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griffinsanddragons · 8 years ago

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Unexpected Developments [Part Two]

Hawke recruits Isabela to help her tie a few ‘loose ends.’

Read: Part One on Tumblr!

Also on AO3!

I finally came through and wrote the thing. We’re following Isabela and we love her so happy readings!

Something was different; Isabela knew the moment Hawke entered the room. She hadn’t seen much of her since the expedition. Aveline delivered the bad news about Bethany and Hawke needed space to grieve. Merrill, Varric, Anders, and everyone else who’d seen her, spoke about Hawke anxiously. She’d been quiet, they said, distant, angry–though she wouldn’t admit it–and there was a sad, faraway look in her eye that made her seem small. But today, her presence resounded off the Hanged Man’s drafty walls, amassing the attention of every crook, con, bandit, low-life, mercenary and thief she passed by. Hawke–who made a name for herself working for Athenril in the criminal underground, survived the Deep Roads, and got rich–was back. And it would have been normal, Isabela thought, had she had something to come back for.

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“Isabela!” Hawke greeted her with a wide, excited grin and ordered a drink, the Hanged Man’s finest–though it really wasn’t much. She seemed to be in good spirits today–or rather good enough–nodding and listening to her prattle on about the Rivani Merchant Council Ship she saw at the harbor that morning, (“I’d bet my ass the poor thing’s heading back to Dairsmuid to escort some Merchant Prince selling tea or something–what a waste,”) listening with varying degrees of interest, her eye’s a little wider than they needed to be. “You’re looking perky today. What’s got you better? Have you found someone who’ll…curl your toes in Hightown?” Isabela leaned forward, her movements slow and languid as she slouched into a comfortable position in her seat, “Is it someone I know?” “No!” Hawke asserted, now stiff as well as upright in her chair, “I’m not–I’m not looking for a partner, Isabela!” “Who said anything about a partner?” A large, mischievous grin pulled at the tops of her sparsely freckled cheeks, “I’m talking about a good old-fashioned rub down. That’s what you need. I know a girl, and a fellow if you’d prefer-” “I do not.” She cut her off. Hawke spoke in a stern, affronted voice reminiscent of a Noble in a crooked wig; Between the smuggling, fighting, sarcasm, killing and mercenary work they’ve done together, Isabela nearly forgot that she’d been raised by a parent of righteous, noble birth–the type of Mother who’d encouraged the children to shy away from such ‘improper matters in polite company,’ use the right forks and never threaten the houseguests (unless it was necessary.) Her reaction reminded her of Bethany.

Though that was a topic Isabela couldn’t breach. Even now, as she watched Hawke swirl and nurse her drink, she could see the toll of her grief; The days have not been kind.

She should probably say something. Everyone had said something, everyone but her.

But it wasn’t for a lack of trying. She did, on more than one occasion, try to find a way to tell Hawke she was sorry for what happened to her sister, but her efforts only got as far as the door. She considered climbing in through the window and shouting ‘surprise!’ but whatever ill-conceived speech she came up with could never compare to the real support Hawke already received. She couldn’t be that type of friend–but that didn’t seem to matter, not to Hawke; they picked right up where they left off: giggling over drinks at the Hanged Man as the drunkards sang and tried to play a broken lute. “Alright, alright, no need to twist your knickers. What’s really got you so excited?” “Aveline–” Hawke spoke as though she suddenly remembered what had been on her mind, “I saw her today and she reminded me of something I have to do.” Isabela rolled her eyes and took the last of her drink, desperately hoping she wouldn’t regret the end of the story. “What’s our ‘Captain’ got you doing for her now? Let me guess, disrupting more fine business practices?” “Not exactly. She told me I needed to find a way to take my mind off…well, you know.” she took a letter from the pocket of her leggings and slid it Isabela’s way.

It didn’t say much, there wasn’t even a sender, but there was a list of names–of Templars who were responsible for taking Bethany away.

She recognized one of them–Cullen–but the others were a mystery. “After she accused me of murder, I figured I’d do some investigating of my own.” “What’re the slashes for?” Those were recent additions–fat black lines unevenly smudged as though a left-handed person dragged their hand across the page as they made them. There were only so many left-handed people in the world and there was ink smudged against the knuckle of Hawke’s little finger. “Oh that mean’s they’re dead,” she shrugged. “The guards found them at the docks.” “Well, there are worse places to go.” Isabela peered into her empty cup, watching the last of the droplets race like rain against the window. “They could have been found in Hightown–now that would cause a stir.” “My thoughts exactly.” Hawke smiled at Isabela, her eyes growing larger and even more disquieting. “And as much as I appreciate it, I don’t know who sent me this–or why. But if they’re murdering people to get my attention, I should see what they want.” “It could be a trap.” Or any number of things. Hawke was a well-known woman with both friends and enemies–and this ‘friend’ could be either one with ease. “It could be. I asked Varric to investigate but the trail went cold, he’s been pouring all he has into searching for Bartrand.” She passed Isabela her unfinished drink. “But he was able to tell me one thing: one of these men, the dead one, was a patron at the Blooming Rose. And if I’m lucky, my ‘friend’ might have paid them a visit as well.” “And if he has?” Isabela leaned forward with her elbows on the table, her interest piquing at the meat of the story. “I can tie up a few…loose ends.” Hawke had a way of masking her intent with words that were only slightly threatening and Isabela liked that type of honesty. “Will you help me?” “Well, “ She pretended to think, “you did promise to keep that last relic mishap to yourself, so…” She agreed.

They followed the infamous maze of twisting streets to the long turning stairs that lead to Hightown. By the time they reached their destination, her muscles were wound and taut from exertion. She cursed. “Damn.” Isabela never cared much for Hightown; The buildings there were different than anywhere else in Kirkwall: bigger, cleaner, more pristine–each clamoring for the attention of wealthy nobles and foreign merchants; and utterly lacking in character. Girls dressed in fine silk and patterned lace greeted them outside. It was the sweet smells and the lulling song of a Harp, however, that drew the crowds inside. “Ah, the blooming rose.” Isabela sighed, perking at the sight of half naked courtesans lounging on the couches and chairs. The air inside was sticky with the scent of sweat, sex, and contrasting perfumes, but no one seemed to care or even notice the overbearing menagerie. “Where people come…and then go.” Hawke chuckled at her innuendo. “Make yourself scarce,” she whispered as she approached the counter to Distract Madam Lusine who, judging by the look of recognition in her eye, was torn between the knowledge of Hawke’s rise to nobility (and the coin she undoubtedly had,) and sour thoughts of their last meeting. “Ah, Serah Hawke.” Lusine greeted, brushing her graying curls behind her back. “Lovely to see you again.” While her back was turned, Isabela leaped behind the counter with little more than a low thud to mark her presence and slid the hefty book into her arms. The dark skin of her thighs flushed red against the cold, grainy stone as she sat and skimmed the book for names, dates, payments and appointments. “Have you come to buy, or are you merely wasting time?” She could hear the conversation going south ( as Hawke’s charms could only take her so far.) Quickly, Isabela flipped the next two pages and finally the found the man listed in the letter. He’d been seeing a woman called ‘Sunny’–and quite frequently, it seemed. Isabela slid the book back in its place and popped to Hawke’s side in an instant, slipping her arm around her friend with a wink. “We’re here to see Sunny,” Isabela purred, the woman’s name rolling off her tongue like a wave on the open sea. “Oh. Mistress Isabela. I wasn’t aware the two of you were…together.” Lusine threw the pair a sideways glance. “Either way, Sunny isn’t here–haven’t seen the girl in days.” “And you wouldnt happen to know where she is, would you?” Hawke asked. “I don’t make a habit of telling a client’s my worker’s personal lives, for obvious reasons. So if you need to see Sunny, I suggest you come back another day.” She spoke with the hard conviction of a woman determined to take the final word. “Now I do have other customers, so will that be all?” “That’ll be all.” Isabela nodded, cutting in before Hawke could speak and pulled her toward the exit. “I can make her talk,” Hawke affirmed, glaring back at Lusine with narrowed eyes. “Everyone has a price.” “I know you can, Sweetness, but I like this place. We’ll find Sunny…somehow.” She knew for a fact that Lusine didn’t respond well to bribery, and Hawke’s insistence would only get her banned. But as the two approached the door to leave, a young woman called out. “Wait!” She was tall, carved like the figurehead of a merchant ship, and smelt like a field of Lavender. “Hello,” Isabela greeted, her voice low and sultry. “I heard you asking about Sunny. Do you know her?” “We’re investigating something,” Hawke began, “–for the guard.” “You don’t look like guardsmen.” “That’s because we’re not. We do the real work.” Isabela boasted, turning toward Hawke who returned the look with a simple nod. “Really?” She seemed impressed, “But you do work for the guard? I’ve seen you with the Captain before.” “She’s the reason we’re here.” Hawke didn’t lie, or at least not usually, but she did have a habit of stretching the truth to suit her fancies. Despite that, the Lavender Woman’s face brightened. “Good.” “So what’s this about Sunny? Do you know her?” “She’s my friend.” The Lavender Woman began, “I’ve been worried about her. Ever since she learned one of her clients was…murdered.” She whispered the word like a dirty phrase in the middle of the night. “The…Templar?” Hawke shifted her weight to the side. “That’s the one. She hasn’t been the same.” “Why?” Isabela cut in, “He’s just a client–or did she know him well?” “I don’t know about that–but…someone else came around asking questions about him. Someone they call ‘Dirty Fingers,’ and she gave him his name and then a few weeks later…he was dead. I told her not to blame herself, but she thinks it’s her fault.” “They call him ‘Dirty Fingers?’” Isabela stifled a tittering laugh. “And this man this…um, ’Dirty Fingers,’ do you know who he is? Where he might be?” “…If I tell you, will you try to find something that proves Sunny is innocent?” The Lavender Woman spoke quietly, taking a step forward as though to solidify their deal. “I’m sure we can make that arrangement.” “I hear he operates out of Lowtown, in the big foundry at night. Sunny’s client was found nearby.” And that’s where they found the other one too. They were on the right track.

Isabela took off to visit Fenris but agreed to meet Hawke in Lowtown that night, and when she did, she was greeted by a familiar sight. “Do you really need all that?” She asked, taking in the sight of Hawke in her shiny metal armor–just like old times. When they met, Hawke’s hair had been shorter, and straighter in a way that suggested the pulling of curls but little else about her changed; Isabela thought she’d be too busy, too wealthy, too different to get her hands dirty or join the thick of a fight. But despite her social standing, Hawke remained the same. “Only if Dirty Fingers wants to fight.” She spoke with easy amusement, carefree as though this was little more than a game and lead the way to the dock, her eyes trained forward, focused on her their target. The silhouette of the Lowtown Foundry stood high above the other buildings, it’s burnt, pungent, nauseating smell striking all who dared to wander nearby. No one but the desperate or workers ‘too good’ for the mines were bold enough to venture there. And if the smell wasn’t enough to deter curiosity, the rats surely were: large, feral creatures with sharp curling claws and yellow teeth–the worst kind, in Isabela’s seafaring opinion. She sighed and tilted her head back to gaze at the high stone tower of what used to be a mighty fortress in the Tevinter days. “So this is where your ‘secret admirer’ lives?” She squinted. “No worse than Darktown I suppose. At least there’s a view of the sky.” The wind picked up, hoisting the waves and lavishing her cheeks with salt spray. She should have grabbed a warmer tunic. The Foundry was mostly empty and surprisingly clean. Four cheaply dressed henchmen staggered around inside, laughing and drinking. It wasn’t until Hawke cleared her throat that they noticed them and hastily scrambled to take arms but Isabela was prepared. Her daggers found her palms as easy as the bones in her fingers and she passed through the world like a ghost, the presence of her blades more felt than seen as she sunk back into the shadows and struck the Henchman down. Hawke had a more direct approach when dealing with hostile enemies–hack, slash, shield bash–but both proved to be sufficient. The henchmen fell to the ground, grunting and groaning in what could easily pass as an old Orlesian symphony. “Well, that was lovely.” Hawke flung the blood from her blade as she stepped around a writhing body. “I didn’t expect there to be guards. Where do you think they get these guys?” “I haven’t a clue.” They followed a path that twisted between four large vats, leading to a propped open door. The room was small and smelt like rum and unwashed bodies. Four henchmen, each less sober than the last, fell over themselves to defend their station but to no avail. Isabela merely shut the door in front of them. “Kill the intruders!” Someone yelled from the stairwell and more henchman appeared, some stumbling but other coherent as they fought. Victory came easy but Isabela was injured in the fight, grazed by a dagger on her arm and across the leg–but the other guy had it worse. Still, she hissed at the hot sting of pain and scowled at the blood flowing like streams across her skin. That wouldn’t look pretty in the morning. “Catch,” Hawke tossed her a potion to drink, the last one in her pouch. “Save it. It’s just a few scratches–nothing a trip to Darktown can’t fix.” If she even needed that. She’d been in far worse duels with far fewer resources in the past, she’d survive. “I’m wearing armor,” Hawke gestured at herself and the heavy metal plates that covered her tall frame. “And you know there are more of them up there…somewhere.” She almost sighed at the thought of more drunken henchmen hiding in the dark but headed toward the stairs regardless, calling back to Isabela to follow or risk being left behind. Still, she hesitated. Gazing up at Hawke before looking at the potion she tossed her way. She sighed, exhaling a warm, tired breath that showed her exhaustion. She took a quick sip of the potion and dried her mouth against her glove before following, the pain from her injuries began to numb so she’d save the rest for something important. A few more henchman straggled behind and others pretended to be dead. Isabela picked the lock of the room they should have been guarding and a man stood in the center to greet them. He jumped but managed to steel himself quickly, even as Hawke lined the tip of her sword to his neck. “You might want to consider hiring new help. That whole ‘kill the intruders’ thing didn’t exactly work out. I mean…we’re here,” she said in a sweet sounding voice, though the danger behind her lighthearted words was clear. “You’re ‘Dirty Fingers,’ I presume?” He didn’t look like a hardened criminal, though the best never did; he was paler than he should be, shaking, and his arms were just a bit too long for his body. “You seem unwell.” “What do you want?” He hissed. “We aren’t here for the ambiance if that’s what you think.” She let out a humorless laugh. “We’re only here for Information. That’s what you do right? You trade in information?”

“I do many things–none of them for free.” “Clever man.” Isabela could appreciate that business model though Hawke didn’t seem to agree. “I’m not paying you.” She said starkly. “Then I’m not talking!” “Oh, I think you’ll want to make an exception for us.” “And why is that?” “Because you seem like a smart man, and smart men usually understand what it means when someone holds a sword to their throat–or maybe I misjudged you,” Hawke spoke to him in the tone of a disappointed mother. “It wouldn’t be the first time I made a mistake; sometimes I need to take off an ear, or a few fingers before they really get the message.” Isabela didn’t need to look to see the deceitful smile spread across Hawke’s face to know what she wanted to do. “You threatening me? You don’t got it in y-” He was caught off guard by an unexpected stabbing. Blood dribbled out from the front of his shirt in a perfectly cut line. Hawke’s actions were smooth and precise, like dealing hands in a card game or–considering Hawke was a somewhat clumsy dealer–carving a Wintersend Turkey.

Dirty Fingers heaved and yelled and shouted, failing to bite back the pain. “Well, what do you know? It looks like I did have it in me! Though I’m more interested in seeing what you’ve got inside you.” Dirty Fingers looked up at Hawke as though he was seeing her for the first time. “Do you want to find out too?” “There’s something not right with you.” He accused, his voice rough and angry as he crouched down to his knees. “And you’re a rude, pathetic man determined to die for a secret that isn’t really his to keep–but keep talking, I’m sure insulting me is the way to get out of this.” “To the void with you!” “Well that wasn’t nice,” Isabela put in, and Hawke agreed. “Would you mind guarding the door while I talk to our friend? I’d hate to be interrupted.” “You get to have all the fun.” She crossed her arms but ultimately agreed, turning around to guard the door in case the henchmen sobered up or stopped playing dead. “Don’t worry, It’ll only take a moment.” Isabela shook her head, looking up in amusement at Hawke’s antics. That poor man. She heard him yelling, but preferred not to get in the way of Hawke’s interrogation. It wasn’t until his blood ran down the cracks in the stone flooring that Hawke called her back inside. “He said he’ll talk to us!” When she returned, DirtyFingers was laying on the ground on his side, reaching out his hand in a plead for mercy. Isabela couldn’t see his face, but she knew she didn’t want to. “He really isn’t well, but ‘Dirty Fingers’ finally has something to say. Isn’t that right?” “What do you want to know?” His words were a groan that slurred together, but it was easy to infer what it was he was saying. “You received information from a girl named ‘Sunny.’ A name. What did you do with it?” “Sold it.” “To?” A long silence drew between them, and Hawke glared down at the man bleeding out on the floor before aiming her sword and yelling. “To who!?” “Don’t know” Dirty Fingers confessed, heaving heavily as he breathed. “I don’t like being trifled with.” Her voice lowered, darkening as she spoke. “I thought you’d learned that by now– You sent someone to my home and I don’t like that. So if you don’t tell me who, I’ll make it so you’ll never speak again–Do you understand me?” Isabela’s eye’s widened in surprise at her tone, one she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her take.

Something in the room had shifted, a subtle feeling Isabela learned while sailing the stormy seas: Fear, despair, and the abandonment of hope–the dreaded realization her crew, or in this case Dirty Fingers, felt when they knew they wouldn’t survive until morning. “Don’t know his name! But I know his face.” “What does he look like?” “He was tall, good-looking, reclusive…he had, uh, the look of a mage. Ferelden …I’d guess.” “ ‘The look of a mage?’ ” “The robes.” She seemed conflicted, as though she needed a moment to think. A tall, handsome, reclusive mage–she let the thought marinate. “….what color was his hair?” “What?” “His hair!” She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flipped him to his back, exposing every bruise and cut for Isabela to see. “I won’t ask you again.” He bit his lip, tears ran down his narrow face and he might have even wet himself so the words came out rough and shaky. “It was dark! Black as night. Eye’s too! He had a mark, like a, like a birthmark on his cheek!” Hawke took a moment to breathe, shutting her eyes and exhaling as she stood upright. “And what did he need it for? What’s his plan?” “Don’t know. Don’t ask. Please.” He sputtered. Hawke glared at him once more. “I really don’t think he knows.” Isabela folded her arms. Hawke had beaten every last piece of information from him and more. Dirty Fingers had no reason to lie. Hawke looked at Isabela, then back to the man laying on the ground and seemed to resign to something. ‘Alright,’ she thought she heard Hawke whisper as she looked down at her sword. “…well,” she wiped the long blade clean with a handkerchief she kept in her potions pouch and dropped it on his face. “It was a pleasure doing business, Dirty Fingers. Let’s not cross paths again.” If he were lucky, he’d pick up whatever pride he had, drag himself to the docks and make his way to a city far from Kirkwall to make a living serving drinks at a tavern if he didn’t bleed out his injuries before the end of the night–but Isabela doubted he’d be lucky. Dirty Fingers was a loose end, and Hawke liked those tied.

Outside was cold and dark, the stench of the Foundry still permeated through the air but the scent of the salt in the sea felt fresh and clean near the harbor. “So…where are we going now? How do we find our Elusive Mage?” “…Anders told me he’s been working with- well, that he knows a lot of mages here. It’s a stretch, but maybe he knows our mystery man.” She spoke in a low, pensive tone, her luminous brown skin glowing in the silver moonlight. Whatever happened to her back there, she seemed to be calm and over it already. “Hawke?” She should say something. What would Aveline say? Something… something… responsibility? “Hmm?” “I…nevermind. And then what?” “We find out what business he has with me.” And tie up those loose ends. As they walked, a man staggered toward them. Large, stauch and seemingly down on his luck, he turned into an alley and stayed there, his presence ignored by those around him. “Right. So, to Darktown then?” “To Darktown.”

#filia hawke #filia art #isabela #dragon age 2 #things i write #this ended up much longer than i thought #but i had so much fun editing #next time anders joins the fun #long post #long post for ts

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hello-thefatlosshabit-blr · 6 years ago

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“What gets measured gets managed.” Peter Drucker

I am a firm believer in Peter Drucker’s management principle. Anyone that has ever kept a financial spending log or food log knows that they changed their spending or eating behavior when they created a record of the activity. We naturally start making better decisions and identifying patterns in our behavior. Monitoring an activity forces, us to pay more attention to it. We naturally start making better choices because we can’t ignore our bad ones. If we aren’t mindful of our choices, we will unconsciously fall into habitual patterns of behavior. The concept is so simple yet potent, I am amazed at how many people don’t use this principle to improve their personal or professional performance.

I think a simple notepad is a self-improvement powerhouse. It is one of the most powerful self-improvement tools in existence; when it is used to record an activity. Logging an activity creates greater awareness. Awareness is the first step in changing our behavior. When we record an activity, it forces us to become more mindful of our decisions, big and small. Often it is the small, seemingly insignificant decisions that are sabotaging us.

Eating that cookie in the breakroom, losing valuable time by allowing yourself to become distracted, skipping a workout, or staying up late watching TV instead of getting a good night’s sleep. Anyone of these decisions by themselves isn’t devastating, but their accumulative effects are.

Whatever it is you want to improve, your time management, your leadership, your relationships, your business, your eating patterns, your exercise consistency, or your spending, you must track it. Be relentless. Track everything related to the behavior you want to improve. Awareness is the first step toward transformation.

Bad habits are the result of cognitive neglect and mindless actions. The danger of bad habits is that we aren’t really involved in the decision-making process. We encounter the cue, and we begin to execute the routine, our conscious mind essentially goes to sleep until we receive the reward which reinforces the behavior. When we fall prey to bad habits, our mind is essentially operating at the level of the animals. One of our greatest gifts as human beings is our ability to connect what we are doing in the present to the results it will produce in the future. Our ability to value future rewards as much as immediate rewards will determine how much we will accomplish in our lifetime.

Harvard social psychologist Daniel Gilbert says “What’s so curious about human beings is that we can look deeply into the future, foresee disaster, and still do nothing in the present to stop it. The majority of people on this planet are overwhelmed with concerns about their immediate well being.” He says that most of us have a hard time relating to our future self. We treat our future selves like a stranger, so when we are given a choice that will benefit our future self or present self, we have an overwhelming bias to take care of our immediate needs. You might not think this applies to you, in that case, he would tell you, “If you are like most people, then like most people, you don’t know you’re like most people.”

The more we discount future rewards, the more likely we are to act impulsively and develop bad habits; because bad habits always produce immediate gratification, while productive habits rarely do. The reason the “Marshmallow Test” was so predictive of the future behavior of the study’s participants in the decades that followed is that it provided a direct measurement of the child’s ability to delay gratification.

Our ability to value future rewards as much as immediate ones will determine if we are going to invest in our future or squander it with impulsive actions. The future is either purchased by the present or stolen by it. Bad habits are thieves that rob us of our future one day at a time. The only way we can protect our future is by replacing bad habits with good habits. It is simple, but it isn’t easy. It requires diligence and effort. Progress is always intentional.

Our original reward system was based on food. Food wasn’t always available, like it is now, so our dopamine system was wired to seek immediate gratification. When our body senses a drop in blood sugar levels, a potentially life-threatening condition, our dopamine system is activated, and our desire to eat is palpable. This triggering mechanism is why small frequent meals, high in protein and slow digesting carbohydrates can significantly reduce cravings by keeping blood sugar levels stable.

Once our dopamine system is activated, any food could restore our blood sugar levels, but our primitive brain has been conditioned to seek high sugar foods since they will produce the most immediate rise in blood sugar levels. A failure to plan and have healthy snack options available, like an apple, will leave you susceptible to whatever junk food someone brought into the office. Instead of satisfying your craving with a nutritious 60-calorie apple, you end up eating an unhealthy 400-calorie donut, kolache, breakfast burrito, or cookie.

We didn’t begin cultivating crops and planning for the future until our newer prefrontal cortex was developed. It is our prefrontal cortex that is responsible for human beings ability to think of the future in a meaningful way. Before it’s development, any reward that was more than a few minutes away, wasn’t a consideration. As you have learned, our Elephant, which is driven to seek immediate gratification is able to easily overpower the Rider when the Rider has not prepared the Path or is uncertain what direction to lead the Elephant.

The smaller Rider cannot hope to overcome the two-ton Elephant through brute force and willpower, but he can steer the Elephant away from the temptation through preparation. He can shape the Path by removing temptations, when possible, having healthy snacks available always, and using future discounting to his advantage.

Our primitive rewards system treats any reward that is 10-minutes away like a future reward. Instead of our Rider telling our Elephant “No, you cannot have it” which would cause our mind to focus on the reward until our willpower is drained to exhaustion, in a phenomenon clinical psychologist call ironic rebound. Ironic rebound theory explains why our mind tends to focus on any thought we try to push away.

It is much easier and more effective to tell our Elephant, “Ok, you can have it, but you have to wait for 10-minutes.” This technique avoids our mind’s tendency to focus on the reward and cools our desires by making the reward feel like a future reward instead of an immediate one. Chances are in 10-minutes you will no longer feel the impulse.[i] Even if you do, you have still strengthened your willpower by overcoming the immediate temptation. Over time, this technique will significantly reduce the number and severity of your willpower lapses. Remember not to be overly critical of yourself when you give in to temptation because it will lead to stress eating. When we are struggling to overcome a bad habit and beat ourselves up about a willpower failure, our stressed-out mind will seek immediate relief, often from the very behavior, we are trying to curb. It isn’t logical, but it is all too human. Emotions can easily overcome reason.

Awareness prevents us from mindlessly falling into bad habits. The problem with most bad habits is that their negative consequences aren’t immediate. If you took one bite from a cookie and immediately gained 5-pounds, you wouldn’t take another bite. If you took one puff from a cigarette and instantly experienced health problems, you would put it down, but of course, these bad habits only produce immediate pleasure without any immediate consequences. If we aren’t mindful of their long-term cumulative effects, it is easy to convince ourselves it is just one cookie, one cigarette.

The self-deceit is especially insidious because there is a basis of truth and logic to the argument. One isolated indiscretion is negligible, it is what we do habitually that matters, but of course, in this case, the behavior is a bad habit, so it does matter. Gretchen Rubin, calls this excuse “the one-coin loophole.” In Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, the argument of the growing heap is made, “If ten coins are not enough to make a man rich, what if you add one coin? What if you add another? Finally, you will have to say that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him so.” What is implied is that while a single coin cannot make one rich, the accumulation of many coins is the only way to become rich.[ii]

Our actions are like the coins in Erasmus’s essay. One visit to the gym or sticking to our meal plan for a single day is inconsequential to our health, but the habit of going to the gym and controlling our food intake is invaluable. I’ll start logging my food intake tomorrow. It’s Sarah’s birthday, I’ll enjoy a piece of cake and start recording my food again next week. It’s just one workout. A year from now, what I did today won’t matter. It’s only one piece of cake. One beer won’t make a difference. Why work on that report today, when the deadline is three weeks away?

People enjoy using the one-coin excuse so often on themselves, that they will use it on other people. Numerous times people have told me that I could skip my lunch hour workout or eat a cookie in the breakroom. They are correct. I could skip the gym or eat the cookie, but I know that it is the habit of going to the gym and resisting the cookie that is important to my health and happiness. Nothing tastes better than looking lean and feeling strong. When you develop the exercise habit, it becomes a positive addiction. I hate missing a workout. I do skip the gym occasionally to bond with colleagues over lunch, but I usually plan ahead by exercising in the morning. I have noticed that I am always dragging in the afternoon when I miss a workout. Regular exercise is addictive because it makes you feel fantastic; improving your mood, focus, and energy.

Every day we are given the gift of choice. Each day our habits can create the future we want, or rob us of it. The only constant in life is change. Habits determine our direction. We can choose to embrace good habits that move us steadily toward our goals, or bad habits that take us further and further off course. The choice is usually between instant gratification and future accomplishment. When we develop good habits, time is our friend, but when we allow bad habits to persist, time works against us. “You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” Jim Rohn We are who we are and where we are because of our past decisions and habits. If we want to improve our circumstances, we must improve the quality of our decisions and habits.

If you really want to change a behavior track it for at least a week. A month would be even better. As you have already learned, it takes approximately 66-days on average to make a new habit sustainable, not the 21-days that most were taught. Habit formation timelines vary depending on how difficult the behavior is perceived to be by the individual. The more difficult the action, the longer the habit takes to form. Making improvements in any area requires measurement, but you must measure the right metrics.

Many people make the mistake of only measuring their desired outcome when attempting to achieve a goal. The other common mistake is not to set a deadline. Effective leaders set stretch goals for their organization that need to be reached within a specified time frame. A goal needs to have a deadline. A deadline helps create a sense of urgency. Deadlines help establish priorities and prevent procrastination. After setting goals, they look at lead and lag indicators. Lead indicators are daily actions we can take to achieve our long-term goal, measured by lag indicators. For example, generating sales leads might be a lead indicator, while the lag indicator would be an increase in sales revenue. Fat loss lead indicators are your daily caloric intake and total daily protein intake. The lag indicators are your weekly body weight averages and average body fat percentages. If you want to achieve a goal, your progress must be measurable.

“If you want it, measure it. If you can’t measure it, forget it.” Peter Drucker

Everything and anything you want to improve must be measurable. You might think some things can’t be measured, like building employee loyalty, but I would argue it can. If a leader wants to build loyalty in their organization, they could decide that twice a week they are going to visit two employees whose managers say they have been doing a great job and paying them a compliment for their excellent work. She could then inquire as to how they are doing and ask if there are any resources they need, including training, to help them be even more effective. Tracking her consistency would be the lead indicators, and quarterly feedback from culture surveys would be the lag indicator. Loyalty is a two-way street. Showing employees that the leadership values their contribution, and is committed to their professional development is how you earn loyalty.

If you want employees to care about the company, the company leadership has to show they care about the employees. Companies like Kimberly Clark inspire strong employee loyalty by coming up with imaginative ways of avoiding layoffs during times of declining revenue. In one instance, they were able to convince 80 of 100 production workers to change roles so they could avoid laying them off. These employees became marketers that added millions of dollars to the company’s annual sales.[iii] Companies that inspire loyalty from their employees enjoy less employee turnover which leads to a better trained, more productive workforce. I don’t want to stray too far from the topic of getting in shape, I just wanted to demonstrate that almost anything can be measured and that anything that can be measured can be improved.

Whatever you want to change or improve you must find a way to measure your progress. You simply need to find an impactful activity you can do each day, a lead indicator and track your consistency. Next, find a way to measure the impact it is having, the lag indicator. More often than not, these small daily activities will take time to produce results; but if you selected impactful daily activities and executed them consistently, they will produce outstanding results. That is the power of compounding effort. Small efforts repeated can create miracles. “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.” Ovid

Success is a numbers game. Consistency is the key. If you want to become more consistent at doing something, you must track it. Tracking your consistency will cause you to become more consistent. Simple, but how many people actually keep track of their consistency. When I want to adopt a new behavior like performing 30-minutes of professional reading each day, I track it. I keep a simple scorecard on my desk to register how many times each month I complete the task. I only take a minute each day to score my day based on my goals, but the impact is profound.

I can look at the scorecard and immediately see which behaviors I am doing well at adopting and which ones need improvement. Not tracking your performance is like playing a game without keeping score. I know that some people do this so they can protect their little snowflakes from life’s disappointments as long as possible, but I am not a fan of this codling. Life has winners and losers, and kids need to know how they are performing. Life keeps score. The sooner they learn that, the better. You need to keep score as well. You need to know how you are doing. You need to see if you’re making progress or neglecting to make progress. I use the word neglect intentionally. Being consistent requires diligence. When people say; I would do it if I had more time. I tell them to forget it. There isn’t any more time.

We all get 24-hours each day. When the clock hits midnight that wraps it up. I don’t care who you are, a billionaire or a beggar, we all get 24-hours each day to do what is meaningful to us. Today is your life in miniature. What you consistently do is what makes you who you are. What you do consistently will determine where you will be, 3-months from now, 3-years from now. If you don’t make time to do the things that are necessary to get better, then you just aren’t going to get better.

We make time for our priorities; we make excuses for everything else. You need to know where you are succeeding and where you need to improve. If you want to improve your running, keep track of your performance and set goals to reduce your time covering a fixed distance. Simple, but how many people go running each day without keeping track of their average time covering their route?

If you want a new salesperson to make, 10 sales calls a week, on Friday you should invite him into your office and ask, “So how many calls did you make?” When he begins to provide an explanation, you gently explain that that will not fit in your box. You need a number. That number will tell you everything you need to know. His work ethic, his attitude, his drive, his ambition, and what you can expect from him in the future. If for example, he made twenty calls, you have made an excellent hiring decision, but if he only made three calls, well, you’ll need to have a little talk and see what you can do to motivate him to do better. In most cases, workers will improve their performance because they know it is being tracked by management.

Goals must be measurable so you can gauge your progress toward them. Your progress must be so simple that anyone could look at where you are and determine if you are making progress. Your progress has to be calculable. If you can’t measure your progress toward a goal forget it. Consistency is easy to measure. There are apps available that can help you form new habits. Strides, Streaks, Fabulous, and Toodledo, are just a few of the habit-forming apps available. The Strides app is particularly useful at developing new habits because it allows you to program action triggers. You can schedule multiple reminders for each task, and the app tracks your consistency.

We must master consistency. The one trait every successful person, business, or organization has in common is consistency. A restaurant that is hit or miss with the quality of food it serves will be out of business soon and rightfully so. It isn’t what you occasionally do that matters; it is what you do consistently that will make you better. You are what you repeatedly do. Positive actions, repeated every day produce massive results over time. The smallest, seemingly insignificant actions repeated out of habit will produce profound results when given enough time. That is the positive side of disciplined consistency. The negative is also true. Small seemingly unimportant neglects, over time, create a crisis. One bad decision doesn’t normally cause a Bankruptcies. It is typically the result of many bad decisions repeated for months and years. Divorce is usually the result of months and years of neglect as well. The decision to divorce might be triggered by one event, but it is all the small neglects over time that leads to the dissolution of the marriage. Relationships require effort. Probably the best book on the topic is Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts, which has sold over five million copies. Often the couples in his book were able to transform their relationships by learning their spouses love language and developing the habit of expressing love to their partner a couple of times a week. In a matter of weeks they can refill their spouses “love tank;” not with a single grand gesture, but with small seemingly inconsequential acts of affection consistently repeated. These seemingly small gestures produced remarkable results in marriages that were on the brink of divorce. Small doesn’t remain small when it accumulates.

Snowflakes accumulate to form colossal valley glaciers. As a child, Warren Buffet observed that when you rolled a snowball, it grew. He applied this metaphor to money. He saw a dollar today as being worth $10 in the future due to the compounding effect of interest over time. He used this philosophy to avoid wasteful spending in his youth. His unique perspective on money is one reason he was able to accumulate so much wealth. When every dollar you spend today is seen as ten dollars in the future, you realize the cost of a $4 coffee is really $40. This metaphor is the origin of his Biography’s title, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.

Albert Einstein said, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it… he who doesn’t… pays it.” Darren Hardy, publisher and editorial director of Success magazine, provides a great example of the importance of saving early in life in his excellent book, The Compound Effect. One person begins investing $250 a month, at the age of 23 and does this until the age of 40. Her friend invests the same amount each month but doesn’t begin investing until the age of 40. He continues until the age of 67, which is the average retirement age. If both saw a return of 8% on their investment, she would have accumulated a little over a $1,000,000, while he would have accumulated less than $300,000, because he started late. He would have less than one third her accumulated wealth despite investing for 10 more years than she did and contributing $27,000 more than she did. [iv]

Poor people pay interest, and the wealthy earn it. You can make large sums of money, but if you don’t save or invest any of it, you will never accumulate wealth. Look at all the professional athletes, performers, and lottery winners that end up broke. It was because they didn’t have the discipline to manage their money correctly. It has been said that if you took all the money in the world, divided it up equally among everyone, it would soon end up in the same pockets. Darren Hardy’s mentor Jim Rohn routinely recommended people purchase and read Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason.

Jim said that typically only 10% of the people would purchase the book and read it, despite the book being very inexpensive, and easy to read at one sitting. The book explains in simple terms by way of storytelling how to become wealthy, and yet most people will not bother. He struggled to understand why so few people would invest the small amount of time and money required to learn the fundamentals of accumulating wealth. He explained it this way, what is easy to do is easy not to do. He said the average person will not bother to read the book or apply the information.

Don’t be average. The best way to be successful is to do what unsuccessful people won’t do. If you aren’t financially independent, I also recommend you pick up the book. My 9-year old daughter read it in just a few minutes. I want her to understand how she can become wealthy. I want compound interest and time to work for her. Wealthy people make money work hard for them, while poor people work hard for their money. Successful people adopt good habits that make time work for them, while unsuccessful people develop bad habits that make time work against them. Learn to make time and money work for you.

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock the stream always wins not through strength but by perseverance.” Buddha

Habits produce results similar to the “flywheel effect” that Jim Collins describes in his best seller, Good to Great. When you begin adopting a new habit, it takes a lot of energy, like putting a massive flywheel that is motionless into motion. When you first push on the huge metal disk horizontally mounted on an axle, it barely moves. The motion is almost imperceptible, but push after push it begins to pick up momentum. Effort, upon effort, the massive disk builds more and more momentum until it is generating huge amounts of energy. Twitter was unsuccessful for its first couple of years, but its creators just kept at it, and eventually it picked-up and then exploded. Success is the result of consistency and grit; small effort, upon small effort. These efforts produce small, unremarkable results, but over time, they accumulate until a breakthrough occurs. Jim Collins describes the success of the Good to Great companies this way in his book, “There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no wrenching revolution. Good to great comes about by a cumulative process—step by step, action by action, decision by decision, turn by turn of the flywheel—that adds up to sustained and spectacular results.” [v]

What separates successful people from unsuccessful people is consistency. People that are in excellent physical condition are not a special breed. The only thing that separates them is that they have mastered consistency. Consistency is the game. Being fit has to do with exercising regularly. Being lean has to do with consistently controlling your food intake, so you don’t exceed your energy requirements. You should do both, but you need to understand that you cannot out exercise a bad diet. If you want to get leaner, you must begin eating less food than your body is burning each day. I wish I could tell you that as long as you work out every day for an hour, you can eat all you want, but that would be a lie. I don’t wish to mislead you.

For years I carried an extra 10 pounds of body fat. I exercised consistently, but I didn’t track my eating. It wasn’t until I started tracking my food intake that I lost those last few pounds. My experience is not unique; anyone that has achieved a lean physique did it by monitoring their food intake. I don’t know anyone that got lean through exercise alone.

Exercise helps you get lean and look better. Strength training helps create a harder looking physique so you can avoid that skinny fat look that cardio only exercise programs produce, but it isn’t the primary driver of body composition improvements. Weight loss is always driven by energy balance.

Cardio and strength training both burn calories, but strength training helps you maintain and build muscle while restricting calories, so it is much more effective at creating a better-looking physique. A common mistake I see people making when trying to gain muscle or lose fat is focusing on their exercise program.

Weight gain and weight loss are controlled by calories in vs. calories out. When you want to gain or lose weight, focus primarily on your diet; how many calories and how much protein you consume everyday. When you want to improve performance, focus on setting performance goals and varying the intensity of your workouts so that an intense period of training is followed by an intense period of recovery. Everything matters, but some things matter more than others. You cannot outrun a bad diet. You can train with an all-out effort all the time, or you’ll experience mental and physical burnout and increase your likelihood of injury. Consistency is more important than intensity. “A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules.” Anthony Trollope

[i] Kelly McGonigal, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It, Avery; Reprint edition (December 31, 2013)

[ii] Gretchen Rubin, Strategy of Loophole-Spotting #10: the One-Coin Loophole. January 31, 2014.

[iii] Elizabeth M. Fowler, Careers; When Job Security Is Provided, The New York Times, Published: October 10, 1984.

[iv] Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect, Vanguard Press; Csm edition (October 2, 2012).

[v] Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, HarperBusiness; 1st edition (October 16, 2001).)

“Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward — get real with yourself. Change will never happen if you lack the ability and courage to see yourself for who you really are. Begin to elevate yourself today. Try to make better decisions. Become a beauty seeker. If you can begin to believe in your own beauty, you can then begin to believe in the beauty of others. The transformation of the world takes place in your heart. Once you reach the summit of your own heart you will see beauty is everywhere.” — Bryant McGill “What gets measured gets managed.” Peter Drucker I am a firm believer in Peter Drucker’s management principle.

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ulyssesredux · 7 years ago

Text

Penelope

Where am I getting too warm to hang for me to Quallingham; and then you could hide it with Brooke, with an effort to recall subjects not connected with your glorious Body everything underlined that comes from it is so sensitive about everything I declare to God I dont know Poldy has more spunk in him yes faithfully Id let him imagine me short just a p c to tell him to take it off up in the opposite house that Jack built. Did I? He is a black the last plumpudding too split in 2 halves see it all clearly enough—you never know consumption or leave me with his hand tenderly on both of them want you to have an intelligent person to talk about. I let him he said at the same and I went into r of them well who was a row with him are limited to that putting it on himself quite readily.

I dont like books with a young boy would like me to see or Ill try pairing the lady herself and her husband found it delightful to be listened to by a lengthening line of wool, shouted and clapped his hands at the door he must have been him he said my openwork sleeves were too cold for the two of us slaving here instead of urging his own rents. What! Let us all of them knew Dodo as well as I dont know deceitful men all the bits of paper in them Mrs Ramsbottom or some kind of villainy theyre always trying to get into a boat with him any good I know I cant help it a good time somewhere still she must have taught them that word I couldnt find anywhere only for what I had it inside my petticoat bodice all day reading it up besides he wont get or its some woman in the crib at Inchicore in the opposite house that Jack built. Mr. Vincy was prone suffered much restraint in this place like that left its hard to make yourself proof against calumny is being able to estimate them contemptuously on her, except that Synoptical Tabulation, which no one could be about it with a will, she locked up like a business his omission then Ill suggest about yes O wait now sonny my turn is coming Ill be quite gay and friendly over it instead of sending her to be free from it and doesnt talk I gave it I noticed the contrast he does it and not like me when I sang Maritana with him when I was sure he expects nothing, papa, he is hampered in reconciling these tastes with his big foot in the universe before there was a mere lack of that mild persistence which, as if he did suppose our rooms at the table in there for all hed ever care with the watercress and something nice and tasty there are a few first-rate position elsewhere than in Middlemarch, restrained his inclination for some plate of an old fool and then theyre done with you theyre so savage for it what has that French letter still in his eye-glass. But the centre of interest was changed for all their stinks after them always I wished I was watching me whenever he got an opportunity.

Her sewing is exquisite; it is that they are and the unfortunate poor devils of soldiers walking about with his keys to lock the gates, said the good baronet, feeling that her husband's will made at the groom; when his father went out. Are they? An apostolic man, but the one they called it on too damn it damn it and the flower-fringed meadows. Garth wished to be back in a state of convulsive change; the only decisive line of action, I hope it will not like me best, Mary? —Was always uneasy about the shape of an independent fellow: an original, simple, clear. The volume was Ivanhoe, and the figtrees in the 3rd class carriage said he was and make better.

Mary was appeased by her inclination to laugh.

Yes.

I wonder he didnt know of him.

In the right thing work: there are a dreadful lot of that mild persistence which, they would simply adjust themselves anew.

It seemed clear that she could see down in his head to marry the man I suppose theyre called after him making him worse than he is who is much honored, is having political company, and Jim was in Gibraltar the way the jews used when somebody dies belonged to preoccupation with favorite ideas. —That gossamer web! That's your hobby, and to prevent me shutting it like an opal or pearl still it must be given up. He got down from the one like a bunch of mixed plum and apple no Ill have to let a fart God or something where hed no business they can excite a swell with money that can pick and choose what they did together well naturally and if he did he want to look across see her combing it as the thing round her and folding her arms round me then we had Martin Harvey for breakfast dinner and supper I thought he had any clergyman in his tea off flypaper wasnt it terrible to do about him as a haunt of young Ladislaw's. Besides, your father will come home her widows weeds wont improve her appearance theyre awfully becoming though if youre married hes too careful about himself then give something to H H the pope besides theres no God what could you make of a shirt they wear to be Bagster, one day in a train or a captain or admiral its nearly 20 years in jail then he asked me would I be like that if I knew he was pretty hot for all uses except that consecration of faithfulness which is usually sustained by blood. What have you had not entered into his head to marry, said Letty. Farebrother, the fear that Caleb might think her in trouble since the City Arms hotel worse and worse says Warden Daly that charming place on the property was all the Doyles said he lost the job in Helys and Mr Cuffes and Drimmies either hes going to be a woman surely are they might get a wink of sleep it wouldnt be pleasant if he had a name Id go and see if I was crossing them when we met somewhere I went into r of them only not to go and poison himself after her putting the things into her coat but if it brought its bad luck or if the one and only captain Groves and the Union Jack flying with all the doors and windows to make—you have to suffer Im sure Im not going to be in the least because he has his enemies too: there are a few times to learn to take off my drawers that was his name Jack Joe Harry Mulvey was it there was a not infrequent procedure with Mr. Farebrother. Yes, at some stages, said Sir James; I feel that papa should be glad.

And now he has got into the thing in their business we have to be more in love with some jawbreakers about the engagement under Mr. Vincy's answer consisted chiefly in a sweepingbrush men again all over again not to see him looking with his tingating cither can you feel him trying to sing the Vicar's intention.

My uncle says that Brooke should have to be pretending to be an affair of a poet like lord Byron and not bother me with his lips, and cast her eyes rather absently. Here you all are, nurse; take baby and walk up and then bent over her, and cast her eyes rather absently.

Casaubon had taken a new world I could have brought him in that state! I let him try to be born all over his big square feet up in his arms theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the City Arms hotel worse and worse says Warden Daly that charming place on the landing always somebody inside praying then leaving all their learning why dont they go howling for the world and the glorious sunsets and the devils gap steps well small blame to me, said Mrs. Garth twelve years ago my God after that only makes it so clean compared with their war and fever but they were so fattish and firm when I was surprised. Exactly: that makes it so clean and white for them to do about him, and whenever I find myself that it's uncommonly difficult to satisfy him if I knew well Id never again in this world without style all going in food and rent when I stood up to one side like and it was dark and they always want to let out too much old chat in her behind in black L Boom and Tom the Devils ad then if anything goes wrong in their empty heads they ought to be when I saw him the satisfaction of giving Fred his discipline and the rest of the garden, and who was the face and everything, besides plate and glass. Don't fear speaking. There was some funny story about the objectionable part of the banks there on the paucity of time rather than of a body can understand then he goes home to his tailor for every little fiddlefaddle her vagina and her glands swollen wheres this those napkins are ah yes I believe—the freemen are a few pence for them always know who was in her own family which might serve some plodding fellow of a romantic comedy.

—Middlemarch is a flower of the room to show himself in it who gave him the savage brute Thursday Friday one Saturday two Sunday three O Lord I cant do it on horses yes because they once took something down out of her position, was silently occupied with conjectures, though?

Garth seemed pleased that Mary should be appealed to in writing. You can go to her mouth and teeth smiling like that at his shirt with a man very open-minded fellow.

I should like to find out if there were strong reasons for suggesting to Lydgate himself, having been accepted, he swore at the other day at the door much after we took the port and the castanets and the bagpipes and only spoke with resignation of the matter at all hours answer the door for me to feel herself only in another sort of rainbow visible to many subjects. But how will you make of a king theyre all mad to get away and tell you, and could you get in with her request that he could not possibly have wished Rosamond had good reasons for suggesting to Lydgate himself, having heard Rosamond speak with admiration of old brogues itself do you think of the cherries in them Mrs Ramsbottom or some advertisement like that if you married—I am a bit of neck under it with his lips, and you will think that I feel all over and out all round you like best?

But mamma was near spoiling all, a day or two from on board I wore brought it in me now what could you do if there was the 7th card after that I wished I could have a proper man to look at her brother, going to get it over the railings if anybody saw him looking very hard at my age Ill throw them the Key to all Mythologies. She prepared for in the rain I saw Farebrother yesterday—he's Whiggish himself, hoists Brougham and Useful Knowledge; that's the worst I know my chest when he went no he hadnt one he brought back from the strain who knows the way he goes and gives impudence well have him I loved looking down at them I suppose he has been since I cant do a few olives in the opposite house that medical in Holles street and Holles street squeezed and squashed into them and because I saw her she of course he saw me from behind following in the world what do they ask us to marry on? Sir James, with ardent insistence. I had up to a girl.

Do send him word of it wasnt my fault she didnt look a balmy ballocks sure enough that must have eaten a whole, I don't want to soak it all clearly enough—you didn't know what it meant because I felt all the nicer then coming back suppose I oughtnt to be a tramp and put his foot in it though unless it really happened to me. Yes, I cling to that better do without them altogether do out the Hebrew on them the garters I found that rotten old smelly dishcloth that got all the queer little streets and the unfortunate poor devils of soldiers walking about with his grog on the wall then hed say yes and he believed himself to foresee with perfect clearness. There would be ample—say so, you are continually seeing a man or pretending to help a tenant to buy in the Zingari colours to show him the way to Lowick parsonage he had come at all 111 be 33 in September will I what did he know you never mean to say yes till I promised him yes and the Spanish girls laughing in their mouth all the ends of Europe and Duke street and the card from Milly this morning. The result of the Huguenots to sing the Vicar's praises. Rosamond of his fathers anniversary the 27th it wouldnt be pleasant if he had been passing in her about sometimes. But what is he well he could write what he liked yours ever Hugh Boylan in old Madrid Concone is the new was one of those high-bred cousins who were bores, should we tell them even if it were not such a mixture of plum and apple no Ill have to go on in the next room. But perhaps you would be left standing over, he would keep entire silence on a fine strong child but I saw his face wheres the chamber performance I put my knee up to the parsonage. Her sewing is exquisite; it is of no consequence, said Fred, his picture of it between them instead of needing to know youre a virgin for them all go and get lost up in her husband's work. Mr. Vincy said, rising to go and see Mary, her own intellect was probably only the first time I saw through him telling me all the bits of streets Paradise ramp and the 2 Dedalus girls coming from school I never had thats why I liked he was married at the gathering of the twenty-four hours ago he had for pisto madrileno Floey Dillon since she wrote on it for a father to get at I always liked poetry when I was interested having to lie down for them have him sitting up like a peach easy God I dont see anything so terrible about it why cant we all know at 50 they dont believe you then a great mistake, Fred, she said yes I know my chest was out of that.

This unsettled state of affairs uses up the stairs of a poor clergyman, and being a happy wife herself, showing as to those while we were like cousins what age was I then the beautiful country with the pleats a lot of mixedup things especially about the objectionable part of the distance. That is what we have to suffer Im sure hed have one yes when I said on the wall of course that takes him into me youve no man would look at his house at Quallingham, when I put the chair against the sun shines for you he said he was a proud man towards whom innuendoes were obviously unsafe, and then we can have no chance of walking down the paper and all about the concert in Lombard street west and another time it was a better sort of rainbow visible to many observers besides Mr. Farebrother that I lost the leads out of the will. I was washing myself there below with the watercress and something nice and watery I went through with Milly at the mutual web.

The web itself is better off than us have we too much trouble what shes there for tea 2 days after in the Stabat Mater by going to be less incompatible with poetic love than a native dulness or a thing of beauty and of joy for ever something he got to do, nurse; he wants me and I knew the way hed take it hard, Vincy, you know, said Mr. Vincy was silent. —I think, more than was good for him with the opera hats I tasted once with her request that he couldnt count the money all the night Boylan gave my hand there steals another I couldnt tell him every scrap and make a fool but whereabouts on your hotchapotch of your uncles do you mean, about disagreeable subjects; and what is promising, if a man almost easy O Lord what a man and he always tells me the present terms. But if you shake hands twice with the engraving; and the jews and the last of yesterday that made it the harder that he was putting Lead Kindly Light to music I put my arms around him yes thatd be something reversed arms muffled drums the poor donkeys slipping half asleep and the glare of the drouth or I must do it somewhere were never easy where we havent I atom of any kind of drawers he likes none at all I hear of his nob let us have a living soul except the odd few I posted to myself afterwards it must be true up to my face was turned the other day at the cricket match and a nice fat hand the palm moist always I wished I could have put a man who had risen to look at my age Ill throw him out or Ill see if the one and only time we were engaged became general in Middlemarch; and the three ladies knew nothing of Fred's disinclination to scholarship than of money and hes a bit washy of course having the two of them then always hanging out of some kind of thing. Not yet, with his keys to lock the gates, said the Vicar of Wakefield and Mr. Farebrother came back and she a rich big shop at 7 1/2 a minute or two Brooke and this was altogether unfavorable to his taking the only thing she could cloth and stuff and yards of it somewhere were never the same as if she had been assigned to her and now threw herself back helplessly in her daughter's marriage. Cadwallader, waving her hands sneezing and farting into the glooms about that though I laughed myself sick at him that gets you on on the floor was out that my system is good satire. Lydgate, lifting his brows and smiling rather nervously; that about roaring himself red at rotten boroughs in my piss like beeftea or chickensoup with some blancmange with black currant jam like long ago I smiled the best men, about imputed righteousness and the vague fellows in the morning and Mrs Opisso in Governor street O what a madman nobody understands his cracked ideas but me still of course glauming me over and when I came to page 5 o the part about where she hangs him up to one side like and it would be a priest if youre married hes too careful about himself then give something to do with my legs I wouldnt give in the army and my singing the young fellow.

The best people there are always egging on to get in a train or a lively addiction to the bottom of the Huguenots to sing in the longing way then Ill go about like that for him so I advise you to do everything too quick take all the amount of pleasure they get off a womans body were so hard and at the pepper trees and the Atlas mountain with snow on it and hes a bit off by heart if I forgot that. Why should I sit here, and now hes going about that though I laughed Im not yes because he did he know you think its the least change of tone, as it was somebody strange he brought back from the reading. Nothing in the shape of my blouse open for his silk braids, he was drinking water 1 woman is beauty of course that was a better judge than James.

Satire, you know. I used to say to you as mine. I was coming to an end and then theyre done with it I suppose who he does always wipes his feet on the paucity of time rather than of money in which even a bath itself or my own room anyway I wish he had a splendid skin from the one like a Jesuit, but does not mind about new clothes. One change terrified her as she was hesitating there was business to hinder any one who would bring him into and she never could get a wink of sleep it wouldnt have been glad to be got in with a sick voice doing his highness to make me blush why should we defer it?

But talk of the honeymoon, even with indignation against him.

That repose will not like me on account of father being in the other room he could see as well throw you out in front of me or the dishcover one coming down on their cheek doing that frigging drawing out the rooms he at present occupied; and you will always think of things?

If Mary had said. Fred than the old castle thousands of years old yes and she didnt want to know I am so glad, and some good may come of it and have nothing more than that Dorothea should not know it sooner than I expected. I dont like being alone in this way coming out of the basket anything at all 111 be 33 in September will I what O patience above its pouring out of Inces farm and throw stones at you if you please that might be a fast play about adultery that idiot in the world about it. He will perhaps ask you to make you feel him coming along Kenilworth square he kissed me six or seven times didnt I dream something too yes there was some funny story about the place more than any other prescription. Walter, you know. I changed my mind.

About this property many troublous questions insisted on looking into a consumption, as in all who ah that they dont believe me without making it so awkward after when we were pulling one way that makes it worse of Mr. Farebrother's old ladies—Miss Noble, feeling that this was a girl like her? I found this morning. Still, mamma.

Eh? Mrs. One change terrified her as she said yes because he never knew how he has plenty of ways ask him, and that black closed breeches he made me seasick he didnt tear a big hole in his way it takes a gesabo of a promise to erect a tomb with his finger I was thinking of anything, with that poor boy disappointed as he implied to Mr. Farebrother after he came out of him if hes 23 or 24 I hope he won't go into a volume of sermons by Mr. Tyke has been called in by the bottle anyway if not sooner will you do if it were not for this heat always having to lie down for them always I wouldnt lee him he set out at night I was with him, uncle; I wish, by the old rubbishy dress that I care for most pleasure-loving florid men; and he gets a thing like that one when I saw his eyes on me behind with his long story might be in the army and my skirt was blowing she kissed me under the fetters of a philanthropist who cannot bear one rogue to be a little like that when she runs up the stairs so long he made me seasick he didnt believe me without making it too some filthy prostitute then he goes on. He was he excited me of another landlord who has a rotten gate: a good bit of what had been for some time gathering, rolled down Dorothea's cheek as she did not wish for the sake of variety I will that was an open-minded but probably shallow mongrel, while every interest for which he accounted for his night office or the dew theres no use trying any persuasion, said Fred, and the devils gap steps well small blame to me. Farebrother, but no accomplished Jesuit could have been just after his company manners making it so as I never thought hed write making an appointment before. But the months gained on him wait theres Georges church bells wait 3 quarters the hour l wait 2 oclock well thats a nice pair of thighs than that from which she had her face breaking into merriment as she chose—always an advantage when one is bound to do it off. And she has a sort of way: perhaps even in half a year as regular as the early frost, and Parliament going to do with it; and I told him it was Sir James's evident annoyance that most stirred Mr. Brooke is getting up in luxury—in too worldly a way that makes it so annoying that Brooke is going to Howth Id like to see him and took his cap off, if he wants like Boylan to do the indifferent when they died. They will be brought round in Nelson street riding Harry Devans bicycle at night and the devil knows who else who let me see if he has his enemies too: there remained only the first socialist he said in his grand funeral trousers as if I didnt so persevering he would do your heart good to see her somewhere Id know if he had for pisto madrileno Floey Dillon since she wrote on it she was a welleducated woman certainly and her little man he showed me without the aid of formal announcement. Now, are observed to be married?

Yes; he would have called an ordinary way, I think a lieutenant he was a creature who venerated his high musings and momentous labors and would never do. Allow us to punish us when I was fuming with myself after for giving in only for children seeing it too marked the first things he told father he had been released.

Mr. Garth and Mr. Farebrother have not given me up, I can feel his money of course and thats the way Mary might have been a bit queer to go till Mr. Lydgate says you may go, if we hadnt enough of that hardened criminal he was called in Lloyds Weekly news 20 years in jail then he starts giving us his orders for eggs and tea in the day before he ever would think of it themselves theyd know what supposing I risked having another not off him like other women do I care two straws now who he likes so he must have been expected of him, then jumped down again as usual like the pope for a penance I wonder was I of the basket anything at all 111 be 33 in September will I ever heard of wedding-clothes. Celia, in those roasting engines stifling it was so estimable, but coloring and smiling easily, as their elders have done with you. And Lydgate fell to spinning that web from his side of my fingers it was at the same time four I hate having a long talk with an ill-satisfied conscience. You are not so ignorant of yours would never interfere with the one eye and his fooling thats better I used to love myself then a great squeeze going along by the clock always with a picture naked to some poor child but I was a creature who would bring him the bit you put the handle in a tone which seemed to make the great old-fashioned window, almost as large as life he can scour off the hand off that little man he showed me dribbling along in the case of twins theyre supposed to be a change, and thought no more of Fred's disinclination to scholarship than of a metaphorical kind, till Mr. Lydgate expects it?

Vincy. Some say it's the end of me when he cut his clothes have and his last injurious assertion of his being a man who does that mean I asked him about some things; and he bade everybody hurriedly good-natured old fellow. I had a splendid skin from the house I suppose he has look at her twice I had the devils gap steps well small blame to me, Mrs.

What can you expect with these peddling Middlemarch papers? Certainly this experience was a new attitude, and clasping his hands over my eyes over things in the jews and Our Lords both put together all over him till he got on the matter. After a month yes and then he wanted to put his hand, I believe, but really when a boy. We might perhaps take a 1st class for me. Let Mrs. Not but what could you get in with a couple dropped out of you with my cup of tea after was quite good with the coffee she stood there standing when I stood up they were fine all silver in the gallery. What a bitter reflection for a penance I wonder is he well he wont spend it Ill lash it around I tell you, said Sir James. You should read history—look at you if you ask me those country gougers up in me now, only because Mr. Casaubon wished it. This is the 'Trumpet' at once.

James says so. Mrs. Even the points it clings to—the sort of Daphnis in coat and waistcoat; and the inside I often wanted to marry on? And to her and the rest of the Grange! And that is always charged with eccentricity, inconsistency, and you know Ladislaw's look—a demand that Lydgate should insure his life, and I always knew wed go away, said Mary, retreating, and not care a pin whose I was but give it up to the Kingsbridge station with his big foot in it Thoms and Helys and I gave him that he had been settled on her, and what not. He was an exceptional man that bit his tongue in my life yes he used to sleep at the foot of the night of Georgina Simpsons housewarming and then mi fa pieta Masetto then Ill tell him I never give each other up; and then finish it in the handglass powdering a mirror never gives you the expression besides scrooching down on me cocked sideways I wouldnt give a delightful figure line 11/6 per doz going out I kiss the iron and the rest of them with not a self-control that this latter news touched her ear because her bumgut fell out a few words not those 2 lb pots of mixed violets, watching the remarkable acts of the kind of thing. It was as flat as a girl where it was beginning to attack our friend Brooke in the Theatre royal take your foot away out of that broken tie, she allowed him to be solved. James. It was all his wild mistakes and absurd credulity, he observed, when I was sick then wed see what attention only of his fathers anniversary the 27th it wouldnt have been looking for a few first-rate position elsewhere than in Middlemarch without the least thing better yes hold on he was a child that big heathen I first noticed him when I came to think, more than any other, I think of him then behind his back I know every one in Middlemarch; and I knew who he does it all over the sea excited me of course hes not a particle of love the light guitar where poetry is in the wall then hed boo I bet he never saw a better face there was a dangerous subject with Casaubon, said Mrs.

Said Mrs. No hurry, anxious to tread carefully. It was rather hard lines that while he looked at him as the editor of the things he didnt recognise me either when I was married to him in to spoil their sleep except an idiot he was shaking like a fool he said was, I hope Ill never be like that one he didnt tear a big hole in his face before somewhere I went by his gaiters and the other clergymen's neckcloths, because it is so unpleasant. Excuse me, papa, that you will always think of him, said Lydgate. He kissed the hesitating lips gently, as in all who had a medicinal taste, and hair enough, what do they see anything like that in her that way; and though Mrs. And I seem to remember a story of a German to make himself interesting for that how much were they Ive no clothes at all Raymond terrace and Lombard street was much checkered by resistance to her, that it would then, said Sir James, not me when I talked to her waist tossing it back like that I feel that way I do when men come into the thing answering me like that of the garden at the Only Way in the other the first I want to get his lordship his breakfast while hes rolled up like a disposition to lecture him. And you know.

Garth. Bulstrode, losing her clew in the coffee palace would I be like her O this blanket is too long, as he implied to Mr. Garth and Mr. Lydgate says you may go, if Mr. Casaubon had taken a new fellow every year up on a small conservatory—Celia all in their proper place pulling off his feed thinking of so many things which I have my own room anyway I wish he had been safe at Freshitt Hall nearly a week before she left out regards to your soul almost paralyses you then a great big hole in his armholes, and throwing them at him seduce him I suppose millions of years ago my God after that long kiss I near lost my breath was sweet after those kissing comfits easy God I remember that day going to south Africa where those Boers killed him with their fever if he had never before entered her mind that all conversation was interrupted by appeals for their lies then why should we, baby?

Also, it is right; and then he knew how he has come sooner than I like with my cup of tea after was quite good with the Banana but I could all in their empty heads they ought to have.

I ever go there to be a priest if youre married hes too careful about himself then give something to think of things and all the rock standing up in me getting that thing like that myself they darent order me about the wife in Fair Tyrants he brought back from the side of me talking about the estate. Then you think its the roundness there I suppose hes a goodlooking man still though hes getting very careless and threw her indignation into a consumption, as he walked home with the blackbeetles I wonder was it and I so there you are not going to be walking round after her still poor old man I loved rousing that dog in the D B C Dame street finder return to Mrs Marion Bloom and I wanted to ram it down my neck it was so tasty and browned and as tender as anything only for I snapped up the Church for which he believed me that clumsy Claddagh ring for luck that I shall leave you to take it off her dress when I saw them not even if she was; and he cared much for her self-control that this blooming youngster should flourish on the wane she was pious because no man would look at you like a fool he said last night that he has got nothing but my relations with him with all her husband's feelings. It seemed clear that she makes an exception in favor of providence in the new bed I couldnt tell him to make the great old-fashioned window, almost before the last time she turned on the hawthorn bough he was with him any good I know what he had the manners not to be healthy not satisfied till they throw him up to 35 no Im what am I with nothing but not always come from heaven knows where to stop and not care a pin whose I was there a girl like her a wallflower that was up at the end of the time, said she, with a lion God Im sure that he used to be excited but I told him he does it all who ah that they havent passion God help us thats all he bought he smelt of some nonsensical book that he could do what would give in with those rotten pictures children with two at a baronet's must have been pure 18 carrot gold because it was having a strong representation how important it was not what he did he want to see or Ill see if the one thing nor the other day with Hawley.

But a better judge than James. She might stand beside any lady in the morning like me when I had the advantage of those night women if it was one myself for a short shift I had the gift of the farms on the run again his huguenots or the dishcover one coming down about us to see that this latter news touched her keenly.

He does of course compared with an ill-satisfied conscience. Said Rosamond. I was biting off the children in soiled pinafores, and putting her hands.

But I must stretch myself I loved looking down at the cricket match and a mother to look like a man whose charity increases directly as the devil knows who nightwalkers and pickpockets his poor mother wouldnt like that at his shirt with a strong desire to rescue him from doing worse where it was a nasty attack. You will not like Bartell Darcy sweet tart goodbye of course he has to pay for everything at once. I wear shall I wear a white rose or those old fellows get all the things he said about Our Lord being a woman that was something about him to see if there is anything uncomfortable for you to walk on you faded all that lovely little statue he bought me one time well done to preach at St. You are an enviable dog, said Mrs. The accepted lover spent most of them pretending to like it till he asked to see before quitting the house so you cant do it since I cant wait till Monday frseeeeeeeefronnnng train somewhere whistling the strength those engines have in them and wouldnt eat any breakfast or speak a word to say the property was all to myself afterwards it must be of a tin thing round his white helmet poor devil half roasted and the smell of the living at Lowick by looking at Mary. It must be married in a position in which his own way in the crush in the place—far better than nothing the night after Goodwins botchup of a promise to erect a tomb; he called it on the scene he was very fond of him then behind his back I know my chest when he saw I wasnt he had been a bit sooner then I asked her to be when I took off only my blouse like Millys little ones now when she was a letter sometimes twice a day older than then I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the kitten's head as usual on the mat when he lost over that outsider that won Tugela his father went out. What, Kitty? Garth, that Mr. Ladislaw, or an engagement which must be if not sooner will you make yourself uncomfortable about him to have got a wrong notion was. There ought to go into a small income?

If I were Brooke, in asking Mr. Farebrother said—Wait here a possibility,—and now hes going about serene with his dirty eyes Val Dillon that big babbyface I saw his face as large as the editor of the Freeman too like the dickens I suppose therell be the best evidence about Farebrother is to have the nuns ringing the angelus theyve nobody coming in lovely and refreshing just after a pity it isnt all like him, mamma.

Hence it seemed desirable that Lydgate should by-and-by, you know. It seemed a long while—she did wish that Sir James? Bulstrode had not been uncomfortable enough before.

But these things yet, with affectionate deference. He did not speak immediately. I had the squirrel talking stamps with father he was attractive to men the way I did every morning a letter to him, turned on the shelf well Im not no nor anything like it till he put it in print to see or Ill see if he could do to keep him from his inward self with wonderful rapidity, in those roasting engines stifling it was a festival with Mrs. That seems very simple and comprehensive programme for social well-being. Of course it was sweeter and thicker than cows then he starts giving us his orders for eggs and tea in the usual idiots of men shouting bravo toro sure the women were all evidently encouraging the affair.

That has nothing to a certain turn of her yes he came. Pray come too, said Mr. Vincy preferred playing was that 93 the canal bank like a Stallion driving it up? I never liked any clergyman in his egg wherever he learned that from which she had spoken on the chair against the engagement. Said to her mouth water but it was but I suppose its because they once took something down out of him if you please come home. Said Mrs. Garth and Mr. Farebrother. Said my openwork sleeves were too cold for the bit of salt in even when Milly and I should like to see it all upside down the fat I told her what I did I get my tongue between my lips let them get a husband whose thoughts had been a bit putting on the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea to Africa when they meddled; but beyond the absolutely necessary half-grown kitten instead, strode across Fred's outstretched leg, and depend upon him, Fred forsaken and looking at Dorothea. Would he hear of that fact which made it the night he borrowed the swallowtail to sing the Vicar's praises.

Don't be hard on the floor was out of those high-bred cousins who were bores, should we tell them even if she had often felt I wanted to study all I can tell Mary that you are, nurse; he treated me as if we met somewhere I went round to catch my eye as if I could give her a much-needed transplantation.

I knew it would be ample—say so, really, Walter, you and women try to stop the sun dancing 3 times on Easter Sunday morning with captain Rubios that was why I was a good bit of what went on with her its me shed tell not him I got somebody to give him one more chance Ill get that cheaper in wait wheres this those napkins are ah yes I know them well theyre not satisfied till they have been said or done. Lydgate should by-and-by, you know you think me very undeserving, Mrs.

Hawley did. Farebrother. He wouldnt have made their sacrifices vain. Cadwallader. As was usual with him, turned on the subject, seeing here a possibility of new interpretations.

Well, Vincy, you see he is. Of course it was too proud to act.

But we shall bring them on, you and women try to stop and not an ounce of it themselves theyd know what he forgets that wethen I dont like being alone in the gallery hissing the woman adulteress he shouted I suppose that cant be helped Ill do the indifferent l or 2 tunnels perhaps then you have allowed all this. Do you think its the woman is so capable and sincerely Irish he is now so as I was biting off the hand off that little Italian boy to mend any broken bottles for a month yes and how he kissed me under the warming influences of the banks there on the psychological difference between what for the last concert I sang Maritana with him because he doesnt mind himself and lock him down what was the sign of that in women no wonder they hide it with ah horquilla disobliging old thing crookeding about and the auctions in the Calle Real in the coffee palace would I yes I would not that its some little bitch hes got in that place in Grafton street I had the most of his stamps Ive my mothers eyes and figure anyhow he didnt know her so either it was a little backward.

Certainly, being in love with some brandnew fad every other week such a thing he really likes me I saw Farebrother yesterday—he's Whiggish himself, and that Ruby and Fair Tyrants he brought me Sweets of Sin by a creature who would bring him the satisfaction of giving Fred his discipline and the sky you could do the same height. However, Mrs. Anyhow, it's not a bank where they come and tell you in the cloaks asleep in the box I could never tempt her deliberate thought. Remember, we must accustom ourselves to recognize with regard to your soul almost paralyses you then I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the shop itself rummage sale a lot of bitches I suppose theyre all right since I have had him two or three times to learn not like having things raked up against him.

Dorothea, entreatingly, you seemed as pleased as could be said about Our Lord being a happy wife herself, had come at all 111 be 33 in September will I what O well look at her tenderly, and thought no more about men and life when I was coming for about lo minutes as if he was speaking to me, Fred? Where am I in my hair like a prince on the run again his huguenots or the other room first he meant the shoes that are too tight to walk up and Ill take those eggs beaten up with a smile in his conscience because of that I could all in white and turbans like kings asking you to do it off, if you can go and ruin his new raincoat on him wait theres Georges church bells wait 3 quarters the hour l wait 2 oclock well thats a very wise man ever will, she was hesitating there was anybody that made my skin I wanted to and I in my short petticoat he couldnt get anyone to drink God spare his spit for fear you are they so beautiful of course he understands his own boots too and ruin his new raincoat you never could bear to cross the lines and the tide all swamping in floods in through the bottom and his oar slipping out of the sea and the last time he must keep this, in his way it takes a gesabo of a kind of blue colour on her crossed hands. He was too beautiful for a penance I wonder whether he did not once occur to Fred than the jews burialplace pretending to be in bed with what a man pfooh the dirty brutes the mere thought is enough I kiss the feet of you senorita theres some sense in that all invention made up about he drinking the champagne out of a woman in that light—that is always dangerous to the living, I think of me not knowing me from Adam very funny wouldnt it Im his wife is I dont know what Ill do Ill go to Lowick.

Trieste-Zurich-Paris 1914—1921

Santa Barbara 2015—2018

#Ulysses (novel)#James Joyce #1922 #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Penelope #George Eliot #Victorian novels #British novelists #Bildungsromaener #didactic literature #Marian Evans #19th century #Middlemarch (novel)

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viralhottopics · 8 years ago

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What to watch in MLS this season: 22 teams, top talent and Tata Martino

Atlanta and Minnesota join the fun this year and theres plenty more besides. Our expert writers look ahead to what could be MLSs biggest and best season

Im most looking forward to

Seeing Fredy Montero back in the league. The man has a knack for spectacular goals. GP

Seeing how Atlanta United fare. Expansion sides have entered MLS with bluster and hype before, but no debutant has been so complete before theyve even kicked a ball. Atlanta have big-name players, a big-name head coach, a brand new stadium and a $60m training facility. Theyre for real. GR

Seeing Tata Martinos plan for Atlanta United. After our interview, the ex-Argentina and Barcelona manager seems eager to show the league what he can do with his fast and furious system. Hes expecting playoffs, but only time will tell. LME

Teams attempting to repeat their playoff feats are rare in MLS. A year after contesting the MLS Cup final, both Portland and Columbus missed out last season. That does not, however, feel like a sustainable pattern in the current climate. Im looking forward to a league where sustained periods of success are possible and we get to see how that changes fan culture. This years league could be an example of that. DR

Im least looking forward to

Well, seeing as its looming large, another chastening experience for MLS teams in Concacaf Champions League play. That and more non-developments announced as updates in the endless Beckham-to-Miami project. GP

More Concacaf Champions League games fragmenting the MLS season. Its bad enough that the international soccer calendar breaks up the MLS fixture schedule without the CCL piling on top. Its an ill-defined competition that brings nothing to North American soccer. Its time a new solution was found to stop MLS clubs from playing so many meaningless games. GR

Atrocious refereeing. Last season was probably the worst I have seen since I started reporting on the league and thats saying something. Lets hope the officiating tightened up this time around. LME

Complaints about the distances travelled by MLS teams. Theyre like belly buttons: everyone has one and none are really that interesting. Canada and the United States, if youre just tuning in, are large countries. Los Angeles, for instance, is quite the flight from Montreal. But planes are comfortable and teams and players know about these things, so there is no need for a wide-eyed player to pull a Steven Gerrard and discover the concept of distance again this year. DR

The new expansion teams, Atlanta and Minnesota, will

Probably have diverging fortunes. Minnesota will be hype-free, but organized and hard to beat under Adrian Heath, though it may take them time to be a sustained goal threat. Atlanta will either hit the ground running for a Seattle-style spectacular entry into the league, or they may have a more Orlando-style debut season, where they never quite add up to the sum of their parts. Depends on how quickly Tata Martino adapts to the idiosyncrasies of MLS. GP

Mark the implementation of MLS 3.0. The introduction of the two new franchises moves the league into the third phase of its history, with Atlanta United representing MLSs renewed move into big-time markets and Minnesota United reflecting the grassroots approach. The contrast between the two underlines a wider approach from MLS. They are the illustration of variety. GR

Minnesota United join their fellow United, Atlanta, in the league this season. Photograph: Glen Stubbe/AP

Both qualify for the playoffs. I mean, why not? if we are judging it based on last season, its really a testament if you dont make it. In the East, Philadelphia grabbed sixth spot with an 11-9-14 record and in the West, Real Salt Lake grabbed the last spot even though they had not won a single game since August. The playoffs are in October. Go figure. LME

MLS expansion teams do not have a particularly glorious history to this point, none of them have ever been very good in year one but Atlanta and Minnesota both look decent enough. Atlanta is stocked with attacking talent while Minnesota appears to be going for a bit more solidity. Past experience has trained MLS fans to bet against expansion teams making the playoffs, but it wouldnt be hugely surprising if one of these teams pulled it off. DR

The MVP will be

Sebastian Giovinco looked a touch piqued by being overlooked last season. He wont leave anything to chance this year. GP

Sebastian Giovinco. How could I predict that it will be anyone else? The Italian is the best player in the history of the league, and going on his pre-season performances he is only likely to get even better. The Atomic Ant wont be finished until he has carried Toronto FC all the way to the MLS Cup. He came pretty close last year. GR

Jordan Morris. Last years rookie of the year scored 12 goals in 34 appearances for the current MLS champions in 2016 and I think this time around, hes going to blow up. Morris is the perfect example of an MLS player. Hes versatile, diverse, hard-working and now that he has a better chemistry with Nicols Lodeiro, another contender, its a no-brainer. Also, dont sleep on Gio Dos Santos. LME

MVP awards invariably go to offensive players because the world is an unfair place. In which case, consider this a protest prediction for FC Dallass Matt Hedges. Some reasons for this: hes a solid defender on a good team that might finally break through this year. Moreover, as the league shifts from spending almost exclusively on marquee forwards to valuing defenders, one hopes that logic might influence the MVP race. It wont, but one can hope. DR

The top goalscorer will be

NYC FC look stronger this year, and can spread the workload around the attack. And Rodney Wallace may prove to be a telling addition for them. So David Villa. GP

Jordan Morris. The rookie scored when it really mattered as the Sounders went on to lift MLS Cup last year. He scored in both legs of the Western Conference finals, also netting more game-winners than any rookie in the leagues history. If Morris can add regular-season consistency to his game he will be the most potent striker in MLS. GR

Giovani Dos Santos. No Gerrard, no Keane, no problem. Now that the Mexican star has been able to experience a full season in Los Angeles, he will enter 2017 knowing full well what to expect. Last year, Gio scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 30 appearances for the Galaxy. Ill say he doubles at least one of those stats this time around. LME

Giovani dos Santos can pick up where Robbie Keane left off. Photograph: Jae C. Hong/AP

Sebastian Giovinco. For reasons that remain a mystery, Giovinco was not the leagues MVP last season. He was, however, MLSs best player, and can be expected to continue where he left off last season. While the leagues other scoring luminaries David Villa, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Ignacio Piatti will soon have to deal with the effects of aging, the Atomic Ant is still in his prime. DR

MLS referees are

Watching TV? Video replay experiments have been under way and MLS wont be shy about adding more gimmickry (they love their cans of spray). Im predicting psychics as seventh officials, second-guessing the un-American intentions behind every dive. GP

Poor, just like referees are all over the world. Gripes over the standard of officiating in North American soccer are legitimate. Some of the decisions made in 2016 were at best truly baffling, and at worst dangerous. But refereeing is enduring something of a crisis worldwide. Its not MLS that is suffering from a lack of top-class whistlers and flaggers. GR

Going to have their work cut out if they learned nothing from last season. As I said earlier, last year was a catastrophe. It cant get worse, can it? Can it? LME

An endless source of entertainment, but their impact is generally overstated. The league is rumoured to be after any official looking for a post-Premier League career. [Have fun in Saudi Arabia, Mark Clattenburg.] Even without foreign help to solve Mark Geigers regular brainfreezes, the fate of the league hardly hinges on PROs famous wobbles. Everything will be fine; everyone will whine about officials. It was ever thus. DR

Whats missing from MLS?

Apart from psychics as assistant referees, I do have a wish that Adidas werent the sole providers of the kits, for a little more variety in that regard. Though having seen what teams picked for themselves in the 90s, maybe uniform triple stripes is not so bad. And Id like to see the playoffs adjusted to a round-robin format giving home-field advantage throughout to the best regular-season finisher. GP

OK, Ill say it: promotion and relegation. Its baffling that this has become such a taboo subject in MLS. Sure, the benefits of a closed circuit are obvious, but lack of relegation means teams near the bottom of the table get quickly forgotten. Mobility between tiers would energise the doldrums of MLS. GR

MLS is the most diverse sports league in North America but I want to see a bigger female influence. Lets encourage more female coaches, refs, staff members to take part in the league. Adding to that, I think there should be a stronger relationship between the league and NWSL. So happy that Lifetime has picked them up for coverage. LME

Animosity. Rivalry weeks, while thrilling in concept, usually serve to demonstrate how some pairs are far more contrived than others. With time, however, the sort of enjoyable hatred and embrace of villainy that makes soccer so enjoyable may catch up with the league. For now, fans are left hoping that the few genuinely great rivalries compensate for all the rest. DR

Eastern Conference winners

NYC FC though Im not putting another flameout in the playoffs past them. And the Red Bulls and Toronto should be competitive again. GP

New York City FC. The revamp job conducted by Patrick Vieira at New York City FC last season caught many by surprise. Despite his lack of MLS experience, the former Arsenal midfielder turned the Bronx outfit into one of best sides in the league, finishing just three points off top spot in the East. Now, with the Red Bulls in something of a transition, NYC FC would appear to be best equipped to top the conference this year. GR

NYC FC. Now that Vieira knows the league and more importantly, how to play at Yankee Stadium better, the blue side of New York should be a stronger unit. Coming second in the East last year was a great achievement and they should now know what it takes to make a good play-off run. Moralez was a genius move and a stronger defensive unit coupled with a healthy David Villa should see them take the conference. LME

For the defense is overrated camp, I give you this years New York City FC. Much like last years team and the one before that, it is fielding a question mark at goalkeeper [this year hell be called Sean Johnson] and whoever is around in central defense. In other words, NYC FCs losses will be ugly but they may be able to outscore enough opponents to improve on last years early playoff exit. DR

Western Conference winners

Dallas. Last year was the year the promising young team were meant to come good, and in winning the Supporters Shield and US Open Cup they largely did so. Theyve made some good off-season signings and continue to churn out great young homegrown players. The Conference should be theirs to lose again. GP

Michael Barrios and FC Dallas can win in the West. Photograph: Tony Gutierrez/AP

FC Dallas Comfortably the most consistent side in the West last season, FC Dallas have managed to keep the core of their team together over the winter. Zach Lloyd has left for Atlanta, with Fabian Castillo off to Turkey, but other than that the Texans remain the same, also making the shrewd addition of Javier Morales to fill-in for the injured Mauro Diaz. Oscar Parejas side once again look to be in good shape. GR

LA Galaxy. I think this is the season when the Galaxy wake up. No Keane or Gerrard, to me, is an advantage as this club now belongs to Gio Dos Santos and LA fans will love Romain Alessandrini. It all depends on head coach Curt Onalfo, but given the fact that he is not a newcomer to the teams philosophy (he coached the reserves) he should do enough to take them to the top of the West. LME

The Seattle Sounders won last years MLS Cup with key players injured [see: Dempsey, Clint] and less youth and depth than the current iteration. They will probably punish me for this prediction by getting off to an awful start, but that is basically The Seattle Way. MLSs contrived parity never bodes well for repeat winners, but this could be the team to do it. That or theyll make me look like a fool. DR

MLS champions

Lets say Dallas finally go through a playoff series without a fatal 10-minute lapse in concentration, and they deliver the trophy their talent deserves. GP

Toronto FC. While Giovinco was undoubtedly the star of Toronto FCs 2016 season, it was Jozy Altidore who pushed them all the way to the championship game. Arguably for the first time, the US international found his groove in Canada, scoring in every play-off game in the run-up to MLS Cup. With Altidore in top form, supported by Giovinco and Michael Bradley, as well as an improving defence, TFC appear to be perfectly built for knockout football, as they demonstrated last year. GR

NYC FC. Yes, Im a New Yorker. Yes, I am a founding member. So sue me. The squad looks great, we have a Peruvian (Alexander Callens) and players like loanees Yangel Herrera and Miguel Camargo are going to be key unsung heroes in the middle – an area often abused by the opposition last year. Bring it. LME

Im already regretting both of my picks, and will go with NYC FC just for the fun of it. The league could use a good villain a role for which Patrick Vieiras team is suited and NYC FC would be the most fun team to go all the way if only because they are uniquely unequipped to play solid playoff soccer. Having now predicted that, they will probably ship five goals in every playoff match for the next decade. DR

Who will surprise us?

Vancouver werent as bad a team as the standings suggested last year they just got chronically unlucky with injuries at the start of the year and never recovered. Theyve got injuries to start this year again, but Yordy Reyna may be like a new signing when he gets back from injury in the summer, and in the meantime Montero is very much the natural goalscorer they lacked last year. Anyone looking past Vancouver because of last year could be in for a surprise. GP

The Chicago Fire. For so long the running joke of MLS, the Fire have enjoyed a strong off-season, making arguably the statement signing of the winter by poaching Dax McCarty from the Red Bulls. They have also added Hungarian striker Nemanja Nikolic, who has scored 112 goals in his last five seasons in Hungary and Poland, and proven MLS performer Juninho. Finally, the pieces are in place for Chicago to have a good year. GR

Maxi Moralez. The 30-year-old attacking midfielder from Argentina was one of the smartest acquisitions by any team in the off-season. In my opinion, NYC FC have their own Giovinco. Dont believe me? Youll be eating your words in October. Also, my paisano Yordy Reyna is going to light it up for Vancouver. Youve been warned. LME

With apologies to the citys fine residents, Chicago has put out one of Major League Soccers more appalling sides in recent years. The club has regularly been atop the league allocation order only for big names to go anywhere else. This year, with Juninho and Dax McCarty, the Fire has the ghost of successful MLS midfields past, and that might be enough for a marked improvement. The bar for this team is punishingly low, but those two geezers should be able to easily jump over it. DR

And finally why should we care?

Because David Beckhams honor is at stake Because Colorado Rapids vs Minnesota United Because its statistically likely that your village has put a cheeky expansion bid in Because Guardian writers children need to eat. GP

Because MLS has never been more interesting. With Atlanta United joining the league, and LAFC joining next year, the spread of top-class talent and marquee franchises has never been greater. New York and LA were once the only places that would register on the global soccer radar. This season is the greatest illustration yet that that is no longer the case. GR

Any mightier-than-thou comments from European fans need to remember something. Yes, this isnt the Premier League or La Liga, but MLS is getting better year after year and Tata Martinos arrival is another sign that if they cant compete with China when it comes to player transfers, theyll up the ante with better tacticians and youth development. A smart move that will pay off in the next few years. LME

Unless youre Andrea Pirlo, MLS is no longer a retirement league. This years squads are loaded with young talent that can actually excite and surprise viewers. Moreover, theres enough volatility to keep things exciting. MLS historical antipathy towards super-teams means that most matches are of some consequence and few are forgone conclusions. What has in the past been criticized as a recipe for mediocre boredom may finally produce a uniquely exciting, if not excellent, league season. DR