aspect of your life - your income, your freedom to move, your travel plans, your activities and your family. Of course, that extreme measure has been brought into place because of an extreme situation, but if only I could warn Bryony from a week ago, perhaps I would have told her to prepare in some way. What might I have said? To stock up on food essentials, to buy a couple more books, to have more money saved up and most critically, to brace herself for the physical and emotional challenge of being confined to living exclusively inside Suzi the Van.

(images, left to right) Powering through confinement in a van by writing letters and eating icecream, George going a teeny tiny bit crazy in our mini house, and sitting just outside the van on my virtual ‘balcony’.

We have left the van once since Friday, to go out and buy some food. I’m someone who likes to get out and about, so this level of confinement is pretty intense.

Aside from the supermarket run (to Lidl, which was surprisingly well-stocked), George and I have ‘stayed at home’, here in Suzi at La Marina. I’ve been really keen to go and find a camping spot out in the countryside, where there might be more possibility of getting some fresh air and a walk, but we’re conscious that where we are right now has all the amenities we could need: flushing toilets, hot showers, a laundry, rubbish bins, water, drain, and even electricity (which we’ve resorted to using today amid stormy overcast weather). Plus, if the last week has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t be sure of how the next week may play out. The safest option is likely to stay put.

As people have reiterated online, a period of isolation is a pretty unique opportunity for many of us to indulge in activities we don’t get around to. Whilst I’m privileged to have already incorporated diary and blog writing as well as a lot of book-reading into my routine in the van, these last few days have seen me do that more than ever. I also made another collage, and even got around to editing together a collection of images I took back when I was working in Sydney. This short stop-motion animation (below) had me thinking about seeing something inspirational in the same repetitive scene.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bryony Simcox (@bryonysimcox) on Mar 16, 2020 at 9:42am PDT

Might isolation do wonders for society’s increasingly short attention span and need for variety?

The current situation is a bizarre mix of feeling very isolated and very connected all at the same time. George and I use our phones a lot, and get constant updates both from formal news outlets and from friends and family. Anecdotes from Sydney and the UK, where measures aren’t quite as extreme yet, contrast with the sobering sentiments of scientists on podcasts or videos of Italians and Chinese who have been dealing with a total lockdown far longer than we have.

At times, I’ve even turned my phone off to try and tune out of the noise. Now that George and I are in lockdown, we aren’t able to contract Covid-19 nor spread it. So to a certain extent I feel as though keeping up-to-date as the crisis unfolds only makes me feel increasingly miserable and helpless.

(images, left to right) The deserted walkway next to our van, empty offices at La Marina, and the beach as viewed from the closed gate which confines the part of the marina that we’re parked in.

If you let your mind project the implications of this virus in the future, it’s not too hard to find yourself in a dark place. Already, I see the failings of an economic system addicted to growth, the selfish panic-buying and disregard of facts by large swathes of people and the unfair advantage of exploitative multinational corporations. Take for example the fact that the aviation industry (led by millionaires, might I add) have banded together to ask for government payouts while young people, creatives, self-employed and zero-hour contract employees face a future of complete financial uncertainty.

I’m left asking questions like “how will people pay their rent?”, “where will this leave already vulnerable members of our society?” and “how will we even begin to rebuild life if and when this virus is tackled?”.

Of course, there are so many positive sides to be seen during this time too, and some of which offer answers to that last question. Already, we are seeing signs of generosity and kindness from health workers, neighbours, friends and strangers. We are seeing the emergence of an informal economy built on reciprocity and trust, where not just economic capital has value. We are seeing innovation on a massive scale, as people seek new ways of keeping their businesses alive, of cooking food with what’s left in their cupboards, of keeping the virus at bay and managing its spread, of boosting morale and of pooling resources.

(images) I’m trying to see beauty in things and keep positive-minded, even if that means snapping these colourful scenes from the desolate streets on our walk to the supermarket.

In some ways, perhaps we needed an event of this magnitude to shake up the entire way in which we exist, and to rethink our systems of living.

The irony is that we already have another event which threatens humanity in this way, but which we have been largely ignoring. This is, of course, climate change and the terrifying rate at which the earth is warming up. Mother Nature has been shouting about the catastrophe we are charging towards for some time now, and yet it has taken direct deaths on home soil and a tangible ‘thing’ like Covid-19 for us to react in a collective and decisive way. It also goes without saying, that my heart breaks for all of the victims of this terrible virus to date, and I would never wish that it would take fatalities to call us to action.

This blog is usually a very personal reflection on a very personal journey: where my partner George and I attempt to cross the world in an old Japanese campervan, making videos along the way. But the arrival of this virus and its direct impact on our journey has triggered a different type of reflection. Perhaps in the coming weeks, during which I presume we will remain in lockdown, I will continue to write and reflect on what I think it is to be human in a difficult time, and to assess the situation which we are now all in, together as humanity.

I hope that my writing brings us together in some way, across oceans, balconies and phone screens. Whilst I’m pretty sure that George and I will still be parked up in a marina on the Spanish coast this time next week, who knows where we’ll be, collectively? 

[eurekq]

got my full fanganronpa designed with names and backstories and personalities and everything... character info is under the cut! all the bios took about a week to put together so i hope you give them a look <3

basic premise: 16 fresh-out-of-highschool prodigies are invited to star in well-respected and widely-watched reality tv show, which takes place on a cruise ship. what they weren't expecting was for the show's 25th season to be a killing game! the students: TOMOKO KAITA: a peppy and outgoing astrology guru who can read your deepest flaws and strengths with just your date and time of birth. known worldwide for her extremely accurate personal horoscopes. despite this, she strongly believes in the ability of an individual to defy their fate through hard work and self improvement. she dislikes giving negative horoscopes, and does her best to focus on the positives that the stars hold in store. her smile brightens the whole room! she is intensly loyal to her friends, to the point of self-sacficing emotional labor. KENJI MINAMOTO: a formal and eccentric olympic fencer whose strange insistance on not wearing protective gear during practice (he believes it makes him better by giving him a stronger motivation to not get hit) has earned him many a scar over the years, and has left at least half of his joints in braces at any given time. he follows his own bushido-esque moral code, although he will not put himself above whapping the occasional really annoying person in the ankles. his épée is his best friend and he carries it most everywhere. most of the scars on his face and hands are actually from trying to put in his very sharp industrial piercings while drunk. despite his oddities, his lightfooted and elegant fencing has been compared by many to a graceful dance. HAZUKO KAGENO: a secretly sweet and polite orphan who took up puppetry as a child in an orphanage to amuse the younger kids. years of retreating into her puppets' personas has left her unable to communicate normally, and she prefers to talk through her puppets, her favourite being lady ravensdale, a proper lady in victorian fashion. she doesn't take very good care of her actual appearance, with long, tangled, split-ended hair and rips in her clothes. the only exception is her hands, which she keeps meticulously maintained and manicured, since they're the only part of her body visible during shows. her creepy smile and wide, glazed-over eyes are offputting to most she meets, but she is a truly kind and passionate person whose animated and lively puppet shows can bring a smile to any childs face. EISUKE ITOU: eisuke grew up sewing clothes for his younger sisters barbie dolls, and he particularly loved dressmaking. he gained exposure in his first year of highschool by handmaking gorgeous outfits for his class's booth at the school festival, and, through application to various junior fashion competitions, he was eventually noticed by a big-name designer in paris. however, he found learning french next to impossible and has spent the year prior to the game in relative isolation, unable to have any real human conversation. his pyschological state was fairly severely impacted by his long hours spent sewing and designing on internship with no company to get him by, and he is now debilitatingly socially anxious and finds conversation difficult and awkward. SHIN TOKUGEN: a silver-tongued and charistmatic human interest and general news reporter who specializes in getting personal accounts from those affected by newsworthy events. growing up billingual in english and japanese due to his american mother, language comes as easy as breathing to him. in addition to his mother tongues, he fluently speaks chinese, korean, arabic, spanish, and russian. news outlets pay hefty prices for his emotionally provacative and insightful interview stories, which covers all his travel expenses. he has a unique talent for getting complete strangers to reveal to him things that they might not even tell close friends. actual casual conversation with can be a little offputting, since it always feels like an interview, even when he's trying his best to not. MARIKO MIKAMI: mariko was a sickly child, and spent a large part of her elementary school years in hospitals. around the age of seven, she began folding paper cranes as something to do, and wished to live normally after she folded her 1000th. she soon recovered, and feels that she owes her life to origami. she is precise and calculating in everything she does, which shines through in her art: every delicate, artful piece of origami that she makes is creased and folded perfectly. she also dabbles in wet-fold origami. she's most famous for her dry-fold though, and her pieces are well known for their complex, precise, mathematical beauty. she refuses to fold paper cranes anymore, feeling that they are too sacred for her to touch after they saved her life as a child. a calm, slightly disconcerting smile is always on her face, no matter the circumstance; her manner is consistantly cool and polite. YUU IROIKE: yuu iroike isn't even his real name, and it's a mystery as to how show staff even tracked down his mailing address to get him on the show. he's a well-known public figure for painting huge, sprawling, colorful murals in tokyo, yet who he really is remains unknown. he paints faster than his murals can be scrubbed away, and has somehow never been prosecuted for vandalism because his graffiti is generally considered an improvment. he's sly, mysterious, and teasing in person, and gets a bit of an itchy trigger finger when he hasn't painted in a while. His skill with spray paint is so great that it seems as if the paint bends to his very will. MARIYA HAN: born and raised in rio de janeiro, mariya moved to her father's home country of japan at the age of eleven. inspired by the more vibrant trends in brazil as opposed to japan, mariya broke out of her mold at the age of 13 by experimenting with dramatic makeup and dying her hair blonde. she has adopted a delinquent-ish persona over the years due to general disapproval from teachers because of the looks she presents. her impeccable sense of all-around style has made her one of the very few half-japanese models to appear on the covers of magazines like kera and zipper. she has an uncanny sense of color and structure and is able to create attractive and stylish looks for almost any face. HARUMI HAMANAKA: harumi is a sweet and bubbly girl, if almost cloyingly so. her good luck is a fairly stable force (nowhere near as chaotic as komaeda, for example), generally acting in the favor of wishes of people around her. her mother intensly wanted for her to be on the show because of the exposure it provides, and this is what harumi attributes to her being selected. despite the way her luck operates, shes no doormat and in fact has an overwhelming force of personality, and her sweet demeanor can become rather passive aggressive if challenged on pretty much anything. MOMOTAROU KOBARA: momotarou, born into a rich family that fufilled his near-every want, made a name for himself in the world of collecting at the age of just eleven by, through luck and love for the series, collecting every pokemon card. from then on he set onto collecting just about anything non-perishable: pins, collectors set bandaids, vinyls, etc. he has exceptional luck in finding deals on ebay and other sites. he cant really be called a hoarder, since he likes to have just one of everything; he resells, gifts, or uses any duplicates. his mood swings between a dreamy, chilled out, flirtatious persona and periods of numb depression when it hits him that his whole life revolves around material possesions and that he has no real human connections. CHOUMI YUKIYAMA: exceptional among even her fellow shsls, choumi made her historic mark on ballet by becoming the world's youngest ever prima ballerina at the age of 13 and japan's first ever prima ballerina assoluta at 18. fans flock to her ethereal, angelic grace on stage as well as to the percieved sense of otherworldlyness surrounding her albinism. on the darker side of her popularity, repeated sexual harassment from fans and male dance partners alike has hardened her world view to make her not quite cold, but definitely reserved in her emotions. she adapts fairly easy to stressful situations and pushes through pain with almost no visible outward struggle due to her all too common experience with dancing through foot and ankle injuries. because of this she usually ends up taking initiative in difficult scenarios if no one else steps forward. she is also a quite talented hobbyist figure skater and is fluent in both english and russian. REN KIKUHARA: a fairly odd florist in that instead of ordering flowers to arrange into bouquets, every flower he sells is grown himself. although this means that his selection is seasonally and fairly regionally limited, he has an incredible talent for working with plants and can even sometimes coax out-of-zone flowers to grow. he's fluent in hanakotoba and is surprisingly good at flirting through flowers without it seeming cheesy, although he doesn't do it very often. people often remark that his bouquets often seem to have more love and life in them than store-bought ones. ren is a calm and kind soul and prefers listening to talking, with what he does say always seeming to be just the right words for the situation. JUN TENSEI: born jun harada, many believe that his spiritual connection is the real deal, but a few critics hold that he is most likely just an incredibly talented bluffer. the real truth about him is unknown, but many say that his seances do accurately reflect the personalities of their deceased loved ones and help them feel at peace. he is deeply religious, but not to any one traditional faith (although he does use traditional christian symbols such as crucifixes and items such as holy water on occasion). he believes strongly in the power of the soul and its ability to exist beyond death. his voice is soft and low, and he has a penchent for gentle teasing and riddles. he comes off as pretty shady to most, but he's fairly harmless. SARA KUROKAWA: a talented young woman from a long line of popular backalley tattoo artists. she combines traditional symbolism and youthful influence in her designs to make something new and more appealing for the younger generation, and is a huge proponent for tattoos being shown off for fashion rather than hidden away in the traditional style. sara does have (illegal) tattoos done by her older siblings on her arms despite the minimum age being 20, although her being homeschooled, looking older than her actual age, and having a tendency to wear long sleeves year round has led her to encounter few problems. she and her family are among the many who simply choose to ignore the statute requiring a medical license to tattoo. sara is a fairly rude person in a backhanded way, acts stereotypically catty, and enjoys making herself the center of attention, whether through her appearance (dyed pink hair and white contacts) or the things she says. the only two things that can break her shell and make her excited and genuine are tattooing and piano, which she has played from a young age and loves. SHOU KATSUKI (PROTAG): pushed to succeed in the game from a very young age, shou is japan's reigning chess champion, a FIDE-certified grandmaster, and went to international competition the year before the killing game. he played through to the finals with influenza, which worsened through the matches due to lack of treatment and culminated in debilitating pneumonia that left him in the hospital and unable to play for first. because of this, he's cultivated a sort of inferiority complex that he tries to cover for with self-confidence, which actually comes off as condescending rudeness. he has a natural talent for cause and effect analyzation and is good at planning ahead. he gets flustered easily over trivial things and is a sore loser, but tends not to crack under actual pressure. shou doesn't like to be associated with his family due to the intense pressure they put him under only to steal his winnings the second he began to succeed and thus prefers to be referred to by his given name, even by near-strangers. he does genuinely love chess, but his favourite board game is actually risk. (no one ever wants to play with him, though.) MIKI SHIMAZAKI: a child prodigy from a family of cheerleaders, miki learned to love the sport over years of family pressure. famous for winning back to back nationals from age 13 to present, she's well aware of the image of unintelligence and sexualisation that comes along with being a young girl in cheerleading, and these two topics are sort of trigger points for her. after a while she grew tired of people telling her that they were suprised she was nice and were expecting her to be a bitch, so she adopted a fake-nice, popular girl type persona to basically give people what they were expecting. miki trusts very few people due to the many creeps shes encountered, but her few friends are the most important thing in her life and she would stop at nothing to protect them.

[rowdy-revenant]

The Beauty of a Beast - part 2

Part 2 - How Does a Moment Last Forever

Characters: Y/N Singer, Benny Lafitte, Gadreel, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, father!Bobby Singer (future pairing of Gabriel x reader)

Words: 1500+

Beta-reader: @hunters-hiraeth

Warnings: OOC Sam and Dean

[Part 1]

[General masterlist]

Chapter summary: You go about your routine day in the village, Dean follows and flirts, Bobby prepares to leave

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The day started off as any other. The village was quiet, with a certain anticipation hanging in the air. Soon people would be walking the streets, doing business and going about their daily tasks.

This time of the day was your favourite. The sky still had touches of dawn’s pink hues. Everything was still. Everything was quiet.

You slipped your shoes on, running through a mental checklist of what you had to do today. The silence because a whisper, a whisper became conversation, conversation soon became the regular chatter of the town. Grabbing a basket, you stepped outside.

The wooden steps creaked slightly as you stepped down them. The morning dew was resting on the grass in your garden. You passed through your garden and stepped onto the busy street.

Mothers chased after their children, those children chased each other, giggling. Sweethearts walked arm in arm, gazing into eachothers eyes. Women collected water from the well or did laundry. Wagons rolled through, carrying goods to be sold in the market.

People were doing business there. Selling, buying, the usual.

That reminded you where you had to be going and snapped you out of your daydream. It seemed like daydreaming was all you did these days. Yes, the town you lived in felt wonderful, but it also felt… familiar. Too familiar. Too regular. Too repetitive. The same thing each day.

“Careful, chief!” Came a laugh.

You narrowly dodged the large figure with calloused and flour-covered hands carrying a tray of baked goods.

“Sorry, Benny.” You apologized. “The usual, please.”

“Right here.” Benny grinned, lowering the tray. “Fresh from the oven for my favourite customer.”

You took a couple loaves of bread and smiled, placing them in your basket before handing over some coins to Benny. “Thanks, bear.”

“No problem at all. Where ya headed?” The baker asked.

“To the library. I have a book to return.” You replied.

“Damn, already?” Benny chuckled. “Gotta be the third time already you’ve read the one you’ve got.”

You shrugged, returning the laugh. You looked at the book. Its cover was a crimson red, with gold lettering spelling out ‘Romeo and Juliet’. “Fourth, actually. I have most of it memorized.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

“That’s Julius Caesar.”

“Eh, it’s still Shakespeare. Close enough, eh?” Benny offered.

You laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Points for trying.”

“Well, I ain’t gonna hold you up. See you ‘round.” Benny smiled, tipping his cap at you.

“See you, bear.” You said.

Benny continued on his way back to the bakery. You continued on yours, right to the small broom closet of a building called the library.

The place was a home away from home. Dark wooden shelves lined the walls, ladders on each end to reach the high ones. It had a certain smell to it. Wood mixed with parchment and candle wax.

The books themselves were very old and worn. Some were missing covered, others had writing so faded you couldn’t tell text from paper.

Gadreel, the librarian, did his best to keep things tidy. He himself was out of place in there. His tall frame barely fit at the small desk in the small room. The books around him were ten times older than he was. Still, reading was a passion the two of you alone shared.

“Y/N. It is very nice to see you again.” Gadreel greeted. He was seated at that little desk, a quill in hand. Most likely cataloging again.

You nodded and set your book down on his desk. “Done.”

“So soon?”

“Yep.”

“I see.” The tone of the librarian’s voice was a little astonished. “I am afraid I have no new books this week. However you are-”

He had barely said these words when you were halfway up a ladder.

“-Welcome to reread another one.” He finished.

You picked up a couple and added them to your basket. “Thanks, Gad!”

“Of course. Enjoy.” Gadreel said with a smile and returned to his work.

You stepped outside, ready to continue with your chores.

“You’re staring, Dean.” Sam said. He lifted his hair up, tying it back into a ponytail. Riding always did a number on his mane.

“I know.” Dean hummed. “Gorgeous, huh?”

“Out of your league.” Sam added, rolling his eyes.

The Winchester brothers watched you stop from shop to shop, buying the things you needed.

Dean Winchester was the eldest. He was a renowned hunter and a ladies man. Every woman in the village wanted to sleep with him, even a few men, but Dean had his sights set on you: the only one who didn't love him.

Sam Winchester was the youngest. He was always close by his brother and always living in his shadow. Their father was hard to impress.

“Doesn’t matter. I like a challenge.” Dean grinned. “Y/N is the one for me.”

“When’s the last time you read a book?” Sam asked his older brother.

Dean shrugged. “Who knows, who cares. Books won’t win them over. My rugged good looks will.”

“What looks?” Sam snorted.

Dean smacked his brother upside the head, a difficult feat as Sam was quite a bit taller than him. “Shut up.”

“Yes, Dean…” Sam mumbled.

“Jealous, Sammy?” Dean asked with a chortle. “It's not my fault you can't score a woman. Well, I'm sure Rowena’s single.” Dean often taunted his brother with that, saying that the only one Sam would end up with was the red haired beggar woman.

Dean strutted over to a flower stand and grabbed a bouquet. “Watch and learn, little brother.”

“Dean you have to-” Sam started before his brother walked off into the crowd and towards you. Sam sighed and took out some coins, handing them to the less than happy florist. “Pay for those…”

“Y/N!”

You groaned. Dean again. All he did was flirt with you and ignore your refusals. “Dean…”

The oh-so-great-hunter jogged up to you, ran his fingers through his hair, and pushed the flowers into your face. “For you. They match your eyes.”

“Uh… actually they don’t.” You replied, gently handing them back to Dean.

“Could I join you for dinner?” Dean asked, his typical grin on his face.

“No, Dean.”

“Tomorrow then.”

“I said no.” You replied, gritting your teeth. “Learn what that means.”

“Oh, don’t be like that, sweetheart.” The hunter purred. “Someone your age really should settle down, find a spouse. You’re in your prime, young, beautiful… just like me.”

You scoffed. “I am nothing like you, Dean.” You replied, slowly backing up the steps leading to your front door.

Dean followed, leaning in closer. “You don’t want to end up alone, like Rowena.” He argued.

“Well A: Rowena is actually a nice person. Maybe actually talk to her for once? And B: I’m not alone. I have my father.” You snapped.

Dean laughed. “You can’t be serious. Your father? He’s a crazy old man.”

That comment made you snap. You grabbed the door handle for support and raised your foot, kicking Dean square in the chest. He fell back, landing on his ass.

“Don’t you dare talk to my father that way.” You spat, slamming the door in his face.

Life with Dean sounded like Hell. You didn’t like him at all. He was old fashioned, rude, and egoistic.

“Everythin’ alright?” A voice asked.

You sighed. “Yes, pa.”

“Don’t you lie to me. I know when you’re lying.” Bobby noted. “What’s bothering you? Who do I have to give a piece of my mind to?”

“Pa? Do you think I’m weird?” You asked.

Bobby took off his glasses, folded them neatly before setting them on the table beside his tools. “Weird? What makes you ask that, sweetheart?”

“People in this town give me weird looks.” You mumbled. “Like I don’t belong.”

“Y/N, you ain’t weird. This is just a small town. People talk about everyone. You’re just…” Your father paused, looking for the right word. “Unique. You stand out, but in a good way. You keep being you, and don’t you regret it.”

You smiled. “Thanks, Pa. How’s the clock?”

“Just about ready for the fair, I’d say.” Bobby replied.

The latest music box Bobby was working on for the little craftsman’s fair a few towns over was, to put it lightly, beautiful. The outside was wooden, little carvings of branches in the corners. When opened, it played a sweet tune that your father used to sing to you when you were a child. A little blue metal bird perched on a little wooden branch, it’s wings and beak slowly opening and closing.

Bobby stood and hugged you. “I’ll miss you.”

“It’s just a couple days…” You chuckled. “But I’ll miss you too.”

“Anything you want while I’m there?” He asked.

You pretended to think it over, knowing what your answer always was. “A rose. Just like last year. Bring me back a rose, Pa.”

Bobby grinned. “Of course. A rose just for you.”

Deep in the woods, hidden away from the world, was another rose. And from this rose, another petal fell.

~ Murdoch’s tag list - want to be added or removed? Send me an ask! ~

All fics: @alexanderhamlinsin @a-r-c-h-a-n-g-e-l @ashiewesker @ashtheironbat @authoressskr @baritonechick@blessedbebucky @crowleysprincess159 @cynda-kiwi @d4rzill4@ellienovak @fayepummeluff @feelmyroarrrr @gabriels-depressed-angel @hunters-hiraeth @impatient-witch​ @kristaparadowski​ @lenawiinchester​  @like-gabriel-and-castiel​  @madelineannmolder @negansgrimes​  @oldpaperfan​  @sdavid09​ @shrimpdrake​ @sumara62​ @tangle-of-ivy​ @team-barry​  @thehowling1234​ @thewhiterabbit42​ @treitike​ @tenderlybeautifulbarbarian​ @tyrex15​ @unsink-the-titanic​

All Supernatural: @gabriels-trix

Gabriel: @elven-leaf @hiddles-and-skittles @hp-hogwartsexpress @im-gabriels-bitch @jannalionheart @elenawrit​ @trollhunter94​

The Beauty of a Beast: @a-vast-african-plain​ @red-bandana-girl​ @icharleecongrevemultifandomsblog​

[thefilmsnob]

Glen Coco’s Top 10 Films of 2017

Unlike last year, 2017 was a stand-out for the film industry. There wasn’t an abundance of undisputed masterpieces per se, but there were still more than enough excellent motion pictures that deserve recognition. As always, it killed me having  to omit so many great films, but that’s just life I guess. You got your ups and you got your downs. Anyway, here are my picks for the ten greatest films of 2017. But first, I’ll list the runners-up and the traditional bonus track. There’s always a bonus track.

Runners-Up

-Blade Runner 2049 ***

-Get Out

-Kong: Skull Island

-Last Flag Flying

-Molly’s Game

-Phantom Thread

-T2: Trainspotting

-Thor: Ragnarok

***Blade Runner 2049 probably would make this list in another life. The thing is, when I saw it, I was very tired and frustrated and I found it hard to focus. Because of this, I missed some important plot details, so the whole time my brain was trying to catch up with the narrative. It never did and I was lost. This is a gorgeous-looking film with excellent performances, direction, cinematography, visual effects and production design. But, I can not, in good conscience, include it without a second viewing. I’m a fucking nerd.

And here are the top 10!

#10b. (Bonus Track) The Lost City of Z

Director: James Gray

Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland

For a movie with a dashing lead who takes multiple expeditions into the Amazon rainforest to find a fabled lost city while facing perilous conditions from treacherous landscapes to hostile natives, The Lost City of Z  has been seen by a total of zero people. That’s a shame. This is a movie that reminds us of pulp magazines and classic exploration films of old, promising mystery, intrigue and adventure. The film takes place over several years in the early 1900s and follows Percy Fawcett whose interest in a lost city turns into an obsession and whose multiple trips to find what may not exist threatens his family life and reputation. Directed by James Gray, The Lost City of Z is a refreshing antidote to the modern action film full of CGI and empty noise. The rich cinematography provides a natural and vivid look which amplifies the sense of danger Fawcett and his men must face. And Charlie Hunnam shines as Fawcett, pulling us into his world with his passion and charisma and even when disillusionment threatens these qualities, we remain invested in his struggle to the end. 

#10. Mother!

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer

Mother! is undeniably polarizing and that’s understandable. Darren Aronofsky’s films aren’t meant for a mass audience and his use of surrealism can be frustrating at times, but it can also be deeply profound and Aronofsky is nothing if not ambitious. Mother! is perhaps his most challenging film but also one of his most mesmerizing. It starts out relatively calm as we see Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) living with Him (Javier Bardem) in a large country home in what seems like a tranquil existence, albeit with eerie undertones. Things get weird when unexpected guests arrive, played by Ed Harris and a deliciously chilly Michelle Pfeiffer. You think you’re in for a standard thriller until Aronofsky takes us down a wildly unexpected path. Never has a movie escalated so quickly and severely. Toward the end, it becomes a beautifully chaotic mixture of bizarre images and themes that blur the lines between reality and fantasy while grappling with topics from religion and death to the burdens of celebrity and motherhood. It’s a tumultuous journey, but if you suspend your disbelief and accept the mayhem, it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced.  

#9. The Florida Project

Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe

Rarely do movies focus their attention on the poor, uneducated and unfortunate souls we’re introduced to in The Florida Project. But writer/director Sean Baker has decided to observe the beauty and excitement in their lives. Brooklyn Prince, in one of the most impressive performances by any child actor, plays Moonee, who, along with her friends, makes the row of motels that line a street in Kissimmee, Florida her playground. It’s fascinating watching what these children get up to, from the innocent to the questionable to the downright illegal. But, Baker never judges; he merely observes the products of a sad reality. He highlights the joy in their lives while never ignoring their present struggles and the troubling future they probably have in store. Bria Vinaite gives an impeccably raw performance as Moonee’s mother, Halley, who drinks, does drugs, recruits Moonee to resell perfume to tourists and is no more mature than her six-year-old daughter. Willem Dafoe is the manager of the motel in which they reside who’s constantly solving everyone’s problems while unconsciously acting as a father figure at times without being unrealistically portrayed as a saint. Dafoe’s great here. But, it’s Moonee who shines at the end in one of the most emotional and heartbreaking scenes of 2017. Sadly, Moonee may not be destined for greatness, but Prince sure is.

#8. Dunkirk

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh

Christopher Nolan is a master of creating spectacles that are as thought-provoking as they are thrilling and Dunkirk is no exception. With the help of Hans Zimmer’s relentless score and many turbulent scenarios, Nolan stresses the utter fear and desperation felt by hundreds of thousands of soldiers evacuating the beach at Dunkirk in 1940 while also highlighting the collective heroism displayed in the process. The film is split into three distinct yet interweaving story lines set on the beach, on the water and in the air, intercut expertly and involving a superb ensemble cast. Nolan’s wise omission of extraneous elements like generals strategizing in war rooms allows the movie to focus on the the event itself, making it a more urgent experience. Even with all the moving parts, we’re guided by Hoyte van Hoytema’s masterful camerawork; what could’ve been a disorienting jumble of images is, in fact, impeccably vivid and coherent, eschewing rapid-fire cuts. But, this is Nolan’s pride and joy and there’s no denying it’s a work of a man so unabashedly dedicated to his craft, one who’s created a breathtaking experience with such a sharp attention to detail that’s at once sweeping and intimate.

#7. The Post

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, every TV actor of the last 5 years

Calling The Post timely isn’t so much an opinion as it is a truism. The parallels between the deceptive presidencies of Nixon and Trump are so painfully obvious that the film couldn’t be timelier. Back in the Nixon era, the Vietnam War was the source of deception which led to the release of the Pentagon Papers detailing more than 20 years of admissions of the failing American war effort, contradicting previous information. The Post is the story of how some journalists decided to print this information, specifically Washington Post heiress and publisher Katherine Graham, Meryl Streep in an Oscar-worthy performance in which she masterfully and subtlety conveys the weight of responsibility on her shoulders regarding a decision with potentially disastrous consequences. Streep makes her anxiety increasingly palpable until it all comes to a head in a powerfully assertive speech. Tom Hanks is great as Post Editor-in-Chief, Ben Bradlee, who’s fairly aggressive about getting the big story and improving his reputation, though Hanks still lets us admire this gruff character for his fierce dedication to journalistic integrity. Also great are the countless TV actors from Bob Odenkirk to Sarah Paulson to, yes, David Cross. As usual, Spielberg does a workmanlike job on the film and adds that elegant, classic Hollywood sheen to the material. He avoids an abundance of exposition, keeps his focus on the human crisis of conscience and allows the proceedings to flow smoothly. This is a very important story about heroes who risked everything in the name of truth and freedom of the press.

#6. Lady Bird

Director: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts

In her directorial debut film, Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig puts a fresh spin on the high school movie without relying on overly quirky characters, gimmickry or excess. Its breezy naturalism helps it transcend the genre with the stripped-down, straightforward and ordinary nature of the movie, paradoxically, making it so complex. A celebration of autonomy and liberation, Lady Bird follows the titular character (Saoirse Ronan) who feels trapped in a mundane life at an all-girls Catholic school in Sacramento with a mother (Laurie Metcalf) who’s mastered the art of passive aggression. But, Ronan turns Lady Bird’s normalcy into a thing of beauty and makes her an embodiment of perseverance in subtle ways. Metcalf is exceptional here too, often ruthless but always sympathetic as the overworked breadwinner of the family. But most of the praise should go to Gerwig, already a great actress and now directing with a gentle and pure touch, allowing the film to breath with little contrivance. She keeps her scenes brief and adds her unique observations and unorthodox comedic sensibilities to the dialogue which is authentic, witty and often shockingly hilarious. This is a smart and insightful film that’s all but devoid of flaws.

#5. Stronger

Director: David Gordon Green

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson

Once again, Jake Gyllenhaal has been snubbed by the Academy. In Stronger, he gives yet another magnificent performance playing Jeff Bauman, an underachieving Boston native who loses his legs during the Boston Marathon bombing while cheering on his ex-girlfriend, Erin (Tatiana Maslany), at the finish line. The movie recounts his rehabilitation as well as the accompanying emotional turmoil he and his family must endure. Movies like this have been done before but rarely with this much brutal honesty. Gyllenhaal is so convincing, making you feel his every ache and bruise; we’re heart broken just watching the poor man trying to enter his bathtub. He completely transforms in front of our eyes from an overeager and fun-loving young man to a bitter, often angry victim with impressive ease. Maslany is equally impressive, wrestling with a multitude of emotions from compassion to guilt to frustration to anger, often simultaneously, in this refreshing take on the ‘caring loved one’ role. In less competent hands, this would be a conventional TV movie full of cliches and sentiment. But David Gordon Green imbues his work with so much realism whether it’s the injury itself, the recovery process, the reactions from friends and family or Bauman’s mental state. It’s a truly inspirational film and meditation on heroism that actually respects its audience.

#4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Director: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

Not only is Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri timely, but it has one of last year’s most original premises. Enraged by the lack of progress made by the police in identifying the person who raped and murdered her teenage daughter, Mildred Hayes, played by the force of nature that is Frances McDormand, takes action by renting three billboards near her home in Ebbing and posting messages calling out the police for their lack of competence and urgency, especially Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). Obviously, this starts a chaotic chain of events, crafted by writer/director Martin McDonagh, that deals with relevant social issues in a way that’s by turns tragic and shockingly hilarious. But, contrary to the marketing campaign, McDonagh’s film isn’t so black and white; he illustrates the complexity of the matter by exposing fault in all parties involved as well as the tragic consequences of their actions. McDormand shows us an utterly depleted woman with nothing but rage and a mission, making some of the most scathing remarks you’ll hear to anyone in her way, yet still able to sympathize when she sees her adversary in pain, like Willoughby who’s dying of cancer. Harrelson gives an incredibly poignant speech related to this that’s one of the films highlights. Sam Rockwell is also sensational as a racist scumbag of a cop who nonetheless embarks on a path of redemption. The ending is ambiguous. What happens is irrelevant. Whether you think Rockwell deserves redemption is also besides the point. What matters is that there’s a dialogue starting, progress being made and, indeed, something being done. In other words, there’s hope.

#3. The Disaster Artist

Director: James Franco

Starring: Dave Franco, James Franco, Seth Rogan

Apparently, James Franco might be a bad dude and shame on him if he is. But, I’m here to talk about movies and The Disaster Artist is a damn good one. Most of the credit should go to writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, anyway, for crafting an insightful, hilarious, yet oddly touching screenplay about the wildly misguided Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) who was responsible for The Room, one of the worst movies ever made. We’re oriented by Dave Franco playing The Room star, Greg Sestero, from when he meets the awful but ambitious performer, Wiseau, in an acting class in the late ‘90s through the early ‘00s which sees the pair become friends, move to LA to act, fail miserably and decide to make their own movie. Dave Franco charms as the wide-eyed optimist who’s accepting to a fault. James Franco, still maybe an ass, is great as Wiseau, capturing his voice and mannerisms perfectly, giving us a character who’s as delusional and jealous as he is free-spirited, also to a fault. Their relationship is charming in the beginning and no less intriguing when its threatened by one’s pride and the other’s loss of confidence. The story’s at its best when Wiseau is filming his dream project and we see his lack of talent and leadership grate on cast and crew, specifically Seth Rogen as Sandy Schklair, whose exasperation is priceless. But the film makers are wise to tease without deriding and actually give some credit to Wiseau for, when you think about it, the man accomplished more than most of us ever will, illustrated in a film about a film that moves effortlessly from start to finish.

#2. Wind River

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen

If there’s any justice in this world, Taylor Sheridan soon will be swimming in awards and money for the man is responsible for the scripts of wonderful films like Sicario, Hell or High Water and now Wind River which he also directed. Few people are better at crafting profoundly entertaining commentaries on the dark and controversial pockets of America. With Wind River, he focuses on problems faced by those living on Indian reservations. The film seems like a recipe for a generic crime thriller starring Hawkeye and the Scarlett Witch until you remember Sheridan’s track record and the fact that Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen are actually great actors. After we’re shown a chilling prelude involving a teen girl running, and collapsing, in the snow in freezing temperatures without appropriate clothing, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert (Renner) finds the body and gets the narrative wheels in motion. Once rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Olsen) arrives, they team up to solve the case that takes them to dark and twisted places. Sheridan let’s the film take its time to develop; it progresses clearly and logically, making it easy to follow along, unlike similar films. And unlike these films, you actually care as much about the people investigating the case as the case itself. Though used sparingly, Sheridan composes some of the most realistic and tense action sequences you’ll see. There’s one scene that’s almost unbearably intense but so utterly effective in making you feel the horror this community feels. It, like this film, gets under your skin and stays with you well after the credits roll.

#1. Call Me by Your Name

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg

If you consider just how many love stories have been written in the history of humanity, you might think it impossible to create another great one. But what director Luca Guadagnino does with a script from James Ivory is pure bliss. Not only will you fall in love with the characters, but you’ll also fall in love with the gorgeous, picturesque northern Italian countryside on display. It’s here, during a lazy summer of 1983, where an introverted, music-loving Italian-American teen, Elio (Timothee Chalamet), meets an older, classically handsome and outgoing graduate student named Oliver (Armie Hammer), forming a relationship that will change their lives forever. Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an archaeology professor, invites Oliver to live with them for the summer to help with his research and although Elio initially is turned off by this ‘intruder’, gradually he forms an attraction. How the film makers deal with this attraction and eventual relationship is simply perfection. The way in which the two characters subtly feel each other out at the start feels so true to life and each subsequent step from attraction to bonding to seduction is equally realistic and even more entertaining.The film benefits from the actors’ fearless performances, especially that of newcomer Chalamet who’s a ball of pent up sexual energy. The movie ends with Stuhlbarg having an irresistibly touching discussion with his son, full of warmth and understanding, and a final heartbreaking scene, so simple in concept yet so emotionally complex. Chalamet takes your breath away here with an array of emotions parading across his face as Sufjan Stevens’ gorgeous ‘Mystery of Love’ plays in its entirety. It’s one of the the most entrancing endings to a movie you’ll see, capping off the best film of 2017.

[environmentalimpactstatement]

#NODAPL PROPOSALS & STANDING ROCK UPDATE

UPDATE: The Army Corps of Engineers and the Governor of North Dakota have issued an evacuation order for Wednesday February the 22nd.

Water Protectors are surrounded on all sides by Militarized Law Enforcement, Federal Indian Police, Army Corp, National Guard and private DAPL security;  They are all at risk of facing arrest, police brutality, federal charges, and prison time. They are asking everyone to come and stand with them. Protectors and Media must arrive by February 21st, today.

EIS ARTIST COLLECTIVE: DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE CROSSING PUBLIC COMMENTS

to gib.a.owen.civ February 20, 2017

Mr. Gib Owen, Water Resources Policy and Legislation, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Washington, DC 20310-0108

“Understanding is like water flowing in a stream. Wisdom and knowledge are solid and can block our understanding” -Thich Nhat Hanh

We are the Portland and Minnesota based artist collective, Environmental Impact Statement. We have curated visual arts exhibitions, hosted performances, and produced writing and composition in response to the many challenges and threats to the future of healthy ecosystems in our community and beyond. We have brought together seven artists to respond to threats to water and treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

We believe that artists offer a unique perspective on the way we view the natural world. As cultural change agents, artists are a powerful resource for interpreting the values that people hold for the future of our planet. We initiated this project to respond to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s powerful effort to redress the lack of any genuine government-to-government consultation over the placement of the Dakota Access Pipeline .55 miles north of the reservation underneath the Missouri River at Lake Oahe; the pipeline was rerouted away from Bismarck for many of the same reasons that now threaten two tribal reservations and millions of people downstream from where the pipeline is planned, not least the tribal rights to hunt, fish, and gather, but also the right to freedom of religion. There is a long history of the government taking of lands held sacred to the people of the Sioux Nation along the shorelines of the Missouri, the water being inseparable from their spirituality. We issued a Call to Artists to submit proposals that could not happen if the pipeline was built. In doing so, we hope to shine a spotlight on a more rigorous cultural and scientific understanding supportive of stopping the pipeline, which would lead to a ‘no action alternative’ option. We believe that the permit process up until the order for an EIS failed to consider the public interest as a primary concern. Our project proposals illustrate further impacts of the proposed pipeline construction, namely the inspiration and life that the affected area gives to artists and most importantly, to the Sioux Tribe to which this land is sacred and home.

“The world, even the smallest parts of it, is filled with things you don't know.”    -Sherman Alexie

“Western civilization, unfortunately, does not link knowledge and morality but rather, it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent.”              -Vine Deloria Jr.

“I don’t understand why we are expendable in America. I keep telling people, we do our best. We have always been here. This is our land. Why should we fight to live on our own land? Why should we have to do that over and over again? We start our lives. We do our best to live. Why? I would never hurt anybody. I have always done my best to do good things in my community. Why can’t they just let us live? We love this land. And half of the time I feel bad, because they make us feel bad for loving this land.

But most important, we love the water. Every year, our people sacrifice. We go four days without drinking water, so that it reminds us how important this water is. And I ask everybody: Do you go four days without water? What happens to your body on that third day? Your body starts shutting down. So, we remind ourselves every day how important. We say mni wiconi, water of life. Every time we drink water, we say mni wiconi, water of life. We cannot live without water. So I don’t understand why America doesn’t understand how important water is. So we have no choice. We have to stand. No matter what happens, we have to stand to save the water.”                                                                                 ��       -Ladonna Brave Bull Allard

Ryan Seibold & Lisa Schonberg

Environmental Impact Statement environmentalimpactstatement@gmail.com

Artist Proposals

Bug Davidson (Austin, Texas) Where is the project proposed? Sioux tribal lands Project Title: Not Our Space Project Description: Video Projection on the landscape of woman dancing - interacting with the landscape. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? This land would change considerably, spiritual lands of people should not be land for the pipeline, the tribe should be respected.

Kate Hoffman (Los Angeles, California) Where is the project proposed? Sioux Territory Under 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie Project Title: How the US Became a Model of Righting a Wrong Project Description: "How the US Became a Model of Righting a Wrong" is a historical piece that will be created five years from now. It will use the events of what initially appeared to look as if the corporations building the pipeline were ignoring treaties and peaceful protesting by using brut force and financial power to not listen to the needs of the people and the land. But though the force of unity and respect for all bodies and all land the DAPL pipeline project was terminated. Canada and the US decided to re-invest in environmentally safe means of producing energy and only use land that was available to them through legal channels. The project will use the series of events and experience as an opportunity to thank those instrumental in the termination of the pipeline. These "thank you" gifts will be created in community centers across the globe. It will be a project and a teaching tool for the youth that will examine how through the power of the people and the interests of integrity of moral good and self-respect, the wealthy will right their wrongs and come through as the "good guys". Every year the youth and the people involved in this curriculum will create thank you drawings about the world they will get to live in and have children in, one where they will have clean water to drink, and raise their own children knowing that ALL people will be respected regardless of race/class and nation. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? This project will only be able to occur if the pipeline is not built and those responsible will correct their wrong doings as soon as possible. Otherwise the project will absolutely not be able to occur nor will the children be given a model of citizenship, humanistic perspectives, good winning over evil, or perhaps be able to raise children in a country where there is fresh water to drink.

Fuchsia Lin (Portland, Oregon) Where is the project proposed? Standing Rock Sioux Reservation Project Title: The Beings of Water Project Description: To create an installation piece of sculptural textiles, costumes and masks that will represent the biodiversity of the region surrounding the Cannonball River that runs through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This piece will include seven different sculptural costumes and masks displayed on wire armatures that serve as a visual poem of the native peoples'(the Hunkpapa Lakota, Sihasapa Lakota and Yanktonai Dakota) relationship with the Cannonball River and their natural environment. In order to commence this project, I will need to spend one to two weeks observing the Cannonball River environment during each of the four seasons. I will observe the height of the river, as well as the kind of flora and fauna present during the different times of the year. The following endangered species residing within the ecosystem of the Cannonball River: the ancient species of pallid sturgeon, and shorebirds the least tern and piping plover, will be a focus of my observations. The native blue flax flower, widely prevalent in this region and an important food source for different species of butterflies and native bees contribute to diversity, will be of noteworthiness to this project. The collected research will then be used to create textile designs that represent the biodiversity of this region and call attention to the impact the health of the Cannonball River has on the environment and surrounding native populations. These textiles will then be created into sculptural costumes and masks, each one representing a different species: fish, bird, flower, animal, insect or person, and each with their own unique gesture. The sculptures will be intentionally arranged in a large circle facing outward, symbolizing the holistic meaning of the "Water is Life" consciousness to the Lakota culture. There will be a path of blue light projected on the ground representing a river running through the sculpture formation. This installation will be exhibited in different venues across the country. The purpose is to share and connect with the deep inspiration of the native peoples' values and respect for the "Being of Water". May their ancient culture inspire us to shift our relationship to our environment and enrich our own cultural roots to our land. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? The construction of the pipeline would inevitably alter the balance of the ecosystem surrounding the Cannonball River and the fragility of the endangered species would not enable them to survive. A documentation of an accurate representation of the region nurturing the last attempt of these species to rebound would no longer be possible because of the disruption. The high risk of the pipeline leaking would cause major damage to the Cannonball River's ecosystem and the species that contribute to the diversity of that region would be irreparably lost, to say the least of the consequences.

Lisa Schonberg (Portland, Oregon) Where is the project proposed? Sioux Tribal lands Project Title: Soundscape Storytelling Project Description: I will make audio field recordings of soundscapes along the Missouri River nearby the proposed pipeline construction, in riparian and freshwater aquatic habitats. I will visit the site seasonally, four times in one year. During each visit I will collect diurnal and nocturnal recordings. After each collection I will interview members of three generations of the Sioux Tribe. I will play the recordings for them and ask them what stories and what meanings each recording brings to mind for them. The recordings and interviews will be edited into an album featuring the interviews interspersed with respective field recordings. This album will be released digitally and available for donation, all donations benefitting the Sioux Tribes' efforts to protect their lands. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? If construction of the pipeline proceeds, I will not be able to capture recordings of soundscapes that are unaffected by change brought on by construction. Sounds that have meaning will be obscured.

Ryan Seibold (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Where is the project proposed? Unceded Sioux Territory Under 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie Project Title: Black Square 2017 (Above The River) Project Description: The drill site of a cancelled oil pipeline project is covered black, signifying a turning point for our planet's future. The crude oil pipeline was supposed to tunnel underneath the Missouri River at Lake Oahe here. A black square canopy composed of several hundred solar panels is collectively held skyward by participants for one day; like a floating Malevich canvas over a rugged landscape, Black Square 2017 (Above The River) is a “zero-point” for environmental art's main challenge, confronting Climate Change. Divestment from oil and turning to solar and wind energy, along with strong Tribal opposition, killed the Black Snake and all plans to bore into the earth at this site, a last gasp only intensified by a newly installed puppet for the corporate-political establishment in the U.S. with financial ties to DAPL and connections to petrochemical industry insiders as far off as Russia. Drone aerial images of this work would be sold to fund Indigenous-led renewable energy projects. The solar panels would be gifted to Water Protectors to help build a sustainable community. The drill site becomes a distribution plaza for exchange of materials needed to build sustainable communities: solar and wind power, plants for ecosystem restoration and food/medicine gardens, energy efficient housing materials, etc. This proposal believes we need to become collective stewards for the water, land, cultures, and wildlife of Unci Maka (Lakota), Mother Earth. Our right to existence is one with responsibilities to everything else in creation. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? Black Square 2017 (Above The River) would require the pipeline project receive a “no action alternative” decision from the EIS. Crude oil would flow through the site threatening water for everyone downstream because all pipelines eventually leak.

Photo: Myron Dewey

Aidan Shaughnessy (McGlaughlin, South Dakota, Standing Rock Res) Where is the project proposed? Eagle Butte, South Dakota Project Title: Bee Haven Project Description: Prairie, savannah, wetland and shoreline restorations for indigenous and exotic bees, butterflies, plants and peoples, refugees. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? Yes, we are south of the DAPL near on the Missouri River where inevitable frac crude threatens our fresh water sources, ecosystems and cultures.

Maurice Spencer (Portland, Oregon) Where is the project proposed? North Dakota Project Title: Try drinking oily water, the musical Project Description: A musical odyssey taking into account humanity's history with water. Spoiler alert: we need to drink water more than we need to burn oil. How would your project be impacted by the pipeline? It would not be workable. The project requires drinking water without the risk of a pipeline rupture that would render it undrinkable.

[hudsonespie]

Understanding Lumber Carrier Vessels

A large variety of goods are transported on a daily basis by the global shipping industry. From fresh produce to oil and gases, each commodity comes with its own transport conditions and restrictions.

One of the most common types of ships used to transport goods is the bulk cargo carrier. This vessel specializes in shipping large quantities of loose items such as ore, grain, industrial components, and cement.

In this article, we will look at a unique class of bulk carriers, known as lumber carrier vessels.

Along with the bulk carrier design and operations, we will also analyse the issues and problems commonly faced by these vessels.

Introduction to Lumber Carrier Vessels

Lumber refers to wooden logs or panels that have been prepared for industries such as furniture, construction etc. Generally, the term lumber is specific to semi-processed wooden beams that have been cut. This is different from timber that refers to untreated wooden goods.

Lumber based cargo are further processed at specialised industries after reaching their destination and are transported to local factories through road and rail transport. Interestingly, lumber carriers are also equipped to carry timber and other wood products. For instance, wood chips, wooden blocks, and even wooden logs are transported by these carriers.

Transporting lumber has its own fair share of challenges, the primary being the shape and size of wooden logs. Considering its cylindrical shape, stacking and loading can be a major issue.

For this, specific equipment and structures have to be used. In general, most lumber carriers only have a single deck. The goods are stored inside specially designed holds below the deck, and can also be stored on the main deck subject to safety restrictions.

For instance, wooden logs can be stored above deck as long as it is safely restrained. However, wood chips and other loose substances can only be stored within the holds. Thus, prior to estimating the cargo tonnage that can be shipped, it is important to analyse the type of cargo and the transport conditions that may apply to it.

Most lumber carriers span over 200 meters in length and have a beam of between 30 to 40 meters. The average deadweight tonnage of the vessels lies between 60,000 to 80,000 DWT. In the next section, we will take a detailed look at the design of these lumber carriers, and how they may differ from other regular vessels.

Design of Lumber Carriers

From a broad classification, lumber carriers are a category of bulk cargo vessels. Bulk carriers are designed to utilize maximum space for cargo storage and transport. In this regard, the primary storage site is the holds situated below deck. Also known as hatches, they can be accessed through the hatch covers present on the deck.

The sides of the ship’s hull are generally of shell design, to provide additional strength and torsional stiffness to the vessel. However, in case other stiffening members have been used, these vessels may only have a single hull framework. The space between the side shells is used to house electronics, piping and other systems that may need to run along the length of the ship.

Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems and other equipment can often be found within the side shell.

In most lumber carriers, a double bottom hull is used. A double bottom is similar in concept to the side shell and is constructed by having two horizontal surfaces separating the cargo from the water outside the hull. It primarily serves to prevent spillage in case of liquid and gaseous goods.

Additionally, in the case of lumber carriers, it adds stiffness to the hull of the ship. In most bulk carriers, there is a long tunnel running along the length of the ship, within the double bottom. Known as the duct keel, it provides a quick route to access any part of the ship. It contains space for equipment to be stored, and also for any maintenance work to be carried out.

Since this tunnel often reaches over 200 meters in length and the crew may be required to stay within it for extended periods of time, air conditioning and ventilation systems are provided for the safety of the crew members. Safety regulations generally restrict the duct width to be within 2 meters. As it runs underneath the cargo holds, it can be used even during loading and unloading operations.

The upper deck houses hatch covers and hydraulic systems. In addition, piping and electrical equipment are also present on the deck. In case of lumber carriers, specialized holds, restraint points, and pad eyes are provided to tether down any lumber that may need to be stored above deck.

Ropes and other restraints with a large yield strength are also provided to hold the goods down during a voyage. As unprocessed timber is susceptible to rotting when it is soaked in water, tarpaulins and other covering materials are often used to protect the goods from spoilage. Since it is important that no water be allowed to accumulate near such timber, the goods are usually covered for the entire duration of the voyage.

The bridge is located at the top of the superstructure, that is often near the aft of the ship. The remainder of this structure contains the galley, machinery units, and housing quarters for the crew and officers. There may also be lockers for the storage of essential equipment in specified regions.

The engines and associated machinery are placed near the keel of the vessel at the aft. The engines rest on specialized shockproof floors that redirect the vibrational forces away from the sensitive regions of the vessel. The vibrational forces and shocks are usually carried to the hull plates and are then redistributed to prevent any structural fatigue.

As with other vessels, most bulk carriers use twin propellers powered by two large marine diesel engines that generally operate under two stoke and low-speed conditions. Low-speed propellers are preferred to reduce the effects of cavitation, especially on a ship of this size.

There are generally between four to six holds on most bulk carriers spanning above 200 meters. Multiple holds are required to act as protection against any flooding that may occur. In the event of water entering any hold, the separation layer ensures that the remaining areas of the ship are not affected.

These holds are divided using transverse bulkheads running along with the breadth of the vessel. Generally, longitudinal bulkheads are not required, as long as the cargo is properly stowed. However, as there is a tendency for lumber to shift during the journey, some shipowners construct a single longitudinal bulkhead running along the centre plane of the vessel.

This reduces a phenomenon known as the Free Surface Effect (FSE) that occurs when loose cargo shifts within the holds. It is responsible for a majority of flooding and sinking scenarios, as it rapidly destabilizes a floating ship. Longitudinal bulkheads drastically reduce this effect by restricting the cargo shift.

The hatch covers present over the individual holds are large enough to enable cranes to load and unload the goods with ease. Cranes may occasionally be present on the deck of the vessel but are not used in the majority of lumber carriers.

Lumber Carrier Operations

In this section, we will take a look at the various operations that take place on lumber carriers.

The first operation is the loading procedure that takes place either from a port or from a separate loading facility. Separate facilities are only feasible when the lumber processing plant is situated near a canal or river that is wide enough to accommodate a fully loaded bulk vessel.

Loading makes use of large cranes that are present dockside, and in some cases on the deck of the vessel. On the dock, the lumber is collected and prepared for shipment. Batches of up to 10 pieces are bound together and are then placed inside the holds using cranes. Usually, bulldozers are also lowered into the hold to arrange the lumber at the base of the vessel.

Once this is done, the bulldozer is lifted back out, and the cranes handle the remaining arrangements. It is important that the pieces are tethered at regular intervals to prevent shifting. For this, restraints usually run along with the breadth of the vessel at fixed positions within the hold.

Once the holds have been filled and sealed using the hatch covers, the cranes begin to load lumber on to the deck. This is dependent on the type of cargo and possible weather conditions on the route. Lumber is primarily loaded around the hatch covers, tethered, and then covered with protective material. After that, stacks of lumber are loaded on to the remaining area of the deck.

The hatch covers need to be suitably reinforced to prevent any sort of damage while loading. Fabricated timber pieces are stored on pallets and are stored within the hold to prevent any damage. While all efforts are made to reduce contact with water, ventilation is often required for the cargo such that any existing dampness may be removed. For this, specialized covers and protective layers have been designed that allow the lumber to stay dry. It is also important to ensure that the lumber is absolutely dry prior to loading.

The next operation is unloading that can occur either at a port or surrounding facility. The cargo stored above decks is first removed using cranes. Once the area surrounding the hatch has been cleared, surveyors and dock officials ensure that the hatch covers have not suffered from any damage.

After clearance, the covers are opened and cranes begin the unloading process from each of the holds. Towards the bottom of the hold, bulldozers are lowered to collect the cargo and prepare it for lifting. After the entire cargo hold has been cleared, thorough cleaning of the entire ship is undertaken to remove any possible rust that may have occurred through contact with moist wood. Fumigation is also carried out within the holds. Once certified and cleared by the port authorities, the ship is allowed to pick up its next load.

Lumber carriers can take anywhere up to 48 hours to complete the loading and unloading procedures, as compared to 12 hours for containers vessels and 26 hours for large tankers.

Problems Faced by Lumber Carriers

Lumber carrying vessels tend to suffer from structural damages and loss of cargo, owing to the unstable nature of goods that they transport. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has fixed guidelines on the transport of lumber.

The primary reason for the damage is improper tethering. There are a large number of wires and chains used to hold goods within the allotted area, and it is essential that the wires are used in the appropriate position.

When loading the cargo, a meshed pattern of wires is laid out between several layers to keep the goods in place. It is also important to ensure that the wires are properly tethered to restraints and supports on the hull.

As wooden logs may shift during the voyage, it is suggested that the cargo situated above deck is stored near the fore and aft regions of the vessel, and not preferably on the hatch covers.

Damage to the hatch covers can be expensive and may even put the ship out of commission. Although it is suitably reinforced with support members of high scantling, the hatch openings represent the weakest points on the main deck. Thus, to prevent any form of damage, cargo is not loaded on to the covers.

Another issue often faced by lumber carriers is vessel rolling. Rolling refers to the dynamic motion of the vessel in a transverse direction i.e., rotation from port to starboard. To prevent the cargo from breaking loose and falling overboard due to rolling, the main deck is at a lower height as compared to the side of the vessel.

The timber ends are compactly fit, to prevent any shifting or movement. In addition, there are several regulatory standards on the maximum height of the stowed cargo. It is important to pay heed to the vessel limits specified in the trim and stability handbook. There is a load limit known as the Timber Load Line (TLL) that specifies the tonnage of timber that may be loaded on the deck of a vessel. Prior to loading a vessel, it is important to adhere to safety regulations and the limitations of the ship.

Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Marine Insight. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader.

The article or images cannot be reproduced, copied, shared or used in any form without the permission of the author and Marine Insight.

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from Storage Containers https://www.marineinsight.com/naval-architecture/understanding-lumber-carrier-vessels/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[maciasestrada7-blog]

Make use of These Tips To Obtain The Garden You have got Constantly Dreamed Of!

Ever planned to try your hand in gardening? Vegetable patches may be a great technique to dip by yourself in the outdoors. They can certainly end up being a great health supplement to your food preparation. Fresh new, home-grown organic fresh vegetables generally taste better than typically the market substitutes, and they may very easy to improve when given the right recommendations. To make your back garden more fruitful, allocate living space based on what exactly grows up best in your place instead of simply selecting your most favorite crops. In case you love beets, in case tomato plants develop better around your climate then offer them more place in your garden and produce your own beet plantings smaller. Request your neighbors as well as take a look about your area to discover precisely what grows best in the region. A great hint to having a fantastic lawn is to be genuine. When shopping the glossy packages of seeds are incredibly appealing, yet several of those only develop in particular climates. Be realistic to what expands in this area and do not plant objects that accomplish not increase nicely. It is so disappointing to help flower a new garden together with have virtually no fruit and fruit and vegetables are derived from this. To keep dirt through getting under your fingernails when gardening, reach intended for a good rod of a cleaning agent beforehand! Around we just about all love gardening, none involving you really delight in all that garden soil that obtains stuck beneath our fingernails or toenails that can be thus challenging to remove. Basically claw a bar regarding detergent before you begin working in your garden and when finished, run your own personal hands below water together with as the cleansing soap flushes away, so does the dust! Make sure your pot could be the right size with regard to your plant. If this pot is too small , and the plant's roots may well not have enough space to grow. This origins will become "root bound", stop growing, and get started in order to suffocate. The dimensions of the root method can determine the measurement of the plant together with yield. Aim to start your current gardens at the earliest possible time and always keep them as delayed because possible to maximize this amount of plant life you aren't able to produce. Anyone can use stuff like cloches, cold frames, in addition to tunnels to start gardening a couple of weeks in advance. You could also use strip protects in the fall to extend your harvest season. To take care of plants from suffering permanent damage, be sure to be able to check all of them for insects and various diseases from least once a week. Each one of these problems are very much easier to treat in the event caught quickly, and monitoring them closely can maintain these individuals from spreading to help other vegetation. Research approaches to treat popular issues so that you'll become prepared for whatever an individual encounter. Place a barrier around outside the house. It maintains out pups, kids and even a wide variety of other creatures which could attempt to seep into your space. If there are gophers your city, you can furthermore try using increased bed frames in your garden along with screened in bottoms. The excess effort is worth typically the stress it will conserve you. Know the ideal the perfect time to harvest the greens with your garden. Each variety of plant has the specific time to become gathered so that anyone may well enjoy its max flavor. Quite a few vegetables will be best when picked out young; baby peas undoubtedly are a prime example. On the in contrast, tomato vegetables shouldn't be selected from the vine right until they are ripe as can be. Research the best time to pick out your produce. Keep a good eye about your lilies. Regrettably, lilies are vulnerable to help malware disease, such as lily mosaic. If you will, purchase lamps that happen to be guaranteed 'virus-free'. During coltivare cannabis legale rising season, keep a pointy appearance out for any aphids, since they spread the disease. Make sure to squirt with insecticidals soap at the beginning sign of them. Select specific plants for dry out dirt. Light and sand soil have many rewards: they warm up immediately in the springtime plus drain well after rainy climate. The downside is they could quickly become very dried out in the summer, in addition to plants should work hard to extract more than enough humidity to survive. Certain plant life are very tolerant of dried up conditions, as lengthy as they are offered the helping hand whenever young. Once established they actually well with very bit of water. These plants include things like alyssum, cosmos, hebe, lavender, rosemary, sedum and veronica. Composting for organic growing plants reduces the need with regard to fertilizers, is a variety connected with herbicide, can aid prevent herb diseases together with helps impact the particular natural environment in positive techniques. Composting is a source associated with healthy eating plan for insects, assists with dirt erosion and reduces waste products sent to landfills. It is amazing for the health of the environment in normal. Use hostas to lighten right up a shady region. Hostas are the good plant to be able to brighten up a shady section of your own garden. They are developed primarily for their actually leaves, which line in coloration from heavy blue-green in order to vivid yellow-green. Blooms usually are usually lavender, yet Hosta Plantaginea features showy, aromatic white flowers. They may be top grown in succulent, high soil which has recently been amended with plenty involving compost. Large clumps could easily be divided inside the Fall. Choose a web-site regarding fruit trees based upon on their own specific needs. Most fruits trees call for 8 hrs of sunlight per day. Morning sun is important, as that dries dew rapidly, helping to protect against fungus. Stay away from planting fruit trees in the very low spot within the garden exactly where frost or cold atmosphere will be able to collect. Some berry bushes are especially susceptible in order to overdue frost damage, plus are much better planted upon a new north-facing slope. This kind of is especially true to get peach, plum, cherry and apricot trees. Praise the places of your lawn where grass will not really increase. Do not get discouraged. Do not try to regrow cup generally there. Go ahead and have this opportunity to change your ground cover an increasingly normal choice. Look for something that is low-maintenance, and put everywhere grass is struggling to be able to thrive. As discussed in this posting, growing your unique vegetables put in at home and valuable. Physically captivating and mouth-wateringly good, home-grown vegetables are usually simply a matter regarding seconds of research, moments of work, and a number of weeks or perhaps several weeks connected with growing time. Although results aren't instant, they certainly happen to be gratifying and can supply you with a bountiful supply of food items.

[mollyalicia3]

Best Parking Lot Cleaning, Inc.

Seattle is famous for unique businesses that have shifted paradigmatic models in industries from technology to arts. An unassuming brother and sister team have brought that creative energy to effect transformative change in the typical business model of storm water management and an array of environmental management and maintenance services that are not typically operated in a single company. But, Seattle natives Rebecca Craig and her brother Richard Hamilton are not your average entrepreneurs in the storm sewer management industry. The track record of these young business partners is also not in the vicinity of average performance. First of all, the name isn’t even normal for the sewer industry: Best Parking Lot Cleaning, Inc. (BPLCI). It’s got nothing to do with storm drain water handling. But, it’s the business name the siblings inherited, along with their father’s business, when they were just teenagers. The business is obviously about more than its large liquid waste revenue channel. The company is also one of the premier Seattle street sweeping companies, offering a unique range of services between the two separate classes of environmental maintenance services. But, no marketer is likely to motivate the owners to change the name to anything more symbolic of the actual range of services they provide. They cheerfully shrug off that suggestion. They can afford to have a less-than flashy name, because their market position and their reputation are so well established that the name in the yellow triangle logo on their trucks means less to their network of customers and prospects at this point than the relationships that Rebecca and Richard and their professional team have built with them. The brother and sister have come a long way since the year their parents died only months apart, when Rebecca and Richard were just teenagers. They were faced with the forbidding challenge of sustaining and growing their family’s business, which had been operating since the mid-1970s. The two now stand looking back at the decades of economic and other obstacles they’ve overcome, and the unusual market demands and changes to which they’ve adapted. What a strange odyssey that journey must have been, especially in those earliest days¬—stepping into their parents’ shoes as mere youths, managing grown adults who were doing very serious and demanding work. At just 20 years of age, Rebecca was suddenly calling the shots in a predominately male industry that is prohibitively challenging and expensive for the vast majority of strong adults to even think about competing in. A couple of years later, at just 18 years of age, fresh out of high school, Richard came on board, and the two moved forward together, to beat all odds in the difficult business. The sibling management team is intensely driven. Their happy, casual demeanor is under-skirted with a clearly discernable laser focus on their business priorities. They joke that their method has been just to keep showing up and see what happens and that they’ve never exactly figured out what they’re doing. But, that humble, witty grace is actually the veritable packaging of a brand that has become a Seattle institution in a region where environmental issues from storm water to volcanic eruptions make their particular service sector a crucial one. The secret of the partnership’s almost 30-year success? It’s not a one-line answer. Let’s break it down:

Can Two Youths Make It In a World of Heavy-Equipment and Intense Responsibility? To back up a little, Richard’s and Rebecca’s dad, Randall Hamilton, opened the business over forty years ago and began running it while he continued working his regular day job. He started out sweeping and cleaning parking lots around the area, using a water truck. The business grew beyond his expectations, and some of the company’s current customers were among those Randall first served over four decades ago. In 1980, when Mount St. Helens erupted, the City of Auburn made a public works contract with him. His business grew slowly to around a dozen or so service vehicles. Through the first six years or so after their parents’ deaths about 29 years ago, the kids, Richard and Rebecca, hired people to manage the business. They had seen their parents running it throughout their childhoods. They had even helped stuff some envelopes. But, they had no appreciable experience or qualifications when they decided to run it themselves. They did have more than just the blind confidence of youth driving them to take the reins. They actually expected some failures, but they reasoned that at least they could safely assume that nobody else would probably care about the success of their company than they would. So, it was off to the races. And, predictably, there was some amount of stumbling and falling here and there for a while. Now reflecting on their journey, Rebecca and Richard say that they’re kind of amazed that the company actually survived. By the time they stepped in to manage it, taxes were waiting to be paid, there was difficulty getting loan approvals, and other problems. The kids didn’t really know what to do. Richard says he had always been interested in working in the business and had always viewed it as a good opportunity for himself. Today, he says he’s glad not to have the student loan debt his friends all have. Rebecca agrees that, even with all of the pitfalls of entrepreneurship, it’s well worth it to be able to operate your own business. The business was slowly but steadily growing up to about 2010, when the recession hit. Rebecca remembers it as a dark time, “I didn’t think we were going to survive that. Sales fell 50%. But, we did survive and recover.” So, they’ve made it work. Or, at least that’s the closest thing to an expression of pride about their monumental accomplishment that you’ll pry from them. The Best organization currently has over 50 employees, including around 45 field service team members, five mechanics, and administrative staff managing scheduling and AP/AR, payroll, and other tasks. The company also employs two sales employees, an aggressive strategy for a company of its type and size. Rebecca and Richard also do sales as well as many other tasks common for small business owners in the industry. The business has a second location in Woodinville. Best’s excellent growth over the years under management by the sister and brother team bears out the soundness of their strategic operational model. The highly diversified services array offered by Best includes Storm Drain Cleaning, Catch Basin Cleaning, Pond Cleaning, Street Sweeping, Snow Plowing, and Parking Lot Cleaning. Rebecca explains some of these as extra services the company provides for customers who request them. Much of the company’s new business comes due to the team’s flexibility to offer services related to those that they’re delivering at any given site and time. The field service vehicles are equipped with cameras that detect problems inside catch basins while Best’s workers are servicing them. Those discoveries frequently indicate needs for other work to be done. Rebecca explains that there are also many kinds of service needs that are closely interrelated to those they provide, so that often some type of work must be done in order to make it possible to do other types. The Best team’s goal is always to provide customers with the help they need to get the necessary work done as conveniently and quickly as possible. About 50% of the company’s business is from storm drain cleaning (with the other half generated from street sweeping and other services). Around 75% of the company’s total revenues come from incoming calls with requests for service within 24 hours. Approximately 95% of Best’s work is within a 100-mile radius of their Seattle location. In the Seattle area, everything that washes into storm drains heads to the Puget Sound. Because those drain contents can’t be permitted to flow into the Sound, everything washing down into the storm drains must be cleared up quickly. So, a company like Best, that can provide rapid response, is in high demand in the market. In addition to providing fast response, Richard and Rebecca have always been strongly committed to fair pricing for their team’s work. This simple, but challenging combination of fast service delivery and fair prices has sustained and grown the business. The owners are proud to continue serving customers that their dad began his company with back in 1977. Rebecca attributes the company’s success simply to reputation and relationships built on basic business service consumer principles, “They know that about us. As long as we’re fair, they continue to call us.” She adds that there’s plenty of work to go around in the region, so that aggressive pricing isn’t necessary, even though she also points out that Seattle is a very competitive market.

So, What Do They Offer That’s So Special? All of the waste material collected from storm drains must be disposed of according to code. It cannot be simply dumped in a regular dumpster. One winning feature of Best’s services is that the company has its own waste disposal facility. So, the company offers customers everything necessary to ensure the smoothest possible cleanup and disposal process handled seamlessly. Best also provides waste tracking for customers. Tracking of waste is required, in order to ensure it’s being taken to an approved disposal facility. That’s something that customers are responsible for doing themselves, under the environmental requirements, as the parties generating the waste. Providing customers with tracking along with pick up and disposal is makes the entire process optimally efficient and convenient for them. The company does have another service location in Woodinville, which provides various roadwork services, but around 95% of Best’s work is done within a hundred miles of the Seattle main location. In addition to the company’s storm water clean out and street maintenance services, they’ve recently begun offering roll-off dumpster services. The owners anticipate significant growth from the dumpster revenue line. That makes Best’s diversification of services decidedly one of the most ambitious we’ve seen around the country.

How Do They Generate Business? After the forty years the business has been operating, Rebecca and Richard still find that there’s a need to stay active with sales. They say that well know it can only take one mistake to get yourself replaced with a few clicks or a phone call. However, Richard estimates that last year (2018), 90% of Best’s customers had received services from them during the year before (2017). That number, of course, speaks very well of the consistently strong quality of their team’s performance. In addition to their sales program, they also participate on some area websites where cities post jobs for contractors to bid on. (And, they use the standard logos on trucks and employees shirts and hats to make their company visible on jobsites and in the community.) Speaking of the community, Seattle is under heavy development, which is expected to continue for another eleven years (through 2030). Transportation is chaotic. Rebecca says their logistics have had to incorporate special routing to get through to customer locations, and time used for metro area travel can be so extreme that charges must be passed on to their customers to help offset costs of employees and vehicles spending so much time getting from point A to B through traffic. Yet another challenge to meeting commitments and controlling costs for their company and customers.

Overcoming Old and New Obstacles in Liquid Waste Businesses Recruiting and retaining good employees is an ongoing challenge across the liquid waste handling industry as well as in the sweeping industry, which Best also operates in. The business pays enormous amounts of overtime, due to the continual shortage of viable job candidates. The company provides a very competitive compensation package. We don’t want to be under any illusion. Our employees have to feed their families too. Offering good pay and benefits means that the company isn’t going to be the lowest bidder. But, the savvy owner/operators have a deep understanding of the long-term advantages of pricing commensurately with their service quality. They know how to avoid falling into the common perceptual trap of undercutting prices and thereby undermining their own potential for success. Best has employees who’ve been with the company for 25-30 years. Some have been running the same machinery for 20 years. Some specialize in specific services and are dedicated to specific customer accounts. Others are cross-functional staff who receive a wide range of types of training, to handle emergency response services. Rebecca also mentions that the absence of adequate, reasonably priced, industry-specific accounting software has risen up the charts of persistent problems. She notes that that’s a modern problem that seems especially weird to have in Seattle, the veritable tech innovation capital of the world. Certainly, a pesky massive ongoing employment market problem here and a nagging process-impacting tech problem there could never have been enough to stop the likes of the Rebecca and Richard, not even 30 years ago, when they were to become entrepreneurial kid superheroes. Surmounting challenges is what those two specialize in, so, no worries in Seattle. True to form, they credit their team, and they shy away from any personal accolades. They’re always for the team, always talking in terms of the team, always fixed on the care of the team. We won’t list all of the many compensation, performance incentive, team building, cultural development, employee engagement, employee satisfaction and exemplary hiring-quality processes that the company has in place. There are too many. We will have to let it be enough here to motivate us to strongly suggest to any employer in this industry who is operating with so much difficulty in employee retention that it is threatening the sustainability of the business, follow the example of this ownership pair—think team nurturing. The now seasoned business partners’ have proven that their long expressed aim toward maintaining continued slow, steady growth throughout the years was a solid strategy for long-term success in the industry. As for their entire service strategy, it appears to amount to helping people trust them and feel confident that they’re going to be provided with good service and fair billing. They’ve proven that that works to encourage people to call them again, and that retaining customers doesn’t really need to be more complicated than that.

http://www.americanliquidwaste.com/2019/04/spotlight/best-parking-lot-cleaning-inc/

from Septic Tank Pumping Pros https://septictankpumpingpros.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/best-parking-lot-cleaning-inc/

[adamn-ellis]

How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style - AMEPAC Furniture

Home Furniture Ideas on https://amepac.org/how-to/how-to-decorate-a-kids-bedroom-easy-ideas-for-every-style/

How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style

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While many people spend a lot of their décor thought and effort on public rooms, such as the living room and kitchen, it is in the bedroom that purposeful and effective décor really has an impact on a homeowner’s well-being. In this article, we’ll look at a variety of styles of and methods for how to decorate a bedroom, including ways to decorate a bedroom for free.

Whether you’re looking to decorate a kid’s bedroom or a master bedroom, we hope you’ll find some inspiration in these spaces.

Maintain proportions.

A child’s bed will often be small, which means it makes the most sense to keep the decorations in proportion to that bed. Hang wall art lower, don’t stress over matching, and keep it simple.

Add a unique lamp.

A cute lamp goes a long way in a kid’s bedroom for adding to the décor without adding a bunch of clutter that, let’s be honest, will likely end up on the floor or in another room altogether.

Note: A unique lamp is a great addition to any bedroom, really, whether kid’s, guest, or master. One decorating tip with lamps is to choose a single focus – if the lamp shade is printed or bold, go with a simple lamp base, and vice versa.

Give accessible items a tasteful “resting” spot.

Easy access to books in a basket gives your child an opportunity to read in bed and also an opportunity to clean up after him/herself easily. This corner bedroom is a perfect getaway for any little body.

Mix bedding.

Vintage quilts are charming and colorful, two important components to a kid’s bedroom. They can be mixed with bold patterns, such as a chunky black and white stripe, to bring the bedroom a modern, somewhat eclectic vibe.

Hang a canopy.

There are few things more magical to a child than having a “fort” or other special place. A canopy for a bed creates an instant sort of secret garden getaway. The canopy can be ceiling mounted and hung over even just a corner of the bed with a beautiful effect…and a million imaginative opportunities.

Double canopies are a fun way to create a “princess” feel in a girls’ bedroom, in particular. They are particularly feminine when made out of a gauzy, pale material.

Fill the space with beautiful things.

If your child feels more at home surrounded by things s/he loves, then take this into consideration when you’re working to decorate the bedroom. If it’s what they love, fill the space! Fill the walls, overlap loved pieces and prints.

Layer window treatments.

Just because a window already has window treatments doesn’t mean it’s automatically off-limits for further décor. A sweet garland or banner (or two!) layered over top of curtains provides depth and charm.

Choose a unique bed. To make a statement, and to make a child feel very special, consider selecting a bed that is unique and stylish in its own right. Iron, brass, wood, and many other materials make great bed frame choices.

It’s a good idea, on a kid’s bed, to provide some way for the child to be able to sit comfortably while in bed. Whether it’s a padded headboard or a vertical stack of squishy pillows, be sure that the child has the ability to read, doodle, or even just sit and listen to music while tucked away in their own space.

Keep the palette contained.

In the case of a very decorated kids’ bedroom, there is a high potential of being overstimulating. This effect can be alleviated by the strategic adherence to a soft, pale color palette.

A tight color palette of soft, similar colors helps the many pieces of décor work in cohesion. They provide charming decoration without assaulting the senses like high contrasting tones would do.

Let kids’ rooms be fancy.

Many parents avoid “fancy” decorations in their children’s bedrooms for a variety of reasons, but there are few bedroom schemes as magical for a child as those that look and feel grown-up. Draped strings of pearls, ornate gilded frames, and plenty of textures and metallics throughout the space transform this girls’ bedroom into a princess palace.  

Mount 3-D shapes on the wall.

Metal butterflies look like they’re softly, swiftly taking flight, mounted to the wall and flying up and over the closet door. The same charming effect could be achieved with any number of animal cut-outs.

Include black.

A completely pink or a completely blue or a completely any-color room will feel relatively one-dimensional, no matter how well it’s decorated, if there isn’t something black or very dark to keep things grounded. Even in this airy, girly bedroom, some dark accents are included to keep the entire room from floating away, because that’s actually an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling.

Create a gallery wall.

A gallery wall that has matching white frames is a great place to start, as far as wall decorating in a kid’s bedroom. The white frames lend a sweetness to the artwork, which means that the artwork itself doesn’t need to be juvenile.

A gallery wall behind a large furniture piece, such as a desk or dresser, can be given a more casual vibe by being layered behind a few colorful toys or other sentimental objects.

Incorporate wood.

One decorating mistake that is easy to make while decorating a child’s bedroom is to choose colorful pieces or painted furnishings without incorporating some natural wood.

Wood pieces provide a beautiful and stabilizing component of any decorated space, and kids’ bedrooms are no exception.

Accommodate awkward architecture.

This attic bedroom of a 100+ year old home has charming and challenging slanted ceilings. The room itself is delightful, though, with plenty of natural light let in by a strategic one-sided window drapery.

A dresser is tucked under yet another slanted ceiling, creating the secure feel of a nook. Keep colors muted with busy architecture so that there is less extraneous visual chaos.

Include a rocking chair.

The curtain pools to the floor for elegance, and a rocking chair is thoughtfully equipped with a blanket and pillow for long or short snuggles.

Having a chair that you can read together in is a great functional and formative decorating tip for any bedroom – a nursery, a child’s bedroom, even a teen’s, guest, or master.

Here, a rocking chair tucked into the corner of a smallish-average sized master bedroom illustrates clearly that children are welcome here, that feet can (and should!) be put up at the end of a day, that life can slow down for a few moments.

Use greenery.

Any bedroom with a source of natural light will probably benefit from a healthy plant. It’s a great way to soften corners and round out edges, plus it just makes the space feel fresh and healthful.

Use soft rugs.

No matter the regular floor type, it’s always a sweet idea to place a soft rug of sorts underfoot at the side of the bed. This provides a physical and emotional transition from bed to life and back to bed again.

Add gold polka dots.

In this tiny nursery, nothing could be cuter than the mid-sized gold polka dots on the facing wall. The peach wall color provides a traditional feeling foundation, but the polka dots combined with pooled drapes, modern light fixture, and greenery create a lovely, welcoming, almost grown-up space. Almost.

The slanted ceiling feels perfect in this space where imaginative play is encouraged to reign supreme.

Architecturally, the crib is tucked away on all sides, making the space feel snug and safe. No other décor is needed when the architecture is allowed to do all the design heavy lifting.

Hang a textile.

A favorite blanket, an heirloom quilt, a keepsake from a travel excursion, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of visual textile can easily be hung on the wall as a form of art. This is especially lovely in a child’s bedroom, as the fabric-y nature softens the grownup concept of art.

Leave windows bare.

If the bedroom is on an upper level of the house, you can get away with leaving them untreated without sacrificing privacy. This helps the room overall to feel lightened and brightened.

Hang a dress as décor.

It couldn’t be easier, really, to simply hang a dress or a favorite shirt from the closet door handles, but what a sweet impact this small touch makes on the entire room!

Include a surface by the bed.

Nightstands, or horizontal surfaces easily accessible from the bed, are not just important in adult bedrooms. They’re great for kids’ rooms, too. Something as simple as a chair is an inexpensive, or even free, way to decorate the bedroom and can provide precisely the convenience that a child needs at bedtime, for a book or a pair of glasses or even a water bottle.

Let toys in.

No matter what else is going on, decoration-wise, in the room, remember that a child’s bedroom will be most effective if there are at least a few toys easily accessible to the child and his/her friends. A doll cradle, rocking horse, or something else on the larger side of toy-dom makes this less visually intrusive, actually, than a whole collection of itty bitty pieces. (Those, of course, can easily be contained in larger basket or box, for a simpler aesthetic solution.)

Use stacks of books as décor.

You’ll do well to rotate the books in the stack so that they actually get read and enjoyed, but a stack of books with a plant on top, for example, makes a great statement. And it’s about a simple and straightforward a bedroom decoration as you can imagine…and it’s free!

Match bedding.

If your kids are lucky enough to share a room, it’s fun to match bedding a little bit to keep the potential for visual chaos at bay. These built-in bunks are so interesting architecturally that it would be a disservice to this bedroom if the bedding were competing for attention.

Include a comfy seat.

We all love a comfy place to snuggle up, and what better place to include such a seat than a child’s bedroom? It’s best if there is an easily accessible reading light nearby to encourage reading…isn’t that just about every parent’s dream for their kid? To find them snuggled in, lost in the world of a good book?

Paint doors the same color as walls.

This is less critical if you are looking to decorate a bedroom with white walls already, because you probably won’t even notice the fact that the doors are white as well. But often, when bedroom walls are painted a beautiful color, the doors are left white by default. I’m not sure why this is so. But painting the doors the same color as the walls creates a calming, soothing atmosphere…and makes a small room feel a bit larger.

Look up.

Kids spend a lot of time looking up at the world, adults less so. With this in mind, it’s a great tip to look up and decorate the space above a grownup’s eye level. Hang a mural or a ship from the ceiling, especially a vaulted ceiling, to really delight the younger bedroom population.

Look up.

A mobile of planets provides food for young thought as well as a sight for sore eyes. This mobile looks particularly studious set against wood paneled walls; it’s a great look for a teenager’s room as much as a child’s.

Build a bench.

Perhaps your child’s bedroom isn’t set up for a built-in window bench (although lucky you if it is!), but you can mimic the look and function of a window seat by building a bench and padding its top.

Use symmetry.

For the bedroom with two twin beds, a charming way to create equal design opportunities for both of the room’s inhabitants is to use symmetry. Two similar, if not matching, beds create structure and cohesion in a space that has lots going on, just by nature of its doubled-up inhabitants.

Install a chandelier.

A fancy vintage chandelier is delightfully elegant and sophisticated in a child’s bedroom, which makes it a perfect choice for such a space. You may want to supplement with other task-oriented lighting in the space, but a chandelier will certainly be a focal point.

Clear the nightstand.

The purpose of a nightstand is to have a surface at the ready when you’re going to sleep, but this makes it prone to becoming a dumping ground of all sorts of odds and ends. When this happens, then it no longer serves its purpose. Keep the nightstand free of unnecessary clutter for a useful addition to the child’s bedroom, even if it means making “clear the nightstand” a part of the child’s morning routine.

Use real objects as toys.

Vintage objects can make magical playthings, as evidenced by this real-life cradle. Not only is the object chock-full of sentimentality (the girls whose bedroom this is each lay in there as babies themselves), but it can provide hours of creative play opportunity.

Plus, it’s hard to replicate the details of a well-made and well-loved vintage piece.

Create a working space.

Even when they’re toddlers or preschoolers, most children love to have their own “working” space. A desk, a table, or any sort of space that feels like the desk of a grownup is going to be a hit for many children.

Allow space for organization.

An organized desk area and a useful magnet or bulleting board will help the child hone organization skills, as well as be able to find and access the important things.

Use soft seats.

Fabric can easily be swapped out on many desk chairs, so why not take advantage of this fact and upholster the seat of the child’s desk chair? This is a simple and effective way to introduce pattern and color into a space, too, if those are components that are lacking.

Incorporate a fun seat.

There’s something alluring about a chair that’s mounted from the ceiling, especially for kids. Hang a swing, a hammock, an egg chair, or any number of seat-able objects to help your child’s room feel like a fun and unique getaway.

Choose a colorful chair.

Chairs are relatively simple to find in a variety of colors and styles, and this is a very simple way to bring color contrast or enhancement into a bedroom. A happy yellow desk chair, for example, is going to add so much personality to a child’s bedroom while giving her a comfortable place to sit and study. It’s a win-win!

Paint stripes.

If you’re a minimalist at heart or are simply not up for decorating with stuff, you can achieve a decorated look in a child’s bedroom by painting the walls. Consider vertical or horizontal stripes behind the bed for a unique and simple method of decorating. Bonus: It takes up no space!

Hang wallpaper.

Wallpaper is available in so many patterns, styles, shapes, colors, proportions, etc. If you want to wallpaper your child’s bedroom, you’re sure to find something that suits both of you, style-wise. This gorgeous bird wallpaper sets the perfect tone for a bolder fuchsia tufted headboard; the contrast is utterly charming.

We hope you’ve been inspired and found ways that you can decorate your kids bedroom in ways that make your children happy. And that you are able to recognize that you don’t have to sacrifice style or organization just because the space is primarily visited by a child. Enjoy creating the space that they will love to spend time in.

The post How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style appeared first on Home Decorating Trends – Homedit.

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How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style - AMEPAC Furniture

How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style

[ad_1]

While many people spend a lot of their décor thought and effort on public rooms, such as the living room and kitchen, it is in the bedroom that purposeful and effective décor really has an impact on a homeowner’s well-being. In this article, we’ll look at a variety of styles of and methods for how to decorate a bedroom, including ways to decorate a bedroom for free.

Whether you’re looking to decorate a kid’s bedroom or a master bedroom, we hope you’ll find some inspiration in these spaces.

Maintain proportions.

A child’s bed will often be small, which means it makes the most sense to keep the decorations in proportion to that bed. Hang wall art lower, don’t stress over matching, and keep it simple.

Add a unique lamp.

A cute lamp goes a long way in a kid’s bedroom for adding to the décor without adding a bunch of clutter that, let’s be honest, will likely end up on the floor or in another room altogether.

Note: A unique lamp is a great addition to any bedroom, really, whether kid’s, guest, or master. One decorating tip with lamps is to choose a single focus – if the lamp shade is printed or bold, go with a simple lamp base, and vice versa.

Give accessible items a tasteful “resting” spot.

Easy access to books in a basket gives your child an opportunity to read in bed and also an opportunity to clean up after him/herself easily. This corner bedroom is a perfect getaway for any little body.

Mix bedding.

Vintage quilts are charming and colorful, two important components to a kid’s bedroom. They can be mixed with bold patterns, such as a chunky black and white stripe, to bring the bedroom a modern, somewhat eclectic vibe.

Hang a canopy.

There are few things more magical to a child than having a “fort” or other special place. A canopy for a bed creates an instant sort of secret garden getaway. The canopy can be ceiling mounted and hung over even just a corner of the bed with a beautiful effect…and a million imaginative opportunities.

Double canopies are a fun way to create a “princess” feel in a girls’ bedroom, in particular. They are particularly feminine when made out of a gauzy, pale material.

Fill the space with beautiful things.

If your child feels more at home surrounded by things s/he loves, then take this into consideration when you’re working to decorate the bedroom. If it’s what they love, fill the space! Fill the walls, overlap loved pieces and prints.

Layer window treatments.

Just because a window already has window treatments doesn’t mean it’s automatically off-limits for further décor. A sweet garland or banner (or two!) layered over top of curtains provides depth and charm.

Choose a unique bed. To make a statement, and to make a child feel very special, consider selecting a bed that is unique and stylish in its own right. Iron, brass, wood, and many other materials make great bed frame choices.

It’s a good idea, on a kid’s bed, to provide some way for the child to be able to sit comfortably while in bed. Whether it’s a padded headboard or a vertical stack of squishy pillows, be sure that the child has the ability to read, doodle, or even just sit and listen to music while tucked away in their own space.

Keep the palette contained.

In the case of a very decorated kids’ bedroom, there is a high potential of being overstimulating. This effect can be alleviated by the strategic adherence to a soft, pale color palette.

A tight color palette of soft, similar colors helps the many pieces of décor work in cohesion. They provide charming decoration without assaulting the senses like high contrasting tones would do.

Let kids’ rooms be fancy.

Many parents avoid “fancy” decorations in their children’s bedrooms for a variety of reasons, but there are few bedroom schemes as magical for a child as those that look and feel grown-up. Draped strings of pearls, ornate gilded frames, and plenty of textures and metallics throughout the space transform this girls’ bedroom into a princess palace.  

Mount 3-D shapes on the wall.

Metal butterflies look like they’re softly, swiftly taking flight, mounted to the wall and flying up and over the closet door. The same charming effect could be achieved with any number of animal cut-outs.

Include black.

A completely pink or a completely blue or a completely any-color room will feel relatively one-dimensional, no matter how well it’s decorated, if there isn’t something black or very dark to keep things grounded. Even in this airy, girly bedroom, some dark accents are included to keep the entire room from floating away, because that’s actually an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling.

Create a gallery wall.

A gallery wall that has matching white frames is a great place to start, as far as wall decorating in a kid’s bedroom. The white frames lend a sweetness to the artwork, which means that the artwork itself doesn’t need to be juvenile.

A gallery wall behind a large furniture piece, such as a desk or dresser, can be given a more casual vibe by being layered behind a few colorful toys or other sentimental objects.

Incorporate wood.

One decorating mistake that is easy to make while decorating a child’s bedroom is to choose colorful pieces or painted furnishings without incorporating some natural wood.

Wood pieces provide a beautiful and stabilizing component of any decorated space, and kids’ bedrooms are no exception.

Accommodate awkward architecture.

This attic bedroom of a 100+ year old home has charming and challenging slanted ceilings. The room itself is delightful, though, with plenty of natural light let in by a strategic one-sided window drapery.

A dresser is tucked under yet another slanted ceiling, creating the secure feel of a nook. Keep colors muted with busy architecture so that there is less extraneous visual chaos.

Include a rocking chair.

The curtain pools to the floor for elegance, and a rocking chair is thoughtfully equipped with a blanket and pillow for long or short snuggles.

Having a chair that you can read together in is a great functional and formative decorating tip for any bedroom – a nursery, a child’s bedroom, even a teen’s, guest, or master.

Here, a rocking chair tucked into the corner of a smallish-average sized master bedroom illustrates clearly that children are welcome here, that feet can (and should!) be put up at the end of a day, that life can slow down for a few moments.

Use greenery.

Any bedroom with a source of natural light will probably benefit from a healthy plant. It’s a great way to soften corners and round out edges, plus it just makes the space feel fresh and healthful.

Use soft rugs.

No matter the regular floor type, it’s always a sweet idea to place a soft rug of sorts underfoot at the side of the bed. This provides a physical and emotional transition from bed to life and back to bed again.

Add gold polka dots.

In this tiny nursery, nothing could be cuter than the mid-sized gold polka dots on the facing wall. The peach wall color provides a traditional feeling foundation, but the polka dots combined with pooled drapes, modern light fixture, and greenery create a lovely, welcoming, almost grown-up space. Almost.

The slanted ceiling feels perfect in this space where imaginative play is encouraged to reign supreme.

Architecturally, the crib is tucked away on all sides, making the space feel snug and safe. No other décor is needed when the architecture is allowed to do all the design heavy lifting.

Hang a textile.

A favorite blanket, an heirloom quilt, a keepsake from a travel excursion, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of visual textile can easily be hung on the wall as a form of art. This is especially lovely in a child’s bedroom, as the fabric-y nature softens the grownup concept of art.

Leave windows bare.

If the bedroom is on an upper level of the house, you can get away with leaving them untreated without sacrificing privacy. This helps the room overall to feel lightened and brightened.

Hang a dress as décor.

It couldn’t be easier, really, to simply hang a dress or a favorite shirt from the closet door handles, but what a sweet impact this small touch makes on the entire room!

Include a surface by the bed.

Nightstands, or horizontal surfaces easily accessible from the bed, are not just important in adult bedrooms. They’re great for kids’ rooms, too. Something as simple as a chair is an inexpensive, or even free, way to decorate the bedroom and can provide precisely the convenience that a child needs at bedtime, for a book or a pair of glasses or even a water bottle.

Let toys in.

No matter what else is going on, decoration-wise, in the room, remember that a child’s bedroom will be most effective if there are at least a few toys easily accessible to the child and his/her friends. A doll cradle, rocking horse, or something else on the larger side of toy-dom makes this less visually intrusive, actually, than a whole collection of itty bitty pieces. (Those, of course, can easily be contained in larger basket or box, for a simpler aesthetic solution.)

Use stacks of books as décor.

You’ll do well to rotate the books in the stack so that they actually get read and enjoyed, but a stack of books with a plant on top, for example, makes a great statement. And it’s about a simple and straightforward a bedroom decoration as you can imagine…and it’s free!

Match bedding.

If your kids are lucky enough to share a room, it’s fun to match bedding a little bit to keep the potential for visual chaos at bay. These built-in bunks are so interesting architecturally that it would be a disservice to this bedroom if the bedding were competing for attention.

Include a comfy seat.

We all love a comfy place to snuggle up, and what better place to include such a seat than a child’s bedroom? It’s best if there is an easily accessible reading light nearby to encourage reading…isn’t that just about every parent’s dream for their kid? To find them snuggled in, lost in the world of a good book?

Paint doors the same color as walls.

This is less critical if you are looking to decorate a bedroom with white walls already, because you probably won’t even notice the fact that the doors are white as well. But often, when bedroom walls are painted a beautiful color, the doors are left white by default. I’m not sure why this is so. But painting the doors the same color as the walls creates a calming, soothing atmosphere…and makes a small room feel a bit larger.

Look up.

Kids spend a lot of time looking up at the world, adults less so. With this in mind, it’s a great tip to look up and decorate the space above a grownup’s eye level. Hang a mural or a ship from the ceiling, especially a vaulted ceiling, to really delight the younger bedroom population.

Look up.

A mobile of planets provides food for young thought as well as a sight for sore eyes. This mobile looks particularly studious set against wood paneled walls; it’s a great look for a teenager’s room as much as a child’s.

Build a bench.

Perhaps your child’s bedroom isn’t set up for a built-in window bench (although lucky you if it is!), but you can mimic the look and function of a window seat by building a bench and padding its top.

Use symmetry.

For the bedroom with two twin beds, a charming way to create equal design opportunities for both of the room’s inhabitants is to use symmetry. Two similar, if not matching, beds create structure and cohesion in a space that has lots going on, just by nature of its doubled-up inhabitants.

Install a chandelier.

A fancy vintage chandelier is delightfully elegant and sophisticated in a child’s bedroom, which makes it a perfect choice for such a space. You may want to supplement with other task-oriented lighting in the space, but a chandelier will certainly be a focal point.

Clear the nightstand.

The purpose of a nightstand is to have a surface at the ready when you’re going to sleep, but this makes it prone to becoming a dumping ground of all sorts of odds and ends. When this happens, then it no longer serves its purpose. Keep the nightstand free of unnecessary clutter for a useful addition to the child’s bedroom, even if it means making “clear the nightstand” a part of the child’s morning routine.

Use real objects as toys.

Vintage objects can make magical playthings, as evidenced by this real-life cradle. Not only is the object chock-full of sentimentality (the girls whose bedroom this is each lay in there as babies themselves), but it can provide hours of creative play opportunity.

Plus, it’s hard to replicate the details of a well-made and well-loved vintage piece.

Create a working space.

Even when they’re toddlers or preschoolers, most children love to have their own “working” space. A desk, a table, or any sort of space that feels like the desk of a grownup is going to be a hit for many children.

Allow space for organization.

An organized desk area and a useful magnet or bulleting board will help the child hone organization skills, as well as be able to find and access the important things.

Use soft seats.

Fabric can easily be swapped out on many desk chairs, so why not take advantage of this fact and upholster the seat of the child’s desk chair? This is a simple and effective way to introduce pattern and color into a space, too, if those are components that are lacking.

Incorporate a fun seat.

There’s something alluring about a chair that’s mounted from the ceiling, especially for kids. Hang a swing, a hammock, an egg chair, or any number of seat-able objects to help your child’s room feel like a fun and unique getaway.

Choose a colorful chair.

Chairs are relatively simple to find in a variety of colors and styles, and this is a very simple way to bring color contrast or enhancement into a bedroom. A happy yellow desk chair, for example, is going to add so much personality to a child’s bedroom while giving her a comfortable place to sit and study. It’s a win-win!

Paint stripes.

If you’re a minimalist at heart or are simply not up for decorating with stuff, you can achieve a decorated look in a child’s bedroom by painting the walls. Consider vertical or horizontal stripes behind the bed for a unique and simple method of decorating. Bonus: It takes up no space!

Hang wallpaper.

Wallpaper is available in so many patterns, styles, shapes, colors, proportions, etc. If you want to wallpaper your child’s bedroom, you’re sure to find something that suits both of you, style-wise. This gorgeous bird wallpaper sets the perfect tone for a bolder fuchsia tufted headboard; the contrast is utterly charming.

We hope you’ve been inspired and found ways that you can decorate your kids bedroom in ways that make your children happy. And that you are able to recognize that you don’t have to sacrifice style or organization just because the space is primarily visited by a child. Enjoy creating the space that they will love to spend time in.

The post How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style appeared first on Home Decorating Trends – Homedit.

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New Post has been published on AMEPAC Furniture

New Post has been published on https://amepac.org/how-to/how-to-decorate-a-kids-bedroom-easy-ideas-for-every-style/

How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style

[ad_1]

While many people spend a lot of their décor thought and effort on public rooms, such as the living room and kitchen, it is in the bedroom that purposeful and effective décor really has an impact on a homeowner’s well-being. In this article, we’ll look at a variety of styles of and methods for how to decorate a bedroom, including ways to decorate a bedroom for free.

Whether you’re looking to decorate a kid’s bedroom or a master bedroom, we hope you’ll find some inspiration in these spaces.

Maintain proportions.

A child’s bed will often be small, which means it makes the most sense to keep the decorations in proportion to that bed. Hang wall art lower, don’t stress over matching, and keep it simple.

Add a unique lamp.

A cute lamp goes a long way in a kid’s bedroom for adding to the décor without adding a bunch of clutter that, let’s be honest, will likely end up on the floor or in another room altogether.

Note: A unique lamp is a great addition to any bedroom, really, whether kid’s, guest, or master. One decorating tip with lamps is to choose a single focus – if the lamp shade is printed or bold, go with a simple lamp base, and vice versa.

Give accessible items a tasteful “resting” spot.

Easy access to books in a basket gives your child an opportunity to read in bed and also an opportunity to clean up after him/herself easily. This corner bedroom is a perfect getaway for any little body.

Mix bedding.

Vintage quilts are charming and colorful, two important components to a kid’s bedroom. They can be mixed with bold patterns, such as a chunky black and white stripe, to bring the bedroom a modern, somewhat eclectic vibe.

Hang a canopy.

There are few things more magical to a child than having a “fort” or other special place. A canopy for a bed creates an instant sort of secret garden getaway. The canopy can be ceiling mounted and hung over even just a corner of the bed with a beautiful effect…and a million imaginative opportunities.

Double canopies are a fun way to create a “princess” feel in a girls’ bedroom, in particular. They are particularly feminine when made out of a gauzy, pale material.

Fill the space with beautiful things.

If your child feels more at home surrounded by things s/he loves, then take this into consideration when you’re working to decorate the bedroom. If it’s what they love, fill the space! Fill the walls, overlap loved pieces and prints.

Layer window treatments.

Just because a window already has window treatments doesn’t mean it’s automatically off-limits for further décor. A sweet garland or banner (or two!) layered over top of curtains provides depth and charm.

Choose a unique bed. To make a statement, and to make a child feel very special, consider selecting a bed that is unique and stylish in its own right. Iron, brass, wood, and many other materials make great bed frame choices.

It’s a good idea, on a kid’s bed, to provide some way for the child to be able to sit comfortably while in bed. Whether it’s a padded headboard or a vertical stack of squishy pillows, be sure that the child has the ability to read, doodle, or even just sit and listen to music while tucked away in their own space.

Keep the palette contained.

In the case of a very decorated kids’ bedroom, there is a high potential of being overstimulating. This effect can be alleviated by the strategic adherence to a soft, pale color palette.

A tight color palette of soft, similar colors helps the many pieces of décor work in cohesion. They provide charming decoration without assaulting the senses like high contrasting tones would do.

Let kids’ rooms be fancy.

Many parents avoid “fancy” decorations in their children’s bedrooms for a variety of reasons, but there are few bedroom schemes as magical for a child as those that look and feel grown-up. Draped strings of pearls, ornate gilded frames, and plenty of textures and metallics throughout the space transform this girls’ bedroom into a princess palace.  

Mount 3-D shapes on the wall.

Metal butterflies look like they’re softly, swiftly taking flight, mounted to the wall and flying up and over the closet door. The same charming effect could be achieved with any number of animal cut-outs.

Include black.

A completely pink or a completely blue or a completely any-color room will feel relatively one-dimensional, no matter how well it’s decorated, if there isn’t something black or very dark to keep things grounded. Even in this airy, girly bedroom, some dark accents are included to keep the entire room from floating away, because that’s actually an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling.

Create a gallery wall.

A gallery wall that has matching white frames is a great place to start, as far as wall decorating in a kid’s bedroom. The white frames lend a sweetness to the artwork, which means that the artwork itself doesn’t need to be juvenile.

A gallery wall behind a large furniture piece, such as a desk or dresser, can be given a more casual vibe by being layered behind a few colorful toys or other sentimental objects.

Incorporate wood.

One decorating mistake that is easy to make while decorating a child’s bedroom is to choose colorful pieces or painted furnishings without incorporating some natural wood.

Wood pieces provide a beautiful and stabilizing component of any decorated space, and kids’ bedrooms are no exception.

Accommodate awkward architecture.

This attic bedroom of a 100+ year old home has charming and challenging slanted ceilings. The room itself is delightful, though, with plenty of natural light let in by a strategic one-sided window drapery.

A dresser is tucked under yet another slanted ceiling, creating the secure feel of a nook. Keep colors muted with busy architecture so that there is less extraneous visual chaos.

Include a rocking chair.

The curtain pools to the floor for elegance, and a rocking chair is thoughtfully equipped with a blanket and pillow for long or short snuggles.

Having a chair that you can read together in is a great functional and formative decorating tip for any bedroom – a nursery, a child’s bedroom, even a teen’s, guest, or master.

Here, a rocking chair tucked into the corner of a smallish-average sized master bedroom illustrates clearly that children are welcome here, that feet can (and should!) be put up at the end of a day, that life can slow down for a few moments.

Use greenery.

Any bedroom with a source of natural light will probably benefit from a healthy plant. It’s a great way to soften corners and round out edges, plus it just makes the space feel fresh and healthful.

Use soft rugs.

No matter the regular floor type, it’s always a sweet idea to place a soft rug of sorts underfoot at the side of the bed. This provides a physical and emotional transition from bed to life and back to bed again.

Add gold polka dots.

In this tiny nursery, nothing could be cuter than the mid-sized gold polka dots on the facing wall. The peach wall color provides a traditional feeling foundation, but the polka dots combined with pooled drapes, modern light fixture, and greenery create a lovely, welcoming, almost grown-up space. Almost.

The slanted ceiling feels perfect in this space where imaginative play is encouraged to reign supreme.

Architecturally, the crib is tucked away on all sides, making the space feel snug and safe. No other décor is needed when the architecture is allowed to do all the design heavy lifting.

Hang a textile.

A favorite blanket, an heirloom quilt, a keepsake from a travel excursion, or anything else that falls under the umbrella of visual textile can easily be hung on the wall as a form of art. This is especially lovely in a child’s bedroom, as the fabric-y nature softens the grownup concept of art.

Leave windows bare.

If the bedroom is on an upper level of the house, you can get away with leaving them untreated without sacrificing privacy. This helps the room overall to feel lightened and brightened.

Hang a dress as décor.

It couldn’t be easier, really, to simply hang a dress or a favorite shirt from the closet door handles, but what a sweet impact this small touch makes on the entire room!

Include a surface by the bed.

Nightstands, or horizontal surfaces easily accessible from the bed, are not just important in adult bedrooms. They’re great for kids’ rooms, too. Something as simple as a chair is an inexpensive, or even free, way to decorate the bedroom and can provide precisely the convenience that a child needs at bedtime, for a book or a pair of glasses or even a water bottle.

Let toys in.

No matter what else is going on, decoration-wise, in the room, remember that a child’s bedroom will be most effective if there are at least a few toys easily accessible to the child and his/her friends. A doll cradle, rocking horse, or something else on the larger side of toy-dom makes this less visually intrusive, actually, than a whole collection of itty bitty pieces. (Those, of course, can easily be contained in larger basket or box, for a simpler aesthetic solution.)

Use stacks of books as décor.

You’ll do well to rotate the books in the stack so that they actually get read and enjoyed, but a stack of books with a plant on top, for example, makes a great statement. And it’s about a simple and straightforward a bedroom decoration as you can imagine…and it’s free!

Match bedding.

If your kids are lucky enough to share a room, it’s fun to match bedding a little bit to keep the potential for visual chaos at bay. These built-in bunks are so interesting architecturally that it would be a disservice to this bedroom if the bedding were competing for attention.

Include a comfy seat.

We all love a comfy place to snuggle up, and what better place to include such a seat than a child’s bedroom? It’s best if there is an easily accessible reading light nearby to encourage reading…isn’t that just about every parent’s dream for their kid? To find them snuggled in, lost in the world of a good book?

Paint doors the same color as walls.

This is less critical if you are looking to decorate a bedroom with white walls already, because you probably won’t even notice the fact that the doors are white as well. But often, when bedroom walls are painted a beautiful color, the doors are left white by default. I’m not sure why this is so. But painting the doors the same color as the walls creates a calming, soothing atmosphere…and makes a small room feel a bit larger.

Look up.

Kids spend a lot of time looking up at the world, adults less so. With this in mind, it’s a great tip to look up and decorate the space above a grownup’s eye level. Hang a mural or a ship from the ceiling, especially a vaulted ceiling, to really delight the younger bedroom population.

Look up.

A mobile of planets provides food for young thought as well as a sight for sore eyes. This mobile looks particularly studious set against wood paneled walls; it’s a great look for a teenager’s room as much as a child’s.

Build a bench.

Perhaps your child’s bedroom isn’t set up for a built-in window bench (although lucky you if it is!), but you can mimic the look and function of a window seat by building a bench and padding its top.

Use symmetry.

For the bedroom with two twin beds, a charming way to create equal design opportunities for both of the room’s inhabitants is to use symmetry. Two similar, if not matching, beds create structure and cohesion in a space that has lots going on, just by nature of its doubled-up inhabitants.

Install a chandelier.

A fancy vintage chandelier is delightfully elegant and sophisticated in a child’s bedroom, which makes it a perfect choice for such a space. You may want to supplement with other task-oriented lighting in the space, but a chandelier will certainly be a focal point.

Clear the nightstand.

The purpose of a nightstand is to have a surface at the ready when you’re going to sleep, but this makes it prone to becoming a dumping ground of all sorts of odds and ends. When this happens, then it no longer serves its purpose. Keep the nightstand free of unnecessary clutter for a useful addition to the child’s bedroom, even if it means making “clear the nightstand” a part of the child’s morning routine.

Use real objects as toys.

Vintage objects can make magical playthings, as evidenced by this real-life cradle. Not only is the object chock-full of sentimentality (the girls whose bedroom this is each lay in there as babies themselves), but it can provide hours of creative play opportunity.

Plus, it’s hard to replicate the details of a well-made and well-loved vintage piece.

Create a working space.

Even when they’re toddlers or preschoolers, most children love to have their own “working” space. A desk, a table, or any sort of space that feels like the desk of a grownup is going to be a hit for many children.

Allow space for organization.

An organized desk area and a useful magnet or bulleting board will help the child hone organization skills, as well as be able to find and access the important things.

Use soft seats.

Fabric can easily be swapped out on many desk chairs, so why not take advantage of this fact and upholster the seat of the child’s desk chair? This is a simple and effective way to introduce pattern and color into a space, too, if those are components that are lacking.

Incorporate a fun seat.

There’s something alluring about a chair that’s mounted from the ceiling, especially for kids. Hang a swing, a hammock, an egg chair, or any number of seat-able objects to help your child’s room feel like a fun and unique getaway.

Choose a colorful chair.

Chairs are relatively simple to find in a variety of colors and styles, and this is a very simple way to bring color contrast or enhancement into a bedroom. A happy yellow desk chair, for example, is going to add so much personality to a child’s bedroom while giving her a comfortable place to sit and study. It’s a win-win!

Paint stripes.

If you’re a minimalist at heart or are simply not up for decorating with stuff, you can achieve a decorated look in a child’s bedroom by painting the walls. Consider vertical or horizontal stripes behind the bed for a unique and simple method of decorating. Bonus: It takes up no space!

Hang wallpaper.

Wallpaper is available in so many patterns, styles, shapes, colors, proportions, etc. If you want to wallpaper your child’s bedroom, you’re sure to find something that suits both of you, style-wise. This gorgeous bird wallpaper sets the perfect tone for a bolder fuchsia tufted headboard; the contrast is utterly charming.

We hope you’ve been inspired and found ways that you can decorate your kids bedroom in ways that make your children happy. And that you are able to recognize that you don’t have to sacrifice style or organization just because the space is primarily visited by a child. Enjoy creating the space that they will love to spend time in.

The post How to Decorate a Kids’ Bedroom: Easy Ideas for Every Style appeared first on Home Decorating Trends – Homedit.

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Pokemon Quest Review: Minecraft Meets Pokemon on the Nintendo Switch

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/pokemon-quest-review-minecraft-meets-pokemon-on-the-nintendo-switch/

Pokemon Quest Review: Minecraft Meets Pokemon on the Nintendo Switch

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Announced along with Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee earlier this week was Pokemon Quest. While those two titles have a November 16 release date, Pokemon Quest is playable on the Nintendo Switch right now, with Android and iOS release slated for late June. We spent some time with Pokemon Quest on the Nintendo Switch and here’s what you can expect.

Pokemon Quest takes place on Tumblecube Island where you’re tasked with exploring its many locations filled with different kinds of Pokemon. You start off by choosing one of five Pokemon. These include three of the original starting choices from the first game — Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander — as well as fan favourites Pikachu and Eevee.

Thereafter, you’ll set up a base camp which serves as a hub of sorts from which you take on various expeditions across Tumblecube. It’s here that you find yourself befriending many of the Pokemon in Pokemon Quest.

You see, unlike other games in the franchise that have you capturing Pokemon with a Poke Ball, Pokemon Quest has you cooking an assortment of dishes to attract the Pokemon to your location. To make these meals you have a set of ingredients at your disposal that you can find more of as you explore Tumblecube.

It’s pretty straightforward — blue colour ingredients help you attract water Pokemon, yellow for electric Pokemon, red for fire-based Pokemon, and so forth. If you want an even easier time, you can simply hit the auto select button that lets the game decide what you should be cooking.

Befriending a Pokemon has two functions — first, it lets you bolster your squad of existing Pokemon giving you more firepower in battles, and second, they serve as a means to have you level up your roster. What this means is, if you want your existing Pokemon to learn new skills or level up without fighting, you can use another supporting Pokemon from your roster to teach it abilities or spar with it to help it level up. The downside to this is the supporting Pokemon leaves your party permanently.

This is coupled with a timer that rations out the number of Pokemon you can summon to your base camp. Dishes are cooked and ready when you finish a set number of expeditions. You can fast track this by paying the game’s in-game currency (PM Tickets) to ease the wait. The restrictions on cooking combined with the fact that the supporting Pokemon leave your party will need you to think strategically in the early stages, more so than other Pokemon games.

Aside from this, you can decorate your base camp with a host of items that have different uses. From increasing the number of ingredients you earn during an expedition to helping your Pokemon level up faster, they’re useful additions that give another dimension to the proceedings. You can buy them with PM Tickets or you can earn them as you play.

As for PM Tickets themselves, you earn them daily for playing the game as well as completing a host of tasks and challenges such as putting up decorations at your base or cooking a set number of dishes. Despite being the game’s only currency, you can’t buy it standalone. Instead you’ll need to purchase Pokemon Quest downloadable packs that include PM Tickets and a Poke Ball that increases the number of PM Tickets you earn each day.

As you can tell, base management is a large part of Pokemon Quest but it’s not the only thing you’ll be doing. In order to explore Tumblecube, you’ll take on expeditions. These have you clearing out waves of enemy Pokemon in various locales with your squad of Pokemon. Though you don’t get to have complete control over your party, you can decide when they use their special abilities by tapping the screen, or a button if you’re using the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con or the Pro Controller. Each area ends with a boss fight, usually against an evolved version of the Pokemon you squared off against, such as a Poliwrath in a location teeming with Poliwags.

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Although you have some control in these sections, the outcome essentially depends on the attack strength of your team. This is determined by the overall level of your Pokemon as well as the stones they’re equipped with. These bolster your Pokemon’s defence, attack, and even allow you to use special abilities frequently. Along with the aforementioned ingredients, stones are earned as you complete expeditions. Fail an expedition and you have the option to collect the loot by paying PM Tickets.

Pokemon Quest’s entire game loop of base management, light combat, collecting and levelling up Pokemon makes it an entertaining experience. The Minecraft-inspired voxel art style gives it a fresh feel compared to past entries.

However, it’s not without some issues. While it looks great in handheld and docked mode, the user interface is decidedly stuck in mobile territory, which is painful if you prefer using the Joy-Con or the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. Simple actions like equipping stones or making food has you tapping the button to make your choice and then holding it while you drag it to the part of the menu it needs to go to with the left analogue stick. It feels unintuitive and cumbersome, making the use of the Nintendo Switch’s touchscreen the only way to play the game in handheld mode, while relegating the dock mode to a second class citizen.

Also, it forsakes any kind of story or antagonist. So if you were expecting the likes of Team Rocket from past games or expanded lore ala Pokemon Sun and Moon, you’ll get little of this here. The focus is purely on its game mechanics and little else. Pokemon Quest also doesn’t have the same sense of epic adventure and feels pared down in terms of its feature set compared to the past games in the series. Given the nature of Nintendo’s other free-to-play titles like Fire Emblem Echoes, we won’t be surprised to see more events, lore, and challenges added in time. Unlike those games, however, you don’t have to be online to play Pokemon Quest, as confirmed by The Pokemon Company. This checks out as we were able to play Pokemon Quest with the airplane mode on and faced no issues at all.

So if you’re looking for a brand new Pokemon game to play until Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee are out, Pokemon Quest is a welcome distraction. It’s not a fully-fledged, feature-complete entry in the series, but it does enough to warrant your attention, even if for a little while.

Pros

Unique premise

Fresh presentation

Entertaining game loop

Cons

Not suited for Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controller

No story

Lacks depth of past games as of now

Rating (out of 10): 7

Gadgets 360 played Pokemon Quest on the Nintendo Switch. The game is a free-to-play download via the Nintendo eShop. Pokemon Quest for iOS and Android is expected in late June.

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