#if i had a printer id print this out and hang it on my wall

[magicalgirldiary]

workday in the life: hybrid teaching

first thing in the morning, I wake up and commence my morning routine. much of this is the same as it was pre-pandemic: I shower and do my makeup, make coffee (and put most of it into a thermos), eat breakfast, and try to give myself writing time before I think about the day at school ahead.

a few minutes after I wake up, my phone starts sending me push notifications to complete the daily health screening that allows me to come to campus. I’m asked to self-report symptoms and whether I have knowledge that I’ve been in close contact with anyone who had tested positive. when I complete the questionnaire, I get a message that clears me for the day. on my way out the door, I choose whichever mask best coordinates with my outfit and throw it into my purse.

when I arrive on campus, I put my mask on after parking the car. masks are required in all public spaces on campus, including outdoor spaces if you’re moving around. when I get to the front door of my building, I have to scan my ID to open the door. inside, I use the health app to scan a QR code to record where I am on campus.

in my office, I take my mask off, hanging it just beside my desk. mid-morning, building staff come by to empty trash cans and wipe door handles and light switches, and I slip on the mask whenever they knock on my door and briefly enter my space.

some of my colleagues who share a hallway with me come to campus, and I hear their doors open and close. now and then we’ll stop and have a conversation in each other’s doorways (by which I mean one person in or just outside the doorway, the other person seated at their desk), masks always on. our building used to be busy with tons of faculty offices and students dropping by for office hours, but we’ve all moved our office hours virtually and our floor doesn’t have classrooms on it, so the only student we see is the student worker if we happen to stop by the printer room. some faculty have permission to teach entirely remotely for health or family reasons. the building is uncannily quiet.

some days I bring lunch, keeping it in the refrigerator in our work room. all our hallways, rooms, and buildings have signs on the doors telling us which route we have to take to avoid people walking too close to each other, but as it happens I never see another soul in these rooms.

I still have to go across campus to check my mail. when I leave my office, I have to be sure I bring my keys, ID, and cell phone--all of which I need to get in and out of buildings. around the side of my building is one of our new outdoor classroom spaces--big plastic bench/desks that are spaced far apart but still close enough to the building to pick up wifi. once or twice I’ve seen a colleague holding office hours, their student sitting at the next table over.

the quads are sparsely populated if at all--all of campus feels like a ghost town. when I near the student center, I might see a handful of students eating lunch outside at picnic tables set up to accommodate social distancing. I enter the student center through the designated entrance beside the mail room, again scanning both my ID and a QR code on my phone. I enter through “enter” doors and exit through “exit” doors. if I have an errand on the upper levels of the student center, I walk all the way to one end of the building to use the “up” staircase; the other staircases are all designated as “down” only.

if I’m picking up lunch from the dining hall, I scan a QR code and check in with the staff, showing them the health pass on my phone that confirms I’m allowed to be on campus. the dining hall floor is covered in arrows and spacing markers to indicate proper social distancing. all plates, cups, and cutlery are disposable. to-go boxes are in high demand, so I’m unlikely to get one: I bring a plastic bag to hold my individually-packaged salads and dessert(s) so I can carry my open plate. all semester I haven’t seen more than a handful of students eating in the dining hall at once.

if I happen to meet another faculty member I know, we go upstairs to a huge, empty overflow dining room and sit in carefully-spaced chairs as we eat lunch together. otherwise, I take my lunch to my office and eat alone. on the days of our regular professional development lunches, I listen in to our Zoom call; but most of us don’t like eating on camera. except for the people presenting, even our own meetings are mostly full of little black “video off” squares. before the meetings begin, the hosts attempt small talk; but Zoom doesn’t allow for out-loud side-conversations. I usually pull up something else on my other screen as our Zoom call is going, even if I’m interested and paying attention. I think we all do, sometimes, even when we have our video on. my email is full of notifications from student health about this or that student who is out of class until x date. most of the students I receive emails about still log on to our class Zoom call.

after lunch, I teach. on the afternoons I teach one class, I have to leave my office at least 15 minutes before class begins even though I’m only going to the building next door. I print out any papers I need, load up my tote bag with all the components of my technology setup, retrieve a camera called a Meeting OWL from a locked closet (I borrow it from my colleague who teaches in the same room right after me), and then heft my full tote bag, the box the OWL comes in (almost as big as the tote bag), and my water bottle over to my second-floor classroom. I scan my ID to get into the building; like the building with my office, there’s only one “enter” door and “up” staircase. in the classroom we’re not allowed to move desks, but various pieces of the professors’ workstation get moved around a lot, so after I scan the QR code marking me present in my own classroom, I have to move a table, a podium, and a chair so that the HDMI cord reaches my laptop. I turn on the projector system and adjust the volume all the way up. I plug in my laptop to the power because it can’t run a full eighty-minute Zoom call without dying and to the ethernet because the wireless connection is randomly bad in that building some days. I plug in the OWL camera to the wall and to my computer. I open the Zoom call, make sure the projector is working, and start admitting students from the waiting room. I make sure Zoom is set to use the OWL as my camera and that sound goes through the classroom speakers. no more than three students trickle into the classroom; I ask them to show me their health passes because that’s part of our procedure. this was hard to keep track of in the first couple of weeks of the semester, but now I don’t even have to consult the sticky note of instructions I taped onto my laptop before the first day of class.

when class begins, I make sure the meeting is recording and that I can see the waiting room and the chat on the big screen. occasionally, this classroom has inexplicable audio issues and my Zoom students have to tell me the audio is “screeching.” usually if I mute and un-mute myself a few times in succession we fix the problem; but the internet connection is not so easily fixed. once this semester I had to abandon the classroom after 20 minutes and retreat back to my office to get a stable internet connection. the in-person students had to go back to their dorms and log on to their computers to finish class.

the class meeting is fine. the students are interested in the material and are frequently invited to speak from their personal experience, so discussion happens in spite of everything. but this is a class in which I made a special effort to learn “Zoom silence,” which is much longer than your usual classroom silence because you can only really see one or two people’s faces. sometimes I call on students and worry that they won’t answer, which is silly, because it’s their job to answer; but I still feel anxious about it. some students send me private messages in the Zoom call that they have to step away for a moment or that they’re going to the restroom--and although I don’t ask or require them to do that at all, it helps when I know that someone is definitely not going to answer right away.

assuming we make it through class with relatively few tech issues, I end class five minutes early so that I can pack up my things and give the next professor time to setup his various tech. this is also supposed to help with traffic in the hallways--to keep students from piling up in any one place--but not once this semester have I seen more than four or five students in an entire classroom building hallway at one time. students who don’t have a class immediately after mine will hang back to help clean, taking a paper towel and the class supply of disinfectant and wiping down their desks. I take care of the rest, spraying and wiping all the surfaces we’ve touched, even though it makes one of the tables I use particularly sticky. when I’ve unplugged and packed everything, I head back to my office.

on the afternoons I teach two classes, I’m in a different building with a different tech setup. my other classroom has a standing desk, which I prefer over having to teach sitting down. here, I plug in the computer to the wall, the ethernet, and the HDMI cable that goes to the projector. I unfold and plug in my folding document camera, a small clip-on webcam (although my laptop has a webcam) that I can swivel back and forth to try to capture more of the classroom, and a giant round directional microphone (not ideal, since students can’t hear me if I stand behind it--but it works better than my laptop or webcam microphones).

classes proceed in more or less the same way as the other classroom, though these classes involve more switching between cameras (which involves random, odd moves such as “advanced-share screen the doc cam instead of switching cameras because if you click ‘switch camera’ everything shows up backwards”). the doc cam is my whiteboard--even though I have a perfectly good and functional whiteboard--because we found out early on that cameras don’t pick up the whiteboard well.

the first day I taught my two classes back-to-back, I was scheduled to move to a classroom across the hall for the second class. I had to wait for a colleague to pack up her complex, multi-part tech setup and then redo my entire setup, which meant I started class frazzled and nearly ten minutes late. so I don’t move classrooms anymore. it turns out the class I was moving for is completely remote due to the professor’s health accommodations, so no one is trying to use the classroom after me.

in my second class, I often have only one student physically present in spite of expecting I’d have at least six or seven per class (and this was after I divided my class into two shifts who would have the opportunity to attend in-person every other day). since small group work is so important in this class, my lone in-person student often has to join the Zoom call just for breakout rooms; and I can’t drop in to that student’s breakout room once they’ve started. the college learned early on that if two people in the same room are on the same Zoom call with audio on, the audio begins to echo and then quickly mutates into something that sounds like someone has opened a terrifying, hellish wormhole. you can’t have more than one person in a Zoom call in the same room unless everyone is completely muted.

still, breakout rooms are often silent or chat-conversations only (comprised of things like can you hear me? and so-and-so your mic isn’t working and send me your emails for the Google doc). I know some of the students do the work and some don’t. I could have them turn things in individually to prove they’re thinking or working, but I don’t like the way that feels. I have no idea how to help them get out of the class what they normally would in the ways of conversation and community.

I try to make sure every student can see me listening to them when they speak, but I spend most of my time facing my computer. there are simply more students online, and I’m worried more about whether they can hear me than whether the student in-person can hear me from six feet away. sometimes in this classroom I accidentally end up literally turning my back on my in-person student(s), which I feel horrible about. but I have to be watching the chat for answers and also writing on a piece of paper under the document camera. I can’t step further away from the document camera, and I can’t move among the desks like I used to.

when each class is over, we wipe desks and surfaces as needed. I unplug everything and pack it back into my tote bag. sometimes it’s so still in the upstairs hallway that the automatic lights turn off. sometimes I’m so still in the classroom that the automatic lights go off on me, and students with their cameras on giggle to see me flailing an arm around to get the lights back on. the few people who attend in-person have long cleared the building by the time I’m ready to go, and I descend an empty “down only” staircase and walk back across an empty quad to the building where my office is.

when I return to my office and pack up for the day--when I don’t have a department meeting or an appointment with a colleague (all of which occur--where else?--on Zoom)--I make sure to take my laptop and charger cord home with me. I double-check that I’m not leaving behind any materials I would absolutely need to conduct the next few days of classes. every day, I pack up my office as if I won’t be back for two weeks, because I never know if I’m going to wake up the next morning with symptoms--or else if I’m going to be notified that having a student present in my classroom counts as having “close contact” with them, although our classrooms are measured out to make sure everyone sits six feet apart.

I wear my mask all the way to my car.

[disruptioncamouflage]

Ghillie Poster idea development

To progress my idea I wanted to change a few things:

Changed the printing from landscape to portrait, I did this to simulate how the poster would look when made in a larger scale. My intention for the final outcome will be a landscape print, but the cutouts will be presented in this horizontal style. Plus this was a good opportunity to see (in a smaller scale) if my idea would look right.

Changed the ghillie cut pattern to the pattern used on my original poster for April seminar. I stated in my previous poster development post that I thought the ghillie cutting pattern used on the suits I've been wearing seems to best suit material.

I was starting to see how I can play around with the 'Mona Lisa effect', leaving more white on the top layer to act as the iris. I was also thinking about how I could best use the gradient effect I had used in my last attempt. With this version I was seeing if I could make the eyes into more or creatures than static eyes.

I replaced the gradients that I used for the back side of the cut layer, and the base layer with my own imagery. For the imagery I was playing around with how I could layer some of the sequence photos I had taken on my documentation of wearing the ghillie suit. For the back of the cut layer, I was again just trying a layering, this time layering the process of making one of my first mask works. I chose to use this specific graphic due to the amount of colour, and also the lines that were created by the cutting board. As a back layer I think it provides a good contrast with the eye top layer.

Thoughts after printing/cutting of moch up poster:

The colours didn't come out as bright as expected, but I'm not to worried as it was printed at home not by a professional printer. I think it could be important to think about the CMYK colour print when producing my next version, as I'm not sure if some of the more vibrant colours can be effectively printed the way I want them to be.

The cutting and folding process was A LOT easier, so for future prints I will definitely be the pattern used. I also think that it more effectively gives space for each eye, and also adds a lot to the interesting wave optical illusion effect the the cutting style creates.

I think the bottom layer and the back of the cut out layer work really well to contrast the eyes on the top, the gritty look of the base layer works really well, and although not as effective as I wanted it to be due to colour works quite well.

Defiantly think that for these smaller moch ups printing and building in a portrait format is the way to go, I haven't tried hanging this moch up on the wall yet, but that's definitely something I need to try to make sure it works the way I want it to.

Thinking for my next poster:

Id like to try just having eyes on the top layer, no extra colour, and I also want to try using the whole eye. For future works I think it could be interesting to capture images of peoples eyes, rather than use PNG's that I've found, more diversity, and more interactive with my practice. For now I think my next version will just use an eye I find on the internet though.

For the bottom of the cut layer I want to try putting words or letters on this layer, rather than just a image. I think it will make the work much more interactive, and also work better as a form of lenticular lens.

Keeping to dark colours or gritty texture for the bottom layer works really well, it accentuates the top layers, but I want to play around with how the bottom layer can interact more with the layers above.

If I'm going to use full eyes, then I will need to reshape the oval I'm using at the moment, stretch it, making it longer, allowing more room so the actual eye doesn't get folded. I think even folding on the eye could be interesting to test too.

Eye direction is also something that I want to look at, do two eyes create a face when see from the side? how does rotating eyes effect the outcome? and can I also have eyes on the bottom layer of the cut out?

This was just something that was made by accident when joining the shapes on the bottom layer of the cut layer together. Though id just add it in because I found it interesting. Whether I actually use this ore not I'm not sure.

[arctic-hands]

[Image Description: tweet by Scott Irlbacher, @ ScottEarlBocker. It says "Quit sending Xennials and Millennials things to print at home. We don't have a printer. And if we do we haven't found the power cord from our last move. We had been surviving on secretly using our work printer for years." End ID]

Mwahahaha, I am the superior millennial! For I have a working printer! I use it to print out photos of my cats to hang frameless on the wall! Ink costs a fortune but it's worth it! Also it's a shared printer that was originally owned by my Zer roommate so my other roommate has taken the role of ink buyer Mwahahaha!

[theragingthespian]

swimming up against the tide

Cat doesn’t notice it immediately.

(Give her a break though, it takes her a few weeks- a shorter time than it’d take others, thank you- to get settled after returning.

She needed days before she could even think in her office, past the smell of too many days of fast food and whatever cologne James clearly bathed in.)

What she does notice is her employees all huddled together like they’re on a- a tennis team? Polo?- a sport. They think they’re on some sporting team, pressed closed and hiding in an office far away from hers as if she doesn’t notice the line that builds up when most go on their lunch breaks.

So she does what any good boss would do.

“Miss Teschmacher.”

Watching Kara scramble into her room wasn’t nearly as funny as watching Eve. Looking back, Kara had to be floating slightly for her not to trip as many times as she clipped that desk. Eve, though, is a scramble of limbs and hair and coming Miss Grant.

“Yes?”

“I need you to find out what’s going on in that office.”

“Oh, the- the um, I already know what that is?”

“Are you asking or-”

“Right, right. Telling.” Eve looks around, draws that hideous pink cardigan closer around her. “They’re betting.”

Cat stands slowly, dragging her hand around her desk. Surely they wouldn’t dare. “Betting?”

“Yes. Or is that one of the rhetorical questions you told me not to answer?” Cat sighs, makes it long and drawn out until Eve’s mouth shuts with a click of teeth.

Kara hadn't been this difficult, had she?

“And what is worth such a gamble of their livelihoods?”

“It's um.” Eve’s fingers dart around her tablet as she bites her lip. She lowers her voice. “It's about Kara.”

“Kara?”

This is it. This is an irreparable slip up that Kara hasn't noticed. Something she left unattended. Something Cat hasn't made sure to hide like Kara's absences or the clothes the janitors would find in empty offices.

This will cost Kara her identity.

“They think she's dating Lena Luthor.” Eve bursts.

Cat blinks. Rolls over the words in her head and-

That's certainly new.

She doesn't know much of her.

(They've been to the same parties few and far between. Usually, Lena sticking close to the walls and putting on painfully fake smiles that investors eat up.

She's read the stories and seen the pictures, but more importantly, she's seen Lena.

Seen shoulders drawn inward and a carefully hidden fear anytime someone asks about her brother.

She's seen a woman who's far too young to carry what's been placed on her shoulder.)

“And how did this come about?”

Eve fidgets. She’s always fidgeting as if she’s about one second from being fired.

It's a healthy fear to have. She usually is. “They're just- they're obvious about it.”

“So you clearly seem to think they are.”

“Kara seems really happy.”

Cat can’t help her eye roll, remembers Kara almost skipping out of her office most days despite her most creative insults. “A donut makes her happy.”

“Yeah but this is different.” Eve sighs. It’s the kind of sigh that makes Carter huff at the television and pick at the cuff of his sleeves, “It’s love.”

“Who's running it?”

“I think Dave has a spreadsheet so we can keep up with who's who.”

“Dan!”

“Miss-Miss Grant!” He runs a hand through- Cat shudders- his curly and blinding bright hair, smiles. “It's actually Dave.”

Cat nods, shows a sharp smile as she pointedly stares at the ID clipped to his shirt. “Dan,” she enunciates slowly, “I need that list of yours.”

She gets it by lunch.

Carr.

Somehow she isn't surprised.

“I'm a gambler.” He shrugs, tugs on his tie with annoyance. She thinks that annoyance is for her when she waves her hand for more and his frown deepens. “It's too good to pass up.”

“That's what I say about a good drink, not an employee.”

“She's your prodigy.” He splays his fingers, palms facing her. “Not mine. Might as well make a quick buck.”

“Why?”

“Have you seen those too?” Cat shakes her head. She sees less of Kara than she ever has. She has to endure one of her own sighs thrown right back at her when Snapper heaves out a breath. “I'd say honeymoon phase but it's been like this for months.”

“Months?”

“I’d call her out on it but Luthor doesn’t talk to anyone else. It’s our only way in.”

Cat leans back in the seat, fingers slowly tracing around the armrests as she thinks. “Kara hasn’t said anything to you?”

“Other than defending her spelling, we don’t talk.” He points to her, eyes narrowing. “If I have to see one more kewl, I’m firing her.”

Cat takes a long look at him, but it goes unnoticed as he stares down at his paper, holds it up higher when she clears her throat. “It’s a wonder more people don’t quit after working with you Lucas.”

“I could say the same to you.”

Kara may lie, but her feelings don't.

(Anyone with eyes could see the way she stumbled after James. But they’d left it alone and it fizzled out before it even had a chance.

The way her employees talk- loud and brash and haven’t they ever heard of working?- it sounds like this is even worse.

That Kara defends Lena fiercely and hugs her tightly.

That Kara is in deep, and she had told Kara to dive, but she fears these waters may be too much.)

She decides to go straight to the clumsy, warm hearted source.

Kara falls out of her chair as soon as the question leaves her mouth. “What?” She drags a hand down her face. “Lena and- what is with everyone?”

“Glasses.” Kara makes a confused noise, so Cat points to the floor. Kara’s dramatics knocking off her glasses in the process. She could at least try to act like she needs them instead of not even noticing. “So you’ve been asked this?”

“Yes.” Kara’s eyebrows knit together, and it’s clear she’s thinking about it. Hard, from the way a frown etches it’s way on her face. “I don’t know why.” Kara raises her shoulders. “We hang out. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

Kara nods vigorously.

But there’s a flush crawling up her neck and her fingers are dancing across her desk as she looks away.

(Kara says they’re not dating, but that doesn’t mean the feeling’s not there.)

The spreadsheet has every single one of her employees.

Even the guy who always smells like sweat and drops off their mail. It’s ridiculous. It’s invasive and childish and-

It’s something.

This many people wouldn’t jeopardize their jobs- they all know, despite her best denials, that Kara is important to her and such gossip wouldn’t be allowed- for something that Kara vehemently says doesn’t exist.

These people see something.

She tabs to the left on her screen and realizes Dan had been keeping track of Kara’s and Lena’s ‘reported sightings.’

It’s a simple as printing it out and working down the list.

She startles one employee so badly as he’s working on the printer that ink sprays over him. “The pool? Oh. Oh. Listen, that’s really just for-”

“I don’t care,” she says quickly, because the faster she does this the less people can scramble away and act like they’ve never seen a thing, “You said you saw them at a bar?”

He nods, turning his head this way and that. Fingers scratching nervously around his collar. “Yes,” he says slowly. He cuts his eyes to her like he's still not believing she hasn't fired him yet.

Which completely depends on his testimony.

“They were just having a few drinks, y’know? But it was all that touchy feely shit.” He clicks his tongue at a stain, runs his fingers against it and has the audacity to look surprised when it smears larger. “I'm used to Kara being all,” he jerks his hand, “huggy. But Luthor was doing it too, and I know when a woman is flirting. Luthor? That girl was flirting it up.”

It's similar to the other stories she's listened to. Together outside of CatCo hours, away from any place that could be used as an interview. Personal.

All with excessive touch and-

“Looks. Oh my god, you'd think they were about to throw down right there.” Cat winces at that, because in the context, she's not quite sure she wants to know what that means. Jill- Jan? Something like that- snorts into her cup, “I know right? Wait, here.”

Cat keeps her hand at the back of the chair, loudly taps her finger when all she sees are monitors flickering. Gets a muttered one sec. A few clicks and there's Kara as Lena's leaving, eyes warm and bright, and oh, even though the sigh that leaves her is tinny over the speakers, it sounds so happy.

“You see that look? You know what that is, right?”

It's longing. Kara stamping her foot down and leaning forward before falling back into place. Lena turning around in question only for Kara to give a friendly wave.

(Eve probably goes home and watches far too many Hallmark movies. Twists her brain into some sappy mush that's clearly contagious, because all she can think of is Kara's smile as she flies and Eve’s words and,

Love.)

They’re chomping down on chips when she sits down beside them. Makes no move or jerk of surprise, just carefully pushes over the chip bag. A soft crinkle as they pass it.

“Kara's always calling her. Usually asks about her day.” They shrug, sketch a quick line of a figure in a notebook. “You can hear Kara laughing from the art department. That loud one she does. Full blown.”

“And the pet names you reported?”

“Lena calls her darling.” Zoe snickers. “Kara ran into the door so hard it knocked the hinges off.”

“I'd say thank you, but considering you're involved in all this, I'm not.”

They give another nonchalant shrug and peer up at her. “And you aren't?”

(Hanging out, Kara had said, but Cat's not hard pressed to believe Kara would know the difference between a date or not.)

”Keep up Miss Teschmacher.”

Cat doesn't wait for the reply. She really doesn't care to when Eve’s only comments the past twenty minutes has been barely concealed whispers of I'm going to be sick.

She doesn't drive that fast. She obeys all traffic laws to a t.

(Her record speaks for itself

All her tickets have helpfully disappeared after completely calm calls.)

They get through security after passing through one too many metal detectors. It's slightly concerning.

L-Corp has more than CatCo.

But no one blinks an eye at her stepping through the lobby, only points her to the elevator with instructions to see a Jess.

(If Kara won't give her the full truth, she'll have to try the other half.)

“You're going to distract them.”

Eve starts, hand falling away from the buttons of the elevator to step back. Steps back a little more when Cat waves her hand.

God, she hates elevators.

“Distract who?”

“You would think a Luthor could afford a larger elevator, but since she didn't and I'm currently having to share the same space as you, there's no reason for you to mishear me.”

“I think it's a regular sized-" Cat runs a finger slowly on her purse, raises an eyebrow and Eve is swallowing thickly. Moves on. “Why am I distracting someone?”

“I don't have an appointment.”

“Did I forget? I'm so sorry Miss Grant-”

“For once, no.” The elevator hums as they go up, light flashing with every passing level. “I want real, unrehearsed answers, and your voice asking for a meeting leaves little to the element of surprise.”

“Thank you?”

“Now, I need to get into that office. Are you ready?”

“Yes. No. No, I'm still not really sure why-"

The doors open and she nudges Eve out and towards the desk. The woman at the desk straightens, eyes darting past Eve and settling on her immediately. “Can I help you?”

Another push at Eve has her tripping forward. “Oh, right. I’m- I need-”

Honestly, Cat doesn’t really know why she thought that would work. Eve’s still stuttering on her words and the woman won’t stop her glaring, but there’s nothing really stopping her. She ignores the call of please wait and strides to the door, walking straight to-

A hard surface. Enough of her motion sending her nose painfully against it.

“Oh!” Warm hands curl over her shoulder and she's urged to look up into concerned blue eyes. “Miss Grant?”

Kara's eyes fall on the scene behind her, lips ticking upward before falling back to her. “What are you doing?”

“My job. I advise you to do the same for once.” She goes to brush by Kara but is stopped as Kara not so subtly plants herself firmly in the way, shoulders broadening. She thinks it's meant to be imposing and oh, isn't that interesting? “You've already seen to me breaking out from that cheap fabric don't make me touch it again.”

Kara frowns down at her shirt, plucks her fingers along the collar. “I don't think it's cheap. Lena got it for me.”

Cat hums, eyes the soft blue that leaves Kara's eyes bright and bluer than ever. “Of course she did.”

Kara leans down, settles a hand on her shoulder and gives her a look that makes her feel downright chastised. “Cat, what are you doing?” She squeezes. “Really?”

“Talking to a fellow CEO.”

“Right. Well you can't. She's asleep.” Kara moves away from the door, but not before hooking a finger around her purse strap and pulling her along. She pops Kara’s hand away, and it’s entirely her decision when she decides to continue following Kara.

“Jess, can you move around any meetings so she can sleep some? She was here late last night.”

“I told her to go home, but no.” Jess taps at her keyboard, eyes never falling from her. It's unfailing and daring and damn, she's impressed. “I can push one back until tomorrow, but you two won't be able to go out.”

“That's fine.” Kara grabs a pen and looks expectantly to Jess. “I'll just bring it then. You want your usual?”

“Please.”

Cat stands quietly, watching the two interact. They're clearly familiar with each other, but exactly how often is Kara here?

“I'm starting to think you work here instead of your actual job Kiera.”

“Kara.” Jess stops her typing and swivels the chair- it takes a ridiculous second, the chair working against her- and settles her palms flat on the counter. “Kara.”

“Oh I like you.” Cat points a finger, wiggles it. “I could use an assistant.”

Eve sucks in a harsh breath behind her. “Oh right,” she muses. “Another time then.”

“Cat,” Kara warns.  She falls into step beside Eve, hooking an arm around her shoulders. “She really does like you. She threatened to fire me at least a hundred times that first month.”

“I think she did more than that the first week.”

Kara blinks.

“Oh.”

(Kara follows them to the elevator- it’s a long ride with Kara giving her a disapproving look in the reflection the whole ride down- and out the building.

Strike one then, without much to show for it.)

Let it be said, she does learn from her mistakes.

(Pride once kept her firmly guarding her ways, but after years of this? Of learning and pushing and creating?

She knows when to change the game, when to adapt.)

If Lena and Kara are always meeting, then all she has to do is wait to see for herself.

(All she has to do is wait for the mad scramble of her employees all eager to see Lena and Kara and place their bets.)

“What are you doing?”

Cat looks away from the glass walls, looks to bright blue eyes that has a burst of affection spreading through her chest. “Nothing.”

“Mom,” Carter rolls his eyes, and oh, she doesn’t know if it’s her influence or because he’s being a teenager. “You’re staring.”

(For all her talk of embracing change, this is one she’s not prepared for.

He’s her boy, and she’s so, so proud at any and everything he does and-

He’s growing up.)

“I’m not.” He rolls his eyes again, and it’s- it’s probably her, isn’t it? She’s going to have to work on her sighs and eyes rolls. “Every day all of my employees fall over themselves over a bet.”

“What bet?”

Cat leans her chin against her propped up hands. Weighs her words, because Carter loves Kara and probably wouldn’t take kindly to the bets on her.

(It had been relieving when Carter had become so attached to Kara. When he would talk for hours after one of their outings together, something she had struggled to get him to do.

She knows Kara won’t hurt Carter, will take that affection and return it tenfold.)

“They’re wondering how good of friends Kara is with Lena Luthor.”

Carter purses his lips and turns his attention back to his phone with a shrug. “Lena’s nice.”

Cat turns her head so fast, a painful pull tugs at her neck. “You’ve met Lena?”

“Yeah.”

Cat drops her hands, spreading them flat against the desk. Carter has met Lena. With Kara. “Okay,” she draws it out, “You didn’t mention that.”

“It was for a minute.” Cat leans forward to hear him as he mumbles into his chest, finger sliding across his phone. “Kara gave her food or something before we went to get milkshakes.”

“I’m assuming this was before dinner?” Carter blanches at that, and Cat smiles, waits until his shoulders fall. “She was nice?”

“I mean she smiled at me.” Carter looks up, runs his fingers against the smooth surface of his phone case. “She was surprised I think. I walked in first, so it was,” Carter turns to her, moves a finger over his mouth to trace a frown, “that weird polite smile you do at parties. But she got happy when Kara walked in.”

“No more fake smile?”

“Nope.” Carter rubs his hands together and slides back down in the seat. “You know when you get home and get in pajamas before you sit on the couch?”

“The most relaxing part of my evening? Of course. It’s my favorite.” Cat hunches forward over the desk to run her fingers through his hair. Ruffles it until he pulls away. She got four seconds longer than usual. “It’s when I get to see you.”

“Her smile,” Carter says, “that’s what it reminded me of.”

(Cat has nothing to say at that.

Lena smiles at Kara like she’s coming home)

“Oh Miss Grant wait-”

Eve is all over her desk as Cat walks by her, and usually Cat would impart her with some grand stroke of knowledge, but she’s finding it a waste of breath more and more.

“Have the layouts-” Cat stops. There’s someone in her office even though she double checked to make sure her schedule was clear for the first half of today. “Who is that?”

“That’s what I was about to tell you.” Eve holds her phone up to her ear, fingers raised just over the keys. “Lena Luthor. She just came in and asked for you. Do you want me to call security?”

Cat drops her hands to her hips, shifts her weight to one foot. Lena turns around then, lips turning upwards with a slow smirk. “That won’t be necessary.”

Cat tilts up her head and pushes through the doors, not bothering to greet Lena until she’s settled in her chair. The monitors behind her blazing with activity and oh, this is her space.

“Do you usually invite yourself in?”

Lena turns her head to the side, eyes gleaming in the sunlight, and god, now she’s remembering the instances written down of Kara loudly contemplating Lena’s eye color. “Don’t you?”

“Fair enough.” Lena breathes a small laugh, barely moving from the motion of it. Watching her as much as she’s watching Lena. “We could’ve already talked, had someone not been sleeping.”

That has emotions sweeping across Lena’s face. Affection, irritation before it rebounds, affection seeping into her features. “I told her not to say- Kara worries too much.”

“She tends to do that for the people she cares about.”

Lena looks down, fingers grasping the edge of her skirt and raises her shoulders.

(Young.

She’s so young and already knows what’s necessary to do within a business. How best to sway people. Falling into so many falsehoods that it’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t.

It’s a lonely game.

But then there’s those people- Carter, she thinks warmly- that make it easier.

From the way Lena smiles at Kara’s name, she thinks Lena already has one.)

“Was there something you wanted to discuss?”

“Not really.” Cat brings a finger to her lips, taps at her chin while Lena stares blankly back at her. Kara isn’t one to stay quiet, no doubt had told Lena about her questions. “It simply came to my attention how close you two are.”

“She’s the only one who isn’t interested in dragging my name through the mud. L-Corp needs good press like that.”

“So it’s a business relationship?”

“No,” Lena says slowly, eyes narrowing, “we’re friends. I never said we weren’t.”

“And if the press starts taking an interest in her?” The only thing she hasn’t been able to figure out is if Lena knows. She tries to put as much emphasis on her next words as she can. “It wouldn’t be good for her if they began to notice her quirks.”

“That won’t happen.” Lena swallows and folds her hands in her lap. “I’ve taken certain precautions if the need arises, but whatever happens, Kara will be safe.”

“That’s good to know.”

“You wouldn’t be concerned with any other employees like this.”

“Not all my employees are her.”

“She’s more than just-” Lena forces out a harsh breath. “The cape,” she whispers, and how someone can make a whisper sound so commanding she’s not sure. She’d like to know how, it’d be useful.

“I know that.” Cat rolls her chair to her phone, jabbing down the button. “Evelyn bring in my next meeting.” Lena stands up when she waves a hand. “I know that,” she repeats, “and I think you do too.”

“Kara is important to me.”

(It’d halt the presses. A Luthor who doesn’t care about a Super.

Or at least, not in the way most would think. Not with the clawing vengeance she’s seen in the headlines three times this week.

But with a fierce confidence, with a desire to protect.

Lena seems intent on shedding family ties in all but name.)

“How would you feel about me writing an article about you?”

Lena pauses at the door, fingers twitching around the handle. “You can’t say anything worse about me that I haven’t heard before.”

(Cat’s left with that.

Left without a true answer tainted with the bitterness of someone who didn’t ask for a family out for blood. She says it with a quiet acceptance that makes her think of Carter and fear and oh, it burns.)

”I can watch Carter.”

Cat laughs as Kara’s face falls. “Because that went over so well the last time.”

Kara stands up straighter, voice low and full of intent. “I would never let anything happen to him.”

(Which she knows.

Looking over it with all the pieces, with the knowledge that Kara chose Carter over others, she knows Carter couldn’t be safer.

It’s quieting. To see someone care for her son so deeply to throw away other responsibilities. It’s reckless and selfish but oh, it’s humbling.)

“The runaway techie will not be your partner in crime this time.”

Kara snorts. “I’ll be sure to tell Winn you remember him.” She pulls out her phone. “Um how about- You know, I really don’t need help watching him?”

Cat grabs her elbow to still her. “And when you have to leave for your other activities?”

“Oh. Oh.” Kara bites her lip. “Right. Okay. So you- we’re just- okay.”

“Brilliant wording.”

“So my sister is working but how about Lena?”

Carter perks up. “Do you think she can help me with my robot?”

Kara grins. Her hand hovers over Carter’s shoulder, but then he’s leaning into it as she pulls him into a one sided hug. “Bud, I think you’re going to have the best robot ever.”

There’s music playing inside her house.

There’s loud music.

(Carter knows better.

Carter doesn’t even like loud noises, prefers to walk around the house with his headphones on a quiet music if anything.)

She slips in silently- compared to the music blaring throughout the rooms- and spies Kara humming along. Carter pops up beside her, and then Kara’s pulling Carter around in circles, feet thumping around in the kitchen. “I knew you could dance Carter.”

“You dance better than Kara.”

Cat moves forward slightly, just enough that she can see Lena sitting at the counter with a fond smile on her face.

Kara stumbles back into the counter, hand falling dramatically on her face. “Oh my heart.” She spins when Carter raises her hand and jabs her thumb at Lena. “Miss Luthor thinks she’s too good to dance with us.”

“No, no. I just know when to let the professionals take over.”

“But Kara sucks at it.”

Cat has to bite down a laugh at Kara’s hurt face, but she rebounds, pulls Lena off the stool and into a clumsy spin. They’re laughing and tripping over each other’s feet, but oh, she’s never seen Lena look that soft.

(She’s seen her with her head held high. With cameras flashing at her at every turn.

Never has she seen her in a soft t-shirt and jeans, dancing around and laughing with her son and Kara.)

“Honestly Kiera, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Lena freezes immediately, and Carter looks a little sheepish at her entrance, slowly reaching over to turn the music down. Kara, though, doesn’t.

(It’s with startling clarity that she realizes nothing ever can be silent around Kara. That there’s no sneaking up on her when she can hear halfway around the city.

It reminds her of the days Kara first started working at CatCo and she’d find her on her lunch breaks with headphones pressed tight over her ears.)

“Miss Grant!” Kara gives her a happy grin, one that twists into something more mischievous. “Gonna dance?”

“You even try it and you’re fired.”

“Okie dokie.” Cat cringes, because she’s tried, she’s tried so hard to get Kara to not use something so embarrassing. “How was the conference?”

“Frustrating. I take it you only set my house on fire once?”

“No fires Miss Grant.” Lena smiles, pulled tight at the edges, but it loosens when Kara hugs Carter goodbye. “Your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Her smile comes easy, because Carter’s cheeks are red and flush and he looks so happy. Just from a night of playing and building. “Thank you for your help.”

“He’s brilliant.”

Part of Cat immediately goes on guard, that this is a ploy, but then Carter is leaning into Lena and it’s possibly the most awkward hug she’s seen in her life, but they’re both smiling. Smile harder when Kara scoops them both up.

That night, Lena leaves Carter with a box full of notebooks, and she gets to watch Carter pour over it for hours. Gush about how smart Lena and Kara are and how well they work together.

(That night, she’s left with the impression that everyone’s worry over the last Luthor is unfounded.

All they would have to see is Lena building a robot that can barely go in a straight line with her son.)

”I can't write articles for L-Corp anymore?”

Cat gently takes off her glasses, setting them to the side slowly as Kara's frustration boils over. She had expected it, glancing at her clock until she could hear stomps coming down the hall.

“While you may overlook your own biases, I run a business and can't.”

“I'm not biased.”

“Snapper agreed.”

“I don't care what he said.” Kara places her finger on her desk, pokes harshly at it. “I want to know why you did that.”

“Like I said-"

“No. No.” Kara jerks away. “You're not-

Kara's pacing angrily around, and it's clearer than ever in these moments who she is.

(Not Supergirl.

But Kara. Thrown from another world and placed under rule after rule until she's so, so tired.)

Kara stops right in front of her. “Why do you care so much?”

Kara may able to ignore the looks they’re earning but she can’t. “Balcony. Now.”

She spins around to face Kara as soon as the door slides shut. “You're lucky you have a job right now. I don't care who you are outside of these walls, because if you-"

Kara laughs. “What? You're going to fire me?”

(That rubs salt into it.

She hadn’t then, but she understands now. Had always when she thought about it, because Kara Danvers has always been an important element to her life, but Supergirl was the new one. Without Kara Danvers, Kara couldn’t have her sister or her friends or whatever she has with Lena.)

“You think I won't?”

“I think,” Kara says, pressing forward. Bold steps putting her directly in her space, and Cat has to step back, skin itching. Kara's face falls at that, some of the anger leaving her with a steady exhale. “You should mind your own business.”

“I am. That’s what this is about. My business.”

“Just stay out of it Cat.”

Kara leaves with as much commotion as she came with. Her glass door thrown ajar with Eve gaping at Kara as she strides away. Eyeing her nervously from behind her desk.

Heads pop up over cubicles, and she's left with every person on the floor staring at her.

“Oh I'm sorry, do all of you need more work?”

She only has to wait for the last person to leave the floor before there’s a thump outside.

“Cat.”

Cat hums when Kara lands softly beside her, wind pushing against the balcony floor. “Taught not to go to bed before settling an argument?”

“Something like that.” Kara laughs. It’s off, a little heavier than usual. Cat drapes her wrists over the bars, eyeing Kara as she shakes her head. “Your whole world,” Kara lets the sentence drift off, eyes darting above them as the stars blink in the sky, “disappearing does that to you.”

(Cat may pick on Kara’s tenses and spellings, but this word choice?

Disappearing when she knows exactly where it went?

She’ll leave that be.)

“Sorry. What I’m trying to say is, you never know what could happen, so I just- it’d make me feel better,” Kara holds up a hand, waves it between them, “if we could clear the air.”

“By all means.”

“You need to stop pushing.”

“You know it’s there. What happened to diving?” Cat pushes forward, points a finger at that symbol, that crest that inspires so much. “You’re afraid again.”

Kara drops her head to the rails. Her face scrunches up in a frown as she turns away, cheek rubbing against the rails and cape snapping with the quick movement. “I’m always afraid, Cat.”

“Of what?”

She shakes her head, and she hates that she can’t see her face. Kara is expressive as she is explosive. Would give her clues how best to handle this conversation. “I’m sorry for getting angry.”

“In this case, it’s forgiven. I acted-” She dips her head, bobs it to the side, “I don’t have to say sorry do I?”

“No Miss Grant.”

“What were you angry at, Kara?”

Kara bumps her head against the railing. “You know, sometimes people really are just mad at you.”

“Sometimes,” she agrees easily, because Kara was angry with her. But all of it? There’s always something more to Kara getting angry, something that loosens the tight hold she has on all of it more than her probing her relationship with Lena. “So?” She turns her hand, flips her palm up, “Spill.”

“I’m angry,” Kara says tightly, through gritted teeth, “for being afraid. For wanting this. For it being enough and not enough.”

“What does that mean?” She asks as softly as she can, as gently, because she wants to know. She wants to help but words are spilling from Kara faster than she can understand.

“She’s my best friend,” Kara whispers finally. Her voice reedy and thin. “I can’t lose her.”

“Sometimes the greatest reward has the highest risk.” Cat swirls her drink around, dragging her finger down the side. “But if it gives you any comfort, she’s not going anywhere.”

Kara turns her head back to her, nods slowly. “Her company’s here.” Quiet and small, and god, she’s going to have to spell it out for her.

“She’s moved that before, and you know to avoid something, Lena would do it again.” Cat rolls her eyes as Kara’s shoulders hunch up, so she leans over, pinches her arm as hard as she can.

For all her effort, Kara only gives her a mild look of irritation.

“Stop moping. I’m giving you a pep talk, the least you can do is look peppy. People pay money for these usually, you know that.”

“I know you charge a ridiculous price too.”

“Besides the fact.” She pinches the bridge of her nose, rubs her fingers there. “Lena loves you.” Kara starts, eyes wide, so she says quickly, “In whatever capacity.” Just to soothe Kara’s panic, but she’s now been privy to those looks and it’s definitely not familial. “She loves you, and after her family, she needs you.”

“I just don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“Let’s say I’m wrong,” she scoffs, thinks of the hugs and looks and rolls her eyes at the little breath of laughter Kara lets out, “which has never happened-”

“Never?”

“Never,” she repeats firmly, “whatever happens, however long it may take if you do need space, you two will be okay.”

Kara doesn’t say anything in response, turning her head up to the sky.

“Are you ever angry at them? For leaving?” The question raises and bubbles out of her before she has a chance to question her right to ask it.

Kara looks down at her feet, hovers up and over the bars but not before giving her a fleeting smile that makes her chest ache.

“How can I be mad at them when they’re not here anymore?”

(Which wasn’t an answer.

It was avoidant. The guilt seeping out, because she knows Kara, knows more than anything she’s angry. At her loss, at the sheer unfairness of it all, at the possibilities that could have avoided it.

It’s the loss that leaves the anger with nowhere to go, no one to direct it to. The loss that has Kara remembering that they- they are gone and aren’t coming back and oh, isn’t that so heartbreaking?

Kara asks how can she be angry without the guilt of it?

And really, she doesn’t know.)

She doesn't usually go out, not without Carter, but it's Sunday and she's too tired to fix anything for breakfast.

She hears a bubbly laugh, a chair creaking along with it as she settles into hers. It's familiar and steady, enough so that she chances a glance back and isn’t surprised to see Kara and Lena.

Kara’s holding out her fork with- Cat’s not even sure what it is other than it’s drizzled in chocolate- but Lena’s turning her head away from it.

“Kara, that's a heart attack waiting to happen.”

“Nope. No, it's not. I can hear my heart, remember? Let me see.” Kara tilts her head to the side. “Yep, see? Sounds great.” She grins when Lena finally takes the bite. “Happy, even.”

“Yeah?”

Kara hums, leaning over to thumb away the speck of chocolate left from Lena’s mouth. “Yeah.”

Cat groans.

There's the loud clack of silverware as she turns around, Kara's fork halfway to her mouth as Lena's eyes widen. It's comical for a long moment, Kara frozen as Lena tries to fight her surprise.

“It's one thing to flirt.” She shuffles around in her seat and leans over. “Badly,” she adds and jabs a finger at Kara who's still allowing food to drop onto her while Lena sits back in her seat with a curious look. Kara shoves it into her mouth at her look, coughs when her words register. Chokes out a flirting? “It's another to talk so loudly about your,” she waves a hand at Kara, shakes it.

“My heart?”

Lena coughs politely into her hand. “I think she meant your powers.” Lena’s voice is hushed, but her laugh isn’t. It’s full and warm, and when Cat chances a look at Kara she sees why.

Kara’s gaping like a fish, and she really hopes Kara can’t choke, because they’re both laughing at her while she maybe chokes but doesn’t really choke.

“I’ll be more careful.” Kara thumps a fist over her chest. “Sorry for intruding on your breakfast.”

“No, no.” Cat keeps her voice smooth and easy. “I apologize for intruding on your date.”

She hears Kara choke again and Lena asking for the check not much longer after that.

Carter is incredibly smart.

(Something she wants to say he gets from her.

But then he’s doing things she never could have dreamed, trying to explain it all to her with an exasperated sort of fondness and she realizes that it’s all Carter’s doing.)

Which is how she finds herself agreeing to try baking brownies even though she’s tired and it’s a school night, Carter. All it had taken was Carter saying please and subsequently producing a list of pros and cons only to leave the cons column empty.

(“There’s no con to brownies, Mom.”

“You’re hanging out with Kara too much.”)

The store is close to empty. The cashier staring off into the ceiling and rattles off their closing times when they come in, giggling and shoving each other for the cart.

“One box.”

“Two. Great.”

“Carter.” She calls after him, but he’s darting away, skidding to a stop once he gets to the right aisle. He taps his foot on the ground as she walks over, and it’s with only warmth that she scruffs up his hair.

“Mom.”

“I just was fixing it.” Cat jerks her cart to the side to navigate it past the couple bickering, but the wheels lock up, twisting and then she’s face to face with Lena Luthor.

“Oh, hello Miss Grant.”

“Cat’s fine.” Kara spins around beside Lena, arms full of cake batter and brownie boxes. Pouts. “What’s that face for?”

“You never told me I could call you Cat.”

“You do it anyway and you tend not to listen.” Kara gives a good natured shrug, one box coming dangerously close to tipping out of her arms, but Lena’s there nudging it back into place and letting her hand linger on Kara’s shoulder. “Shopping?”

Cat peers over the cart, and it’s a funny sight. The mixture of foods they have. From kale to cookies. The cart is evenly split down the middle.

“There.” Kara drops the boxes over the neat arrangement. Dusts off her hands and rolls her eyes when Lena clicks her tongue. “Carter!” Kara bends down and opens her arms, smile never faltering when Carter holds up his fist instead and smoothly taps their knuckles together. “I need your help.”

“Okay.”

“Lena,” Kara flaps her hand towards Lena, “thinks we should only get brownies. But I was thinking you know what’s better than brownies-”

“A healthy diet?”

“-Cake and brownies.” Kara finishes, looking over her shoulder at Lena and sticking out her tongue.

“Are you trying to eat all of it tonight?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Cat rolls her eyes and snatches the top box of brownies. “This is as much help as I can offer.”

“I think both.”

Kara whoops, falling backwards onto Lena. “A kid after my own heart.” Lena purses her lips but it falters, slips into a bright smile as Lena’s hand settles on Kara’s hip, fingers rubbing absently.

Cat wants to say I told you or possibly call out Kara’s past lies, but the two are looking at each other quietly, shifting closer together and Cat can only tell them goodnight and drag Carter off.

They’re still standing in front of the brownies talking when they leave.

Side by side, hands grazing.

Everything is different after that.

There’s more pictures than ever of their outings, when they’re pressed close together or Kara’s leaning to whisper something in Lena’s ear and it looks too intimate for some paparazzi to have stolen from them.

Lena stops by from time to time, exchanges pleasantries until Kara comes running out of the elevator and apologizing for being late.

(She starts giving Lena the articles Kara writes.

Lena clutches each one to her chest, fingers drawing over the edges fondly and thank you.)

She almost asks when she sees them at a charity event together. Passing by to find Kara cupping Lena’s face in her hands- gently, it’s so gentle in Kara’s every movement- and promising her she’s going to do great and she won’t mess up and even if she does they can still go home and grief bake.

(There’s no missing the way Lena leans into her hands. Sighs with relief when Kara says it’s okay, it’s okay and home.

She thinks they both could use a little of that.)

Cat waits.

(It’s hard.

She wants to find Kara and know everything, is used to the news being fed to her before it even happens.

But this isn’t news and Kara’s not her assistant.

This is a superhero, a friend, and she wants to make sure she’s happy.)

Waits until there’s the familiar sound of hideous boots smacking into her balcony and Kara’s goofy grin as she waves at her through the glass.

“Something’s happened between you two.”

Kara, oh, she beams. “Maybe,” she says coolly and drops into the outside chair. She crosses her arms and falls back into the cushions, blowing a breath against the fallen strands of hair. “Do you think this is a good idea?”

“To date Lena?”

“Not that so much as- Like,” Kara holds up her hands and turns them over, “knowing it could go really, really bad and hurt both of us.”

“I think,” Cat says, walking over to Kara’s side and laying her hand on her shoulder, “that you deserve to be happy.”

”When people would begin a union.” Kara shakes her shoulders, cape pooling into her lap as she glances to her. Cat notes the change in her voice, the way she allows it to drop deeper as her chin tilts up. “Marriage, I mean. It wasn't- it didn't always start with love.” Kara's silent then, fingers lightly tracing over her crest, first with fondness before there's the faintest show of creasing around her eyes, of worry. “But it was good and just and Rao would smile down on them as the stars sung their blessings.”

“I'm afraid that's not how it is here.”

“I know.” Kara laughs, eyeing her slyly. “I don't have to have four marriages to know that. But love, it's still good and just.”

“It can be.”

“It can be.” Kara sighs, and it's time like these, with her head dipped forward, shoulders hunched, that she remembers how young Kara is. “I had nothing but silence for twenty four years Cat. Nothing.” Kara shivers, pulls her cape around her. “And then,” Kara's voice breaks, and she can build sentences, wrap them up until they're nice and perfect and sound, but she doesn't know what to say here, “I come here and have to act like I can't hear them anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” It feels useless, and for a lifetime of work with nothing but words, she wants to do better.

“I just want to hear the stars sing.”

(Kara just wants love.

The next time she sees Kara, she's returning from seeing Lena.

Humming.)

If she had any doubt that their relationship had changed, catching them making out in Kara’s office certainly dispels any of it.

It had been purely accidental that she opened up the door, already rattling off what she needed Kara to do when they all froze. Kara’s hands in Lena’s hair, Lena’s fingers tucked tight against Kara’s shirt collar.

“Oh my-” Kara jerks back. Harshly presses into the desk and sends it crashing into the wall. “Oh gosh, that’s the second one.”

“The second?”

Lena holds up a hand before Kara begins rambling even though Cat still catches a it was totally an accident and no one was hurt. “You needed something?”

“Besides for my employee to,” she pointedly drags her eyes over them, settling on Lena’s mussed hair and the frantic way Kara’s rubbing lipstick off, “work?”

“Um, yes?”

“I want a photoshoot.”

“If Eve needs help setting it up, I can. It’s not a pro-”

“With both of you.” Cat grabs the pen off of Kara’s desk and writes down the date on a sticky note. Slaps it onto Kara’s shirt and flicks her fingers against one of the undone buttons that has Kara yelping. “Bring your cape.”

It takes an enormous amount of work and planning, but she gets both of them there without anyone being none the wiser.

Only James stands beside her, camera in hand. “It’s weird. Everything being so quiet.”

“I didn’t want anyone gawking at them and throwing them off.” Cat smiles slyly. “Or catching them.”

“Oh so you walked in on that too, huh?” James grins, wide and happy as he brings the camera into focus and stepping around the lighting. “They’re awful on game nights. In a cute couplely awful kind of way.”

“Cute.”

“Kara mentioned you and Carter should come to one.”

Cat laughs. It’s kind and thoughtful but. “Never in a million years Olsen. I had to watch Kara eat lunch at that desk for two years, I’m not watching her demolish something in the comfort of her home.”

“I’m not that bad.” Kara drops down onto the balcony, curls bouncing with the motion. “You,” she says, turning to give James her shoulder, “didn’t complain until I beat you at that burger competition.”

“It was dumb going against you anyway,” James mutters.

“If it helps,” Lena says as she steps in, and it’s not the first time she wonders if Lena allows Kara to fly her places, “she was upset she couldn’t eat more than she did.”

“I told you that in confidence.” Kara hisses it, but she’s smiling hard, teethy and bright as Lena steps up and combs her fingers through Kara’s windswept hair. Kara bumps their heads together playfully, one hand pulling Lena closer and the other tangling their fingers together.

She’s deciding to give them a minute to settle when James nudges her, holding out his camera. Cat looks it over, nods thoughtfully as James breaks out into a bigger smile.

“Keep that one.”

“You write wonderfully.”

“I know but thank you.”

Lena flips the magazine shut as Kara’s still tracing a finger over the text, drags it to the side and hovers over the two of them. “I love it,” Kara breathes. “It’s the best. Thank you Cat.”

“One more thing.” She fiddles with the lock for a moment, but then the drawer comes free and she’s staring at Kara and Lena from that morning. Faces close together and eyes shut. The blues and reds of Kara’s suit shining in the sunlight. She doesn’t know how an image can feel quiet, but it does, like it’s just the two of them.

Cat holds it out to the both of them, feels a smile grow on her face at their soft smiles. “I thought you two may like this.”

“This is-” Lena takes in a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Cat grabs her purse and clicks off the computer. “Besides, you two have given me a best seller already, so really, thanks go to you.” It’s no sooner than she finishes her sentence does she find Kara’s arms around her, feet slightly lifted off the ground from the force of the hug.

“Really, thank you Cat.”

“Okay, okay. You’re welcome.” She pats helplessly at Kara’s back. “Now let me go so I can go home and see Carter.”

“Tell him hi!” Kara drops her, reaching out a hand when she stumbles back. “Night Cat.”

“Goodnight.”

“Oh!” Kara stops and reaches into her bag, shuffling around for a moment before bringing out cash wrapped together in a rubber band. “This was on my desk? A note said I won some pool, but I usually don’t do anything like that. No one will tell me what it was. I’m pretty sure I can’t win something if I didn’t even participate.”

“No.” Lena squints suspiciously at her, but really, nothing can be traced back to her. All that anyone would be able to tell looking at that dumb, completely useless spreadsheet was that one Kara Danvers did in fact place the winning bet. “I don’t, but you must have won, people don’t go giving people money for no reason.”

“I don’t know,” Kara quirks her mouth to the side. “Still kinda weird.”

“Trust me,” Cat says as Kara’s and Lena’s hands join together, “you won.”

[whimsically-ominously-auspice]

Madonna knew about my work in Harlem and how i got the children off the street by pounding nails and giving them food.

She wanted a song for everyone in the world but to dedicate it to the most hard-working Construction man or woman out there on my team

I said "they're all hard working... Tho but i say Jess-- because i don't pronounce the T and they all look at me but i also say it in different ways because of my accent always changing depending who I've been talking to most I always pick up on it so its sometimes with a y sound or an I or an e or even the U. So what do you think about that?"

"Oh yeah that would work the Jessies. Now how do you wanna spell it. But i just wanted to do it with one So how about i drop the last s? Oh that will work, see look Jessie and no s"

Jessies to Jessie when its usually Jesse.

"Because the song is about one individual and we are all about individuality the last thing i want to do is sing about a group and jam them altogether. They're not plums, they're people. Yeah?"

"Yes!!!"

"But they're too hard working for what they get"

"But they get them a house"

"What they do?! None of them said that!"

"Its a surprise we keep track of their hours. 1,000 hours is a free house for their families. But i made a mistake in the beginning i had 3 kids and they worked 2,000 hours well almost 2225 actually and so i gave them two houses. But look the houses were really small and the kids were gonna have to share a bedroom, the two girls and they worked hardest so we just tore down a wall and gave them furniture -- for the girls because they did 1757.5 and then the boy and dad we just got them new beds and they kept the two kitchens. That was fun. One was old and not remodeled and the other was brand new, thats the way they wanted it said the girls so they could see how much work they had accomplished. Single dad. Raising 3 kids in the Bronx"

"Oh well that's not a mistake thats a blessing. And oh my those are Jessies i am going to think of them. Two girls i will say they're twins so in my mind one pregnancy and one child. Okay good. Don't tell me any different but when im done i want to meet what is real behind my inspiration!"

"Done deal!"

Madonna she made me cry a lot she is just so beautiful.

We did Harlem the most but we hit the Bronx, lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, even Central Park, Times Square. We went everywhere.

John Gray's mom worked in Manhattan as a nurse but they lived in Harlem. They both worked to earn a house after his mom got onto me about slave labor and we moved her into a brand new apartment complex in Lower Manhattan i had just bought halfway finished and used the same construction crew to complete. That was closer to the hospital and had better schools. Eventually they saved enough money and were able to fulfill their dreams to move back South.

1000 hours bought a house.

The kids that knew nothing or were clumsy had nails pounded in partially and they just had to finish pounding them in. Help carry and move things. We had older people and professionals that we didn't pay.

Grab and go breakfast like pastry or bagels, lunch of a sandwich and chips and dinner of the same. Water always and soda on the weekends. Juice at breakfast. If it lasted it did. No one left without a bag lunch even if they had just ate. We paid people to make food in an apartment. We called it "catered" Usually the real old ladies they worked in an assembly line. We paid them $5 per day plus they earned their full hours. But they needed pain meds just to keep up with the demand so we gave them the extra cash.

The lawyer Steve would shop and make sure all the names and hours and dates were recorded proper.

Some kids just went and ate. Steve would tell them they were thevies and had to work a half hour to not go to jail. And they would. He told them to buy the food they owed 6 hours per "plate" so they never bought it they just paid their time to stay out of jail because he was their lawyer and i was the judge. The cop was their guilt.

So we had a pretty sweet set up to get kids to buy houses through work.

We always printed a certificate on dot matrix printer and framed it and had them hang it in the houses near the door so they were always reminded who bought it and that good work is an honest living and its how you earn a good life.

We always know that 1000 hours will never buy a house and will barely pay the bills.

Yet it was Harlem and people were so poor and Ms Chen really got to me about that voting shit. How blacks couldn't vote till the 1965 law and how in the beginning of time no one could vote till they were a land owner.

So I said let's beat the government and haters and hypocrites!

Give not only the poorest but poorest blacks and let them know they can now vote!!! That's how we ended up on Harlem. Also I had seen the Harlem Globetrotters on TV and I thought a lot of people in Harlem were in wheelchairs -- Hey i may be reincarnated but I was only 5 and hadn't been to NYC to live since slavery was intact and even then it was a fee short years! i was from Detroit in my last life! And NYC was big!! I didn't know if they had a special section or what. My uncle dad laughed at me and took me to Harlem so we could see.

"Nope i don't see any wheelchairs. Will it still work for you?"

"Yeah let me talk to the people and we will see"

I talked to about 50 kids from the street and playground and about 10 adults. All the kids said they worried about money and their parents and the adults said things were okay but one who said it was rough but they were making it.

"Thanks for waiting these 3 hours. Well this is the place! Now excuse me for I must cry for all these kids"

This is why kids (and adults that touched my heart) got houses for only 1000 hours

Stingy Steve I called him... I wanted 100 hours but he said 1000 is more reasonable. He said 100,000 hours is more respectable and accurate but they were kids so 1000 hours was very respectable.

But because the children worried about money and places to live and about their parents.

We bought apartment complex after apartment complex. Renovated on kids labor and paid the children houses.

No one waa too young we had a one year old work with her parents. Usually I just babysat him when they both worked but usually they carried him ina sling... But if she had been sick or it was hot and sunny or they were carrying something they had been working on in, I got the baby.

I got some toddlers, too. They learned to drive nails like no one's business. Twin girls driving their momma nuts "can I just drop them here for a few? Its hot"

I got a panel of nail driving practice so I had them hammer it in Then look the other side to see they got it in Then hammer it out the other way.

The panel always had nails where the nails went in real work. So that in practice they got real location practice. They could see how if they nailed a nail or did a screw crooked how it would affect the work badly. The back side had the frame the panel went onto so they could see if it was a hit or miss.

Usually it was the sheet rock practice. But they had to practice screws also but we began with nails. Before the drill. Some kids had stole our drills so drills were practiced inside. But the dedicated kids got our drills back they knew who stole them.

So that day we had a graduation of Drill work and i got the practice panel back and i had me some toddlers.

Their mom was a lifter because she wasn't good on nails. She saw her babies missing from the shade so she came to look for us because sometimes i took them to the park but i always told her or left a note on my chair. And so she went to check and she saw me and they were behind the panel somewhat having lost interest and were pulling at the nails and feeling them and the board while my back rested

So momma learned to drive nails better because she could screw to assemble because Jesse would start the screws on counterwork and she would finish. So her and her babies learned alot that week.

We liked the kids to hang sheetrock because that was the building of a house. Then they would install plumbing and all that stuff. If we didn't have adults we had the kids build cabinetry. Or often had them build it together.

But we had professional craftsmen (construction workers and plumbers and electricians) teach the kids all the ins and outs of their new house so if any thing went wrong they could fix it.

So they did all the wiring and plumbing.

Id see kids walk out "i just installed a toilet!" I would see faces of disgust and amazement and pride and sometimes all at the same time. I would always applaud that, "you've installed your throne!"

That was the only thing they had to tell me about. Although i liked to hear about the sink. The toilet I had to hear about for my own amusement.

And because we would explain to them the history of toilets and so they would learn all about out houses before earning their toilets.

That is how they earned their materials. History and usually they had a small test. If they couldn't pass twice they had to come to me. Usually they were untrusting or shy so they would test in front of me and then I would say "i know you know that answer because when he read it to you your eyes lit up so what is in the back of your head behind your ear? That's the truth to the answer"

We had a lot of special education students. But they always earned their materials. Even if we took to dusk to help them learn it. There was a small handful I had to help especially because they had too much doubt or fear they were smart or educated. So I did a small class outside and did all their history tests with them. So then when it got to that material they then we're just read it again or talked about it or were asked what they remember most or their favorite information.

Eventually I had to go to the schools to talk to their teachers as to why they were in special ed. I wouldn't say their names but would say "a kid that says your he's teacher...."

Because one kid had memorized 3 pages of history word for word and had been in special ed for 3 years.

I got his mom to go with me on her off day after she saw and the kid "read" what he saw in his mind while the teacher read off the paper.

"Well he missed a few words he said "thee" not "thuh""

"Well that's an accent not a reading defect. He learned it from me allot. I'm English from England not from New York"

"Well we will have to take speech then"

"You can't. Its an accent. It's a way of speech. A dialect not a defect. Would you put Yosemite Sam in speech therapy?"

"Well you're stup--"

"Okay well I might be stupid or stup-eh-eh with your throat drowning out the sound of what you're going to say but you're not getting this kid out of special ed, not with your attitude"

"You're right. I'M NOT. I'M GETTING HIM OUT BECAUSE HE'S SMART AND MAYBE EVEN SMARTER THAN ALL OF US SITTING IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW. He could be the next Einstein and for what?!? Because he's black? Because he's Latino? I'm taking this to the school board. You're full of shit. Come on"

"No wait".

She took him out that very day. He went to Harvard and is now a Law Professor at Yale.

Y'all can do anything.

She got fired. Because I went to the principal who actually did complain as well and i went to the superintendent who knew nothing.

So i invited the school board to the streets of the Bronx. (Its where i started -- i was still trying to buy homes in Harlem) invited them to my table and had a list of kids that said they were in special education and had the superintendent and other school board members test them right Then and there.

She wasn't a bad person... She just wanted extra money for the school. But she was fucking with little kids heads and that wasn't right. That next school year special ed was less than half and they were the best testing school in the district.

Now i could say the same for Harlem but they tested out of NYC. They were in the Top 3 in the state.

I have an expert to update you on the rest of the success stories we have because we took the time to care and encourage as i hope you are all doing in homeschooling during Quarentine.

[ourloveandtrials]

Starting out in nursing school: an updated guide.

So back at the end of 2014 i made a list of everything you’d need to start nursing school... the reality is that this list was made before myself had ever started. I knew i wanted to make an updated version after going to university so here it is 3 years later. It makes me laugh so much!  2014 Vs 2017 Not in original: 

Sense of humor Strong stomach Crazy Curiosity And immunity to bitch hierarchy BS!

But seriously....

  Planner - 1 page per day. Wall Calendar –for visualizing what is coming up each month.   Weekly to-do List – it feels great to be able to cross things off each week. Household Schedule – for keeping school in perspective with life. Paper -  pocket notebook for clinicals, loose leaf paper, printer paper and index cards 3x5 and 5x8.

Folders - 3-ring binder, display folders with plastic sleeves.                      Misc. - 3 holed punch, calculator, small stapler, staples.        Pens, highlighters and pencils– for note taking. Highlighting key ideas and for drawing diagrams for study aids.Technology/ devices.         Recorder – great for recording lectures and classes. Also comes in handy for recording any notes you make to so that you can reinforce concepts. It is important to make sure that your teacher gives permission for you to record as they may have a strict policy. More often than not they allow it for personal use and ask that you do not distribute it.   Most Lectures should be recorded onto an online system through your university where you can stream them or download to listen to as a study tools in your own time. Note: if your school does this, don’t think that you can get away with not attending as 9 times out of 10, the day that there is a system failure will be the day that your away.          Laptop/Desktop computer – important for accessing online content, doing assessments and checking emails. It is important to have internet access while completing nursing school, however if you are unable to have it at home, most public libraries and educational institutes provide computer labs to their students.        Printer/Scanner – for printing assessments and lecture notes. This is also convenient but not necessary, so if you are prepared to pay small fee at public libraries and other educational institutes they always have many on hand to access.        IPod/mp3 player – amazing for unwinding to your favourite music or even uploading recordings of notes and lectures for extra reinforcement while going for a run or walking the dog. I personally love listening while I’m cooking or washing up.  Nurse Stuff!!!  Water proof watch – must have a second hand So a wrist watch is actually NOT ok! You’ll need a fob watch instead (hangs from shirt) as a wrist watch is a major health hazard and you’ll need to be washing all up in there repeatedly. Stethoscope – Your school may have a particular one that they want you to use that is fairly cheap. If they allow other brands, Littman is very good and reliable and will definitely take you all the way through nursing school. However, make sure you have it engraved or don’t let it out of your sight as I have heard sooooooo many stories of them being stolen out of bags etc. Basically you can get away with not having your own …  most times you’ll need them will be in labs at school because everyone will be using them at once at it’s easier to just have your own, but out on placement there is always one with the obs gear and people aren’t running around with steths 24/7.       

Comfortable shoes – this is a no brainer. Nurses are on their feet all day and night so it is important to splash out where comfort and support is needed. Klogs, despite being some of the ugliest shoes to exist, are wonderful. Dansko are also really comfortable, as well as the brand Sanita which offers cute prints and colours. We just needed leather enclosed nurse shoes, something with support and durability.    

Durable bag - this one is also really important! A lot of people have said that a bag with wheels comes in good use when you’re lugging heavy books across campus. Please don’t use shoulder bags! You will wind up with an immense amount of strain on your shoulder, and they just aren’t practical. So I get away with my big ass handbag. I can throw my A4 notebook and bens in their as well as a snack and a bottle of water. Realistically you don’t have to take your textbooks with you to uni. They have them in the libraries do don’t break your body and cart the dead weights aound. 5.       Scrubs – Scrubs are a bit of a grey area as there will be variations in what is required of students from school to school. Mostly blue are used I believe, but I may be wrong. NOT REQUIRED!!!!    

Student uniform - this will be something you purchase from your school. It is important for when you are on placement so that you are recognised as a student from your school. Make sure you have pockets in your pants!  Also I have three of the shirts and three sets of work pants. Note: get yourself a few sets of compression socks and save your feet and legs the pain.       

Long sleeve tops – nurses have early starts and finishes so it is important to stay warm. Hospitals often aren’t the warmest of environments so having a few long sleeve tops to layer up with is definitely worth it.  Yeah… no! Your not allowed to wear long sleeves. Its bear bellow the elbow in most facilities so buy yourself a singlet and tough it out!    Penlight – penlights are like pens, you’ll start off the shift with a few spares but by the end you’ll be trying to trace your steps back to find one! They aren’t too expensive so whenever you, replenish your hoard! Haha Not really the case and only used for neuro obs. The first RN I ever worked with gave me his as a gift. He was lovely !      Bandage/Dressing scissors – these will be your best friend. There’s no need to go out and by a ridiculously expensive pair. Just the basics that do their job! This is maybe one of the less important items you need when only starting out.     Medical Dictionary – every student needs one. It is so handy for looking things up and often they have small diagram explanations. I actually picked up a seventh edition Oxford mini dictionary for Nurses which is great and it is the perfect size.       Latest Drug guide – this is an important friend to the nursing student as there are so many drugs that we come into contact with. Make sure that you get an up to date one as there are new drugs out all the time. Try and get a hold of a mimms. Even if its an older edition they give you a great idea of different drug classes etc. buying an up to date guide is expensive and not worth it with the amount of annual changes made to them.

Thesaurus – this is just a helpful one for writing essays. I find myself looking for new ways to say something all the time and having a thesaurus gives you lots of options for words. Most computers have one built into their document writing system if you decide not to get one. Computer has this built in.        Referencing Guide ­– as soon as you find out what kind of referencing your course uses for assignments, make sure you get a guide on how to do it correctly. You may pick up on it right away without needing one, but if you’re like me, it’ll help to be able to look it up whenever you need to. Note: never leaving referencing til last. Do it as you go!      NCLEX Q’s book – the earlier you get yourself acquainted with NCLEX questions, the better. There are so many of these books out there. My advice would be to ask someone at school in a higher year, or one of your instructors, whether they can suggest a good one to you and go by that.  Not useful until later on.       Required Textbooks – you will either get a list of these given to you or it will be in your course outline under core texts. Buying textbooks brand new can be super expensive so I suggest you try and get them second hand. There’s is absolutely no shame in this, in fact it is the smarter thing to do.  Check textbook exchange pages for your school on Facebook, look at noticeboards, gumtree. EBay, craigslist and advertise on these that you are looking to buy. If you know someone the year or semester ahead of you, contact them and offer to buy them for a reasonable price. Unless the course changes dramatically year to year, you will be able to get away with having books a few editions behind. If you have the money and you want to buy them all brand new, then do so! There is something satisfying about accumulating textbooks… I myself have many!In your bag.    Wallet – make sure you carry your student ID card, bus pass, drivers licence, cash cards and loose change for printing. Keep a photo of someone or something you love or that motivates you to keep going.        Keys – don’t forget your house keys, car keys and if your school has lockers, get one and don’t forget to bring the key with you to school!        Hand sanitizer – at nursing school lots of people turn into crazy OCD hygiene gurus, and for good reason! Travel size hand sanitizer is perfect to carry around with you whether it’s at school or on the floor!        Lip balm/Moisturiser – because hospitals are cold and dry areas it good to make sure you have a chap stick or some paw paw ointment on hand to stop any wind burn, chapping or cracking. Moisturiser is a must. You will be constantly washing your hands and using hand sanitiser upon entering a room so it is important to put some moisture and life back into your poor little hand. Any vitamin E creams or aloe Vera based moisturisers will do the trick!        Headphones - make sure you have a spare pair of ordinary headphones. Preferably not the apple ones as they don’t always work on school computers. Some computer labs or libraries at schools will sell these or loan them to students for a few dollars. Sometimes you’ll find yourself at university with a few hour between classes and you might want to re watch a lecture, but you don’t want to disturb other students in their study. You may simply just want to watch silly things on YouTube to cheer yourself up after a terrible day so make sure you are prepared.     Tissues – make sure you have a travel pack of tissues. There may be day where you just feel like crap or have had very little sleep and just have a little melt down so tissues or face wipes can save the day!      Water bottle – stay hydrated!! Try to stay away from caffeine where you can. We all know that the caffeine high is fast in reacting, but when you crash you crash hard. Just starting your day with a big glass of water can set you up for feeling good all day so carry it on through the day too! My university has refill places where you can refill your bottle without having to buy it or go to a bathroom.      Lunchbox – Always pack lunch!! You will go through so much money buying lunch every day. If you don’t have time in the morning, prepare the night before or even cook for the week on Sunday and pop something into a microwave safe container to heat up at school. Make sure you have a few pieces of fruit, a handful of mixed nuts and some form of carbs and protein. Make sure you have a few muesli bars for back-ups, and I often freeze a little tub of yogurt for later in the day. ;��N�*�uA �uQ�

[crystalninjaphoenix]

MerMay 2021 Day Thirty Infiltration

The road was long and winding, a gravel path leading along the coast. Stacy adjusted the side mirrors on the van to make sure there wasn’t anyone behind them. Nope, they were alone. Alone as they drove towards a building situated on the edge of the coast. It was square and boxy, but not unattractive, with decorative glass tiles on one side and a few trees planted in front. But there was also a large wall circling around it. Or at least, around the part of the building that was on land, because there was a large portion of it that was half-immersed in the ocean water. A large sign on the wall had a logo of a blue circle, with a silver trident and a ring of fish. Blue words next to the logo read “TridentCorp LLC.”

Stacy took a deep breath. Alright, this was the first obstacle. If they didn’t get past this, then they couldn’t pull it off. There was a single gate leading into the wall, along with a guard booth. She could see a man inside the booth through the window, wearing a black uniform with “Security” printed on the front of the jacket in yellow writing. Putting on her best smile, she pulled over to the side and rolled down her window. “Hello!”

“Um, hi ma’am,” the security guard said, looking confused as he leaned out the open window of the booth. “Sorry, this is private property.”

“I know. Dr. Ester invited me over. I’m Dr. Roxanne Aguado, from the Institute of Marine Biology.”

“Ah, one moment.” The security guard ducked back inside, checking something on the computer. “Yeah, I see that name listed here. Do you have any sort of ID?”

“Of course.” Stacy dug into her pockets, pulling out a badge that looked exactly like Roxanne’s. Except that the identifying photograph was of her instead. Roxy had provided the fake ID, apparently they were really easy to print out if you had access to the Institute’s official card printer. She held it up to the security guard, making sure her hands were steady.

There was a long, long pause as he looked it over. Then, finally, he nodded. “Alright, everything seems in order. Go on and drive into the parking lot, someone will be out to see you.”

Stacy tried not to look too relieved. “Thank you,” she said cheerily. The gate slowly opened, and she drove inside.

Okay. They were in. Step one complete.

After some navigating, she found what looked to be some sort of loading dock. Perfect. They hadn’t expected that, but it made this whole thing a thousand times easier. Stacy parked the van at one of the stations, getting out and walking around to the back, where she opened the doors and pulled out the ramp attached to the van’s floor, connecting it to the loading dock.

The inside of the van was mostly empty. Normally, a van like this was used by the Institute to transport large tanks of fish, but currently, there was only one tank. A pretty large one, as large as it could be while still being portable. It was covered by a blue tarp. Stacy walked over and began undoing the latches that were securing the tank in place, making sure that it wouldn’t roll around while the van was moving. Something on the inside of the tank knocked against the glass. It sounded deliberate. Stacy knocked back, twice: the signal for No.

“Hey excuse me!”

Stacy jumped. She spun around to see an older woman walking towards her, wearing a blue jacket with the silver trident symbol on the lapel. “Hello.” Stacy waved.

The woman put her hands on her hip. “I don’t remember seeing you in my loading bay before. And you’re not wearing a uniform, what’re you supposed to be doing? What’re those headphones around your neck for? Music?”

“Oh, I’m just a delivery person, I’m dropping this off,” Stacy lied, indicating the tarp-covered tank.

“Really?” The woman asked with narrowed eyes.

Stacy put on her best, exaggerated ‘look I just work here’ expression and sighed. “Do you want to check it to make sure I’m not smuggling anything in or something?”

“Yes! That would be great, actually!” The woman stomped over.

“Okay, gimme a minute.” Stacy fussed with the tarp, in the process, knocking on the side of the glass once: Get ready. She slowly pulled it off. “You’re not gonna believe this.”

“Not gonna believe what?” The older woman peered into the top of the tank. Her eyes widened. Stacy turned away and pulled on her noise-cancelling headphones.

A bright yellow light filled the dark interior of the van. The woman started to step back, but then there was a splash of water, and a voice said, “No, don’t run!”

The effect was immediate. Chase held the siren stone tight in both hands, the dancing light drawing the woman’s eyes. His voice was...different. Musical, beautiful, demanding attention. The woman relaxed immediately. “That’s great,” Chase said, shifting uncomfortably. This was...weird. It felt wrong in a way, but he was only doing it to help Jack. And Anti, too, apparently. “What’s your name?”

“Sheila,” the woman answered immediately.

“Hi Sheila. I have a few questions. Have you ever seen anything...like me before? A merm—uh, mer-person?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, actually. I don’t think I was supposed to, but there was something...something like that in here once. A merman. In this glass box, it looked like the techies were monitoring it. I thought I was crazy.”

Chase inhaled sharply. “He was here? In this location?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Is he still here?”

“Dunno.” Sheila shrugged. “That room was empty yesterday. But that doctor woman, Lisa or whatever, she’s still hanging around, and she was in there, so maybe.”

That was confirmation. At least one of them had been here before. If they weren’t anymore, this place would probably have information about where they took them next. “Thank you, Sheila. Now, uh...take off your blue jacket and put it on the floor. Then...um...go to the bathroom and uh...wash your hands. When you’re done doing that, you’re going to forget about this encounter altogether.”

Sheila nodded, pulled off her jacket, dropped it, and turned to leave. Chase immediately let go of the siren stone, putting it down on the glass bottom of the tank, careful not to brush against it with his tail. When she saw the reflection of the light disappear, Stacy turned around and pulled her headphones off. “Any luck?” she asked.

“One of them was here, probably Jack,” Chase explained. “She didn’t know if he still was, though. They could’ve moved him to a different building, or just to a different room.”

“Well, we’ll have to do some more asking around then.” Stacy bent down, picking up the jacket Sheila dropped and the tarp. She quickly pulled on the jacket—it was a little big, but serviceable—and held up the blue tarp. “Down?”

“Down,” Chase agreed, ducking under the water. Stacy then covered the tank and started pulling. He felt the tank move out of the van and into the building.

It was difficult to tell where they were going. Chase could only see the floor while the tank was covered, so his knowledge was limited to the color of the tiles and the shoes people were wearing. But the journey went smoothly. Apparently nobody would stop you if you were wearing the right uniform. Pushing big tanks of water around must’ve been a regular occurrence here, too, otherwise that would’ve raised a few questions.

But after a bit, they did stop. Chase saw another pair of shoes enter his line of sight, a pair of loafers to match Stacy’s boots. He heard some talking, though it was muffled through the glass and water. Then Stacy knocked on the side of the glass three times. He jumped; it was quite loud. Then he recovered, leaning over the siren stone, ready to grab it.

This time, the entire tarp wasn’t pulled away, just a section. As soon as Chase saw the light coming in, he grabbed the stone and poked his head out, raising the stone out as well. He saw Stacy nearby, not looking at the stone and with her headphones in, but his attention was more focused on the strange man in front of him: glasses, black hair, long white coat, alarmed expression. “Calm down,” he said.

Instantly, the man relaxed, the slight panic leaving his eyes.

“What’s your name?”

“Dr. Trevor Yew,” the man said.

“Dr. Yew, have you ever seen something like me before?”

“Yes, of course. Aquatic humanoid, more commonly known as merpeople. We’re still working on the scientific name.” Even hypnotized, Chase could tell Dr. Yew was fairly pompous.

“Was there one of us in this location before?”

“Yes. And there are two here right now.”

Chase didn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Really? They’re still here?”

“And they’ll stay here for a while, too,” Yew muttered. “The new head of the project, Lise, she’s building a new location just to keep these new marine lifeforms. But it’s still under construction. Going along quite quickly, though. Waste of resources, if you ask me.” Yew’s expression started to change, scowling a bit, looking more suspicious.

“Where are they?” Chase asked, pressing him. “Tell me where they are. Now.”

“Th—there are tanks for large lifeforms at the back of the facility. Down the left hall, then take a right, then a left. The door is labelled ‘Classified,’ and you need a card to access it.”

“Do you have a card that could open that door?”

“Y-yes.” Yew was struggling, clearly. Chase could almost feel the dissonance.

“Hand it to the woman next to you. Then...then go sit down in the corner and take a nap. When you wake up, you’ll have forgotten all about this.”

Almost reluctantly, Yew took a lanyard off his neck and handed it to Stacy. Then he wandered off, out of Chase’s line of sight. He quickly put the siren stone down again, then once Stacy removed her headphones, relayed the instructions from the doctor to her. She nodded, pulled the tarp back on, and headed off.

Chase watched as the tiled floor changed color from white to gray to light blue. That hadn’t happened yet; they must’ve been moving through different areas of the buildings. Less busy areas, judging by how he saw less and less shoes in his line of sight. After a while, they stopped. He knocked on the side of the tank, and received two knocks in return: No. Nothing to worry about. And just a few seconds later, they were moving again, and he saw the tiles change to metal plating.

The tarp was pulled away with a flourish, and Chase popped out. They were in a long room, extending to the left and right. The wall in front of him was glass—no, it was a tank. And in that tank was—

“Jack!” Chase cried, leaning forward. “Oh my gods, it’s really you!”

Jack smiled. It looked like he was saying something, but no sound could make it through the glass. He raised one finger, then swam downward, writing in the layer of sand in the bottom of the tank. Chase! What are you doing here?

“Oh, right, we gotta—” Chase looked around. “Stace, do you have a marker or something?” She shook her head. “Damn it.” He thought about it, then landed on a solution. “Get me closer to the tank. Like right up against it.” Stacy made an a-OK sign with her fingers, then pushed Chase’s tank closer to the one in the wall. He lifted himself forward and breathed on the glass, fogging it up. In the fog, he wrote We’re here to get you out! He made sure it was backwards so Jack could read it.

Jack’s eyes darted, quickly reading the phrase before the breath-fog faded away. His expression brightened. Really? That’s great! How’d you get in? And how are you going to get us out?

Long story, Chase responded. Then he paused. What do you mean ‘us’?

There are two of us. Well, three counting you. Jack pointed to the side, indicating the tank to his right.

Chase turned to look. At first, he couldn’t find anything. Then he saw Anti. He was in the back corner of the tank, curled up and facing the wall. Ah. Right. That Dr. Yew had said there were two merms here. Jack swam over to the glass wall separating the tanks and knocked. Anti jumped, and looked over towards the sound. Once Jack got his attention, he pointed at Chase and Stacy, then gave Anti a positive smile and clapped excitedly. Anti was more concerned in staring at Chase, who waved awkwardly, then turned back to Jack. Is there a way out of the tanks? He asked.

They’re open at the top, Jack explained.

“Is everything going alright?” Stacy asked.

“Oh, right, you can’t read the language,” Chase remembered. “Yeah, it’s fine. Apparently the tanks are open at the top, there’s got to be a way to access them from there.”

Stacy looked around. Then she pointed at a door at the far end of the room, slightly ajar to show a set of stairs. “There. Hang on, tell him that I’m gonna come get him.” She hurried over, disappearing up the stairs.

“Right.” Chase breathed on the glass again and wrote out, Stacy is going to come get you. She’s gonna lift you up and carry you over here.

Jack nodded, then swam upward, out of sight. Chase waited, but he didn’t come back down. That was good, right?

Anti was still staring at him. He’d swam up closer to the front of the tank, and was now pressing his face against the glass to get the best possible angle to stare. Chase waved awkwardly.

Distant footsteps. Chase braced himself, but when he turned to look, he saw Stacy coming back down the stairs. Now, she was holding Jack in her arms, carrying him with one arm under his tail and the other against his back while he held on for stability. “Chase!” Jack called.

“Jack!” Chase waved. “Oh my gods, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re gonna want to scoot over,” Stacy said as she approached the portable tank.

“Right.” Chase swam backwards as much as he could, and she dropped Jack into the water with a splash.

“Phew. You guys are heavier than you look,” Stacy breathed, pressing a hand to her chest.

The moment Jack was in the water, he threw his arms around Chase in a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you! It’s fucking sucked, I have no idea what I’m doing here or how I got here, and there’s only this Anti guy here, and he’s not all that talkative. You’re really getting us out? How’d you get in here?”

“Look, I will totally explain later,” Chase laughed. “Man. I can’t believe you’re awake. How’d that happen?”

“What? Was I asleep for a while?”

“I—we gotta get out of here first.” Chase pulled away from the hug—though he didn’t get too far, the tank wasn’t that big. “I guess...we get Anti out now? Stace, can you push me closer so I can tell him we’re getting him?”

“Oh, wait, Chase, you can’t,” Jack said, looking a bit sad. “He can’t read.”

“What?!” Chase gasped. “He can’t—you—are you sure?”

“Oh yeah, definitely. I think he knows the basics, cause he could write his name, but he’s not fluent.”

“That’s...weird.” Very weird. Chase didn’t know any merms who couldn’t read. But he shook his head. “How are we gonna tell him it’s alright, then? He’s all electric, and it looks like they took that belt away, so he could definitely shock Stacy if she tried to pick him up like she did with you.”

“Hang on, I think I got it.” Jack lifted himself half out of the water, and turned to face Anti, who looked confused and more than a little wary. He pointed at Chase, then Stacy, then made an ok sign and smiled. Pointing at Stacy again, he indicated as best he could that she’d be walking around, then gestured towards the tops of the tanks. Anti’s wariness didn’t fade, but he slowly nodded. Jack made another ok sign. “Alright, I think we’re good.”

“Alright. Stacy, you can go get him now,” Chase said, turning to face her. “But be careful. He’s an electric eel, he could shock you really badly.”

“Not a fan of that,” she muttered. “I missed half of that conversation, you know. But that chittering sounded pretty positive, so...well, I’ll trust that you worked this out.” She took a deep breath, then headed back towards the stairs, looking more reluctant.

“I swear to god, if Anti shocks her, I’m gonna—I-I-I’ll kill him,” Chase muttered.

“That’s going a little far,” Jack pointed out. “I mean, he’s really freaked out, he might just do it accidentally.”

Chase gave him an odd look. “Jack...do you not...remember? What happened to you?”

Jack tilted his head. “Uh...no? I’m guessing no, cause I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I...we’re busy right now, I’ll explain everything later.”

It took a while, but eventually, Stacy reappeared, once again carrying a merm down the stairs. This time, it was considerably more awkward, because Anti kept wiggling, and even from a distance Chase could see his claws digging into Stacy’s shoulder. But she gritted her teeth and hurried over, dropping Anti in the tank with the other two, causing a lot of water to overflow.

“Hey, we saved your ass,” Chase immediately said. “You’re welcome. Don’t kill us.”

“What the fuck is going on?!” Jack cried, looking more confused than ever at Chase’s blunt, unfriendly comments towards Anti.

Anti didn’t say anything in return, just squirmed deeper underwater. Chase was very aware of their tails pressing against each other, and that at any moment, Anti could shock them both. But he didn’t.

“Alright boys, I’m gonna get us out of her fast,” Stacy said, picking up the tarp again. “We’re aiming for speed over stealth this time.”

“Got it. Jack, get down,” Chase said.

“I don’t know if there’s room to,” Jack muttered.

“Well, just get as far down as you can.”

Indeed, there was no room to get their heads underwater. There was barely space for the three of them to fit in the tank at all. But Stacy covered them with the tarp anyway, and headed out, going as fast as possible while pushing a heavy tank of water.

Once again, Chase found he couldn’t see anything. And this time it was worse, because he couldn’t even see the floor, just the tarp all around. It was pretty dark, with the only light being provided by Anti’s glowing eyes. That was a little creepy.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Chase stiffened at the voice. Female, but not Stacy’s.

“Oh, just transporting some specimens,” Stacy replied, as casually as possible.

“What?” The way the voice said that word sounded...different. This person had an accent. “But what is that sticking up under the tarp?”

“Well, you know, I put some stuff on top of the lid,” Stacy lied.

“...hang on. Is that—Let go of that tank!”

“Shit!” And Stacy started running. She was surprisingly quick, even with the tank of water, and the three merms inside all shifted as she suddenly turned a corner. The voice of the other woman grew fainter as she shouted for backup. “Chase, can you get that stone ready?!”

“I can’t reach it, Stacy!” Chase replied. “I can barely move my arms in here, I—Jack, can you feel a round sphere anywhere near you?”

“Yeah, it’s right under my tail,” Jack replied.

“Can you grab it?”

“Uh, no. You were right, I can barely move my—”

Stacy yelped, and suddenly, the pressure of her pushing the tank disappeared. But of course, as heavy things moving quickly tended to do, the tank didn’t stop, and instead kept going, now out of control. 

CRACK!

Water sloshed and the three merms slammed into each other as the tank hit a wall. The tarp got dislodged, and Chase could now peer out from under it. He saw Stacy punch the woman from before, Sheila, and push her down before running over to the tank. She grabbed the handle and slowly turned it to the side before starting to push again. From Chase’s vantage point, the painted walls of the hallways gave way to empty tanks and equipment, and then to brick, and then the walls of the van closed around them. “We’re almost there,” Stacy said, breathing heavily. Then she disappeared from view.

People were shouting. Distant at first, then coming closer. Footsteps were pounding against the floor. Chase heard that woman’s accented voice from before, now shouting in a human language he didn’t recognize.

Then the engine of the van rumbled to life, and the van pulled away from the loading dock, gaining speed as it drove towards the gate. Chase felt a jolt, and the tank started rolling across the van floor. Jack shouted out in surprise, and even Anti gasped. The van slowed, then sped up even more, and as it made turns and twisted down the road, the tank spun across the van floor, fully losing the tarp and quite a bit of water.

It felt like forever before things started to slow down again. Then the van stopped. The doors to the back opened, revealing Stacy. She looked around, taking in the mess of water on the floor and the tank that was decidedly not in the space she’d left it, and said, “Well, shit.”

Chase burst into laughter. Soon, Jack joined him, and then Stacy. The three of them laughed in pure relief, coming down from the adrenaline. Anti looked at the three of them, utterly baffled. His expression only made them laugh harder.

“Ah...so anyway,” Stacy finally said, calming down. “We lost them. I-I’m gonna drive us back towards the house.”

“You know what?” Chase giggled. “I think that went well.”

Stacy chuckled. She made sure to secure the tank this time, then left, closing the doors. And soon, the van was off, heading towards the wide open ocean.

[sugercoatit]

Lately, I’ve been on the hunt for some low-cost artwork for my office. Artwork? Maybe, calling it something more like decor or wall prints or something would be more accurate. Stuff for the wall, you get the drift. I found a few great, affordable, options during my most recent office makeover and thought I’d share. Plus I’ll share some photos from the office (from before I moved my desk, again).

  A gallery wall has always been something that featured pretty heavily in my office.

  Back in my first home office in the Jasmine house, I used floating shelves. Since we moved here, it was a million and one plaster puppies (actually name, I believe) in the wall opposite my desk. Which, when I started planning the refresh of the office, I planned to scale back. Which, I have done, but well, I’m not sure how long that will last. What can I say, I love being surrounded by beautiful things people have made, that I love and inspire me. I’m just always going to be a gallery wall kind of girl, I think. Here’s where I got my latest stash from.

  Use the things you have

My brother and his partner gave me a Disney calendar from Typo for Christmas last year. The hook was weird and I never really hung it on the wall. But as a Disney fan from way back, I knew I was going to use the images, all of vintage Disney movie posters, as wall art. My first choice was 101 Dalmatians which is my favourite, and I just put the rest of the pages in the frame behind it so I can swap them if I feel like it.

This is the case too with all the magazines I have around. I collect magazines for beautiful covers and to tear ‘inspo’ images out of sometimes. And, that makes them perfect for hanging on your wall. I use a clipboard so I can keep the magazine intact. But you could rip the covers off and frame them or something. Or go full Gigi and blu-tak them to your million dollar apartment bathroom wall. If that’s your thing.

  Print free images

Something I did this time that I’ve been saving photos for forever, was print from my collections on Unsplash. The main A3 photo (the chalkboard print) and the smaller prints you’ll see below (in the box and on the wall) are Unsplash images I loved and had printed online. I won’t say too much about where because the quality isn’t that great. But I wanted to feel okay about replacing them in the future, so it’s good enough. In the end, I printed two posters (for the large frame) and six A5 sized so I’ve got plenty of options now. Not to mention I have heaps more saved that if I wanted to, I could print on my home printer anytime.

  Shop the Big Guys

I picked up this storm print from Kmart but it could have easily come from any of the big home decor stores with larger scale prints and canvases. Places like Target or Ikea. Sure, every man and their dog will own them, but when you want big you can’t go past it. This one is meant to hang vertically, but because I was covering a bunch of existing holes in the wall from my previous setup, after some fiddling around, I rather it horizontal. There’s a very good chance that if I put a gallery shelf on the brick wall, it will end up there. But for now, I’m happy with where this is situated and the stormy background it now gives me while I work.

  Support the Little Guys

There is an endless supply of talented artists online, and when I asked for some suggestions on Instagram you guys came through. I purchased the stunning print you see in the featured image of this post from Jess Hutchison Art. I have two of the Native Floral Prints called the Follow your Heart and In Full Bloom, and Swifty the Swift Parrot. The one in the image is here. Originally I purchased them for the office, but the longer I have them here, the more I want to use them in the house. So, they’re on the move. After I get them some frames.

My recommendation? Ask people you know for suggestions of artists or makers they know. If you don’t see any you like, many artists use community-based platforms to print and sell their work. So, if you’re looking for work from smaller-scale businesses and artists try places like Etsy, Redbubble and Society6. The Do Something Today print in the image is from an Etsy seller YEARS ago. I have stickers from RedBubble on everything I own. And Society6 was the home for some test products back in the day involving a Suger Tee. Don’t ask.

  Take a look at my office (sort of)

Now for a sneak peek into my office makeover including some of the other options I have for prints, wall decor and artwork. As I mentioned, I’ve already moved the desk (despite the power points being on that wall). The sun coming in from the top windows was too much. I’m back working under the camera shelves but who knows how long that will last. Watch this space. Maybe I’m finally at the stage where I need to get some kind of blind. But all that natural light, it’s almost too good to give up. Anyway, this post isn’t about the refresh, it’s about the wall art, let’s take a look, shall we?

  There we go, team. I hope you found an option that you haven’t considered before. What do you use in your home or office to decorate the walls? Are you a prints kind of person? A wall art, canvas print, photos of the fam type? Want to know more about any of the other items you see here, let me know. Most are one-off buys or things I’ve made ages ago; but if I can help, I will. Until then, happy decorating.

  …

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Low-cost artwork for my office makeover Lately, I've been on the hunt for some low-cost artwork for my office. Artwork? Maybe, calling it something more like decor or wall prints or something would be more accurate.

[asfeedin]

A Look Back at the FinePix S1 Pro

It was early 2000, and the world looked on towards a new and exciting millennium, thankful that their worst fears surrounding Y2K never surfaced. At the time, I was getting ready to launch my portrait photography business using a completely digital capture and workflow, and was intent on investing in the Nikon D1 as my primary camera.

Keep in mind that digital photography was still in its infancy with little choice for gear that was up to professional standards. That is, until Fujifilm announced the FinePix S1 Pro: a crop-sensor DSLR sporting a uniquely designed 3-megapixel CCD sensor capable of producing images at 6 megapixels.

Many of us called the S1 Pro a “Franken-Camera” as it was an odd mashup of a film SLR (the Nikon N60) with digital guts from Fujifilm.

This camera would in no way compete with the build quality and handling of the Nikon D1—its all-plastic body was chunky, slippery, and required two different sets of batteries to operate: one set for the camera functions and the other the digital functions. You had to have plenty of batteries on hand to cover a day’s worth of shooting.

Built around a Nikon N60 film SLR

Requires four AA Batteries in the base to run the digital portion of the camera

Requires two CR123A’s to run the basic camera functions

It wasn’t the body or camera specs that caught the photography world’s attention; instead, it was Fujifilm’s unique sensor design and price.

Here was a camera capable of delivering higher resolution and dynamic range for a price of around $3,500. There were some drawbacks noted after initial reviews hit the Internet – mainly the inability to shoot in Raw. But for those of us that shot either in-studio or on location, the image quality it produced was enough. So I preordered my copy and impatiently awaited its arrival.

I received my camera on a rainy day in May of 2000, just before the busy summer portrait season. My Fujifilm S1 Pro came equipped with a 1 gigabyte IBM Microdrive; a compact flash sized hard disk drive. It was tiny and seemed fragile – I was immediately concerned about the potential for losing images while on a shoot. Like many at that time, I was photographing on film and scanning negatives as part of my digital editing and archiving workflow, so trusting my images to such a fragile device didn’t come easily. I decided then and there to invest in a laptop so that I could make duplicate backups of my images throughout an extended shoot-day.

That is, until I picked up a Mindstorm’s Digital Wallet, the precursor to today’s portable hard drives like the Gnarbox.

Like a child with a new toy, I held my new camera close, fiddling with all the buttons and settings, digging into the manual to learn as much as I could while snapping terrible images of the various items tossed about my office. It was late afternoon when the rain finally dissipated, and I ran out to our garden to put this new technology to the test.

With an overwhelming sense of joy and discovery, I clicked the shutter, darting back and forth as I framed and focused on the many water droplets and leaves, all the while grunting like a chimp as I gaze at the image previews on the back screen. Disappointingly, the majority of my photographs were nothing to write home about…

… except for one image that really caught my eye.

Photographed at the highest resolution possible, I processed the image in black and white using Paint Shop Pro, my preferred editing software at the time. Impressed with what I saw on screen, I prepared the file and printed it out on luster photo paper using my Epson 870 inkjet printer.

Holding this small print in my hands, I marveled at the quality and relative ease of this new digital process, my mind racing at how the future of photography would be different.

After investing in a large format Epson printer, I printed this same photo at 20×24 inches. Carefully mounting, matting, and framing the image, I proudly displayed it in our home, joyful of the fact that I had finally achieved my goal of a complete digital workflow.

We have moved three times since then, but that photograph still hangs on our wall. It’s a continual reminder of my journey into the world of professional digital photography—thanks, in no small part, to the Fujifilm Finepix S1 Pro.

About the author: John Magnoski is a commercial photographer who specializes in architecture, construction, and interior design photography. You can find more of his work on his website, or by subscribing to his channel on YouTube. This article was also published here.

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[dufrey1201]

New York City Home Tour | The Glamourai

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New York City Home Tour | The Glamourai

For the past two years, Zach and I have spent the majority of our time either at our place in Miami Beach or on the road, and our beloved little New York City pied-à-terre has been woefully neglected. Every time we came home it felt a little more forlorn — a burial ground of never-unpacked suitcases and unopened mail.

Suddenly we’ve been able to be back and forth between the two cities a lot more regularly, so the time was nigh to breathe a breath of fresh air through our NYC home base.

We teamed up with HomeGoods to pull off this fast & furious under-two-week makeover, and the result is absolutely perfect for our peripatetic lifestyle. Read on for all the details! But first, a look at THE BEFORE, below:ABOVE|  The ‘before‘ had been good to us — but it was time for a refresh.

Our apartment is a long, light-filled, prewar, railroad-style, West-side situation. Its size is quite cozy, but thus wonderfully manageable for two people who are rarely home. One enters from the front door into its intimate kitchen, with a bathroom to the left and living room to the right. At the end of the living room is a slightly wider ‘bedroom’ space, although a tenant long before our time ripped out the dividing wall and thus created one uninterrupted, ever-so-slightly L-shaped, living / sleeping arrangement. There are no closets.

Previously we had used the ‘bedroom’ at the very end of the apartment as actually  a bedroom. For this makeover however, our goal was to create the perfect hotel suite for ourselves — a place to easily travel in and out of. In order to achieve that, we needed some ‘back of house’ space — somewhere to pack and unpack, somewhere separate and hidden from the tranquility we craved in our living area.

So, we dragged the bed into the living room (hotel-suite-status achieved), and had a custom curtain created to hang from the ceiling where a wall must once have been. Suddenly, a whole new room was made! ABOVE|  A luxurious dressing room where the bedroom once was. The closet cabinetry was custom made, the leather dressers, brass chairs, and blue rug are from HomeGoods. The ceiling molding and wooden chandelier are new additions, and we stacked our library of books into the dressing room windows to protect our clothes from too much sunlight and create a cozier vibe for the space.

I was incredibly pleased to have HomeGoods as a collaborator in this, because it is really the only ‘new’ place I shop for housewares. I believe that everything in our homes should mean something, should be special and should enrich our lives with beauty and purpose. Thus, most of the things we own are either unique vintage pieces or mementos from our travels. For practicality of course, we require connectors between these treasures — great chests of drawers, clean-lined trays, chic candles and contemporary cookware. For those sorts of goodies I always turn to HomeGoods. It’s a bit like a modern souk; there’s a bit of everything and you never know what you’ll find.

BELOW|  Cabinetry was built into the alcove where our bed once lived — on the closet’s back wall the beautiful old wallpaper we used to sleep below still peeks out between jackets and handbags.ABOVE|  It is such a pleasure to now have a sacred boudoir space filled with books, flowers, beautiful clothes and my favorite perfumes. Vase, bell jar, monogrammed jewelry box, bone + brass tray and leather dresser all from HomeGoods.

BELOW|  Personal objects throughout the house are collected from our many adventures. We had less than two weeks to pull off this project, and it was a mad dash from day one. First, we piled all of the existing furniture into the center of the space, covered it, and painted the walls and ceilings (‘Mystique’ by Valspar). While new lighting, velvet curtains, and closet cabinetry were being fabricated and installed, we rented a uHaul truck and spent a day hitting up three HomeGoods stores in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens to facilitate a total lifestyle refresh. Unpacking and arranging all of our finds was so much fun — like putting together a colorful puzzle. ABOVE|  In a city like New York, beautiful storage solutions are crucial to one’s sanity. This vintage trunk in our new dressing room hides both a vacuum cleaner and a printer — two things we can’t live without but don’t want to see everyday! For the things we do want to see, we scored an enormous collection of incredible trays (like this malachite beauty!) at HomeGoods, which we used in every room of the house.

This makeover has blown our minds, because suddenly the modest apartment feels significantly bigger than ever — by rethinking the space, we were able to greatly increase its usability. ABOVE|  By moving the bed into the living area, we achieved the feeling of a city hotel suite, and allowed for the buildout of a spacious dressing room behind the custom green velvet curtain. That fabric was purchased at Mood, while the paisley pillow, duvet, and furry footstool all came from our HomeGoods adventure! The painting above the bed is by Peter Keil.

BELOW|  Throughout the house, we used trays from HomeGoods to collect, organize, and display our favorite things — like this antique brass lamp which has been with me since Brooklyn, and an original Arthur Elgort photograph of Christie Turlington from 1987.ABOVE|  Our perfect ‘New York City hotel suite’

BELOW|  Filling our home with plants helps us feel connected to nature while living in the big city. Box, tray, yellow-rimmed dish and pink furry throw from HomeGoods.ABOVE|  This incredible, carved wood hutch is one of my favorite HomeGoods finds. I love that it connects to the geometry of our vintage Scandinavian rug, but in an airy way that prevents the space from feeling too full. The marble bowl and unbelievable geode were also found at HomeGoods, and the small painting is by the artist Wes Lang.

BELOW|  Every piece of art on this living room wall is immensely personal. There’s a series of portraits of Edie Sedgewick that Zach gave me shortly after we started dating, there’s a handmade, hand-painted print that Jamie Beck made for me from this shoot we did together, there are portraits of us by the artist Kesh and there is a framed love poem written to me by my friend Cleo Wade. This wall makes me so happy, especially with touches like the vintage Dalmatian light and the new blue mirror, yellow lamp and lapis-inlay side table from HomeGoods.ABOVE|  In all of our homes, I’ve made a signature of filling the bathroom walls to the brim with art and objects.

BELOW|  Open cabinetry in the kitchen allows for maximum storage; glassware and candle from HomeGoods. ABOVE|  I live with a very passionate cook, who could never allow a cupboard-sized kitchen to curb his gourmand urges. I adore this kitchen, the way it’s piled high with cookbooks and spices, the herb garden that grows in its window, the vintage stove, timeworn butcher block and glistening copper pots. It reminds me of kitchens I have loved in places like Mexico, Morocco and France — true hearths that are the center of their homes.

BELOW|  mugs, copper cookware, skillet and pepper grinders from HomeGoods.PHOTOGRAPHY|  by Reid Rolls

REVISIT ‘THE BEFORE’ HERE

Article Source: The Glamourai

This post has been curated from the Source listed above. All content and images remain the property of the original copyright owner. Please visit their website for more articles like this.

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