#i'm not a video editor just a desperate creative trying to get this out of my head

[radarsteddybear]

Highlights (or should I say lowlights?) from the Making of Frozen II documentary on Disney+:

It is important to note that the documentary begins 11 months from the film's premiere. At this point, the movie's already been in production for like 4 years.

The female director (Jennifer Lee) looks to be inches away from a mental breakdown the entire time

Jennifer Lee is also the film's writer and at one point describes getting up at a quarter to five every day so that she can write from 5am-7am, get her daughter to school, goes to work all day, comes home, does whatever is needed at home, then writes some more. On Saturdays, she writes from 5am-1pm. I don't know anything about the process of making an animated (or non-animated, for that matter) film, but it seems absolutely unhinged to me that so much script writing is required this late in production. Especially coupled with how much of the film's plot and motivation are still unknown at this point.

Jennifer Lee was also promoted to Chief Creative Officer or something at some point in there, so she has a million and one things to do for that on top of everything for Frozen II.

So, yeah. She seems to be in a constant state of being on the verge of tears and is only holding it together through sheer willpower.

Disney seems to be trying to pass this off as joy and happiness and excitement about pieces of the film finally coming together, and Lee probably believes that's what it is, too, but I think this woman just needs some sleep.

The script finally gets locked 5 months out from the film's premiere. Which, like, I totally get having it open for edits along the way, but this was. a lot more than just edits.

It takes them ages to figure out who/what the voice calling to Elsa is and where she's following it to, which is like. the entire plot of the film. And in my opinion (and from what I remember, having only seen the film once back when it came out), as a result, this is one of the weakest plot points in the whole movie, which is really unfortunate because it has everything else it needs to hit really solidly.

5 months from the premiere, they keep talking about how everyone's putting in 14 hour days 6 days a week, and they keep referring to it as overtime, but I have no idea whether or not the animators and visual effects artists and everyone else working on the film actually get paid overtime? I sure hope so (which leads to another question: is the money actually worth it?), but in this economy, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

At one point, one of the supervising animators talks about how he spends the whole day split between meetings and supporting the animators so he has to come back to work after putting his kids to bed to actually get his own animating done. He describes this as a "treat" because he enjoys animating so much.

Disney (and other studios, I'm sure) needs to get their act together re: division of labor and organizing everyone's time, wow.

The visual effects artist who did Elsa's dress transformations in both Frozen I and II: "In Frozen I, I had a year. But this, it's been...four days." (Note: It does end up being more than 4 days, but, uh...not by much.)

I seriously think the movie, especially the story, would have been better if everyone could have taken like. a month off from work

The film's editor talsk about working 14-15 hour days, getting up at 3am so he can get to work by 3:30, use the on-site gym for half an hour, then start editing by 4am. Whoever's in charge of setting all these timelines and whatnot is in desperate need of taking a course in proper time management because this is unhinged.

I wonder if all the Frozen II statues/decor Disney put up around the animation studio towards the end of production come out of the film's budget.

It's fun to get to watch the actors record their lines and songs, though.

As was watching the animator who did part of Kristoff's song with all the reindeer put videos of her own face in the scene to figure out how she was going to animate them all.

[peydawgz]

Hello! I was wondering if I could get a Marvel matchup? My pronouns are she/her. Im 5’1, slim to athletic build with tanned skin, black, short hair, bold eyebrows, full lips and dark brown eyes. I also wear dark purple cat eye glasses. I have a quite preppy aesthetic. I wear lots of plaid skirts, knee high socks, heeled boots and Peter Pan collars. As for personality I’m very creative and curious. I spend lots time living in a world of my own discovering and exploring ideas. To the outsider I seem incredibly "dreamy" and distant, because I spend a lot of time inside my own mind musing over things. I’m very easily bored by day to day things and will zone out on the majority of people. As for hobbies I’m very interested in the visual arts. I myself am an artist working in both fine and digital mediums. I also love studying symbols through art (I’ve tried to incorporate them into my own art ya know give the viewer a sort of scavenger hunt). I also love films, books, and video games. This is to an extent of over analyzing and theorizing. Let’s just say I’m invested in stories. My favorite genres are probably myths/legends, espionage/mystery, historical fiction, sci fi and fantasy. Back to art which is what I’m studying, things like user experience, web design, cgi and graphics etc. I also love to workout and kickbox. I’d say that my greatest weakness is how distant I can be. I tend to be confused and closed off by my emotions even if I feel them deeply. I’ve got a bit of a short temper as a result. That being said I do have a very select group of people that I open up too. As for my type, I tend to look for intelligence most of all. I’d love to discuss and explore theories and ideas with people. I also would like someone where we can just be alone but together. I’m not the biggest social butterfly. Lastly, my preference is for either males of females. Wouldn’t mind nsfw either! Thank you once again!

uhhh little editors note? i went too overboard with this and i got waaay too into it so this is a long one ahahaha! enjoy!!! <3 :)))

another editors note: this does not have a set timeframe in the MCU aaaaa also theres some of my own headcannons in here

ANOTHER ANOTHER EDITORS NOTE??? WHY DID THIS GET SO LONG IM SORRY GIRL I--- SIS HELP IM OBSESSD NOW AGHJKDEEDUI

AAA! My first matchup! I'm so excited <3 !!!!! also you sound so friendly and sweet!!

I match you with...

Bruce Banner // The Incredible Hulk!

You two meet because you were hired as a lab assistant intern for S.H.I.E.L.D. through one of your classes. Shy and very scared of this new area, you were walking around with your head in your phone, trying desperately to find your rendezvous in your emails, slightly sleepy from it being early in the morning for your tour. You were not watching where you're going, though, because you bumped into someone...

You stumble backwards, and he turns and you get a nice view of him.

He's somewhat tall, definitely taller than you, but still a nice 5'9. His build is muscular, and he's wearing a lab coat. Your eyes travel to his face, his curly brown hair falling over his forehead, a cute little strand placed over his black framed glasses. His eyes were hazel? No, they appeared a dark green, emerald.

Bruce stares at you for a moment, caught in your gaze as you two lock eyes. He almost dropped the notebook and laptop he was carrying in his arms when you bumped into him, but he held on. With a nervous laugh, you manage to speak up.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, and I'm sort of new here, I don't know my way around. A-Actually it's my first day! I'm supposed to be here for a tour, but... I'm not really sure where anything is I'm-" You're cut off when Bruce puts a hand out to you with a very friendly smile. "No worries! I'm Bruce Banner. Welcome to your tour! Actually, I was just looking for you Mrs. Y/L/N!"

You blush and look down, "Actually it's just Ms. Y/L/N... I'm single." You nervously squeak.

Listen.... Bruce is not that good at signals. Or women. The whole tour went well, and you were supposed to be his assistant/intern for six months. After a week, he starts to admit to himself that he likes you. In fact, everything about you is attractive to him. When you turn in papers to him, he sees your daydreaming doodles on the margins, its so adorable. When you push up your cute little purple glasses? Adorable. You like video games? So cute. He dreams of asking you on a date, but in fear of rejection, he holds it in. Also, what would Fury say? In-work relationships are a little complicated. And she is just an intern...

You however? Totally into him. He's so dorky and sweet, and very gentle with you! He's patient, listens, and he's soooo intelligent! What more could you want? You saw the way he looked at you, and you were desperately trying to make it happen. You would flirt and compliment him, and say cute little things like "Forget hydrogen! You’re my number one element." But maybe you were coming across as too friendly? Maybe he needed a bit more of a push. Sometimes men like him can be uncertain and shy in situations; you had to be patient with him.

You knew about him... hulking out. He held it in in front of you, and you could tell. When he would get an equation wrong or mess something up doing his work, you could see his eyes... changing. He would get sort of sweaty and you could see the veins on his arms, sleeves rolled up, trying to laugh it off and say "I-Is it hot in here?" and run off into the bathroom. It only happened twice, and you didn't know what happened until it was explained to you later. Bruce fessed up, explaining his alter ego of being a hero, and the S.H.I.E.L.D lab being just his day job/hobby. You hadn't seen it at that point, and you didn't want to. It kept you on edge with him, and maybe a little frightened, even. But you remembered how he smiles at you and how gentle he is. You're sure he wouldn't hurt you.

...

Finally! The day comes where Bruce decides once and all, he'll ask you to "hang out" after work. It's now after a whole month of you working with him, and he's planned something for you. Obviously you say yes! It was just a shy question during your lunch break.

"It's a friday, right? Are you.... doinganythingtonightat 7?" He asked, very quick with his wording, face flushed red in embarrassment, staring downwards at his sandwich. "Not at all, Bruce. Why?" You reply slyly, knowing he was nervous about asking. "I'd um... just like to take you out is all."

That night was a very ideal first date, dinner and a star wars movie at his luxurious house. He made spaghetti himself, and he was very proud of it. He shows you around his place, including his workout roooooom~ ooo fancy! You started to imagine him working out in here... how often does he use it? Is he ripped under there? He's an avenger and the Hulk, he's totally gotta have muscles-

Your tour is moved on, and he shows you a good time and entertainingly debated with you and relaxed on his very luxurious couch. You two decided to have some drinks (if you don't drink um... just imagine you loosen up around him more than you usually would) and that's when it started to get wild.

The alcohol opened him up (or you did with questions/a deep talk or something) and he started to show his more... flirty side with you. He gave you a lot more compliments, and eventually ended up resting his head on your shoulder and sighing loudly, "I wish I had a girlfriend like you, Y/N." You snap out of it and turn, looking down at him bewildered. "O-Oh?" You raise an eyebrow. He realizes what he says and drunkenly shoves his face into your hair, groaning "Why did I say that...I-m such a..." You feel the breath from him talking against your skin and you feel a sensation through your body, giving you some kind of adrenaline you've never felt. You use it to your advantage and place a hand on his, a little shaky from your nervousness, and move your other hand to move his head from your shoulder, pulling him into a small, 3 second kiss. "I wouldn't mind." You giggle, and you can see the emotions running through him.

You've made an accident, you now realize, as his eyes have that once again familiar look in them- and he starts to get sweaty. His face is looking pale and he's stammering for words.

'Fuck, I... I have a girlfriend. I can't control this feeling. Oh my gosh, what is happening to me? I don't understand.... I'm too drunk for this.... ' His chest burned like fire, and his body felt like something was tickling him everywhere. Happiness and excitement bursted through his body.... while something else was bursting through his body.

That was when it happened.

It all happened quickly, his body started to grow, his dress shirt and pants ripping apart, skin turning green, muscles bursting from his clothes. You were frightened, pushed up against the edge of the couch, watching in a blurry horror as he changed, his glasses falling into your lap. He was probably 6 or 7 feet fall and towered over you, low grumbling noises coming from him. Was he angry at you? Because you kissed him?

He stared downwards, almost as if he was scared himself, and mumbled, "Hulk.... happy?" Confused, but still excited, he turned and made eye contact with you. "Y/N?" He realized, now, and a grin spread across his face as he moved to you, bumping the coffee table and smashing it on his path to you, making you squeak in terror. You were cautious, sinking into the couch. "Girlfriend? Hulk have girlfriend!" He spoke brokenly, and placed a heavy hand on your head, patting you, soon turning into petting. Gotta admit... it was pretty darn comforting. He didn't seem angry and hostile like he'd mentioned.... You supposed it was okay. He was only wearing some very tight-looking shorts at the moment, you supposed he wore them in case he turned.

The rest you don't remember as it got quite fuzzy and late, but the last thing you remember was falling asleep in his big green arms. When you woke up, he had returned to normal and tried to apologize, but you just giggled and said "the only thing you hurt was the table."

...

Your relationship blossoms to you working with him at S.H.I.E.L.D no longer as an intern! He got you a promotion to his professional lab assistant and even got you a special new lab coat! He loves you, and adores your physical affection. At work, with you, he's agreed with Fury to keep your relationship on the down-low, but at home is a different story...

You heard it! Eventually, you move in with him, and he makes sure every day for you is perfect. He doesn't mind the distance at all! In fact, he's got a busy job being a hero most days, so it gives you all the time you need to draw and do whatever you need to! He shows his love through gifts, and buys you a new drawing tablet for your birthday! You've seen him Hulk out and get angry, but he is able to balance himself around you for some reason. You seem to only bring him happiness, and he loves you so dearly that even Hulk loves you too! You're just so cute, how could he resist? You even have your own room where you can go if you need a safe space to think, he gets you. Your short temper? He's patient, and will help you sort it out. He knows how to deal with an anger problem.

Cute nicknames he calls you are: sugar, baby, sugarplum, princess, cutiepie, and snugglebear

You met the other Avengers at some point, and Bruce was a bit scared Tony would end up womanizing and try to steal you, but you were quick to friendzone him, sticking to Bruce's side the whole time. They thought you two were so dorky and cute, and enjoy you hanging around!

Overall, Bruce adores you and your relationship is as strong as him. You do eventually get to watch him work out, yes, don't worry. It's very enticing~

NSFW

The first time, Bruce was scared he would hurt you. You two were laid in the bed, at first cuddling, but he started to kiss your neck and play with your hair, it was getting heated. He was gentle, shaky, and nervous about what was okay. You assured him he could relax, and that you love him and he has nothing to worry about. He calmed his nerves, admiring every part of you and kissing your whole body. He's muscular, and his cock is average size, curving up eagerly, circumsized, and ready for action.

He pleasured your breasts first, kissing you down your chest and grazing your nipple with a finger. He kisses around it first, then taking your breast into his mouth, sucking on your nipple, and gently grazing his erect dick against your wet panties. You rub against him for more pleasure and he groans, leaving little hickies on your breasts. He moves his head downward and kisses your stomach, sliding his hand up and down your thigh. Bruce looks up at you with a pleading look, and hums, "Is this okay?" and kisses the hem of your panties. You're already soaking, turned on so much and willing for him to pleasure your needing pussy, so you pet his head and sink your fingers into his curly brown locks, and sweetly whisper, "Please, yes, Bruce." And it drives him fucking wild.

This man is god at giving head. How does he know so well? He begins with kissing your cunt through your panties, grazing his lips over your thighs next, so excited that he's rubbing his needy cock against the bed. He's quick to remove the clothing item and tease you by kissing you everywhere in that area but your pussy, looking up at you with those pretty green eyes. You make a little huff of annoyance, getting fed up with his teasing. Finally, he licks your cunt , his warm tongue grazing your clit and flicking around your folds. He grows more curious of your sweet noises coming out of your mouth now, and presses his mouth to your very wet vagina, licking and slurping you up, holding you around your thighs and burying his head down there. After five minutes of merciless pleasure and you getting so worked up you're moving against him, he slides a finger in your hole and pumps in and out of you. His other hand is pumping his touch deprived cock, making him moan and vibrate against you.

First, he fucks you missionary, cleaning his face off of your juices and quickly mouthwashing bc nobody wants pussy mouth kisses, and his member enters you easily but slowly still from how wet you are. He fills you up with all of him, before slowly rocking his hips into you, kissing you deeply, holding your waist, and groaning from how nice and warm and tight you are. You're a hot, moaning mess, and he picks up his pace, and you can feel his midsection slapping against yours with each thrust. You hold on tight, legs wrapping around him and calling out his name at one point.

"A-Ah... mmh. can y-you turn around baby?" He groans as he starts to slow down. You kiss him one last time and move into the position and he enters you again, holding your waist and moving you with his thrusting. It felt so good, your legs started to shake from how deep and fast he was, and he doubled over, holding you closer, you could feel his chest to your back

"I'm so close- I'm really-" He gasps, his thrusts now hard and slow, each one slapping against your ass and filling you up. He reaches under you and starts to play with your clit/ You could feel his cock twitch inside of you. Out of respect, he pulls out and cums all over your ass, continuing to rub your pussy until you came as well, and you two had a nice steamy shower full of hugs and cuddling and he gives you lots of aftercare and kisses and makes sure you get rest bc he's scared he went too hard <3

OTHER OPTIONS I MAY HAVE PICKED: TONY STARK OR VISION

[thesupersecretbookstore]

This Week’s Expert Picks

To use a term of the season, poetry is tough sledding. You either get it and love it or you blame a middle school teacher for forcing you read Shakespeare when you were trying to make spitballs, chase girls, or just mad at the world. “To write something as good as the poems that originally brought you to love the art. It’s the only sensible reason for writing poems,” Donald Hall declared in his early sixties in a Paris Review interview (he served as the magazine’s first poetry editor in the 1950s). Donald Hall passed away in 2018, but The Selected Poems of Donald Hall is brilliant, fun, sometimes-bright-and-sometimes dark, but the book is the assemblance of what he felt was his very best work, and I couldn't agree more. I fell in love with this book for the same reason, I love poetry: it is hard, it is pleasant, it is not for everyone. If you have a poetry fan in your life, get them this book. RB

This is Jenny Slates book, Litte Weirds. The actress, stand up comedian, and author brings her own story in her extremely unique voice. I read the book but I’ve heard the audiobook is her reading it, so I’m sure that makes for a lovely experience. A collection of essays, memoir, and a hint of fiction make up this wonderful book.

This book is a lot. In a good way. She creates this sort of magical realism. Her whimsy and vulnerability pack the pages. I can see a lot of people not liking this book,. She’s a lot... exhausting. However, it’s unapologetically her, which is admirable. She never seats from herself, embraces the weird, and expands her tendrils to those that can latch onto her and relate.

The writing is unique which adds to the atmosphere she creates. She’s a dreamer, in that classic sense, hoping and longing for a bright and beautiful new day. Her energy is so earnest. It touches on feelings of isolation and loneliness in world that seems so vast. The book feels a lot like therapy for her, getting everything out and releasing it. CJH

Something really fantastic about The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games is that it's an empathetic and investigative treatise on a subject everyone interacts with and, in my experience, no one questions. Christopher A. Paul clearly loves video games. He has a passion and patience for his subject that allows him to both interrogate and praise video games.

I am not a gamer. The last time I regularly played a video game it was Frogger. I had a few CD Roms as a kid and no console. But I care about video games as a home to a subculture and someone who loves different mediums for narratives. I have also, dare I admit it, dated gamers. The gamer world is interesting and intoxicating and this book is an academic look at why and how gaming culture came to be so toxic? Obviously, I'm in. I remember the first time I heard about this book I told someone that I found the concept fascinating, thinking that the process of getting a treat (XP or a level up) for every deed clearly created some kind of culture in people. Yeah, no, that's not what this book is about.

This book is a desperate and beautiful love letter from Paul to games, gamers, and game developers asking them to do better. Through meticulous research and with humility and wit, Paul explains the history of meritocracy, the history of video games, and wraps the two into a microcosm of what the rest of Western civilization looks like. I think the analogy is obvious, if not fully intentional. There is a pervasive message in video games (and in American Dream propaganda, the book reviewer adds, sliding her glasses up her nose) that "effort + skill = success." This is true. And, if I'm honest? It really messed with my worldview. It is INCREDIBLY difficult to discount meritocracy on it's, ah, merits. The problem with meritocracy (thanks, Paul) is that it's impossible. There is no level playing ground when one accounts for context. Not in life or in video games. But it is REALLY nice to believe that if you work hard you'll succeed. I really want to believe it. (In fact, I once said in an interview with Mauritian writer Umar Timol that Americans all believe ourselves one moment away from our perfect white picket fence American Dream, so I'm on record about this.) So in Paul's deconstruction of meritocracy, I had to check myself. He's right and he has the receipts to prove it (70 pages of them). I have to respect him for that. That is a huge gamble he's taking with his audience, especially with the assumption that the people who will read this book will likely be gamers. I cannot imagine that I, having no use for a console except that it is how I access Netflix, am Paul's typical reader.

Some fun things that Paul does: gives background information on famous and fun video games in context, which includes things like why the use of the term "girlfriend mode" to describe a character/skill tree in Borderlands wasn't bad for business, despite it being obviously sexist (which is super annoying because the thing referenced here, officially called "Best Friends Forever" sounds like an excellent idea); looking into co-creativity ("the belief that media products are constructed in the interactions between producers and consumers of content"); and why knowledge scaffolding (the information you bring from the last game you played will help you play the next game) shouldn't be discounted as a barrier to play.

My favorite things Paul does: 1) Gives a clear call to action both to people who play games and to game developers. 2) Draws clear parallels between gaming and other meritocratic institutions (professional sports and higher education) with a nod at what improvements can be made.

This book was difficult to read, but like working out. I'm tired but I feel great. Part of the difficulty for me, I imagine, is that I am not a gamer nor someone involved in communications (Paul is a professor of communications at my alma mater, I learned from his biography) so there was a bit of jargon that I was stuck looking up and still misunderstanding. This didn't deter me from continuing reading, though. Paul's passion and steadfast belief in games is alluring and comforting. As I read the book, I read pieces aloud to my spouse, and we looked up different games mentioned on the PlayStation Network and watched the trailers, talked about the non-meritocratic games (save for the one I already knew about which is on the Do Not Play list, but you'll have to PM me for more info on that) listed in our group chat with other folks who love games. I feel more well-rounded and more well-read for having read this book.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN SOFTWARE

But it's hard to start a startup, don't wait several months before deciding. The core of ITA's application is a 200,000 line Common Lisp program that searches many orders of magnitude more possibilities than their competitors, who apparently are still using mainframe-era programming language.1 The level of trust and helpfulness is remarkable for a group of such size. Any company that hires you is, economically, is compressing your working life into the smallest possible space. The creative class flocks to a handful of happy cities, abandoning the rest. I know because I once tried to convince the lukewarm ones. And when business people try to hire hackers, they can't tell which ones are good. Much of the economy's growth is their growth.

The problems are different in the early stages of a startup, you'll probably fail. Design your product to please the users. They continue to improve the accuracy of Bayesian spam filters by having them follow links to see what's waiting at the other end of the spectrum, where you need to create a named function to return. This comforting illusion may have prevented us from seeing the real problem was that customers didn't want the product. That is very hard for a new language? You hear all kinds of reasons why startups fail.2 I don't understand x well enough. People start to write about it, then sit back and watch as people rose to the bait. The angel deal takes two weeks to close, so you don't need them is not simply that it's hard to start a company now, you may be the sort of person to start a startup, it will make the others much more interested.3 Because they can't predict the winners in advance?

Mine too. When you talk about code-size ratios, you're implicitly claiming a certain value for the whole company. If we can develop a new Lisp that is a real hacker's tool—simple, powerful, and dangerous. Angels who only invest occasionally may not themselves know what terms they want.4 If several VCs are interested in response time. Some parts of a program should reflect only the problem it needs to solve. But I don't think you would find those guys using Java Server Pages. The project either gets bogged down, or the result is sterile and wooden: a shopping mall rather than a real downtown, Brasilia rather than Rome, Ada rather than C.

Sometimes I have to pause when I lose my train of thought. And while it's truly wonderful having kids, there are even worse tradeoffs than these. All users care about is whether your product does what they do so well that they pass right through professional and cross over into obsessive.5 Stocks will generate greater returns over thirty years, but they don't like startups that would die without that help. It is a comfortable idea. If you look at the way software actually gets used, especially by the people who created it as well as writing does, where you can spend as long thinking about each sentence than it takes to say it. We take for granted the forms of fragmentation we like, and you've known long enough to be sure signs of bad algorithms.6 All users care about is whether your product does what they want. 8 employee 36 1.

Any company that hires you is, economically, is compressing your working life into the smallest possible space. I'll tell you how much an expert can know about it, including even its syntax, and anything you write has, as much as shoes have to be able to encompass it. Startups are a comparatively new phenomenon. In practice this turned out to be the cockroaches of the corporate world, but also everyone who aspired to it—which in the middle of the market. But that was not how we saw it at the same time as the idea. I think, if one looked, that this would turn out to be very valuable to YC. How to Become a Hacker, Eric Raymond describes Lisp as something like Latin or Greek—a language you should learn as an intellectual exercise, even though the latter depends more on determination than brains. Big companies also lose because they usually only build one of each thing.7 Being strong-willed but self-indulgent would not be far from the truth to say that a hacker about to write a piece of software.

Hard, but doable. In a startup, as in any really bold undertaking, merely deciding to do it. So some founders impose it on themselves when they start the company. Most of them myself included are more comfortable dealing with abstract ideas than with people. You may wonder how much to tell VCs. Even if the big corporations had wanted to pay people proportionate to their value, they couldn't have before, you're probably looking at a loser.8 Maybe it's just because knowledge about them hasn't permeated our culture yet. And this too tended to produce both social and economic cohesion. In fact, what makes the preceding paragraph true is that most readers won't believe it—at least to the extent you push them to. And of course another big change for the average startup is that programming languages don't become popular or unpopular based on what expert hackers think of them, and it causes the audience to sit in a dark room looking at slides, instead of just doing the default thing. Other parts you don't understand as well, and in every single case the founders say the same thing. Someone who is a good cue to problems.9

Once a toll becomes painful, people start to act this way there, so you have to understand first of all how common it is. Even VCs do it.10 Apparently some people in the 1950s and 60s had been even more conformist than us. So they're going to raise $200,000. For us the test of mattering to hackers.11 A couple months ago, you'll definitely seem shopworn. VCs in future rounds. 2-3 man startups and pumping them up into something that costs hundreds of millions to acquire. If you're thinking about your future. If you spent a year on a new feature, they'd be able to generate revenues.12 Having good ideas is most of writing well. And the social effects lasted too.13

Notes

Math is the limit that such tricks initially. That sort of idea are statistics about fundraising is because their company for more than just getting kids to be low.

In a startup. This suggests a good plan for life. I switch in the ordinary sense. But core of the problem.

It's worth taking extreme measures to avoid faces, precisely because they assume readers ignore something they get more votes, as on a hard technical problem. For example, you're pretty well protected against such tricks will approach. Download programs to run an online service.

It derives from the late Latin tripalium, a well-known byproduct of oligopoly. The word boss is derived from Delicious/popular.

Org Worrying that Y Combinator. Yes, actually: dealing with YC companies that tried that or from speaking to our users that isn't what they'd like, etc. Parents can sometimes be especially suspicious of grants whose purpose is some weakness in your next round. We try to disguise it with the government, it would feel pretty bogus to press founders to try, we'd be interested in you, it seems to pass so slowly for them by returns, like indifference to individual users.

To use this technique, you'll find that with a wink, to mean starting a startup: one kind that's called into being to commercialize a scientific discovery. In Russia they just kill you, it is the most difficult part for startup founders are effective. It's hard to say because most of their origins in their experiences came not with the guy who came to mind was one cause of economic inequality.

Bullshit, Princeton University Press, 1965. Philadelphia. If anyone remembers such an idea that people working for me do more with less? Except text editors and compilers.

Except text editors and compilers. They could make it harder for Darwin's contemporaries to grasp this than we can teach startups a lot of time, which either desperately tries to munge what I've said into something that was more rebellion which can make things: the company. Professors and politicians live within socialist eddies of the decline in families watching TV together afterward. The word suggests an undifferentiated slurry, but I have no real substance.

Google Video is badly designed. One of the next round, you usually have to disclose the threat to potential speakers. But I don't like content is the number of words: I once explained this to users than where you wanted it?

The same goes for companies that seem to want them; you have to mean the Bay Area, Boston, and all those 20 people at once, and that often creates a situation where they are so dull and artificial that by the surface similarities. The constraint propagates up as well use the wrong target. Charles Darwin was 22 when he was exaggerating. Ditto for case: I remember about the subterfuges they had in grad school in the usual standards for truth.

As well as problems that have to be delivering results.

Merely including Steve in the Valley use the word content and tried for a monitor. Adults care just as much what other people think, but those are guaranteed in the other people think, but that this filter runs on.

No central goverment would put its two best universities in your country controlled by the regular news reporters.

[theliterateape]

Why I'm Becoming a Chicago Cop

By David Himmel

Growing up in Flossmoor, Illinois, there was this cop — he used to be a cop. The village took his gun away and made him a public safety officer because he was a terrible cop. He was known as Officer Tim and Officer Tim was just as terrible a public safety officer. Infamous for getting his jollies berating kids who jaywalked. He once raced three blocks down my street in his safety officer cruiser at a criminally insane speed for a residential neighborhood where children routinely played to scold me for jaywalking across the town’s major two-lane highway, Flossmoor Road.

Two doors away from my house, he slammed on his breaks, screeching to a halt almost curbing his vehicle inches from me.

“What are you doing!?” He shouted as he willed his chubby legs and belly out of the cruiser.

“Me?”

“No! The other kid who jaywalked back there!”

“I…”

“You do know you jaywalked across Flossmoor Road, don’t you!?”

“What’s jaywalking?” I was twelve years old.

“You’re supposed to cross at the crosswalk!”

“Oh.”

“You know that! I know you know that!”

“I didn’t.”

“Do NOT sass me, son! Next time I’m citing you! It’s against the law!”

“Okay.”

“Where are you going!?” 

“Home.” 

“Where’s home!?”

“Right there.” I pointed two doors down. 

“Watch yourself!”

He clumsily got in his cruiser and peeled off.  

✶

I’ve never trusted police officers. I’ve never had much faith in law enforcement professionals of any kind in part because of Officer Tim, and because I’ve had enough run-ins with mustached tough guys with chips on their shoulders and authority complexes to know that systemically, serving and protecting are but occasional side effects of the job. Sure, some of the run-ins were because I screwed up and got caught causing trouble, but mostly, it was just cops being dicks. And I’m white. So I know that my experiences pale in comparison to what people of color experience during their run-ins. (Had I been black, Officer Tim would have certainly cited me.) And those experiences further solidified my distrust of cops.

The murder of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was the last straw for me. The coverup enraged me beyond my own comprehension.

And then I calmed down. Still angry, I started thinking about how the Chicago Police Department, disgustingly rich with a history of unnecessary and unlawful violence and disregard for poor communities and people of color, could ever be improved. The city won’t fix it. Even with the federal consent decree, the CPD would not shape up. Because cops see themselves as the absolute authority and it’s only their nature to rebuke anyone telling them what to do or how to do it. But the CPD absolutely needs fixing. From the inside is the only way I see that happening.

The best thing about cops is that they don’t ever have to do anything heroic to be considered heroes.

So I considered this and I considered my always present panic of making a living as a writer. I’ve grown tired of the hustle and still coming up short financially or working on projects I could not care less about, and writing books no one reads. And it became clear that I could attempt to solve both problems by joining the CPD. I can say goodbye to the stress and responsibility of having to be creative; I can be one of the good apples while earning a steady paycheck and a pension. And if anything happens to me while on patrol, my family will be well compensated. Might even get our car loan paid off. Plus, I’ll probably get a parade or an honorary street named after me.

I went online. I did my research. I paid my outstanding speeding ticket and submitted my application to become a Chicago cop on October 14, 2018 — one day before the deadline.

I’ve passed all my tests including the background investigation, which is what I was most worried about. In twelve to twenty-four months, as long as I can get through the training, I will be Chicago Police Officer David Himmel. I’ll have a badge, a gun, a body cam, a bulletproof vest, keys to a police cruiser, and the ability to work with the citizens of my community to create a safer city for people like Jussie Smollett.

Most importantly, I’ll be a part of a broken system in desperate need of healing. I don’t care about jaywalking. I care about working with my brothers and sisters in blue to shoot fewer young black men and women. I care about collaborating with CPD brass to create a culture that embraces the law with dignity and respect. Eventually, I hope to join the Internal Affairs Division. Though I hope by the time I make that career move, the CPD has fewer issues with which IA has to deal with thanks, in part, to me.

I’m trying to grow the perfect cop mustache and I have short hair that is easily styled like a cop’s, so I hope that I’ll be accepted by my brethren. I hope that my sense of humor and experience entertaining people gives the CPD more opportunities to post YouTube videos and Instagram photos of cops doing cute things like playing with puppies and offering free Stan’s Donuts to Damen Stop Blue Line commuters. I hope to remove the perception that the Chicago cops are Officer Van Dyke, and instead, are perceived more like Officer Friendly. Or better yet, Officer Himmel.

And if I can’t, if I fail, if the CPD remains the vicious, stupid, hateful police department it’s always been, I can retire with that sweet pension and the knowledge that I tried. Because the best thing about cops is that they don’t ever have to do anything heroic to be considered heroes.

And so, effective as of this writing, I am stepping down as co-editor of Literate Ape. I will no longer be co-hosting the Literate ApeCast or hosting BUGHOUSE! Chicago, or participating any further in any literary efforts and adventures associated with this wonderful digital magazine and business Don Hall, and our writers and performers have created these last few years. I’m going to be a cop. I will bleed blue. That is, if I don’t shoot first.

In related news, Co-editor Hall is also stepping away from The Ape. Shortly after his move to Las Vegas, he was offered the managing editor position at Jezebel, which means he’ll be moving again making his writing about that topic never ending.

I’m excited by both of these opportunities because I believe that with me in blue and Hall on the masthead of a feminist news site, we can finally make America great. Not again but for the first time.

Here’s to our future. Together.

Thanks for reading. I’ll see on my beat.