#i will never not clown on MBAs

[flannelepicurean]

Machine on the left isn't just durable af, it's got DESIGN. It's got personality and character that can hold a really good dinner conversation, not "character" solely as in, "I gotta hold my mouth just right or it falls all to pieces." It could be fucken DECOR, in a really classy way, but it's NOT, it can DO THINGS to the highest degree. If it were a quest item, it would have been made by an extremely hot Dwarf who can engage in repartee in multiple languages -- including multiple dialects of Elvish. Absolute workhorse of high society; absolute "eccentric but classy, and with a damn smart mouth" of the most pleasantly disreputable bunch. Could cut you in half with a witty barb. Watch your fingers.

Machine on the right wears a gray polo shirt tucked into black pleated-front trousers, with a brown belt and shoes. The machine on the right is angling for a District Manager position. Absolute Josh trying hard to be a Kevin. Probably has an MBA, and not from one of the good schools. Created by humans who find the bottom line at the bottom of the barrel. With all the "worst of both worlds" advantages of picking Human as a race and a max-min multiclass build.

Yes, max-min. You heard what I said.

Do you think the people who design modern sewing machines in plastic cases ever feel insignificant because of it? knowing that they're making machines with the lifespan of a dog when they could (if they'd been born a few generations earlier) be making machines with the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise?

[bluemoon-writer]

Childhood Friends AU: The Dupain/Cheng/Le families

This is some background on how Marinette and Kim’s parents became friends

 Part 1 and Part 2 the Childhood Friends AU: MariKim

-their mothers are best friends, Tom, Sabine, and Kim’s mom, Apinya (I don’t think she has a canon name yet, so this is what I’m naming her for now) all went to DuPont as kids

-Tom was the friendly, everyone’s best-friend, guy who never said no to anything, not because of peer pressure but bc he loves being around people and literally wanted to do everything. Sports to Art to Student Council, Tom did it all. (not that he was good at all of it tho)

-Sabine was a shy quiet kid bc she was afraid of being judged. She’s was super athletic, does martial arts outside of school, and absolutely whip smart, best grades in the class. Despite being shy, she is competitive AF. She had a massive crush on Tom, partly bc she admired how he could put himself constantly, and brush off losses. She started to come more out of her shell when Apinya was moved from class B to class A with her.

-they start an IMMEDIATE rivalry

-in class B, students were given extra credit for participation, and Apinya was the top student. When she switches to class A she is constantly raising her hand and shouting out answers out of habit. Since she was the number 1 student in class B, Sabine thinks she’s trying to show off, and is implicitly saying “haha I’m going to take the number 1 spot from you”

-so Sabine starts raising her hand in class and soon they have a full on competition to see who can get the best grades. They tie at nearly everything.

-When the class is split into two teams for a fun game a jeopardy both teams tie bc of Sabine and Apinya

-When group projects are assigned the two best groups are Sabine’s group and Apinya’s group

-Apinya doesn’t think they’re rivals, she interprets their ‘competition’ as a form of friendship. While she likes to win, and values having good grades, she is not competitive like Sabine (Kim’s sense of competitiveness actually comes from his dad). Apinya is really more a jokester, in her opinion. Really, she’s creative as hell, but doesn’t think her parents will approve of her pursuing artistic avenues so she focuses her artistic energy into jokes. She loud and fidgety (ADHD af) so she tricks herself into thinking she’s the class clown.

-their ‘rivalry’ ends when both of them realize that they can be getting even better grades if they team up.

-this realization happens when their teacher pairs them up for a city wide science fair competition, and easily take the first spot

-they hit it off and Sabine realizes that Apinya isn’t trying to maliciously steal her top spot and Apinya realizes that Sabine’s quick wit is great for improv and math.

-soon they’re best friends and partner up on every project. Apinya convinces Sabine to join the debate team, and Sabine pushes Apinya to join the art club.

-Now Tom has been admiring Sabine for a while. Ever since she started raising her hand in class. Now she’s joined the debate team with him.

-Tom is, admittedly, not good at debate. He’s a very straight forward guy, and isn’t good with what he calls “word-trickery” but he admires those who are good at it, and he likes doing it bc it keeps him up to date on current events.

-Sabine joins debate and is AMAZING at it. Her genius mind and competitive nature combine for maximum skills. And Tom’s admiration of her turns into a full blown crush. He starts baking treats to bring to the ‘debate team’ aka Sabine.

-and Sabine is dying bc she gets to spend practically every day with her crush and he’s even nicer/stronger/sweeter than she thought

-and eventually, they both confess to each other but they don’t date.

-Tom’s father refuses to let him date and when he thinks that his son and the pretty girl from the debate club might be a thing he gives him more hours in the bakery to prevent it from happening.

-Apinya starts a game night at her house, as an excuse for Sabine and Tom to spend time together outside of school

-Tom tells his dad that he’s giving Apinya cooking lessons

-When the girls find out the name sticks

-Eventually, they graduate and Toms father can’t stop them from dating.

-Sabine and Apinya go to university, Sabine for accounting and Apinya for art, specifically sculpting.

-Tom goes to culinary school, he’s been arguing with his dad about bread and has dreams of opening his own bakery. His programs lasts two years and when he graduates he proposes to Sabine. (She said yes, of course)

-Apinya doesn’t date in school out of solidarity for her friend. But once in university she is whisked off her feet.

-they meet when she’s 20. He’s older by 7 years and a fairly successful business man following in his fathers footsteps. Meet Lê Sinh Chi.

-He’s in Paris on a business trip when he meets Apinya. It’s love at first sight for both of them and by the time he leaves Paris they’re dating.

-He immigrates to France for her. His father is pissed bc he is suppose to take over the company. Chi wants to expand the company more internationally and tries to convince his father to build a headquarters in Paris, but his father refuses and instead threatens to disinherit him.

-Chi calls his bluff and moves to Paris anyway. His father kicks him out of the company but doesn’t disinherit him or remove him from his will.

-In Paris, Chi has a lot of business contacts. He’d been planning to take his father’s company international for a while and had spent several years making contacts with businessmen around the globe.

-he briefly works at the company of one his contacts before splitting off to start his own. Within a year, it’s booming.

-Within a year he proposes to Apinya

-He’s extremely competitive. He was the third of four children and fought hard to distinguish himself from his older siblings. He graduated university at age 19 and got his MBA by 21 and immediately went into business.

-he gets along great with Tom and Sabine. Despite having many contacts in France, visiting for business and permanently moving somewhere are very different and he’s glad to have some friends

-all it takes is one “cooking lesson” and the rest is history

-Chi is offended at first when Apinya tells him to come to cooking lessons with her, but quickly realizes that it’s a game night

-some nights turn out very...interesting. Many end after Sabine and Chi lose their voices from yelling so much. 

-Chi almost murders them all in monopoly, but Sabine had been secretly embezzling from the bank so she managed to pull out on top. Apinya and Tom were so scarred from the experience that they swore to never play it again at game night.

-That works until Marinette and Kim come along

-Chi gives Tom the loan he needs to start his bakery. Tom had a respectable amount saved up, enough for a shop actually, but not enough for his dream shop. With, Chi’s loan Tom is able to get the perfect location. 

-After Sabine and Apinya graduate they both get married within six months of each other.

-They joked about a joint wedding, but if they did that then they wouldn’t be able to be each other’s bridesmaids

-Sabine helps Tom craft the plan for his bakery. They’re a dream team, with his culinary skills and knowledge of the baking industry and her accounting skills and knowledge of business they create the perfect design.

-Apinya starts working on a sculpture collection based on themes of, oddly enough, creation and destruction

-Sabine and Apinya both end up getting pregnant around the same time which they love (ages 25/26 or so)

-they swear they didn’t plan it

-Tom and Chi aren’t so sure

-They go to baby classes together, and occasionally pretend to be lesbian lovers when people ask about their husbands

-Just before Kim is born, Chi Switches from a his position as CEO to chairman so that he can have more time with his family

-Tom actually closes the bakery for two weeks after Sabine gives birth so that he can take care of both her and baby Marinette

-when he opens back up, his mom actually comes and works the register for him until Sabine is ready to come to work

-Sabine is not the type to like to just sit around. Even though she’s not working in the bakery, she’s still doing the books every night. She actually feels like she doesn’t have enough to do and begins doing personal financing for Chi as his company is getting large and he doesn’t trust a stranger to handle his accounts

-Apinya and Tom teamed up and designed Kim and Marinette’s nurseries together. Apinya designed and built the furniture and Tom decided on decorations and the color palette.

-Kim was born a month before Marinette, a fact that he uses against her for the rest of her life

-Kim and Mari start having playdates before they can even crawl

-Sabine and Apinya put them in little baby swings next to each other

-Tom and Sabine had been using their attic space as a weird office/guest room/storage area but when Marinette and Kim got older they decided to transform it into a playroom for the kids

-Marinette loved the room so much, and had so many fond memories there, that she eventually made it her bedroom

[ibsul-jin]

Min-zero (Part II)

Word count: 3.1K

“I think you might be mistaken, Y/N. The pleasure will be all mine,” Mr. Song says as he finally turns to face you.

Wait. That face. It can’t be.

“You- you!” you exclaim, thrusting a finger in Mr. Song’s direction. You open and close your mouth a few times, unsure of exactly what to say. You’re speechless from the shock. How? What? – What was going on. After a long pause, you erupt into a fit of giggles. You can’t contain yourself so you laugh and laugh until you’re clutching at your sides, unable to stop.

“Good one, Mino,” you wipe a tear from the corner of your eye. “Damn, how did you even come up with that? You were always a good prankster, weren’t you?” you walk around the office trying look for the hidden cameras. You lift up a suspiciously placed snow globe off a bookshelf to inspect it closely.

“I would appreciate if you didn’t touch that Miss Y/N,” Mino warns. You stick your tongue out at him.

“You have to tell me, though. How on earth did you get the CEO of WIN Enterprises to play along?” you look at Mr. Kim sceptically.

“Miss Y/N, I’m appalled at your behaviour!” Mr. Kim looks flabbergasted. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, very funny. Now can we please drop the act? There’s no way Min-zero here is actually the CEO of this company,” you retort.

Min-zero was the nickname you gave your high school classmate and number one rival, Song Minho, or Mino, as he wanted everyone to call him. Mino was the archetypical class clown. He never took his studies seriously and instead loved to rap, sleep, or pick on you. Meanwhile, you were class president, valedictorian the year you graduated, and an overall high achiever. Your contrasting personalities was what led to you to begin bullying each other non-stop. Mino hated your perfectionism, the way you never accepted failure, and he especially hated how you always thought you were better than him. You hated that Mino never took anything seriously, the way he had no concept of taking responsibility for his actions, and that he was just generally annoying.

“Now listen here, Miss Y/N. Mr. Song told me that you both were previously acquainted but he assured me that this conflict of interest would not affect either of your abilities to work. However, I will not tolerate abusive language towards an exemplary employee and personal friend. I request that you apologize to Mr. Song immediately or resign if you are not able to cooperate.” Mr. Kim warns you sternly.

“Sir, I would appreciate if you could give Y/N and myself some time to talk in private. This must be a shock to her. We haven’t seen each other since we graduated high school,” Mino interjects before you say something that would land you in even bigger trouble.

“Alright, you may,” Mr. Kim sighs. This was getting to be too dramatic for him to handle at his old age. Before he leaves, he leans into Mino’s ear and you hear him whispering “don’t be afraid to call security if you need to.” That little.

When you and Mino are finally left inside the office by yourselves, reality begins to dawn on you. It was awkwardly quiet. Why was no one was yelling “Surprise! Gotcha!” or pointing out hidden cameras? You pinch yourself. Okay, so you weren’t dreaming either; Song Mino was actually the new CEO of WIN. Fuck. But how? You look Mino up and down, seeing him properly for the first time.

He’s changed a lot since high school. Now he is tall and handsome, with shoulders broader than you remember them. He fills out his perfectly tailored designer suit nicely. His skin is smooth and his acne had cleared up completely since you last saw him. His jet black hair is styled perfectly, lightly swept up to reveal his forehead. Mino’s most defining feature, his prominent eyebrows, are the same as you had remembered. Except one of them is now raised as he looks at you questioningly.

“Y/N, I asked if you’re okay,” his voice brings you out of your own thoughts.

“Okay? How could I be okay? I’m confused as hell,” you storm up to him. “How are you the CEO? How am I your assistant? What the hell happened to you after high school?” you jab your finger into his chest with every question. He grabs your wrist to stop you and the action catches you off guard. He smirks, relieved to be able to have shut you up for at least a minute.

“Have a seat and I’ll explain everything,” he says coolly. “Want anything to drink?” He asks.

“Some water would be nice,” you say quietly. He pours you a glass from a water filter sitting near his desk.

“Okay… where to begin?” Mino leans back in his chair and loosens his tie. “It’s nice to see you after such a long time, Y/N,” he peers at you curiously.

“I can’t say the same,” you bite back.

Mino reaches into his desk drawers to pull out a few magazines and tosses them onto the table in front of you. They read “Minute Magazine’s 30 under 30”, “Borbes Rising Stars” and so on. One of them even has a glossy, front cover picture of Mino standing in front of a large building, dressed sharply and sporting a winning smile. You rifle through them; you get the picture. Mino is rich and famous now, apparently.

“After high school, I founded an internet start-up. I grew the business until it was too much for me and my small staff of fifteen to run by ourselves, so I sold it to the founder of WIN Enterprises. He liked my ideas for the future of the company and wanted to hire me. He wanted me to at least have a college education before I start working here, so he paid for me to study at Columbia University in the US. I finished my undergrad and MBA, came back to Korea and started working here as a low level employee. I had to work my way up the ranks so I could gain experience and last month, I was appointed as CEO. That’s the short and sweet version, I guess.”

Your mouth hangs open in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You went to Columbia? You were literally the least motivated person I’d ever met back in high school. You always got zeroes! That’s why I fucking called you Min-zero all the time,” you shout.

“People change,” Mino shrugs. “I’m surprised you haven’t.”

“So why did you hire me? So that you could brag and show off how much more successful you’ve become than me? Well, congratulations, you got what you wanted. Now can I please leave?” you get up and angrily gather your things, prepared to leave. You weren’t going to lie, the fact that Mino had become so successful injured your pride, a lot.

Mino quickly rises to his feet. “No!” it comes out a lot louder than he anticipates. He clears his throat, trying to regain his composure. “No, that’s not why I hired you. I honestly do need a personal secretary and I know you need a job. I thought this might help us get over our old childhood feud. I saw your name in the list of applicants and thought that by having Mr. Kim interview you, you’d accept the job. You’re also more than qualified.”

You laugh sardonically. “Forget it. I don’t need this job if it means working for you.” You turn on your heels and march towards the door.

“Then- then- I’ll fire you before you resign!” Mino shouts, unsure of himself. You freeze in your tracks.

“Wait… is he even allowed to do that?” you think to yourself. This just became a matter of ego. You’ve never been fired from a job and you weren’t about to let it happen now. You turn and face him with a glare, weighing your options in your mind.

“I- I’ll pay you well,” he adds. “Plus a huge holiday bonus. And the company will cover insurance, too.”

You lift an eyebrow. Why was this guy trying so hard to keep you here? Then it suddenly occurs to you that this might be worth it; Mino would pay you better than any other company could, plus you could keep your prestigious title as executive assistant at WIN. You just had to tolerate his annoying ass for a little while, but you’d get used to it eventually, right?

“I’ll think about it. Give me a day and I’ll let you know what I decide,” you say.

“Really? Okay, perfect. Give me your cellphone,” he strides over to you and holds out his hand. Standing this close to him, you notice how tall he really is.

“For what?” you ask, backing up away from him.

“I’ll put my number in it so that you can call me.” He takes your phone out of your hand, puts in his number, and hands it back to you. “I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you,” he smiles.

That night you go home and think about everything that had transpired in Mino’s office. You had never expected to be put in such a situation. Given your turbulent history with Mino, you weren’t sure if working as his personal assistant was such a good idea. But a part of you was also curious to see how he lived now, years after high school, and if he was really cut out to be the CEO. Besides, you weren’t teenagers anymore. You both were mature adults who were capable of working in the same building without ripping each other’s heads off… right?

You scroll through the contacts on your phone trying to find Mino’s number, unsure of what he had saved it as. You roll your eyes when you see “Your boss CEO Song” at the end of your contacts list. You change it to “That Min0 Bastard”.

You: okay, I’ll work for you >.>

You definitely couldn’t back out now. Quitting was no longer an option for you. You send the message and head to sleep.

--

The next morning, you wake up to incessant pinging coming from your phone. You look over at the alarm clock groggily. Ugh, who the hell was messaging you at 5:30 in the morning? You unlock your phone to find several messages and missed calls from Mino.

That Min0 Bastard: Y/N where are you?? I need you to help prepare the reports for our meeting with a sponsor company this afternoon. That Min0 Bastard: You need to come into the office ASAP. That Min0 Bastard: Y/N pick up your phone!!!

You almost fall out of your bed. Was he serious? You didn’t know that you had to be at the office early this morning. This was supposed to be your first official day and you were already late! You haphazardly get dressed and skip breakfast to rush to work as fast as you can. You're vaguely aware that you look like a mess but you hope you can sort out your hair and makeup situation as soon as you got a bathroom break.

You race into the building and only stop running when you reach the door to Mino’s office. You try to collect yourself as much as you can before you enter his office.

“Ah Y/N, there you are,” Mino looks up from his laptop when he sees you entering. Beep! He presses a button on his watch. “Half an hour. Not bad, but you can do better,” he says, impressed.

“What are you talking about?” you ask, still panting from the exertion.

“Oh, I just wanted to see how long it would take you to get here from home if there really was an emergency. Don’t worry, there’s no meeting today. This is just to be prepared,” he says nonchalantly. Anger bubbles up to your throat.

“Are you kidding me?! I didn’t even get to eat breakfast!” you yell. Mino looks unfazed.

“Get yourself something from the cafeteria. I’ll give you ten minutes,” his attention has already returned back to his laptop. “Get me something too while you’re at it.”

You’re completely speechless. Just yesterday it seemed like you were going to have the upper hand in this game. Mino had seemed like he was negotiating with you, almost desperately, to keep you as his secretary. But that Mino was not the one in front of you now. The person sitting in front of you was someone you needed to be wary of. Rather than fighting with him and losing any precious time, you decide to save the battle for later. Right now, you just wanted to eat something and drink some coffee to wake yourself up. You storm down to the cafeteria.

You wait in line at the breakfast bar to get something quick to eat. There, you spot the guy that had run into you the day before.

“Oh, Y/N! Nice to see you. How is everything so far?” Seungyoon asks as cheerfully as he can, despite looking like he hasn’t slept in ages.

“Ugh, don’t even ask. Turns out, CEO Song is my new boss,” you grimace. You’re debating whether you should tell him that you knew Mino from before, but you decide that nobody really needed to know about your history. “You were right, he’s a total monster.”

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that…” he sympathizes. “But I’m also not sorry,” he adds with a playful smile. You look at him quizzically. “I’m actually glad that we’re going to be working together from now on.” He beams at you. “Want me to buy you a coffee to celebrate?” he offers.

You feel the tension that had built up from the morning dissipate a little. You were grateful that you would have a friend going into this ridiculous situation, that someone was on your team.

--

“Are you finished with the translation, Y/N?” Mino asks, not looking up from the documents splayed across his rich, mahogany desk. You had been standing in front of his desk with the papers in your hand, waiting for him to acknowledge your presence for the last ten minutes.

“Yes, and here is the travel itinerary of Mr. Leblanc as well as the list of his food preferences. I will be there to personally receive him at the airport tomorrow.” That should shut him up for a little while, you think. Maybe now is a good opportunity to ask Mino if you could go home a little early today. It’s been two weeks since you started and you’ve spent every single evening in the office. It was getting quite suffocating being around him every single day and you were growing tired of biting your tongue each time he said something that would annoy you. You broach the topic carefully. “If that’ll be all, I’m going to get going. I have a few other commitments tonight,” you say before backing up to the door, ready to make your escape. Just before you can get one foot out the door, Mino speaks up.

“Hold on a sec,” Mino looks up at you. What on Earth could he have you do now? You’ve literally finished everything that needed to be done. He gets up from his desk and walks in front of it to face you, leaning back against the wooden surface. He folds his arms over his chest and cocks his head to one side. His eyes wander around your face, inspecting you. “You’ll do anything, right?” he asks after a long pause.

“W-What?”

His gaze seems to penetrate you.

“To keep this job. To not be fired… you’ll do anything, right?” His voice drops an octave making a shiver travel down your spine. He takes a step towards you. You start to panic at his sudden transformation. Mino’s words were overtly laced with a darker implication. What did this creep want from you? Surely he didn’t mean… that? Oh my god.

“What do you mean. What-what are you trying to say?” you squeak out. Mino was now less than an arms length away from your squirming self and seemed to get closer and closer. You never knew about this side of him until now. Was he always a playboy? Did he only hire you to get into your pants? Would this turn into angry revenge sex? You were mortified – not only because of the current position you were in – but also by the fact that you were seriously contemplating having angry revenge sex with your boss.

“I need you-” he whispers seductively. He moves closer and closer.

What should you do now? Scream? Run out of the office? You don’t trust either your voice or legs to save you now as they seemed incapable of following your brain’s instructions. Did you still have that bottle of pepper spray in your purse? Without taking your eyes off of Mino, you try to snake your hand into your purse to root around for it. He tilts his head down towards yours. His face is getting dangerously close and you still haven’t found the pepper spray. The spicy-sweet smell of his aftershave tickles your nostrils and makes your head swim. Then, his eyes flick down to your mouth. Mayday. MAYDAY. You eyes reflexively fluttered shut.

His lips moves past your face and whispers into your ear, making you flinch. “-To drop and give me fifty.”

“What-” you gasp as your eyes fly open. “What the fuck, Mino?!” you shout over his howling laughter. He’s doubled over and clutching his stomach, unable to stop snickering. You were getting serious dèja vu from your high school days. Embarrassed and thoroughly shaken up, you immediately ball your hands into fists and begin swinging at him. “You asshole!!!”

He holds his hands up, easily protecting himself from your punches, but you begin pounding your fists into his palms. Mino can’t stop laughing and his laughter is so contagious that, unbeknownst to you, your whines transform into hiccupping giggles while tears spring up into your eyes.

“That wasn’t funny, loser!” you laugh. It takes both of you a good five minutes to stop the fits of giggles, and when it dies down, it’s replaced by a heavy air of awkwardness. You realize that in order to maintain a standard of professionalism, secretaries ought not to be this comfortable around their bosses, nor call them “assholes”. You take a step back from him and smooth down your pantsuit. Mino’s expression is unreadable, and his face is tinged bright pink – probably from all the laughing that took the wind out of you both.

“W-well, if that will be all,” you start to say. Mino looks away from you and simply waves a hand in your direction, dismissing you.

[a-lame-constellation]

Korean MVs that came out in 2017

~Since i’m not into most kpop groups i might forget to write a comeback so feel free to tell me some that i haven’t written yet or if i have done a mistake.~

*The songs are not in order

**I’ve already made a 2016 list (and i’m making a 2018)

January:

AOA - Excuse Me

AOA - Bing Bing

Bae Da Hae - Knock Knock Knock

S.E.S. - Paradise

AKMU - Last Goodbye

INA - Rainbow

April - April Story

WJSN - I Wish

Davii - Navigation (ft. Heize)

Jun.K - Your Wedding

Minje - Our City

TopSecret - She

Varsity - U R My Only One

Mixx - Love Is a Sudden

NCT127 - Limitless

Vromance - I’m Fine

Day6 - I Wait

Ravi - Bomb (ft. SanE)

Sonamoo - I Think I Love U

Young Cream - 042

Shinhwa 13th - Touch

TRAX [STATION] - Road

Soulights - Crush

EVE - Candle

Jun.K - No Shadow

I - I Wish

Hello Venus - Mysterious

Dreamcatcher - Chase Me

Choi ye_guen Band - Adult

Rain - The Best Present

Niel - Love Affair

CLC - Hobgoblin

Seohyun - Don’t Say No

Zizo - Dynamite Girl

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/YeoJin - Kiss Later

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Heejin, Hyunjin - My Sunday

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Heaseul, Yeojin - My Melody

Yoon Do Hyun [STATION] - Sparks Fly

Kasper - Lean On Me

I.O.I - Downpour

40, Dasom - You&I

Park Kyung - When I’m With You (ft. BrotherSu)

Kang Sira - Don’t Wanna Forget

Jooheon - Rhythm

Luna, Hani, Solar - Honey Bee

Joo Chan, So Yoon - No One Like You

2NE1 - Goodbye

Gain, Jeff Bernat - Play

Pentagon - Pretty pretty

Yesung, Selgi [STATION] - Darling U

Jessi - Don’t Make Me Cry

San E - I Am Me (ft. Hwasa)

A.Leean - Fall Back

Suzy - Yes No Maybe

Dynamic Duo, Chen - Nosedive

Sam Kim, Loco - Think About’ Chu

MelodyDay - You Seem Busy

Ryan - Don’t Tell Me Why (ft.Addy)

Kassy - Dream

Masta Wu - Shit (ft. Dok2)

Crybaby - Paramount (ft. TakeOne)

Cheetah - Blurred Lines (ft Hanhae)

Gallant, Tablo, Eric Nam - Cave Me In

Kebee - My Foreigner (ft. BrotherSu)

Ji Hoon Shin - You Are A Star Already

HuhGak - Miss You

Zion.T - The Song

Red Velvet - Rookie

Crown J - Hajima

Lydia Lee - Blue

February:

Imfact - In The Club

Suho, Song YoungJoo [STATION] - Curtain

Masc - Tina

Block B - Yesterday

SF9 - Roar

Day6 - You Were Beautiful

Jung Joon Young - Me and You (ft. Jang Hyejin)

Rhythm Power - Bangsaneung

Cross Gene - Black or White

San E - Counselor

1NB - Stalker

NCT Dream - My First and Last

SunnyHill - Crossroads

B.I.G - 1.2.3

Bts - Spring Day

Bts - Not Today

SBGB - Card Captor Sakura

J’Kyun - Soaking (ft. Cherry Coke)

Jang Joon, Young Taek - Drought (ft. BéE)

Soyou, Baekhyun - Rain

BeautyHandsome - This Game

Skull - Crazy (ft. Verbaljint, KittiB)

Moon Kim - Dark Chocolate

BiPA - Coffee Shop Oppa

MelodyDay - Kiss On The Lips

K.a.r.d - Don’t Recall

Kim Jinho - Graduation Picture

Scarlet mojo-Pin - Ez come Ez go (Gorilla-Man)

Eden - I’m Still (ft. Kwon Jina)

Dean - Beyond (ft. Yerin Baek)

VAV - Venus (Dance With Me)

Taeyeon - I Got Love

Taeyeon - Fine

Twice - Knock Knock

100% - Sketch U

Cheeze - Love You

Solar - Happy People

Soma - Midnight In Paris

Soma - Pale Blue

HeeJun Han - Think of You

San E - What If

Junggigo, Chanyeol - Let Me Love You

Subin - Strawberry

Subin - Circle’s Dream

High4 - Love Line

gugudan - A Girl Like Me

Lovelyz - WoW!

Park Won, Suzy - Don’t Wait For Your Love

Ailee - Reminiscing

Penomeco - WTF (Went Too Far)

Code Kunst - Fire Water (ft. G.Soul, Tablo)

Most Badass Asian - MBA

Most Badass Asian - Joker

Most Badass Asian - Thursday Party (ft. Big One)

Most Badass Asian - Turn Off The Radio (Taxi Driver)

Beatwin - Don’t Leave

March:

Ovan - Virgin Love

Live - Known Me (ft. Dean)

Live - Please (ft. Kim Hyo Eun, G2, Dumbfoundead)

Victon - Eyez Eyez

Ovan - Girl You Deserve It

Kim Ji Soo - Dream All Day

Blanc7 - Yeah

GFriend - Fingertip

BtoB - Movie

Day6 - How Can I Say

Rare Potato - Starlit Night

B.A.P - Wake Me Up

LambC - Love Like That

Romeo - Without U

Jung Key - Anymore (ft. Whee In)

Eric Nam x Somi - You, Who?

Brave Girls - Rollin’

Highlight - It’s Still Beautiful

Highlight - Plz Don’t Be Sad

Got7 - Never Ever

Dorothy Scene - We Are Just..

Cherry Coke - Like I Do

Jung Joonil - Wish

MVP - Take It

Oohyo - Pizza

Cao Lu, Kisum, Yerin - Spring Again

Mad Clown - Love Is A Dog From Hell (ft. Suran)

Seven O’Clock [SOC] - Echo

Hwanhee - So It Is

Yang Hee Eun x AKMU - The Tree

Cnblue - Between Us

Monsta X - Beautiful

Pristin - Wee Woo

IU - Through the Night

BigFlo - Stardom

DJ Juice - BEATful Life (ft. Verbal Jint, Nuck)

J-Min - Alive

Lee Sun Jung Band - Because of Love

Pretty Brown - Grey (ft. Verbal Jint)

Sanchez - 5 More Minutes (ft. Beenzino)

Moon Hyuna - Cricket Song

Roydo - Rewind

Lucy - B-day

Eyedi - Best Mistake (K)

Ofa - To You For You

X.Q - Long Time

Girl’s Day - I’ll Be Yours

Seo In Guk - Better Together

D.G.N.A - Lucky Man

Owol - Nuna (ft. Microdot)

Jero - Delusional

Red Velvet [STATION] - Would You

Seventeen - Smile Flower

I’M - Save Me

OFA - Somebody

OFA - Grow Old

JK Kim Dong Uk - Universe

April:

DPR Live - Cheese & Wine

Oh My Girl - Coloring Book

Winner - Really Really

Winner - Fool

INX - 2Gether

Dreamcatcher - Good Night

Imfact - Tension Up

Taeyeon - Make Me Love You

SBGB - Ki-dult

Corona - Holding Your Hand

Hong Dae Kwang - Fall In Love

Gaeko - Gajah (ft. Rap Monster)

Day6 - I’m Serious

Okdal - Love Advice

Okdal - Intern

Ten [STATION] - Dream In A Dream

Baekhyun [STATION] - Take You Home

Jenyer, Samuel Seo - Cliché

Jeong EunJi - The Spring (ft. Hareem)

EXID - Night Rather Than Day

MiSO - KKPP

Teen Top - Love Is

Lee Hae Ri - Pattern

Lee Hae Ri - Hate That I Miss You

Unit Black - Steal Your Heart

BLACK6IX - Please

Kim Na Young - Being An Adult

Zico - She’s a Baby

Daze - Friday

Berry Good - BibbidiBobbidiBoo

Apink - Always

Kisum - Sleep Tight (ft. Gilgubonggu)

DIA - Will You Go Out With Me

Yesung - Paper Umbrella

DinDin - Super Super Lonely

Hyolyn, Changmo - Blue Moon

Minzy - NiNaNo (ft. Flowsik)

Baek Ji Woong - Your Day

SF9 - Easy Love

Laboum - Hwi Hwi

Chung Ha - Week

IU - Palette (ft. G-Dragon)

Junggigo - Across The Universe

Hyukoh - Leather Jacket

Hyukoh - Tomboy

Hyukoh - Wanli

IU - Ending Scene

K.A.R.D - Rumor

14U - Very Very Very

Varsity - Hole In One

OLNL - OYeah

Reddy - Supreme

Jonghyun - Lonely (ft. Taeyeon)

Stella Jang - Vanishing Paycheck

Triple H - 365 Fresh

Jah Vinci Skull, C Jamm, Jah Vinci - Killa Dreads

Boi B - ADY (ft. Sik-K)

Sugarbowl - Second Date

Knowing Bros - Theme song

May:

Yong Jun Hyung - Wonder If (ft. Heize)

Lovelyz - Now, We

G.Urban - I’ll give it to you

VAV - Flower (You)

JeA - You’re Different (ft. Ra.D)

Ludonph Yongjunko - Tell Me It’s Okay (ft. Luna)

Busters - Dreamer

Day6 - Dance Dance

Romeo - Stay With Me

Psy - I Luv It

Psy - New Face

Twice - Signal

Vixx - Shangri-La

Unnies - Right?

Honeyst - Like You

Urban Zakapa - Alone

Sohee - Spotlight

B.I.G - Hello Hello

IKON - Bling Bling

IKON - B-Day

Roy Kim - Egoist

Roy Kim - Suddenly

Cheeze - Be There

Dean - Love (ft. Syd)

Loco - Movie Shoot (ft. DPR Live)

Loco - Too Much (ft.Dean)

Seventeen - Don’t Wanna Cry

Dear Cloud - Silver Lining

Map6 - I’m Ready

A.C.E - Cactus

Yezi - Anck Su Namun

Yong Yong - Scribbling

KNK - Sun, Moon, Star

Kriesha Chu - Trouble

Yoo Yong Min - Nobody Knows

Goretexx, Black Nut, Han Yo Han - Silky Boys

South Club - Hug Me

Marmello - Puppet

MeiMei Jane - Forever

Shin Hyun Woo - So Amazing

LOOΠΔ(Loona)/Eclipse

Joo - Late in the Morning

Kyuhyun - Goodbye For Now

24K - Only You

Most Badass Asian - Officer

Highlight - Calling You

Sistar - Lonely

Astro - Baby

The Black Skirts - Who Do You Love

Baek A Yeon - Sweet Lies (ft. The Barberettes)

Still PM - True

June:

Elris - We, First

Suran - 1+1=0 (ft. Dean)

S.E.T - Nalari

TopSecret - Mind Control

Gummy - I I Yo

Chung Ha - Why Don’t You Know (ft. Nucksal)

Ft.Island - Wind

Day6 - I Smile

WJSN - Happy

G-Dragon - Untitled, 2014

Eddy Kim - Heart  Pound

Pentagon - Critical Beauty

NCT 127 - Cherry Bomb

Vermuda - Dream Girl

Monsta X - Shine Forever

Mamamoo - Yes I Am

Mamamoo - Age Gag

BlackPink - As If It’s Your Last

South Club - Dirty House

South Club - I Got The Blues

South Club - Liar

Henry - I’m Good (ft. Nafla)

Ahn Jung Jae - You’re Fine

Apink - Five

Heize - Don’t Know You

Heize - You, Clouds, Rain (ft. Shin Yong Jae)

LOONA/JinSoul - Singing in the Rain

BoA - Camo

Lee Hyuri - Seoul (ft. Killagramz)

Crush - Summer Love

July:

The Barbarettes - Summer Love

Favorite - Party Time

Bang Yongguk - Yamazaki

Min Chae - Latata

VAV - ABC (Middle of the Night)

Lee Hyori - Black

Hyolyn, Kisum - Fruity

Crush - Outside (ft. Beenzino)

Day6 - Hi Hello

Take - Good Enough

Yu Seungwoo, Sandeul - Oppa

Red Velvet - Red Flavor

South Club - No

Millic - Paradise (ft. Fanxy Child)

One - Heyahe

One - Gettin’ By

Urban Zakapa - Moai

Xiumin x Mark [STATION] - Young & Free

Zico - Artist

Zico - Anti (ft. G.Soul)

Jessi - Gucci

Mind U - Love Me

Park Boram - Why, You? (ft. Seo Samuel)

Voisper - Crush On You

Hotshot - Jelly

WJSN (Cosmic Girls) - Kiss Me

Exo - Ko Ko Bop

Geeks - Woo

Psy - Love (ft. Taeyang)

KNK - Rain

Kard - Hola Hola

Jung Yong Hwa - That Girl (ft. Loco)

The Night Of Seokyo - Walking in the Moonlight )ft. Dawon, Lasier)

AKMU - Dinosaur

offonoff - gold (ft Dean)

Luda - I Will Give You All I Got

Dreamcatcher - Fly High

Monsta X - Newton

LOONA/Choerry - Love Cherry Motion

JJ Project - Tomorrow, Today

Longguo & Shihyun - the.the.the

9Muses - Remember

August:

Winner - Island

Winner - Love Me Love Me

GFriend - Love Whisper

Girl’s Generation - Holiday

Girl’s Generation - All Night (Documentary Ver.)

Yoo YoungJin x Taeyong [STATION] - Cure

Samuel - Sixteen (ft. Changmo)

Eddy Kim - Now

ONF - ON/OFF

CLC - Where are you?

The Rose - Sorry

Juniel - Last Carnival

Groovyroom - Sunday (ft. Heize, Jay Park)

Raina - Loop (ft. Aron of Nu’est)

N.Flying - The Real

Drug Restaurant - Drink O2 in the water

Primary - ~42 (ft. Sam Kim , eSNa)

Day6 - What Can I Do

Boyfriend - Star

WannaOne - Energetic

Weki Meki - I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend

Pristin - We Like

Momoland - Freeze

Oguogu - Ice Chu

Sunmi - Gashina

Heize - In The Time Spent With You

Hur Young Ji - Memory Clock

Hoody - Hangang

Kassy - Let It Rain

Victon - Unbelievable

Yu Seungwoo, Younha - Can’t Stop This Feeling

Jisook - Ilhoon - Baesisi

Aleph - Fall in Love Again

S2 - Honeya

Lee Seung Hwan - God Of Money

VIXX LR - Whisper

10cm - Help

HyunA - Babe

Jackson Wang - Papillon

Good Day - Rolly

S.I.S - I’ve Got A Feeling

Rolling Paper - Polaroid (ft. DalShabet’s Serri)

Jeong Sewoon, Sik-K - Just U

IZ - All You Want

Henry - That One

Babylon - Lalala

GreatGuys - Last Men

Golden Child - DamDaDi

Sanchez - Mesmerised (ft. Yong Jun Hyung)

Primary - Right (ft. Soyou)

Primary - Diet (ft.Solji)

Primary - Hello (ft.Lena Park)

Primary - Hush (ft. Jaebum)

9Muses - Love City

September:

10cm - Phonecert

Junho - Fine

Pentagon - When I Was In Love

Exo - Power

B.A.P - Honeymoon

Lee Gikwang - What You Like

Black6IX - Like A Flower

Day6 - I Loved You

Pentagon - Like This

Soyou - The Blue Night of Jeju Island

Yonko - Butterfly (Black Ver.)

San E, Penomeco, Microdot, Kebee - Fresh Up

Jeong Eun Ji - Manito

Elris - Pow Pow

Bobby - I Love You

Bobby - Runaway

Bts - DNA

IU- Last Night Story

B1A4 - Rollin’

P.O - MEN’z NIGHT (ft. Chancellor)

Day6 - When You Love Someone

U-Know [STATION] - Drop

K.will - Nonfiction

Seventeen (SVT Leaders) - Change Up

LOONA/Odd Eye Circle - Girl Front

Bolbbalgan4 - Some

Βolbbalgan4 - Blue

Bolbbalgan4 - Imagine

Bolbbalgan4 - Fix Me

Yoona [STATION] - When The Wind Blows

Koh Nayoung - Stars

Sugarbowl - A Very Special One

20 Years of Age - Not Him

October:

Stray Kids - Hellevator

TRCNG - Spectrum

Hash Tag - Hue

Got7 - You Are

Nu’est W - Where You At

Basement Claxxic - Always on my Mind

Davichi - To Me

Jang Wooyoung - Still Me

SF9 - O Sole Mio

Rainz - Juliette

Woo Seok - Lift off (ft. E’Dawn)

Varsity - Can You Come Out Now?

Up10tion - Going Crazy

Masc - Do It

Yu Seungwoo - Tonight

Paul Kim - Stranger

Mate - A Day

Mate - Baby

Dpr Live - Jasmine

Hi Cutie - Play U

HA:TFELT - I Wander (ft. Gaeko)

HA:TFELT - Read Me (ft. Punchnello)

Highlight - Can Be Better

Taemin - Move

BtoB - Missing You

Jung Jin Hyeong - Tru (ft. Sik-k)

A.c.e - Callin’

JBJ - Fantasy

Killagramz - Coloring (ft. Hash Swan)

Seventeen [Vocal Team]

Jimin (AOA) - Hallelujah

Playback - Want You To Say

Super Junior - One More Chance

Twice - Likey

The Rose - Like We Used To

Juniel - I Drink Alone

Epik High - Home Is Far Away + Love Story

November:

Astro - Crazy Sexy Cool

Nick&Sammy - Without You

Jinbo - My Love By My Side (ft. Chancellor)

Super Junior - Black Suit

Byul - Leaves (ft. Junoflo)

Minah - 11°

Mind U - If

Jeon Soyeon - Jelly

Seventeen - Clap

VAV - She’s Mine

Eddy Kim - Bet On Me

Yiruma - F r a m e d

Sonamoo - I (Knew it)

Day6 - All Alone

Nieah - Baby I

Hyeongseop X Euiwoong - It Will Be Good

Sole - Ride (ft. Thama)

Martin Smith - Season Comes Again

Park Jimin - Say I Love You

Block B - Shall We Dance

Monsta X - DramaRama

Exid - DDD

Hwang Chi Yeul - Rewind

Rothy - Stars

Victon - Remember Me

Urban Zakapa - When We Were Two

Swings - Clock Out (ft. Jay Park, Crush)

WannaOne - Beautiful

Samuel - Candy

Kard - You In Me

Kiggen - Cloudy (ft. Solar)

Soma - In My Phone

Soma - Someday + Face Me

Pentagon - Violet

Pentagon - Runaway

Red Velvet - Peek-A-Boo

Joonil Jung - I Like

George - Boat

Jackson Wang - Okay

Soyou, Sung Si Kyung - I Still

No.11 - B1 (ft. Sung Joo of Uniq)

E Z Hyung - I Feel Good

Lee Ha Rin - A Strange Day

Fly To The Sky - Your Season

Kim Dong Wan - Afterimage

Map6 - Love Is Gone

Nell, Groovyroom - Today

UV - Za Bro (ft. Choiza)

HuhGak - Only You

Kream - Photograph

Zion.T - Nu DAY

Drug Restaurant - Catwoman

gugudan - Chococo

Jeebanoff - Timid (ft. Changmo)

December:

HyunA - Lip & Hip

Han Dong Geun - Undoable

Kisses - Dead-End

Day6 - I Like You

Kard - Trust Me

Zion.T - Snow

The Boyz - Boy

Dpr Live - Martini Blue

Dpr Live - Text Me

Taemin - Day and Night

K.Will, Soyou, Boyfriend, Mad Clown, Monsta X, Wjsn, Junggigo, Brothersu, Jeong Sewoon, Lee Kwanghyun, Yu Seungwoo, Mind U, #Gun, Duetto- Christmas Day

B.A.P - Hands Up

Soyou - The Night (ft. Geeks)

Car, the garden - Island (ft. OhHyuk)

Taeyeon - This Christmas

Twice - Heart Shaker

Twice - Merry & Happy

Laysha - Pink Label

Crush - Be By My Side

Exo - Universe

Loona/Chuu - Heart Attack

Lay - Goodbye Christmas

Eric Nam - Hold Me

Younha - Parade

Sunwoo Jung A - C A T (ft. IU)

Yang Da Il - Lie

Osshun Gum - Life’s a Dream

Kim Na Young - Miss U

[danieljbockman]

Never Mind The Nerds, Be Nice To Dropouts- They’re Becoming Bosses In the Tech Age! 

Ever more increasingly in this technology and information age people without a college degree or formal education are becoming more and more successful. It seems if you read a lot of business blogs and articles you will read about some t-shirt millionaires that could barely get through high school and now has a multi-million-dollar deal with a major appeal brand now all because they were printing t-shirt for something to do. What about the Instagram super millionaire that found “insta-fame” and fortune only with the knowledge of how to operate their phone and select a few cool filters! Influencers, gurus, self-publishers, and online social media starlets are finding the information age alchemy and super wealth isn’t only in software engineering, app design or having an MBA! If you were a college graduate, trudging and drugging through the stresses of making a living, finding a job and climbing the corporate ladder with the responsibilities of life, career and college debt, how does it make you feel to see people that seem to be hitting it big with only a small fraction of the education you have?      

 Most everyone has some level of expectations out of life. Nearly all of those expectations are based on what we have learned as we were growing up from parents, teachers, and mentors. The problem with these expectations we were influenced by is that we were not taught to make those expectations flexible. People have their expectations chiseled in stone and they live their lives to accomplish what they have perceived as “the way you’re supposed to do it”. When these expectations get disrupted by an outside influence that is not really all that different than themselves, disappointment and confusion start to set in. Expectations control our predictions, predictions control our decisions. With that said, when you disrupt someone else’s expectations, predictions and decisions with your success, it becomes unnerving to them.

When you demonstrate super-success by setting new standards of how to reach success, people will generally find that to be a hard pill to swallow and they will start to feel inadequate. Remember that most people were taught early the benchmarks of what successful people do and those benchmarks are the expectations people adhere to. When you raise the bar higher or in a different direction than their expectations that they were not able to see, they feel they don’t have what it takes to be you and they concede to their own deficiencies. You might make them feel a little dumb and not educated, even though they could be greatly more educated than you, because you are a peer to them and are rapidly advancing past them.

Those expectations and perceptions of how life works develop a set of “life rules” in a person’s head. Subconsciously they are obeying the rules and living life the way it was intended according to the rules. But then someone like you comes along with your newly found super-successful life and demonstrates that you are getting ahead of everyone by breaking the life rules. What you are doing to these people is devastating because you are now destroying their concept of the rules. Look at it this way; the average everyday citizen is working hard every day to provide for their families and live a good life. They follow the rules and don’t cheat the system. They believe cheaters never get ahead and they toe the line but what happens when someone like you comes into their life and shakes everything up? They are working just as hard, or harder, as you and yet, you seem to be the one that is coming out way ahead. They are doing everything they are supposed to do in life to be successful but you are breaking the life rules and surpassing them, vastly and creating a vanguard for others to follow that can be extremely unfamiliar to most. This becomes demoralizing and makes them question their own values.

Be careful with other people’s perceptions of the life game. They probably aren’t as jealous of you as they are frustrated with the fact they feel they were doing everything the right way and they just turned out average while you defied the perceptions of the life game by having flexible expectations, raising the standards or redirecting the standards and breaking the benchmarks, and destroying the concepts of what it takes to become super-successful!

I see every day that the orders of operations to the life rules, e.g. be born, go to school, get a degree, work for 40 years and retire, is becoming a thing of the past but there are still plenty who believe and follow this mantra. There is nothing wrong with this traditional lifestyle but seemingly, it’s not for everyone and that has been the case for a long time. It’s just that now the people who do not follow the traditional path to success and are become extremely successful is showing that the traditional smart path, may not always be the best path. In history, there have always been people that didn’t follow the rules and the class clowns and losers that were only supposed to be working low level or entry level minimum wage jobs as a result of their nonconformity to the order society has setup for them. Today, as a result of technology and the easy interface that was designed by, (ironically) by super smart college graduates is making it easier and easier for those who choose not to follow the path of their parents and peers through the rigors of college stress and expenses to become just about anything they want and earn as much as they want. The rule breakers have always existed in history and some of them went on to super success but they were considered a one-off or some kind of apparition that comes every 100 years. But today, technology has made the one-offs occur much more often and much more rapidly and significantly!

Because of new technology and new ways of looking at success and maybe most importantly- the new ways of having flexible expectations, more and more people are finding super success with no more as much as a high school diploma. This is where the life rules of the game are being broken and those who followed the life rules are feeling a bit dismal about it. The nonconformists have always existed but were generally considered to not be the people that would do something extremely significant. The problem in the past was that most of the nonconformist believed this too and did just end up living normal lives of paycheck to paycheck but now, the dynamics have changed and the nonconformist dropouts are doing much more, and finding success in a world that was designed to serve the ones that followed the rules and, - it’s starting to get noticed. If your expectations were always letting you down, and you just couldn’t seem to fit into the path of the traditional life rules, wouldn’t you think that your expectations would be flexible and always be evolving? I sure do, because this is exactly what happened to me!  

Remember back in school and they told you to be nice to nerds because they were going to be your boss someday? I would seriously rethink that because as the world gets easier and easier to navigate and technology becomes more and more user-friendly, I would keep an eye on those that don’t follow the rules. They are more than likely just as smart as you and they can learn anything you can (because tech has made that much easier) and they don’t have as much debt as you and they have much, much less to risk than you. So I would say, “Be nice to the nonconformist dropouts, goof-offs and class clowns of the world, they are actually more likely to be your boss someday and will be in the business of hiring the nerds to help them develop their empires!”

 Daniel J Bockman                                                

[davidnoles]

headshots nyc

I would say that the odds of catching Chad Anderson sipping a margarita on a beach in Cancun are quite low. He's a member of the Explorers Club of NYC. Some of it's members were first to the North and South Poles, first to summit Mt Everest, first to the Moon, etc... Chad did something a little different. On 29 July 2017, he, Justin Fornal and Johnnie Mundell completed a 100 mile swim around the coastline of Islay, Scotland. But just to make things interesting, they hauled a 30 gallon oak barrel along with them, filling it along with way with whiskey from each of Islay's remaining active distilleries, some of the greatest distilleries in the world. Next up: They're heading to Oaxaca, planning to travel 260 miles by foot and horseback to 12 selected villages to gather the rarest and most unique mezcals in the area. In both cases, the results are auctioned off for charity. Oh also Chad is CEO of Space Angels, a leading source of captial for space startups. Yes, space. He holds an MBA from Oxford and managed a 50 billion real estate portfolio through the great recession. Oh also he boxes. I asked how serious he was about it. He said he planned to fight professionally. My jaw dropped. I suggested he acquaint himself with images of Mickey Rourke. I suggested that these would be our "before" pictures, and that I'd be honored to take the "after" pictures as well. He reassured me that he didn't plan on a long career. He just wanted a record. 1 and 0 or 0 and 1. Just one fight and then he's out. Incidentally, warm and open dude. Never rushed, always generous about our work. cheers to the adventurer. d #makeupartist is the first person to climb Kilimanjaro wearing a clown nose, @annamalskaya ... #headshots #headshotsonly #headshotsnyc #davidnolesphotography #laheadshots #portraitphotographer #nyheadshots #headshotphotographer #portraitphotography #portrait #actorheadshots #actorslife #makeportraits #davidnoles #studiophotography #headshotphotography #studioportraits #studiolighting #davidnoles #davidnolesphotography #acting (at David Noles Photography) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0TOtTBJwQG/?igshid=kbg5e57nqcam

[perusingprincesses]

Hot New Releases! ~ Jan 20

Cirque Act 2 (Cirque #2) by A. Giannoccaro

Without my box I can’t be me Kidnapped by a clown close to the sea He’s torn inside where one equals two One I hate, the other I love true

Secrets and lies become alibis Sivan is damaged, it’s in his eyes Riddles unravel when you know who masters Now Imogene’s only home is Masters

An eye playing spy held me together When I broke, he broke, two ends of frayed tether We’re joined by the past like twin souls in hell Innocent angels molested, and fell

I escaped it, but need to go back. To love the man with his face painted black. The circus is known for its eternal magic Our tent of freedom is simply tragic.

Once a little girl fell, then she fell for me I’m a fool, and she’s a fool for me There’s a clown inside us all; a purpose But this life, it’s all just a circus.

BaddAss (Badd Brothers #2) by Jasinda Wilder

I was a Sixty-Eight Whiskey—a combat medic. So when I hear someone shout “MEDIC!” training just kicks in. It’s automatic, immediate. I don’t think I even saw the guy whose leg I tended to, not really. All I saw was him. Zane Badd. His tuxedo fit him like he’d been sewn into it, and his eyes reflected the fury and the hardness of a combat veteran, but when he looked at me, he just…softened. By the time I had his brother patched, Zane and I were both covered in blood, and I knew I had to have him.

The trouble with Zane isn’t getting him, it’s keeping him.

And the trouble with me is, even if I could hold onto a man like Zane, I wouldn’t know what to do with him. It’s not in my nature, and if life has taught me anything, it’s to not trust anyone, least of all men like Zane. He’s a warrior through and through, hard, muscular, gorgeous, tenacious, and yet oddly tender toward me.

Experience and instincts are telling me to run from Zane Badd as fast as possible, but my heart and my body are telling me to stay, to hold on and not let go. Yeah, it’s a conflict as old as humanity itself, but it’s brand new for me.

*   *   *

Life as Navy SEAL doesn’t exactly prepare you for normality. Yeah, I can tend bar and goof off with my seven crazy brothers, but what do I do when the woman of my dreams—dreams I didn’t know I’d had until I saw her—explodes into my life like a frag grenade? I’m trained to attack, to win, to survive at any costs, and figuring out what to do about a woman like Amarantha Quinn will take every scrap of tenacity and courage I possess. Combat is easy, it turns out, in comparison to facing your own fears and scars.

And then sometimes, just when you think you’ve got it finally figured out, fate throws you a screwball and sends everything FUBAR.

Other books in the series:

Running Mate by Katie Ashley

Barrett

The name’s Barrett Callahan. Yeah, that Barrett Callahan—the one the press dubbed “Bare” after those naked sexting pictures surfaced. At twenty-five, I was armed with an MBA from Harvard, an executive position at my father’s Fortune 500 company, a penthouse, and a different piece of delectable eye candy in my bed every weekend. I had a life most men dreamed of. But then my father decided to run for president, and my playboy lifestyle became a liability to his campaign that was built on family values. My “makeover” comes in the form of a fake fiancée who I don’t even get to choose–one who is an uptight, choirgirl acting priss but also sexy-as-hell.

Addison

My latest relationship had gone down in flames, and I was drowning in a sea of student loans when in true Godfather status, James Callahan made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Seven figures for seven months on the campaign trail pretending to be the adoring fiancée of his son, Barrett. As soon as he won the election, our engagement would be dissolved amicably for the press, I was free to ride off into the sunset a million dollars richer, and because of the NDA, no one would be the wiser. Sure, I’d never met the guy, but I’d been a theater nerd in high school. I could pull off any role from Lady Macbeth to Maria Von Trapp. But that was before I met my fake fiancé—the infuriating, self-absorbed, egotistical, drop-dead-sexy King of the Manwhores.

The race will be a fight to the death finish, and that’s not even the actual campaign.

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Hot New Releases! ~ Jan 20 was originally published on Perusing Princesses

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My Cup of Coffee with R.A. Dickey

When guys make it to the big leagues for a handful of games, maybe an entire season, later on in their lives they'll say they "had a cup of coffee" in the big leagues. The implication here being, of course, they didn't stay long.

My baseball career was short enough to call it a "shot of espresso," or maybe, "the tiniest, whispered sip of espresso." This metaphor admittedly gets a little complicated, because, after my cup of baseballian coffee, I entered the coffee business. But before I began dispensing non-baseball cups of coffee to thousands of non-baseball-playing Nashvillians, I did have a teeny, David Eckstein-sized cup of coffee for a local college. And while I was swishing around that dirty, grimy coffee in my mouth, I faced R.A. Dickey, Cy Young Award winner.

* * *

My freshman year, I played outfield at Trevecca Nazarene University, a small, Christian college in Nashville that fines you if you miss chapel. Trevecca has a competitive Division II baseball program (the school was in the NAIA during my time)—we finished second in the conference that year. During the fall semester, a block of months reserved collegiately for football and basketball and whatever else, baseball is relegated to conditioning drills, long-tossing, batting cage work, and good-natured rookie hazing. Rules prohibit teams from holding "practice" (rules also prohibited teams from "hazing"—guess shaving our heads and dizzy bat racing us into viritigalian stupors didn't count—so we did all of these other things and didn't call it "practice").

One of the things we did was have a round-robin "Intrasquad World Series." Our 25-man roster was divvied up among three teams—Team Black, Team Gold, and Team Purple. To round out each team's nine-man starting lineups, our three coaches were eligible to play. A draft was held to select the teams—one of our players' dads owned an upscale bowling alley, and we had the live draft there, complete with a draft board and microphone'd podium, in one of the "party rooms" (definitely a place where your ninth birthday was, with a cake and party hats and a clown you're scared of and you're not sure why is there). The three teams were captained by each of our three coaches.

Our head coach, Jeff Forehand (now the coach at Lipscomb University), played high school ball at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, under his father, legendary Nashville coach Fred Forehand. Coach Forehand (our Coach Forehand) was teammates and remains good friends with former MBA and University of Tennessee star, current Toronto Blue Jay, and 2012 Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey. R.A. and Coach Forehand had a yearly standing agreement that, if R.A. was in town, and healthy, and just happened to be near Trevecca Nazarene University's campus during the intrasquad world series, he would pitch for whatever team drafted him. It was a risk--you draft R.A. and he doesn't show, you're down a man on your roster. If you pick him, you get a spot start from one of the best pitchers in the world.

Of course, this was 2005. R.A. Dickey was not one of the best pitchers in the world. He was one of the best pitchers in whatever room he happened to be sitting in, maybe? If he was sitting in a room completely devoid of professional baseball players? At the doctor's office, definitely, he was the best pitcher there. And, say, at the mall, although there are lots of people at the mall sometimes, so you can never be sure. He definitely was the best pitcher at any given moment at any local doctor's office, and he was sure in those a lot. Had a host of shoulder problems and all other kinds of stuff.

Also, he was old.

He'd starred in high school in the early 90's. His good friend and contemporary, Coach Forehand, was our coach, in his late-30's; this is what R.A. should've been doing at this point, settling down, having a family, "giving back" to the game. Instead, he was floundering around minor league bullpens and major league disabled lists. Numerous times, he was a shot of espresso away from being out of baseball entirely, forever.

In 2005, he was technically with the Texas Rangers. Although he was with the Texas Rangers the way you're still married to your wife even though she made you move out and you're eating pizza every single night and she is dating someone new and the divorce is just a matter of paperwork. As a formality, Orel Hershiser (just a totally random and huge name to appear in this saga) told R.A. to learn a knuckleball, like the wife saying to her estranged husband, "Um, get a job that pays six figures, and quit drinking, and dedicate your life to Christ." I'll get right on it, honey!

So R.A. got right on that knuckleball, a fickle, wavering pitch tried by few, mastered by even fewer. Tim Wakefield was able to grasp it, sort of, in the way that you don't really grasp a knuckleball anyway, but just kind of heave it up there, with your knuckles, hoping for the best. It's a long-shot pitch, capable of dancing past bats and ducking catcher's mitts. It can dart and flutter and weave, and it can float there like an eight-year-old's toss.

R.A. took up the knuckler because he couldn't take up anything else. Injuries had ravaged his other stuff—his fastball was hittable by every two-armed human in the coffee shop you're in right now, his curveball wasn't so much of a curve as a Google Maps "slight left" on its way to being a stand-up double, his fast-less fastball meant his change-up wasn't much of a change from anything, except maybe now every single human being on earth could hit a homer on him. He wouldn't have lasted 15 more minutes for the Rangers.

So he learned the knuckler.

It didn't start well. His first year throwing the knuckler, by some miraculous finagling of the disabled list, Dickey made the Rangers' opening day roster. No pitcher in major league history has given up more home runs than he gave up in his first start of the season. The Detroit Tigers launched six (6!) on him that day, which is half a dozen, and also twice the homers I've hit in all my life.

So he hadn't quite figured out the knuckleball yet. And he wouldn't, either, for a while. Six years it took—one for each of those six bombs—for Dickey to figure it out, or maybe it just took that long for the unpredictable yips and zips of the knuckleball to float the right way for R.A., in a career that had zipped in all the wrong ways for so long.

In 2012, as a member of the New York Mets, Dickey won the Cy Young Award. Six years removed from that ignominious home run record, seven years removed from making a fool of me in the Trevecca instrasquad world series.

* * *

I redshirted my freshman year. Redshirting is code for "looking good for the girls." My sole purpose at Trevecca Nazarene University—other than keeping the pitching charts, which I did with accuracy and aplomb—was to look good for the girls in the stands. I wore my socks just right, high cuffed, with my jersey tucked perfectly into my pants—and I never worried about it becoming dislodged, either, as the fastest move I'd make all season was to swiftly high-five a run-scoring teammate on his way back to the dugout. My actual on-field performance was irrelevant, unnecessary, and, if I was to keep my redshirt designation (which allowed me an extra year of eligibility on the hypothetical back end of my baseball career), prohibited. So I had to make up for it with sartorial swag.

Technically, my freshman year was dedicated to my continual improvement as a baseball player. There was no pressure on me to perform.

And then, in game one of the Intrasquad World Series, R.A. Dickey shows up.

This was not the R.A. Dickey of the Cy Young. In fact, this was not the R.A. Dickey of the major league-record six home runs. This was a half year prior to that, R.A. still testing out the knuckler, recovering from surgery—about 70%, he told us—and basically still figuring out if he could throw a baseball as a means of employment any longer. He was at the end of his rope. He could barely stand a chance on an MLB roster.

And he dominated us.

I faced R.A. four times. I made contact once. I hit it from me to you. Really. If you and I were sitting here talking, that's how far I hit it: a conversation's length. He fielded it, and easily threw me out at first. This after three straight trips ending in strikeouts.

The knuckleball was annihilating.

Maybe it was just 18-year-old me, never having seen anything like it. But it was crazy—nothing like Tim Wakefield, who just lobbed the thing up there like a greased-up watermelon. R.A. pitched the thing, hard—not like, 90-miles-an-hour hard, but hard, low-80's probably. With that amount of heat on it, the knuckler did some funny things. It dropped halfway there and continued on its path, like some sort of horizontal Tetris game. It shifted to the right just as you were about to swing, like a girl in the high school hallway, narrowly avoiding crashing into you. Most of all, it was fast, accurate, deceptive, and dizzying.

That this man couldn't cut it on a major league roster had major league implications for me: I was nowhere close. I had tasted, and I had seen: my cup of coffee tasted nothing like his.

After completing a full season of looking good for the girls at Trevecca, I retired. When he could hardly carry his own arm out to the mound, R.A. Dickey struck out my baseball career.

You can go ahead and pour one out for me—I was about to brew a new cup of coffee anyway.