#in honor of my extended grad school experience | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

atlafan · 4 years ago

Text

Costumes Galore - One Shot

a/n: this one was based off a few asked for my Halloween themed one shot requests. A lot of you wanted to something around a costume rental store, so I just made Harry the owner of that store! Feedback and reblogs are helpful, hope you enjoy! (not proofread)

Warnings: pining, smut, friends to lovers

Words: 8.7K

Don’t ask him how, but Harry is the owner of a costume rental shop. He was a business major in university, and with some luck and patience, he was able to take over the very shop he worked in as a teenager. Halloween was his busiest season, of course, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t doing well year round. He would give deals to the local schools and community theaters, and people who dressed as characters for parties would come see him. So, needless to say, business was steady. He often had big sales right after Halloween, and people would come in and clean him out.

Preparing for Halloween was his favorite thing to do. As soon as it was September 1st, he would transform his shop, pulling out tons of decorations, and putting out different bowls of candy. He liked making his customers happy, and everyone usually left satisfied. His changing rooms were comfortable and spotless, and he even set up backdrops in the lounge area for people to take Halloween pictures of their kids. People would come in to do that all year to save time and money. He was a smart business man. Harry did most of the work himself, he had a couple of teenagers that worked for him after school, but other than that it was all him. He didn’t mind, it gave him the control he needed over his shop, and he just didn’t have the money to pay someone for full-time help. He was only entering the fourth year of owning the place, after all.

Harry enjoyed the small traditions the downtown area had. Every year on October 30th, all of the shops would open their doors so kids could come trick or treat. It was a great way to give out pamphlets and coupons, while also getting to know the people that lived in the area. He loved kids, so when Harry was told about the tradition by his shop neighbor he got right on it, splurging for the king sized candy bars.

It was getting to be that time of year again, just about the end of September, his shop was looking good, and the Halloween crowds had slowly been trickling in and out. He was at the register when he heard the chime of the bell he keeps above the door to signal someone was coming in. It was a beautiful young woman, and she made Harry’s mouth run dry.

“Hello.” She says shyly as she walks up to the counter.

“Hi.” He swallows, and then smiles. “May I help you find something? Picking a costume up?” He moves to walk into the back door to see what reservations he had left for the day, but she stops him.

“No, um, I was wondering, actually, if you were hiring seasonally? I’m a grad student at the local university, and I could really use the extra cash before the holidays approach.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t expecting such a blunt and honest answer. “Well, I usually only hire high school students…it’s a bit easier to pay them under the table.”

“I don’t mind! I have another job at the university I get a pay stub for and all that, I really just need the extra money for the season. If you’re not hiring it’s okay, I can check with the other shops, I just figured since this is a costume shop you’d be getting really busy soon.”

“You figured correctly.” He sighs. “Do you have much experience in retail?”

“Oh, sure, tons! I worked in a grocery store when I was a teenager, so I know how to work a register, and then in undergrad I worked at an Old Navy, so I know how to fold clothes properly and check inventory.” She pulls a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket. “Here’s my resume, not the most professional way of showing it, but I brought it nonetheless.” She unfolds it and slides it on the counter towards him.

Harry takes it and furrows his brows as he reads it over. Seems like she was in her first year of grad school, but had graduated from her undergrad a couple of years ago. Her undergraduate degree was in social work, and it looks like she had been working in an office for a couple of years. Now she was going for a graduate degree in school counseling. She had plenty of experience, that wasn’t his worry, he just wasn’t sure he would be able to properly compensate her.

“My busiest hours during the season tend to be between 3 and 7PM, and then I’m swamped on Saturdays. How many hours a week do you think you could work?”

Her features soften as she perks up from his question.

“I’m honestly free by four most days, and Saturdays are no problem. Well, as long as I don’t have to be up at the crack of dawn.” She chuckles. “I’m no good early in the morning. I could do Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday if that works for you?”

“I wouldn’t be able to pay you more than ten dollars an hour, and you’d need to keep track of things on your own. I expect the honor system too, no trying to stiff me.”

“That’s perfect!” She was doing the math in her head. “Do you close right at seven? Would I stay after to close up?”

“Probably would need you here until eight. Saturday I’m open eleven to five, would need you here ten to six for that.”

She furrows her brows as she thinks about it. That would roughly come to about twenty hours a week, which was exactly what she was looking for. Then that would be $200 extra in her pocket a week, or $400 if he decides to pay her bi-weekly, and she wouldn’t have to worry about a dime of it coming out for taxes.

“Well, uh…”, she squints at his nametag, “Harry, I think we have a deal.” She smiles and extends her hand for him to shake. He takes it gently and smiles at her. “When can I start?”

“Why don’t you come in this Saturday around 9:30? I can go over everything with you without have to rush. There’s a little kitchen in the back and all that so feel free to leave food here if you feel like packing a lunch or snacks. I also keep a lot of snacks around.”

“Works for me.” She shrugs. “If you’re here until eight most days, what time do you usually open?”

“Around ten, I get here for nine.”

“Those are long days.”

“I don’t mind it, there’s always a lot to do.” It’s quiet between them for a moment.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it. See you Saturday!” She beams.

“Wait, uh, the door will be locked when you get here, and I can’t just give you a key, barely know you.” He chuckles. “But here.” He grabs a business card and writes his cell phone number on it. “Just text me when you get here, and I’ll let you in.”

“Perfect.” She looks at the card. “Thanks, Mr. Styles.”

“Stick with Harry, we don’t need to be so formal.”

“Alright, thanks, Harry.”

Out the door she goes feeling way better than when she walked in. He wondered how close in age they might be, she had to be around the same age as him, if not only a year or so younger. It would be nice working with someone he could actually talk to. He likes the teenagers, but sometimes he just had no idea what they were talking about.

Saturday morning Y/N isn’t sure what to wear. Harry hadn’t said anything about a uniform, so she decides on a pair of khakis and a black polo to at least look the part of a retail worker. She tucks the shirt in to look professional, and to make sure she looked cute. She puts her hair up in a ponytail, and out the door she goes. She grabs a coffee from the shop across from Harry’s, and takes out her phone to text him.

Y/N: Good morning, Harry! It’s Y/N, I’m outside the shop 😊

She sips her warm drink as she waits for him to appear in the windows. She smiles as she sees him walking up, and he opens the door for her.

“Morning, Y/N.” He smiles, voice still a little gravelly from sleep. It makes her blush.

“Morning.” She nods as she walks in. “Oh…I should have asked you if you wanted a coffee.” She frowns at herself. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries, had mine a little while ago. I should’ve asked you if you wanted anything.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Anyways…”, he looks her up and down, “don’t feel like you need to dress so…well, I should have texted you about attire. Um, you can wear pretty much whatever you want. I just ask if you wear jeans that they’re not ripped, and if you wear leggings make sure you’re bum is covered. You never know what kind of old creeps might be coming in here to steal glances.” She nods at him and follows him behind the register and into the back room. “So this is where I keep reserved costumes. People will call ahead sometimes with their measurements and what they need.” He opens another door that leads into a breakroom. It was small kitchen with a slop sink, decent sized fridge, microwave, blender, toaster, and hot plate on the counters.

“I think you have every appliance known to man.” She laughs.

“Well, I can’t exactly have an oven in here, so I stalked up on other things. There’s some small pots if you feel like having pasta, that’s why I have the hot plate, you just need to remember to unplug it when you’re done. Turns out a lot of clothes are flammable, go figure.” His jokes makes her giggle, and he likes the sound of it. “And then through this door is the office. I have some lockers in here so you can hang your coat up, or put a bag away. Bring a lock if you feel like it, but I promise not to steal your things if you promise not to steal mine.”

“Promise.” She nods. “Where are the bathrooms?”

“In the back of the store along with the dressing rooms. We’ll get there in a moment. Every night I have a cleaning crew come in to make sure everything is spick and span, but accidents happen during the day sometimes so it’s on us to clean that up when it occurs.”

“No problem there. I used to clean the bathrooms at the grocery store all the time. Not my favorite thing to do, but I’m no stranger to it.”

He nods and then leads her back out to the register. He explains how he bookkeeps, and how important it is to save every receipt. Then he takes out what looks like a magazine that explains all of the types of costumes and accessories he keeps. He essentially had the shop on a grid system so everything was easy to find. She would need to learn this so she could properly help the customers. Then he leads her to the back of the store, shows her the dressings rooms and bathrooms, and then to the very back room where all of the storage was.

“Holy shit.” She says to herself. “You could get lost in here.” She swallows.

“You shouldn’t need to come back here too much. I usually have what people need out front, but sometimes you may need to snag some things from here. Mostly shoes.” He takes her back into the main area and into the office so they can sit. “I have cameras just about everywhere. Kids can sometimes pocket the costume jewelry. I have security codes for the doors as well, but I’ll always be here before you, so you won’t ever have to open, or close for that matter.”

“Okay.”

“What’s your class schedule like?”

“I have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I go to a middle school for my practicum hours. I’m hoping to become an adjustment counselor, you know, helping students with more serious issues.”

“At the middle school level no less, wow.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Good for you.”

“Thanks.” She smiles.

“You said you had a job at the university too, how do you have the time for that?”

“Oh, I get a stipend as a TA.” She shrugs. “The classes I actually take are online, so I have plenty of time. This is just for the season anyways, so it’s fine.”

“Right.” He opens his desk drawer and slides a nametag towards her. “There you are, no you’re a proper employee.”

“Thank you.” She takes it and puts it on, her tongue slightly peeking out as she does so. “So, how do I get paid? Are you gonna sneak me an envelope every week?” She chuckles.

“That’s the plan, yeah. The pay period will be like Saturday to Saturday, so I’ll pay you on Fridays, sound good?”

“Sounds great! Thank you again. I’ve been budgeting just fine and making things work, but things add up during the holidays: dinners, gifts, parties, all that stuff, and I just wanted to have some extra cushion.”

“I think that’s really smart. It’s nice to see you don’t mind working hard.”

“How did you come to own a costume shop?”

“Worked here as a teenager, so after uni the old man was selling it and he took a chance on me. Been running it for four years now.”

“Shit, you’re really young to be doing all of this.” She looks at him wide eyed. “I still have to call my mom to ask her if I should separate my delicates from the rest of my wash, and here you are…owning and running a business.”

Harry swallows, and nods at her.

“Um, let me show you how the register works, and then we can open up.”

They get up and go back out front. He shows her the prices for everything that he keeps on a laminated sheet of paper. She listens to him intently, nodding along and taking mental notes.

It was a little slow in the beginning, so Harry has Y/N put away some costumes that people left in the dressing rooms. A small rush comes in right at noon, and they work together to get everyone settled.

“No, I wanna be Batman!” Y/N hears a small girl whale out at her father.

“But you’d look so pretty as Cinderella, honey.” He pleads with his daughter.

“Pardon me.” Y/N says. “We have tons of Batman costumes in girls sizes.” She smiles.

“You do?” He asks her.

“Sure! Lots of girls like dressing up like super heroes, and their costumes cover up a lot more, so it’s much more practical. She’ll stay warm and won’t trip over a long dress.” She leads them over to the area. “And she’ll still look plenty cute.”

“Alright.” He sighs with defeat. “Batman it is.”

“Yay!” The little girl exclaims as she snatches a costume off the rack.

Y/N looks over and sees that Harry was watching the interaction. He gives her a thumbs up, and goes back to the register. They take their lunch breaks at different times, and when the end of the day comes she lingers while he checks everything over at his desk.

“You can go, Y/N. Good first day.”

“I…well, this is sort of embarrassing, but I walked here because I live close by, but it’s raining…”

“Oh…you need a ride?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Her face flushes. “I can order an uber if you-“

“I don’t mind.” He gives her a soft smile. “Sit on the couch if you like, I’ve got a few things I need to finish up.”

She nods and does as he says. She scrolls through her apps on her phone while she waits for him. She hears him sigh, and he knuckles at his eyes before standing up.

“Alright, let’s go. Where do you live?”

“Just over at The Ledges.”

“No shit? I live there too.”

“Seriously?!” She stands. “Okay, now I don’t feel bad.” She chuckles.

“No need to feel bad regardless.” He puts his coat on, grabs his keys, and they head out. He double checks that the doors are locked, and they make their way to his car. He even opens the door for her. “What building are you in?”

“Five, you?”

“Three. Got a roommate or anything?”

“Yeah, I live with a girl in the same program as me. She’s nice enough, we’re still getting to know each other, but we like a lot of the same movies and music, so it’s been easy to hang out when we have time. What about you?” She tucks some loose strands of hair behind her ear. “Got a roommate?”

“Nope.” He says proudly. “Can finally afford to live on my own, which has been nice.”

“Doesn’t that get lonely, though?”

“Not really.” He shrugs. “Most of my time is spent at the shop talking to people all day, so I don’t really mind the quiet once I’m home.”

“Not even a pet to keep you company?”

“I’ve just learned to take care of myself properly, I don’t think I’m quite ready to keep another thing alive.” She laughs at that and it makes him smile.

“You’re really funny, you know that?” He pulls up to her building once he’s turned into the complex. “Thank you so much for the ride, I really appreciate it. I definitely would have caught a cold if I walked in that rain.”

“Anytime, seriously, don’t be afraid to ask.”

She nods and gets out. He makes sure she’s inside before making the turn to his own building.

Harry drove Y/N home most evenings. Her help was the best he’s had in a long time, maybe he could afford to hire her on like a regular employee…only if she wanted. She was personable with the customers, and he noticed she’d pick an accessory to wear during all of her shifts to get into the Halloween spirit. One day it was a tiara and a sash, another day it was cat ears, and another it was devil’s horns. Harry would mostly wear graphic tees with old movie posters on them. She thought it was cute. Y/N noticed how well Harry was with the customers too. The kids adored him, so it seemed.

It really didn’t take much for Y/N to develop a crush on Harry. From the moment she walked into his shop she thought he was handsome, but as she got to know him she realized his personality was just her type. She tried to be sneaky decipher whether he was seeing someone or not. There were no pictures of girls on his desk, other than a family photo of him, his mother, and sister. Harry wore a lot of rings, but nothing that screamed he was in a relationship or married. Surely he would mentioned it by now if he was, right? She even got a glimpse at his lock screen on his phone, and all it was, was a picture of a sunflower.

“Just ask him out, Y/N.” Her roommate, Ronnie, says to her one evening over wine and popcorn as they watch The Addams Family. “What do you have to lose?”

“My job.”

“You’re a seasonal employee. As soon as Halloween hits, you’re done there.”

“Not true, he asked me to stay through November. He has sales throughout November so people can buy costumes at a discount. Also, a ton of people come to get fitted for Santa costumes, so I’ll be there a bit longer than anticipated.” She takes a sip from her glass. “I think that if he liked me he would have made a move.”

“He could be thinking the exact same thing about you! And from what you’ve told me, he seems either too shy or too respectful to do something like that. I mean, you work for him, he wouldn’t want you to think he was harassing you.”

“Hm, I never thought of it like that.” She chews on her bottom lip. “Maybe…maybe I could ask him to dinner one night after work. That wouldn’t be totally weird, would it? He drives me home anyways…”

“I think that’s a great idea. Totally casual, off the cuff.”

“Exactly, like, smooth…cool.” She takes a bite of some popcorn. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Y/N, you wrangle middle school kids for half the week, asking a guy out should be a cakewalk.”

Saturday Y/N decides to wear a sweater dress over some leggings, and goes with a small witch’s hat that’s on a headband to add some flare to her look. Harry had given her a key since he trusted her, so she lets herself in. She goes right to the back to go say hello. Harry was in the kitchen finishing up his coffee.

“Morning.” He says to her.

“Morning.” She takes a deep breath. “Um, do you have plans tonight, like, after work?”

He furrows his brows as he thinks about it, taking one final sip of his coffee before rinsing his mug in the sink.

“Don’t think so, why?” He almost wished he had made something up. It was sort of lame to not have plans on a Saturday night, wasn’t it?

“Well, I was wondering if I could take you to dinner…” His eyes grow wide at her, so she back-peddles. “You know, as a thank you for being so great to me, and driving me home and stuff.”

“You…you don’t have to thank me for anything, Y/N. You’ve been the best temp I’ve ever hired.” He watches as she looks down at her feet. “But, um, dinner sounds good either way.”

“Really?” She perks up as she makes eye contact once again.

“Yeah, where were you thinking?”

“Nowhere special…do you like Mexican? We could go to Chipotle…” It sounded awful leaving her lips, but it was all she could really afford at the moment.

“I love it there, that sounds good.”

“Great.” She smiles and walks over to the coffee maker to pour herself some. She slips around him to get the creamer out of the fridge. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Harry was distracted all day. Y/N rarely wore dresses to work. Had she dressed up in hopes they’d be going out together later that evening. He looks down at himself, and he’s thankful he decided on a black jumper. Was this a date, or was this to be a casual dinner between two people who work together? He really couldn’t be sure. He thought Y/N was insanely attractive, she was lovely inside and out, but he was her boss so that made things a little…sticky for him. She was around the same age as him, so it wouldn’t be weird if they went out, and she was the one to initiate dinner. So it’s not like he was using any sort of position of power over her.

Around lunch time a boy that works at the coffee shop from across the street comes in. Harry greets him, and he says he’s looking for Y/N.

“She’s in the back on her break.” Harry says. “Do you want me to get her?”

“That’d be great.” The boy smiles.

“Hey, Y/N? There’s someone here to see you.”

“Oh?” She swallows the bite of veggie wrap and stands up to see who it is. “Hey, Charlie.” She smiles.

“Hi.” He smiles back at her. “I…I snagged you some of those chocolate chip cookie squares you like so much.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” She comes from around the counter to hug him. “That is so sweet, thank you.”

Harry’s jaw tenses as he tries not to pay attention. He was looking over receipts at the register, but he couldn’t help but be a little nosey.

“No problem.” He hands her the small bag. “Um, I know it’s last minute, but would you wanna catch a movie tonight?”

“Oh, that’s so nice of you to ask, but I actually already have dinner plans tonight, so I can’t.” She gives him a soft smile.

“Alright, another time, maybe?”

“Sure.” She nods, and then he makes his way out. She goes back behind the counter. “Harry, you have to try one of these, they’re so good, nice and chewy. I get them all the time.”

“Clearly.” He reaches into the bag to take one out. “You know, if you wanted to go out with him…you could have…”

“Why would I break our date that I literally just asked you to this morning to go out with someone else?” Ah, so it was a date, he thinks to himself as he bites off a piece of the cookie. “Good, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Charlie’s nice enough, but I don’t like him like that.”

Harry leaves the conversation as that when she goes back to finish her lunch. Did she like him like that? Was that it? Dinner couldn’t come soon enough.

The ride to Chipotle is comfortably quiet, the radio could be heard just over the rumble of the streets. Y/N bumps Harry with her hip when he tries to pay for their food, shoving her card into the chip insert. She told him to go grab a table in a snappy way that made him smirk, but he listened to her regardless. He finds a quieter table for two and sets their things down. She comes over with some napkins and sits down.

“You really didn’t have to pay for me.” He says.

“Try again.”

“Thank you.” He sighs.

“Much better.” She smirks and dives into her burrito bowl. “I see you went with the tacos, those are my second favorite.”

“I love tacos, obsessed with them really. I must make them for dinner twice a week.”

“Really?” She asks with a giggle.

“Only because I usually have leftovers. I try to meal prep and stuff like that.”

“Same here! Every Sunday I go to the market, and cook up a storm when I get back. Then it’s all done, and you don’t have to worry.”

“Exactly.” He smiles and takes a bite of his food. It was a little messy, but she didn’t seem to mind. “So, what made you wanna grab a bite tonight?”

She nearly chokes on her food, and she takes a sip of her water.

“Um…I…well…” She stops talking and just looks at him. “I just thought it might be nice to do something outside of work for a change. It’s nice sharing a meal with someone, you know?”

He nods at her and takes another bite of his food. He asks her questions about school, and how things were going balancing working at a middle school and being a TA. She explains that she’s very organized, so she hasn’t been terribly stressed. She was looking forward to her school’s winter break so she could just work at the middle school and not teach at the same time. They had lost track of time, sitting there for over an hour talking. He drives her to her building, and she lingers in his car for a moment.

“That was fun.” She says to him.

“Yeah…thanks again for paying.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Do…do you have plans on Halloween?”

“Aren’t we doing that trick or treat thing at the shop?”

“That’s the evening before.”

“Oh, right! Here I am telling you I’m organized and I can’t get my days straight.” She takes her phone out to look at her calendar. “I think Ronnie and I were planning to put a bowl of candy out in the hallway and watch movies…why?”

“Well, I have a party to go to…my mate Niall throws a Halloween party every year…would you like to come with me?”

Her eyes widen, and he feels like he’s made a mistake. Had he misinterpreted everything?

“That’s only a week away, where on earth am I going to get a costume on such short notice?” She looks at him seriously, and then she laughs.

“Good fucking thing I own a costume shop, or you’d be shit out of luck.” He laughs. “Is that a yes, then?”

“Yeah.” She smiles and leans over the console to give him a peck on the cheek. “See you Monday.” She gets out of the car, tummy full of butterflies, and goes inside her building.

Ronnie was thrilled for Y/N’s upcoming date, and didn’t mind her breaking her roommate date at all. When Monday rolls around, Y/N can’t wait to see Harry. He was running around when she got in, and he basically yelled at her to get busy. He texted her Sunday night to warn her that the week of Halloween was usually wild with last minute costume buyers. The two of them run around, and don’t close up until nearly nine.

“I can come in tomorrow and Thursday if you need me to.” She tells him as they walk to his car.

“I don’t want you to be stressed out.”

“I won’t be! I’ll be stressed knowing you’re doing all of that alone. Please, you don’t even need to pay me.”

“Y/N.” He chuckles as he drives her home. “Don’t be silly, I’ll pay you. You can come in if you need the extra hours.”

“Alright.” She nods. “Have you already decided on your costume?”

“I think while we’re at the store it would be fun to dress up as a witches?”

“Definitely, and for the party?”

“You…you wanna dress as a pair for that?”

“Well, we’re going as a pair, so I thought that would be fun…but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Okay.” He pulls up to her building and he turns to face her. “Niall’s dressing like Barney from the Flintstone’s and his girlfriend is gonna dress up like Betty, so I was wondering how you’d feel if we dressed like Fred and Wilma…”

“Do you have those costumes at the shop?”

“Yeah, in the back.”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

“Really? Not too cliché?”

“Not at all, I think it could be fun.”

“Great, I can pull everything out for you tomorrow, and you can tell me how it all fits.”

It was a busy week, but worth it to see all of the little kids come by the shop. Y/N and Harry made quite the pair of witches. He had invited her back to his place for a movie after everything was all said and done. Tomorrow would be another busy day with the really last minute people, but he wasn’t worried about it.

“Right, so, make yourself at home. I’m just gonna get us some snacks. Can I get you anything to drink?” He says to her as he leads her inside his flat. “I’ve got water, soda, seltzer water…”

“Anything with alcohol in it?” She chuckles. “Long week, you know?”

“Oh, sure! I’ve got these pumpkin ciders you might like, they’re really good.”

“Sounds perfect. Do you need help with anything?”

“No, go sit.” He smiles, and she goes to make herself comfortable on his couch.

Her eyes scan over his living area, it was nicely decorated. He had some decals in the windows for Halloween, little black cats and pumpkins, it was cute. He comes in shortly with some cheese and crackers, and a couple of ciders.

“I threw some pizza rolls into the oven, thought this could hold us over for now.” He says as he sits.

“Good thinking, thank you. This is a nice place, just a one bedroom?”

“Mhm.” He smiles. “I like living here a lot, it’s the perfect location if I need to get to the shop quick.” They each take a sip of the cider as he grabs the TV remote. “You like it?”

“Yeah! It’s delicious. So, what are we watching?”

“How do you feel about Beetlejoice?”

“It’s one of my all-time favorites.”

“Thank god.” He says with relief. “It’s one of my favorites too. I don’t love super scary movies, but ones like these are fun.”

“I’m the same way. I don’t get that thrill other people do from being scared.”

He queues up the movie and presses play. She takes her sneakers off so she can sit with her feet under her, and he likes that she’s able to get so comfortable. He hears the ding from his oven timer and goes to retrieve the pizza rolls.

“They’re really hot, gotta let them sit. I don’t want you to bun yourself.” He grabs the blanket from the back of the couch. “Here, you look cold.” She smiles and takes the blanket from him, draping it over her legs. “Let me know when you want a refill too.”

“I will, thank you, Harry.”

He sits back on the couch and pops a cracker into his mouth. This was normal behavior him. He often doted on her in the shop. If she fell asleep at the table during her lunch break she’d miraculously wake up on the couch in the office, or with a blanket draped over her shoulders and the lights dimmed. He knew how tired she had to be, working so much. She didn’t mind it one bit. She was used to taking care of herself, it was sort of nice to let someone else take a turn.

“We can share if you want.” She speaks up as she sees him cross his arms over his body. “If you’re cold too.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s your blanket.” She chuckles, and places some of it over his legs. “There, all cozy.”

They devour the pizza rolls, and drink three cider’s each during the movie. They laugh at the funny parts, and are quiet during the more serious parts. She looks away a couple of times, and even squeezes his hand during one of the scarier scenes. They didn’t touch other than that, though. He didn’t want to make things awkward before the party.

“Oh, I love this part at the end with the football team.” She giggles and finishes her last drink. “I’m really glad we did this tonight.” She turns her body to look at him.

“Me too.” He stands up, and starts cleaning everything up. She follows him into the kitchen with the empty cans. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t mind.” She tosses them in the recycling bin he has next to the trash.

“I can walk you home if you want.”

“That’s okay, I think I can make it.”

“I really don’t mind.”

“Don’t be silly, Harry.”

“Will you…at least text me when you get back?”

“Sure.” She nods and gets her shoes and jacket on. He walks her to his door with his hands in his pockets.

“I can pick you up before work tomorrow if you like.”

“That I’ll definitely take you up on. It’s gonna be cold tomorrow, I think.” She throws her arms around him and kisses his cheek quickly. “Thanks for a nice night.”

“Bye.”

He sighs as she leaves, and sighs heavier as she makes her way out of the building. She gets inside her own flat and tells Ronnie everything.

“Shit! I forgot to text him!”

Y/N: so sorry, I got in like 10 min ago

Harry: no worries, glad you got in safe

Y/N: thanks again for a really nice night…you’re fun to watch movies with

Harry: you’re welcome, and so are you

“God, why does he have to be so sweet?”

“So, he really didn’t make any moves?”

“No.” She sighs. “We shared a blanket, but that was about it, and I was too nervous to do more than to touch his hand a couple of times.” She groans and sits down on the couch with a huff. “Like…are we dating? Just friends? I’d love to know.”

“You should ask him.”

“You can’t just ask that sort of thing!”

“Why not?!”

“Because it’s awkward. Ugh, I just had to go work for someone like him. Why couldn’t it have been some old lady?”

The work day goes by like normal. Y/N uses ladies room to get into her Wilma costume. Harry had given her an orange wig for the hair, and she got it up into a decent enough bun. The dress was really cute on her figure, and she felt good about it. She’d be cold, but only for the couple of minutes she’d be outside. Harry was waiting for her in the main area with his Fred costume. He was not wearing a wig.

“I’m pretty sure Fred Flinstone has black hair.” She runs a hand through his curls and his face flushes. “But I suppose this will do.”

“You look great, Y/N.”

“You think so?” She does an innocent twirl. “Not too skimpy?”

“Not at all.” He smiles.

They drive to Niall’s, and Y/N is welcome with open arms from the second they walk in. Everyone at the party had great costumes, and she was happy her and Harry went all out. There was music playing, plenty of snacks and drinks, and even a few games. People were playing beer-pong in the kitchen, others were playing some card games. There were some people dancing in the living area. Y/N wondered if some other grad students were mixed into the bunch.

“Want something to drink?” Harry asks her and she nods yes. He takes her by the hand and leads her to the drink cart in the kitchen. He looks at her with raised eyebrows.

“Vodka tonic, please.”

“Coming right up.” He makes two drinks, and hands her one. “Let me know if It’s too strong.”

“Mm.” She takes a sip. “It’s perfect.”

Much to her surprise, Harry keeps an arm around her shoulders for most of the night as they mingled with his friends. It was loose around her, but he was making it pretty clear to anyone else looking at them that she was spoken for. They didn’t drink too much, enough to have a healthy buzz, but not so much that Harry wouldn’t be able to drive later.

“Are you having fun?” He says into her ear. She looks up at him and nods yes. He smiles and goes back to the conversation he was having with Niall.

Y/N liked Harry’s friends. They were all really nice, and did their best to include her in the chit chat. It was a fun night. A little after midnight they decide to call it quits, and head out. Y/N takes the wig off and shakes her hair out the second they’re in the car.

“Man, that thing was itchy.” She runs a hand through her hair and looks at him. “What?” He was already looking at her.

“You’re…you’re just so…” He reaches for her and cups her cheeks in his large hands. They were barely an inch apart, and she could feel his breath fanning over her face. “I really want to kiss you.”

“Please.” She nods slightly, and then he does it.

His lips slot between hers, and her eyes flutter closed. His lips were soft, and he tasted like the mint from the gum he was chewing. Her hands move to the collar of his costume and she tugs him closer to her. He pulls away just as she was opening her mouth a little more, her lips moving towards him. His forehead presses to her.

“Fuck, I…I’ve wanted to do that since the day you walked into the shop, but-“

“Do you wanna go back to my place?”

He nods yes, and throws the car in drive, speeding to their complex. His hand rests on her thigh, squeezing it occasionally, reminding her that he was there and this was happening. He parks in one of the free spaces in front of her building, and gets out of the car. He jogs around the other side and opens her door for her. The air was cold, but the heat radiating between the two of them was scorching. He helps her out of the car, and his lips are on hers again. They shuffle to the main entrance, and she keys in. He’s about to push her up against the wall, but she pushes on his chest.

“Cameras.” She says against his lips, and she tugs him down the hall, and to the elevator.

He keeps his hands to himself while in the elevator, unsure of more cameras, but when she gets them to her door he puts his hands on her shoulders as he stands behind her.

“Is Ronnie home?” He whispers in her ear and goosebumps raise on her skin.

“N-no, she decided to visit some friends for the weekend.”

She keys into the apartment, and she just barely gets the door closed when she’s being pushed up against the wall. If she had the strength to pick him up and carry him to her room she would, but she can’t, so she just tugs on him to move further into the flat. His lips felt so good on hers, and she sucks his bottom lip into her mouth, causing him to groan against her. She finally gets him in her room, and she pushes him back onto her bed. She straddles him immediately, and his hands squeeze at her hips.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asks as he looks up at her. “It’s not too fast?”

“Consider it third date sex, I’m good with it if you are.” She reaches for the hem of her dress and lifts it off herself, revealing a white lace set of underwear. His hands slide up and down her sides.

“Third date, huh?” He smirks.

She leans down to kiss him.

“Chipotle.” Her teeth tug at his bottom lip and she lets it snap back. “The movie last night.” She sucks a mark into his neck, just under his earlobe. “And tonight.” She sits back up. “So, no, I don’t think this is too fast, do you?”

“No.”

He flips her over onto her back, and she giggles as he works to get his costume off. He hovers over her, and kisses down her neck. He mouths over her covered nipples and sucks on her through the fabric. Her hips buck up towards him as he continues working his way down her body. Her heart was about ready to beat out of her chest.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She asks just as his lips go right below her belly button.

“Uh…I was going to take your underwear off, if that’s alright.”

“And then what?”

“I’d love to have a taste of you, if you let me.”

“You really wanna do that? It…it doesn’t gross you out?”

“What’s gross about it?” He smirks. “This right here?” He cups her mound and she whimpers. “One of the greatest wonders of the world. So, can I?”

“Yes.”

He hooks his fingers into her panties, and he tugs them down her legs. He kisses on her hips as he opens her legs. He sucks on each of her lips before licking up her slit. He swirls his tongue around her clit, which was positively throbbing for him. He wraps her lips around the small bud and sucks. Her mouth falls open and her hands fly to his hair.

“Oh, fuck.” She moans.

He moans against her, and it just makes her pool between her legs even more him. He was really enjoying this, which was making her enjoy it even more than usual. It was usually a force with guys her age, but Harry had no problem with it. If she didn’t want to suck his dick before, she definitely did now.

Harry removes his mouth from, only for a moment, to suck his middle and ring fingers into his mouth. He slides them through her folds, and then carefully slips them inside her center. She gasps from the stretch at first, and then she feels like she’s melting into the bed. His mouth goes back to her clit while his fingers curl up inside her to pet against her front wall. Her hips start moving along with the rhythm of his fingers, chasing her release.

“Shit, Harry, ngh.” She was panting now.

Her legs move over his shoulders and her heels dig into his back. He groans against her as she falls apart underneath him. He works her through it, giving her clit slow licks as he pulls his fingers from her. He sucks his fingers into his mouth. They make eye contact, briefly, before she’s pinning him down, and she’s yanking his boxers off. Her eyes widen when she sees his length slap back against his lower tummy. She pecks his lips before getting situated between his legs.

Y/N licks up the underside of his hard length, and his head falls back. Her mouth wraps around his tip and she suckles on it before popping off. She spits into her hand and wraps it around him to pump him slowly. She cradles his balls and moves to suck and lick gently on them.

“Oh, dear god.” He moans. “Y/N, I’ll come if you keep doing that.”

“Do you wanna just fuck now? Wanna fuck me, Harry?” She pouts at him.

He was surprised by her. He nods at her, and she smirks at him. She gets up and takes her bra off while she walks into her bathroom to grab a condom. She tosses it to him as she knees back onto the bed. He rips it open and rolls it on, and he gets back on top of her. He rolls the head of his cock between her folds and around her clit before pushing inside her.

“Still sure? I can stop.”

“No, please, I want it, Harry.”

He smiles and continues to push inside her. She grits her teeth at the feeling. Once he’s all the way in he gives her a moment before slowly pulling back out. He sinks back inside her, and that’s when it starts to feel good. She was nice and tight around him, not that he really cared. He knew it would feel good because he liked her so much. He did wonder, though, when the last time someone had the privilege to stretch her out like this.

“You feel so fucking good.” He says and leans down to suck on her bottom lip. His hands move to knead her breasts, and she moans.

She wraps her legs around his waist to pull him even closer. She just want him to smother her. She moves her hips up to rock along with his, and she gasps when she feels him hit her g-spot.

“Fuck, just like that, don’t stop.”

“Yeah? Like that?”

“Fuck, Harry, yeah, keep going.”

He had per panting again, and her nails were scratching down his back. It felt good, though, to feel her just about breaking his skin because he’s making her feel so good. Her back arches off the bed as she comes undone again, and he presses hard inside her so she can really feel it. She thought maybe he had come too since he was pulling out, but he grips her hips and flips her onto her stomach. He pulls her back, spreads her apart, and pushes back inside her.

“Oh!” She gasps.

“This okay?” He grunts.

“More than okay, fuck.” She pushes back against him and he nearly chuckles.

Quick, deep strokes were entering her. Her bed was shaking, and her cheeks were straight up getting clapped. It was such a breath of fresh air to be with man who knew what to do with it. He grips the back of her neck to steady himself as his thrusts get sloppy.

“I’m gonna come.” He groans. “Shit, I’m gonna-“ He moans out as he spills into the condom.

He was so vocal, and she really liked that. He pulls out of her slowly, and takes the condom off.

“Trash is over there.” She breathes and points towards her desk. He nods and gets up to dispose of it. She gets up and waddles into her bathroom to use her toilet. When she comes back out he’s getting his boxers back on. “You, um, don’t need to leave if you don’t want to.”

“Normally I’d stay, but…” He runs a hand through his hair. “Sort of embarrassing to walk back tomorrow morning as Fred Flinstone.” He smirks.

“Right.” She nods as she throws on a bed shirt, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.

“But I could stay a little longer, lay with you a bit.”

“I don’t want you to be upset if you fall asleep.”

“I won’t be…suppose it would be funny.” He comes over to her and gives her a kiss on the forehead before going into her bathroom.

He gets into bed with once he’s done, and she snuggles up to his side, laying her head on his chest. Her fingers trace around his various tattoos. He rubs her back, and it lulls her to sleep.

The next morning she wakes up to an empty bed. Where he was laying wasn’t even warm so he must have left soon after she fell asleep. She sighs and takes a shower, washing her night away. She checks her phone, and smiles, all worry leaving her body.

Harry: slipped out after you fell asleep, hope you don’t think I’m one of those guys…I had a lot of fun, talk at work Monday?

Y/N: definitely don’t think you’re one of those guys…now lol yeah, let’s talk Monday

She sighs and sits at her desk to get some grading done. Or she was hopeful to get work done. The ache between her legs was proving to be pretty distracting.

Y/N takes a deep breath before walking into the shop Monday afternoon. There were plenty of customers buying discounted costumes, so Harry’s only able to smile at her as she slips into the backroom to hang her coat up.

“I guess…do you think he’ll still like this in a year?” The woman asks Harry.

“I’m not gonna like to you, he easily couldn’t, but if I know kids, they like to have options. If he ends up having a couple of parties to go to, he won’t want to wear the same costume to each event.”

“That’s true…alright, you’ve sold me, Harry.”

“Excellent! I’ll you ring you up.”

Y/N brushes behind Harry as he works the register. The whole evening was busy, so when he’s finally able to put the closed sign up, he’s relieved to see her sitting standing in the office.

“Hey.” He says to her.

“Hi.” She blushes.

His hands grip her hips and he effortlessly lifts her up onto the desk. He presses his forehead to hers.

“Y/N, I know we’ve become close, but I’ve been feeling conflicted because I’m also your boss, and the last thing I wanna do is take advantage of the situation.”

“Hey.” She says, cupping his cheeks so he’ll look at her. “We weren’t even at work…everything we’ve done has been outside of this place. You didn’t do anything wrong. Do you regret the other night?”

“No, not at all.” His hands rest on her thighs as he stands between her legs. He tucks some hair behind her ear. “I just don’t really know what to do here.”

“Well, it’s not like I’ll be working here much longer, just until the end of November, right?”

“Right.”

“So…do you wanna, like, keep dating? Going out and stuff?”

“I’d really like that. I want us to keep getting to know each other. I wish I had stayed the whole night the other night. I felt like such a dick for leaving.”

“Don’t, it’s fine. I would have done the same thing.” She smiles and then bites her bottom lip. “Besides, you’ll have plenty of other opportunities to sleepover.”

“I will?” He smiles.

She nods and he leans in to kiss her. Harry was a simple guy who owned a costume shop, and thanks to the girl in grad school he hired for the season, he made it through Halloween yet again. This time, instead of celebrating his profits with Niall down at the pub, he was kissing the very same girl that took his breath away when she walked in.

#harry styles #costumes galore #harry styles fic #harry styles ficrec #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #friends to lovers #storeowner!harry

397 notes · View notes

veridium · 4 years ago

Text

Big, Uncoordinated Rant About Life, pardon me --

So far in 2020 I have had myself spread so thin that I make a crepe look a mile wide. For the last several years of my life I’ve staved off the tension of picking my chosen family/career path or picking my family in terms of direction, energy, and purpose. My past relationship convinced me to sacrifice so much precious irreplaceable time with my family. Yet, considering my family can often be emotionally toxic for me, I haven’t always seen this as a curse.

But this year for some reason it’s like all the tensions have come to a boiling point.

In January/February when I caught HIGH heat for choosing my “community” and school over my loyalty to my family, I fought back but I also extended myself in order to mend that brokenness. With so much going on in my family I felt it necessary. Every time I felt like I could ease up, one more thing happened that compelled me to stretch myself.

Then, I started participating in protesting last month and this month and the transition between focusing on my family and focusing on my community happened so abruptly I ended up hurting the feelings of several of my closest friends from back on the west coast. Now, two won’t speak to me and one barely is in order to convey that I fucked up and to make amends. My mistake was one of thoughtlessness and doing something I should have done far later than I should have. Now, I may have broken friendships I held dear like family, and why?

Because I couldn’t stop and think for 2 seconds that maybe I should check on the people I say I love like family.

These aren’t things I take lightly nor express as a means of garnering pity.

I just need to go somewhere with all this frustration because at this point I feel so close to my breaking point. When my family says I focus too much on my friends and work, I focus on them. When I focus on family, I shut out my friends and chosen family and end up hurting them, too. In the midst of all this I’ve had to do grad school work, teach my students, navigate a global pandemic, experience a health scare with my cat, lose my Grandfather and two other distant relatives unexpectedly, look on as my Mom experienced a form of a stroke, and more recently be put on medication and referred to a Psychiatrist for a possible mental illness I did not foresee but probably should have.

I am saddened when people -- especially those I consider close, who I trust enough to know me -- take my stoicism for granted. Even when it isn’t intended, even when it is a valid part of the problem. But I also have to be accountable for the fact that I claim stoicism when I should be open and communicative with those I love. I don’t know how I can be simultaneously sensitive and guarded. I don’t know how I’ve managed to become a confidant and mother figure, all the while I’m like this. Oh, but then again, I can: because every mother figure I’ve ever known in my life is a master at having a stiff upper lip while using all of their compassion, patience, and kindness for other’s benefit.

Once again, I’m not saying that’s me. I guess I’m saying that’s what I’m trying to emulate, and now I’ve fucked up.

And that is the thing: I want to be the person everyone knows. I want to be endlessly strong, providing, and caring. But now I’m looking around and all I see are demands, and I know that’s a very self-centered view of everything, but I’m so overwhelmed. I’m overwhelmed by how I’ve hurt my friends. I’m overwhelmed by how much I owe to my family while also being wary of how much they hurt me. I’m overwhelmed by all these “me”’s I have to be. No one in my life really understands all that is expected of me. That is not their fault, either. I just haven’t spoken about it all -- the whole pie, not just slices -- to anyone except my therapists. Hell, my Mom was nearly shocked when I told her about my medication and possible prognosis, and it dawned on me just how much I keep from her and the family when it comes to my mental healthcare.

I know I’ve hurt people. I know I’ve let my friends down. But if anything, I wish they could just see that I didn’t do so while flying high, loving life, carefree. I fucked up because all of these strands attached to me are pulling and I am failing to grow and stretch at the rate they need. Now I’m scared I’ve lost friendships built on years worth of love, activism, trust, and community because I let them fall through the cracks just enough to not be able to reach them and pull them back. Now I’m scared I’ll inevitably have to let some sector of my life permanently fall by the wayside in pursuit of the others.

I just want to know how I fucked this all up and how I can get it right, how I can fix it. If there is a manual, I want to know where so I can find it and read it. I want to know where the secrets are kept on how to “have it all,” or rather, hold it all -- hold everyone dear to me. It pains me to be told I’m failing and hurtful when all I want to do is love people well. I want to love what I do as a means of honoring their existence. I want to love myself as a way of filling myself up in order to nourish them. And maybe that’s a martyrdom complex put in pretty, profound words. Maybe I have a martyr complex. Maybe I have a prodigy complex. Maybe I’ve been so perniciously objectified in various environments for the majority of my life that it’s the only way I know how to love.

Fuck, I’m so fucking tired. I’m so tired of the world being so ugly and so cruel to those within it who need kindness the most. I’m so tired of letting all this heaviness hold territory on my head and shoulders and for what reason? So I can sob about the weight of the planet and all its sorrows and wax poetic about my feelings? For fuck’s sake. I didn’t choose this path to be flowery. I didn’t choose this path to be flippant. I want to be strong, convicted, protective. I want to make a difference. I want to embody the politics and the philosophy that has become my lifeblood. The politics that saved my soul and gave me one of my most important purposes.

But now I’m just like -- am I just really a figure with no substance, just symbolism, in my loved one’s lives? What if the way I’m loving isn’t fruit, but just objectifying in light of being objectified?

My level of self-criticism and self-loathing is secretly so high and no one knows it but me. Not even my therapists. I don’t even think I fully understand the degree.

I hate that I’m taping myself together each and every day and yet people believe I’m “flourishing.” If I am thoughtlessly insensitive to those I care for most, I can promise you, I’m likely not “flourishing.” And to hear that come from someone so close to me feels like a thin and sharp knife plunged right into the center of my chest.

I learned nothing from watching my Mother struggle to be everyone’s strong person, nothing but a desire to do it, too. Do it to make up for how it hurt her. Do it to honor her sacrifices.

Fuck all.

#cw: negative #personal #do not reblog #big big big rant ahead

10 notes · View notes

theblockwrites · 5 years ago

Text

“That’s a really strange dog”

Back in March/April, I asked for prompts on my instagram, and one of my friends prompted “that’s a really strange dog” so have a story about a post-grad student and the alien child he tutors! This might lead to a few more stories, in honor of the Area 51 raid lol.

Working in Area 51, Randy’s seen some pretty strange things. Like, maybe not Chuthulu level strange, but definitely Creature from the Black Lagoon and real-life Frankenstein kind of strange. They finally upgraded him to the alien-colony level, because of his “experience with elementary aged children” the bureaucrat had told him (and, upon his confused expression, the bureaucrat has elaborated his “experience” was that he [a] had been that age at some point and [b] frequently babysitted his nieces and nephew). He’s been assigned to be a personal tutor-cum-caretaker to an alien child (Nizzy) and also has meetings with her alien parents and extended family to go over what she’s learning and how she’s doing.

A four year Biology B.S. and a PhD in theoretical life on other planets has accumulated in, well…

“That’s, uh.” Randy tilts his head before glancing over at Nizzy, who is obviously very proud of her artistic rendition of… something.

“C’est un chien,” the alien child provides. “Ils disent,” and then a sound all too much like a bark came from her mouth, “je pense, au moins.”

Randy’s thankful that he took French back in high school and college, so he can at least understand some of the words she says when she slips into another language. “Yeah, they do ‘woof’ and ‘ruff’ and bark.”

He looks back at the little figurine she’s sculpted out of clay and reminds himself that, alien or not, children are allowed artistic license. But this might be a little much. The alleged dog has, apparently, seven legs (he’s hoping that one of them is supposed to be the tail), three bulging eyes (two of which, he could probably forgive), a horn (?) that stretches from the top of the dog’s head, like the spine decided that the skull wasn’t a good stopping point), two little things that might be ears (but they could also be additional, smaller, horns), and, to top it off, the dog, which is mostly a brown red color (a little lighter than the color of dried blood), is a bright yellow sphere that, potentially, is supposed to be this poor creature’s nose.

Yep, that’s a really strange dog.

“Est-ce que tu aimes mon chien?” Nizzy sounds very hopeful, asking him if he likes her sculpture. And that’s when he realizes it doesn’t matter if it looks like a normal earth dog or it’s some kind of nightmare (night-hound?) that exists somewhere out there. She’s had fun making this little sculpture and she wants his approval for it now.

He turns to her and scoops her small body up, causing her to let out a gurgling sound that is her species’ equivalent to a laugh. “It’s perfect.”

She pinches his cheek, her sharp nails nearly breaking his skin. “Liar! C’est horrible.”

He shakes his head as he sets her down on the ground. She sits down, crossing his arms and looking up at him. “Did you have fun making this?”

“Oui.”

“Then it’s perfect, because it brought you happiness, which makes me happy, so of course I like it.”

Nizzy smiles. Randy’s still not sure how the vaguely lizard features manage to look mischievous (maybe it’s their color?); he’s just learned to take it in stride at this point. “Then, you’ll put Romulus on your office desk?”

He blinks. “Romulus?”

“Oui, he has seven legs like Rome had seven hills. I think it’s a very nice name.”

He (Randy, that is, thankfully not Romulus) shakes his head, a smile on his face. “Yes, of course Romulus gets to go on my desk. I can’t wait to show him off to everyone.”

He found himself realizing that was true; Nizzy seemed to be on a different path than the other alien children and was consistently surprising the supervisors. He was proud that he helped foster her creative side and, though it was more than a little absurd to look at, that he had something to remember this by now.

#the block writes #original work #aliens #area 51 #Randy and Nizzy #for fun

2 notes · View notes

parismiki · 6 years ago

Text

“How is Paris?”

Hello readers! Welcome to my blog. I’ve been meaning to write a blog for some time now, really since my days in Chicago, but I never felt this urge until now. Currently I feel like I am being tested to my limits and I have so many thoughts about so many different things. Writing has always been an outlet of mine (have kept journals since I learned how to hold a pen basically) and so here it is - a window of insight into my thoughts about a variety of different things.

I don’t really have a theme for this blog, but I know it will touch on issues that are important to me: race, activism, Japanese American and Asian American identity, feminism, mental health, radical politics, etc. Given that I’m currently also in France with the generous help of a Fulbright scholarship (a lot will be discussed soon about this), my posts may be more focused on my current experience in France and how I have been navigating this foreign country.

So, to start, many people have been asking me how Paris has been. There is some sort of illusory expectation that people have of my time here in Paris - that I’m happily eating baguettes every day (I am not -- I eat only rice and noodles), that I’m picnicking by the Seine, and I’m going to all these cool art galleries and museums on the daily.

This could be farther from the truth.

I am struggling.

This is not the same experience that I had studying abroad through UChicago three years ago, where I took classes in English taught by UChicago professors at the UChicago Center in Paris with UChicago classmates. I had a huge safety net while I was here, which enabled me to go out and explore the city and meet new locals while still feeling rooted to a community of American students. I didn’t need to get a visa because I was here for less than 90 days, the housing situation was largely taken care of by the study abroad coordinator, and I was used to the UChicago pedagogy. The huge difference here is that I am going to grad school in Paris, working towards a professional degree, which entails a large degree of responsibility, self-reliance and resilience.

However, this past month has been incredibly difficult for me. The workload is intense, unlike anything I saw in my quarters with the heaviest workloads at UChicago. I am taking eight classes that meet once a week. For one of my core classes, I must read four books for the midterm, which is less than a month away. Work is always on the back of my mind and I fear that I may miss an assignment. There is rarely any time to be resting or relaxing, because I tell myself, well you could be using this time to study.

As someone prone to anxiety, the workload and the added stress of being in a new country has taken quite a toll on me. There have been days where it has been hard to get out of bed and days where I feel like I’m just dragging throughout the day. Sometimes I wonder, “is this program worth it? Should I drop out?” but am quickly reminded that if I do, I lose my Fulbright scholarship. Additionally, Sciences Po is not the friendliest when it comes to their students’ mental health - their psychological services are minimal, and they fail you if you miss more than 2 classes (yes, attendance is taken in even the biggest of lecture classes.) I could go on and on about Sciences Po as an institution, but I can save that for another post. I have had to resume sessions with my therapist in Chicago because the French national healthcare system does not cover therapy services!

Despite all this, I’ve managed to find small pockets of joy during my time here and have really forced myself to practice self-care. One could say that my most recent FB status asking for self-practice tips was a cry for help - surely I couldn’t be the only one who has gone through this. So here’s what has been working for me so far - and you don’t have to be in grad school either to abide by them!

1. Rely on your family and friend networks back home

Thank god for technology - I remember my dad telling me that when he was in college he had to wait in line in his dorm to use the landline to call his parents. I can’t even imagine how my mother kept in touch with her family back in Japan when she immigrated to the US (will write another post on my newfound appreciation for my mom as I transition to life here.)

That being said, I text regularly with my friends and keep them updated about what’s going on in my life. Some others are also living abroad and it’s nice to know that we have each other’s backs -- one of my dear friends is doing her JET program in rural Kumamoto. She is 7 hours ahead of me, and always texts me a nice meme or a cute gif that I have the honor of waking up to. Last night I felt especially horrible and called one of my friends (who is going to start her master’s in philosophy at Oxford and we’ll be reunited soon!) who helped me calm down. As people starting new lives in new countries we often forget that we have a support system back home, but don’t forget - they helped to get you where you are.

2. Read books that nurture your soul

I have always loved to read in order to learn new perspectives, but reading now serves a different purpose: it touches and nurtures my soul. When I first got here, I devoured Ruth Ozeki’s novel A Tale for the Time Being - it was a charming and quirky story that whisked me away to British Columbia/Tokyo. I didn’t know how much I needed it at the time. Currently I’m reading a sociology book called Redefining Japaneseness: Japanese Americans and the Ancestral Homeland, which is so comforting and keeps me super rooted to my own identity.

I was pretty strategic when packing books and spent a good hour deciding which books to bring with me. I knew that I would be reading a lot of dry public policy and urban theory (I even discussed with my roommate, also an American woman of color, which books we would both bring should we want to borrow from each other’s shelves.) So I brought with me Matthew Desmond’s Evicted (which, luckily enough for me, I ended up having to write a paper on), Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor’s From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, and Louise Erdrich’s The Round House (Erdrich is a Native American fiction writer who writes heavily on Native American issues.) I’ve found that conversations surrounding racial justice are quite lacking in French academic discourse, so these books help to fill that gap in my life. In addition, I brought with me some Japanese language books, including ”コンビニ人間” and “君たちはどう生きるか” to practice my Japanese, because I don’t have access to Japanese TV anymore.

3. Keep yourself intellectually accountable

One of the best pieces of advice I received from the director of the Humanity in Action fellowship I did this past summer was to keep yourself accountable by writing down your own thoughts and critiques of grad school readings in the margins when taking notes. I’ve found that a lot of the readings we are assigned take on a very neoliberal approach to cities and urbanism, and I am incredibly cynical. Sometimes, I just downright disagree. And instead of feeling exasperated by the content, I write down my critiques and will try to bring them up in class, sometimes daring to bring them up with the professor during lectures. This is how I try to stay engaged.

4. Travel!

Paris is pretty accessible to many other European countries by plane and train. In fact, just last weekend I was in Madrid visiting a few friends. I was not feeling my best and and even now I still feel awful for my low energy and that I was not as cheery as I hoped to be - but being around people you already know is comforting. In fact, I had a chance to reconnect with a friend from college who is a current Fulbright ETA in Madrid, who told me that he was feeling the same way as me during the same time last year. Knowing that other people have gone through the same motions while transitioning to life abroad makes you feel less alone.

All in all, to those of you reading, I’m sorry if I have disappointed you with this blog post. However, I do think I need to be honest about my experience here and share with other folks who may be thinking about studying abroad. If anything, I am giving myself all the time I need to breathe, go through the motions, and eventually settle in. This will be a long process, but I am trying to be patient with myself.

I cannot end this post without acknowledging the people who have been there for me. I’d like to extend a thank you to Keilyn, Sarah, Elisabeth, Gino, Crystal, Brenna, Shirley, Joe, and Amanda. And to my new friends at Sciences Po, I am looking forward to getting to know you and let’s finish this semester strong :)

Okay and now some photos!

This is me in front of the Museo del Prado in Madrid

Hard to see but I was really feelin’ my outfit this one day

Really cute doggo

Colorful olives sold at the Marché Saint-Denis, a banlieue of Paris

#sciencespo #studyabroad

3 notes · View notes

seobookmark4 · 4 years ago

Text

Cal Poly grad is writing a book on Black alumni — while training for Olympics

Haverhill, MA December 1, 2020 — Boosters Zone LLC is excited to announce that former Cal Poly track athlete Shereese Cutler is writing a book on remarkable Black alumni that she hopes will inspire her own dreams.

Cutler, who graduated from the San Luis Obispo university in 2014, is currently training in the long jump with hopes to earn a spot on the U.S. team in the 2021 Summer Olympic Games, scheduled to take place in Tokyo.

Working in coordination with Cal Poly’s Robert E. Kennedy Library and individual colleges on campus, Cutler is gathering information on alumni such as NASA astronaut Victor Glover, who recently became the first Black crew member aboard the International Space Station for an extended stay.

Former Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and current NBA player David Nwaba are among other Cal Poly alumni who have made outstanding contributions.

Cutler said the book, slated to be printed through University Graphics Systems, will be titled “Black Lives of Cal Poly SLO: Stories of Successful Black Cal Poly SLO Alumni.” The book will be published by Boosters Zone LLC which specoalizes in writing fundraising books for nonprofits.

She will seek to highlight the accomplishments of Black Cal Poly graduates across all departments, while raising money to continue her track career. Her book will include biographical information about each person, as well as about their experiences at Cal Poly and beyond.

Cutler said that 50% the proceeds of the sales of the book, which she hopes to complete by February, will go to the Cal Poly Black Student Union to delegate for scholarships. Of the remainder, 40% will go to her Olympic training expenses, and 10% will go to her sponsor for helping her.

In addition, she hopes to fundraise $10,000 to help with the research for the book as well as her Olympic training. For more information, go to www.shereeseandrea.com/cpslo.

Cutler said that she is still compiling lists of successful Cal Poly alumni, added that university officials have been very receptive to her idea.

“Due to the pandemic, the library is currently closed to the public, but Special Collections and Archives is actively providing remote services to students, faculty, staff, alumni, community researchers, and scholars,” said Jessica Holada, director of the Cal Poly library’s Special Collections and Archives Department. “If our materials can support Shereese and her project, we would be pleased to learn about her research needs and help in any way we can. ... It is a standard library ethic, however, to maintain the confidentiality of researchers with whom we work.”

TRACK ATHLETE NAVIGATES LIFE HURDLES

An Inglewood native, Cutler started competed in track and field at the age of 9.

She was captivated by the Olympics from an early age, and has spent much of her athletics career trying to reach the games.

But Cutler said that she has faced challenges from an abusive family member, which has been a struggle for her personally and served as a distraction.

During Cutler’s time at Cal Poly, the family member was “verbally and physically abusive” and “kind of intervened a lot” with her coach, Cutler said “I almost had my scholarship taken away because of him.”

After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her Olympic dreams with top coaches in the area but became depressed because she realized the family issues she’d come to think were normal were actually destructive.

“I went to Tennessee (in March 2015) to train and became very depressed,” Cutler said. “I’ve been getting better over the years. My family is in a better place now and we’re working on getting closer. At one point, that limited my dream and I wondered if I could achieve my dream.”

After dealing with her family challenges, Cutler ran short on funds in 2016 and spent two months couch hopping.

“I was actually homeless for some time,” Culter said. “I got so depressed I ran out of money. I was sleeping all day. I didn’t want to go active duty. I still needed some control in my life. I still wanted to know when I would eat, sleep and work.”

She decided to join the U.S. National Guard, going to basic training in Missouri before being assigned to a division in Virginia.

Currently living in Atlanta, she does part-time service with the Honor Guard detail on military funeral services.

Culter said she was inspired by a long jumper, Tianna Bartoletta, who overcame an allegedly abusive marriage to win Olympic gold in 2016

“I reached out to her and we talk pretty frequently,” Cutler said. “She definitely has inspired me.”

OLYMPIC GAMES DREAMS

Cutler was accepted into an Olympic development program with DC International Track and Field in 2017.

Cutler competed in the 2020 USA Track and Field Indoor National Championships in February, where she placed 14th, recording a jump of 5.78 meters, or, 18-feet-11 3/4 inches.

Cutler’s longest jump is 6.2 meters, or, 20.3 feet.

Cutler is training to improve on her distance in hopes of placing in the top three in the country and earning a position on the Olympic team.

“I’m up and coming,” Cutler said. “I’m not a former champion or anything. I have full confidence that I can make it.”

ABOUT BOOSTERS ZONE LLC

Boosters Zone publishes books for fundraising drives dedicated to schools and non-profit organizations. We provide our services for both print and electronic media. We create the most innovative and appealing publications that are guaranteed to grab reader's attention. We do this using the most modern and unique editorial, production, workflow and distributed systems.

Media Contact:

CONTACT E. Philip Brown - President

COMPANY Boosters Zone LLC

PHONE (978) 387-7877

EMAIL [email protected]

WEB www.boosterszone.com

###

0 notes

atlasshruggedessaycontest914 · 4 years ago

Video

youtube

buy college essay

About me

Help With Writing College Application Essay

Help With Writing College Application Essay This construction holds readers in understanding impenetrable dissembling,he with of sweden favourite under charles whom he wishes more honor. The mechanization and commercialization of agriculture together with copies of all the writing of my clients, the identical variables have to be sought in their fields. Thanks to our privateness coverage, with us you get a confidentiality assure. We store your personal information based on the GDPR, which are obligatory international guidelines of information processing. This means your email or telephone quantity will never get into the palms of third parties. When you buy essay from us, you make a cost with a bank card, like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover. Love how you guys communicate with the client if there are any needs. You have to provide a lot of personal data for this, nevertheless it’s totally value it. We are available 24/7 and work with deadlines as brief as 6 hours. Just fill in the order type and your paper will be delivered inside the set deadline. Our support brokers can be found 24 hours a day 7 days every week and committed to offering you with one of the best buyer experience. The personal information of our clients is all the time safe. When you have any inquiries, you'll be able to simply get in touch with us. One of our staff members will get in touch with you to address your problem.In case you need to know the progress of your order, please get in touch with us anytime and we shall assist you. They may be of any variety (expository, descriptive, definition, comparison-contrast, persuasive, etc.). They aren't lengthy, however they do require cautious group, a powerful thesis statement, an attractive introduction, and an excellent conclusion. In between are three-four physique paragraphs that help the thesis statement – paragraphs with good matter sentences and transitions in between. Some students wrestle with English composition generally, and it simply takes them twice so long as others to produce an project. And, even then, it may only receive a mediocre grade. Our company cares about communication with our shoppers. We have put in place customer assist which operates 24/7. Therefore, it might appear that have been returned as undeliverable by the mean scores for english be of common well-being. © AdmissionLand.com - admission essay experts are right here to assist. Even business professionals have been identified to purchase the materials we promote, using them as blog posts or private facet initiatives. Students of all grade levels, including intermediate school and post-grads, can easily and affordably buy admission essay assignments right now and obtain them as quickly as today. What you have been constructed for a nineteenth-century affectation. It is even potential you will return to the symbols and very within the analysis question is expounded to the. There is the research – sometimes hours of it – so as to acquire solid information of the topic after which have the ability to assemble a thesis statement. This is usually a 5-paragraph piece that requires little to no analysis. When you make seven orders from our service, you qualify to receive 10% OFF. Does this imply we set the highest costs within the industry? It’s extra affordable than the worth you get at many different web sites. The process is not that different from placing some other order with us. You can do it by telephone or through the brief kind on our web site. Your training is simply too necessary to jeopardize it by not having sufficient time or motivation to finish the entire assignments you will certainly get. We defend your privateness - no one will ever know you've used our service. Studicus has been in enterprise for an extended while now. And we've a reputation for high quality that we protect.

0 notes

piscesfeet6-blog · 5 years ago

Text

STUDENT VOICE: The first in my family to go to college, thanks to a scholarship — and a borrowed van

My parents moved to America from Ecuador in the 1990s, and have always worked hard to make ends meet. As I was growing up, there was no question that education was the most important thing to them. The expectations for my sister, brother and me were high. In some of my earliest memories, my parents were thrilled with the good grades on my report cards. “Keep up the good work! Then you can get a ‘beca’ and go to college!” my mom would say, in Spanish.

I didn’t know until later what a beca was — it’s Spanish for “scholarship.” My parents, and their values, helped me understand that education would be the bridge between the life I knew and the better life my parents wanted for me.

Back to school is a time of firsts, with fresh starts and a clean slate of hopes, dreams and possibilities. I’m one of 16 million American students headed to college this fall. And while I’m certainly not alone among the first-year students getting lost on campuses, as a first-generation college student and scholarship winner who is also the child of immigrant parents, my story is a little different.

Related: How first-generation students are helping each other through college

Where I grew up in Orange, New Jersey, a small town near New York City, the population is mostly low-income and more than 80 percent non-white. Resources such as air-conditioned classrooms and working computers — things that some students in other neighborhoods take for granted — weren’t always available to us. My parents, and many of my friends’ parents, didn’t speak English. Many didn’t have a vote, and we didn’t know how to, or even that we could, use our voices to have a say in this wonderful democracy called America.

“Transportation is expensive, but we managed to borrow a van that could fit my mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and me, and we made the trip from New Jersey to Washington, D.C.”

School was hard sometimes. My dad was a math whiz, so he could help me there, but with my parents not knowing English very well, other subjects were tougher. Thankfully, I had my older sister to lean on, and then I helped my brother, and my teachers were amazing.

Throughout my schooling, I always worked hard and aimed high — traits I see in many immigrant families. I found ways of helping others in my community, volunteering with church, and playing the role of tutor, translator and advocate for students who had experiences similar to mine. I knew I could help them in ways that my parents would have wanted to help me.

The day I won the National Honor Society Scholarship changed everything for my family.

I’d been rejected from one college and was heartbroken, but had a wonderful list of options to choose from. Just the day before, I was up most of the night, wanting to go to American University, but knowing that the cost would likely put my first choice out of reach. I woke up ready to make the decision for my second choice, knowing it would be less expensive for me and my family, who would have to work even harder no matter what choice I made.

I got to school that day and could tell something strange was happening. My teacher seemed normal, but there was a buzz in the air, and I couldn’t figure out what the fuss was. I saw a cake, and then I saw my mom crying. Out of thousands and thousands of applicants around the country, they told me that I, Jenny Rodriguez, was the national winner of the NHS Scholarship. It meant that I could afford the education I wanted. I accepted a place at American University, where I am now a freshman, studying politics.

The last few months have been a happy blur. I’ve been working and volunteering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and took a church trip to Ecuador to volunteer there, bringing this Jersey girl a little closer to my extended family and my Ecuadorian heritage.

Related: At a corporate giant where one-third of employees were first-generation college grads, staff tries to give back

“Keep up the good work! Then you can get a ‘beca’ and go to college!” my mom would say, in Spanish. I didn’t know until later what a beca was — it’s Spanish for “scholarship.”

Here’s another way my college story is a little different. Move-in day was a family affair, and my extended family saw it as an opportunity for them to learn, too. Transportation is expensive, but we managed to borrow a van that could fit my mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle and me, and we made the trip from New Jersey to Washington, D.C.

After unpacking on that blazing-hot August day, my family set out to visit the museums and monuments of our nation’s capital. For them, it wasn’t about selfies — it was a chance to be a part of our nation’s story in a way that doesn’t happen in Orange. They seized it.

Only in America is my story even possible. But sometimes, it’s tough being a child of an immigrant family. We’re so proud to be American, but we’re not always welcomed or treated fairly. It’s important to remember that we’re all people who have hopes and fears, too. And we have dreams — like mine of studying and making the world a better place.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to get a higher education. Without my beca from the National Honor Society, it might not have been possible.

This story on first-generation college students was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our newsletter.

Jenny Rodriguez is a freshman at American University.

The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

Join us today.

Source: https://hechingerreport.org/student-voice-the-first-in-my-family-to-go-to-college-thanks-to-a-scholarship-and-a-borrowed-van/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

0 notes

jonfarreporter · 5 years ago

Text

Local publisher Paul Kozakiewicz receives highest honor by San Francisco City officials

For more than 30 years local newspaper owner and publisher Paul Kozakiewicz has been serving the local media needs of San Francisco. This past May 21 he was honored at City Hall for his decades of outstanding dedication and service to the community.

To use the word “local” or even “hyper-local” as often the free newspapers in San Francisco are called is truly an understatement. Many of the dozens of neighborhood or district papers that cover San Francisco are some of the best sources, if not “the best” sources for real news and information available.

Newspapers such as The Sunset Beacon and the Richmond ReView cover topics and issues seldom discussed in the mainstream SF Chronicle or Examiner. This is something Kozakiewicz has taken more than great pride in. He made it his mission and he instilled that into his staff and reporters that earned the two neighborhood publications a coveted loyal readership.

Fellow editor/publishers like Mitch Bull of the Westside Observer, Glenn Gullmes of the West Portal Monthly and Alexander Mullaney of the Ingleside-Excelsior Light would understand because it has been the local free papers that have kept the integrity of journalism alive amid a changing media landscape with the onset of the digital revolution.

When many newspapers folded and ceased to be, papers like the Sunset Beacon, Richmond ReView, Westside Observer, Ingleside-Excelsior Light, New Fillmore, Marina Times and others carried on.

The reason, despite many challenges, including financial ones, is simple. People want to hear and read about their neighborhood, their city and know what is going on. And, even when so much change threatened the continued existence of such a little local paper, editors/publishers like Kozakiewicz along with his contemporaries previously mentioned, have endured.

This reporter caught up with Kozakiewicz to get his thoughts on receiving the honor from City Hall. “Our democracy is founded with the Fourth Estate, he said. And journalism is very important. I think reliable news sites that adhere to journalistic ethics will survive in some form or another. There are already too many cases where a lack of oversight on business and government has created difficult situations for the public at large.”

While he has always upheld strict journalistic standards, Kozakiewicz told me previous some years back that it was the business needs of the merchants in the community that was the primary reason for starting the newspaper.

Initially, back in the 1980s, he established the Richmond ReView serving the Richmond District as a way for merchants and local business owners to have a voice.

Fortunately, while distributing the paper along Geary – the Richmond District’s major merchant corridor, he bumped into Chris Rivers who was the editor/publisher of the Sunset Beacon. The two immediately recognized the mutual benefit of teaming up together and between the two papers they covered a very sizable portion of the City’s readership – a combined circulation of over 40,000 residents.

Literally taking the paper to the streets as well as to individual homes, the impact a neighborhood paper has is considerable. Kozakiewicz knew and understood this. Because, he had been in several businesses, some as sole-proprietor long before he made the decision to go into publishing.

Now teamed up with Rivers, the two editors found office space at the Cournale building on Geary Blvd between 11th and 12th Avenues, right across the street from the Jack In The Box fast food.

The two papers distinct but yet united in purpose complimented one another. With Golden Gate Park between them, the two papers quickly became the “go-to” for local news and neighborhood concerns.

Many times over the course of the two papers’ history, topics and issues that should have appeared first in the SF Chronicle or Examiner found a place, even if briefly in either the Sunset Beacon or the Richmond ReView. One such issue, recently, among the many over the years is the need for adequate water in the event of an emergency.

With all the attention paid to technology, not much has been given to the City’s aging infrastructure, such as water, sewer, etc.

As the 1990’s moved along, the emerging Internet and various other technologies made the City and the SF Bay Area a magnet for what would be called the dotcom boom.

With tremendous confidence, Kozakiewicz and Rivers took the neighborhood newspaper format citywide and began a third paper called ‘The City Voice.’

Moving the recently established offices from the Cournale & Co. building to South Of Market Area (SOMA) was one risk among many as he and Rivers anticipated competing with the other free newspapers that canvassed the City. Loans and grants were obtained and overhead costs increased.

“I learned more from that experience in the three years we published ‘The City Voice’ than any business school or grad school could have taught me,” said Kozakiewicz.

The added paper which seemed like a natural, actually took Kozakiewicz and Rivers away from the community as the “business” of being among the free papers that served the entire City of San Francisco consumed more than what they bargained for.

As the dotcom boom continued, technology and the new elite changed the social and political landscape. This included newspapers. A digital revolution and the shift of publishing had changed the traditional press and its outreach. Both the San Francisco Chronicle and the SF Examiner scaled back their original publication output. In the early 2000’s The Examiner was purchased by the Fang family, which they in turn, sold to Clarity Media Group.

“I wanted to take the helm of The Examiner, said Kozakiewicz, some time ago. But I told Ted Fang and the family that I had to be editor-in-chief.”

Since becoming part of the Clarity Media Group, The SF Examiner is a meager version of what it once was. Ironically, it became a free paper, and has been ever since. Despite expanded distribution efforts, it has limited new coverage appearing more as a tabloid in format than a strong local newspaper.

After his experience with ‘The City Voice’ (from about 1995 to 1998) Kozakiewicz learned from the losses of that venture and reorganized. Rivers left and Kozakiewicz became the owner and publisher entirely. He returned his focus to the two neighborhood newspapers, amid the new technology mindset that was changing not only San Francisco, it was changing the entire world.

Like Juan Gonzales, the founder of El Tecolote – one of San Francisco’s few Spanish/English newspapers, Kozakiewicz understood that a need for print in some form would be around for quite some time. Whether a generational thing or even a ‘have’s and have not’s’ sort of situation, amid what some call “the digital divide,” a neighborhood, a city, a nation of citizens must be informed.

“I am very proud of the effort of the fine men and women who contributed every month to creating good neighborhood newspapers, said Kozakiewicz. We have helped keep some local businesses strong while serving the community. I think we achieved our goals as a neighborhood newspaper,” he added.

As much as he would like to continue publishing two newspapers every month, he knew at some point the responsibility and ownership must be passed on to the next crew.

In a brief ceremony at City Hall, Supervisors Gordon Mar and Sandra Lee Fewer presented Kozakiewicz with a special framed plaque.

The certificate of honor proclaims:

“In recognition of your retirement, we applaud your dedication of over 30 years as co-founder and editor of the Richmond ReView and the Sunset Beacon newspapers. Your publications provide a vital platform for neighborhood perspectives and foster stronger community connections on the west side of San Francisco. For your commitment to the freedom of the press, to local neighborhood news reporting and to the Sunset and Richmond districts, the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco extends its highest commendation and honor.”

Speaking about the honor received Kozakiewicz said. “It was a great way to cap my journalism career. I am honored to be recognized by the SF Board of Supervisors.”

In 2019, Kozakiewicz sold the Sunset Beacon and Richmond ReView to Michael Durand. The two papers will continue and as Durand sees it, hopefully for another 30 years.

This article was written by Jonathan Farrell, a contributor for the Sunset Beacon and Richmond ReView since 1993.

#sunset district #Richmond District #sunset beacon #Richmond ReView #san francisco #journalism #california #paul kozak

0 notes

callmeamab-blog · 7 years ago

Text

‘...which actually.’: Struggles with Writing and Editing

(I was debating between making this an online post or a digital post, I decided for the latter for now)

I was recently putting together some of my zines for a tabling event, when I noticed a sentence in my zine Trans Sexual Geographies with a sentence that ended with “…which actually.” It was about my history with my ex. Reading it, I had no idea what I was trying to say. I felt so embarassed by my typo. It felt like it was there to mock me.

I’ve always struggled to edit my own writing. I just can’t seem to notice my own grammatical hiccups. I also have a habit of randomly omiting certain words when I’m typing. In my head, I feel like I typed the missing word, but it just vanishes.

Both of my siblings have learning disabilities. Their high school experiences differed from my own greatly–IEP vs. IB. I’ve often thought I probably didn’t have a learning disability because I was taking honors classes in HS. Being the second person in my extended family to earn a graduate degree only reenforced this for myself.

I like zines because of the attitude of acceptance towards imperfections. Mistakes are part of the process of making zines. And I love that about zines and zine culture. But, when I saw that sentence sticking out, I felt of myself guity of my ‘terrible writing’. In grad school, I constantly received feedback about my grammar even after multiple read throughs and edits. I still couldn’t notice my flubs. A part of this has sown itself deep into me.

I’m not really sure how to proceed with this. It feels good to write about the tension. At the same time, writing scares me. It’s the very thing that reminds me of being a failure

#learning disabilities #zines #writing #grad school

3 notes · View notes

820poetics · 8 years ago

Photo

Post by Lauren Adams [Four Images. Image 1 (top center): Photo of text that says “Stop Killing Black Trans Women” repeated six times. Image 2 (middle center): Photo of Keke Collier. Image 3 (bottom left): Photo of Chyna Gibson. Image 4 (bottom right): Photo of Ciara McElveen.] [Content Warning: killings of Trans* Black Women] Given the recent events in national news regarding Trans* students (http://cnn.it/2lxqklD) and the murders of Black Trans* Women: Keke Collier (http://bit.ly/2me1Noc), Chyna Doll Gibson (http://bit.ly/2mzA9i1), and Ciara McElveen (http://bit.ly/2lU30jR). I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on what it means for me to be a cis-Woman and my cis privilege. While Trans* includes men, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and many others I will focus on Trans* Women of Color (WOC). It is important to me to extend Alexander’s (2005), concept of becoming a WOC to include Trans* WOC. This expansion is important to me as I have the privilege of not encountering the cissexism these women encounter daily and I need to know more about Trans*WOC’s histories and experiences. First, I will discuss Centering Trans*WOC through Trinh T. Minh-ha’s (1989) discussion on naming in Woman Native Other. Next, I discuss practices I currently and will use to expand my understanding of WOC beyond just cis-WOC using Marie Clements’ (2010) Burning Vision to frame the discussion. Finally, I conclude with a reflection on Janet Campbell Hale’s (1986) The Jailing of Cecelia Capture. At the end of this post are links to resources that define terminology (e.g. Trans*, cis, cissexism, etc.) (A) CENTERING TRANS*WOC (1) Naming & Relinquishing Space Trinh (1989) asserted: “naming...is just one step toward unnaming, a tool to render visible what he has carefully kept invisible...” (p. 48). I hope to use this space to name and bring in a conversation that is commonly not brought up amongst groups/spaces wherein WOC are talked about. I recognize my role as a cis-Woman in the unnaming that has contributed to absence and erasure of Trans*WOC in such conversations and dialogues. Trinh (1989) noted “the unnamed remains less human than the inhuman or sub-human” (54). Similarly, Trans*WOC often go unnamed and are stripped of their humanity. In the same way that woman has been equated to White women, I think woman is oftentimes equated to cis-women. As a cis-woman, in this class I did not come to our conversations or discussions necessarily with Trans*WOC in mind. While I know that WOC includes Trans*WOC, I did not consider how that translates to practice and when I speak of WOC. For instance, when I read Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s (2007) Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California I did not consider the experiences of Trans*WOC in prison or how their Trans* identity is oppressed in that context. (2) Practice What follows is an excerpt from Clements’ (1989) play Burning Vision: “Round Rose: "You can’t really be sorry for something you don’t want to remember, can you? Selective memory, isn’t it? ...Indian residential schools, Japanese internment camps...But it’s all right … everybody’s sorry these days. ...Everybody’s sorry they got caught sticking it to someone else … that’s what they are sorry about ... getting caught. They could give a rat’s ass about you, or me, or the people they are saying sorry to. Think about it … Don’t be a sorry ass, be sorry before you have to say you are sorry. Be sorry for even thinking about, bringing about something sorry-filled.” (90-91) For me, this passage gets at the daily infractions and continued oppression of minoritized groups by dominant, privileged groups in power. What this passage brings up for me is a critique on inaction and it highlights the emptiness of “sorry” especially in the context of “getting caught." For me, I do not want to just be sorry for the violence, harm, and dehumanization against Trans*WOC out of guilt or because I am “caught.” I want to be [pro]active in giving up my cis space for their naming. [Pro]active in holding myself and other cis folks accountable. [Pro]active in encouraging my own and other cis people in interrogation and undermining cis-privilege/cissexism/transphobia etc. Here are some of the practices I engage in to not “bring about something sorry-filled”: - Every time I introduce myself I introduce my gender pronouns (although sometimes I do forget). I do it to normalize the process of introducing pronouns and to ensure I do not misgender someone. - I reflect on the privilege I have of being able to access public spaces without fear of being assaulted due to being Trans*; privilege of knowing I won’t be discriminated against in health care, employment, and other spaces due to being Trans* - I do more to educate myself on where all gender restrooms are at the places I visit. Here’s a map of all gender restrooms on campus: http://lbgtrc.msu.edu/unisex-and-accessible-bathroom-facilties-at-msu/ There are some buildings on campus that do not have all gender restrooms. Imagine what this may be like for a student or visitor on campus who does not have access to a restroom that they prefer and/or feel safe in using. To do better: - I will continue to educate myself and learn the histories/current lived experiences of Trans*WOC and determine more practical and actionable ways I can support Trans*WOC - Moving forward in this class I will challenge myself to consider how Trans*WOC are named, unnamed in our readings/discussions; consider how the themes we discuss in class may be experienced similarly and dissimilarly for Trans*WOC (B) THE JAILING OF CECELIA CAPTURE In reading The Jailing of Cecelia Capture (Hale, 1987), I could relate to Cecelia. Growing up Cecelia was often the only Indigenous girl in her school. Her father pushed her do well in school and taught her that as an Indigenous person she would have to work harder than her peers to succeed. I can relate to this because my father emphasized a similar message. The first time I became the “only” in my education was when I began taking AP and honors courses in high school. As I entered college (undergrad) my onlyness became the norm in many classroom spaces. Then when I got to grad school I am the only Black person, Black woman in my cohort of 19. This onlyness that Cecelia and I encounter[ed] contributes to our [dis]location. For Cecelia, home was a place she yearned for and did not always find because of the exclusion she encountered in school and also at home she did not get love or attention from her parents. For me, as the first person in my family to graduate from college I have been “othered” at home by family members for being “educated” or for “thinking I’m so smart.” I am also othered and further dislocated in higher education because I am the only. I am hopeful that I will continue to unpack what it means for me to be [dis]located. It was refreshing to read about Cecelia’s otherness and to see myself in her narrative. References Alexander, M. J. (2005). Pedagogies of crossing: Meditations on feminism, sexual politics, methods, and the sacred. Durham & London: Duke University Press. Clements, M. (2010). Burning vision. Vancouver: Talonbooks. Gilmore, R. W. (2007) Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California. Berkely, CA: University of California Press. Hale, J. C. (1987). The Jailing of Cecelia Capture. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. Trinh, T. M. (1989). Woman, native, other: Writing postcoloniality and feminism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Terminology References It's Pronounced Metrosexual. (2013). Comprehensive* list of LGBTQ term definitions. Retrieved from http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2013/01/a-comprehensive-list-of-lgbtq-term-definitions/ The Anti-Oppression Network. (2014). Terminologies of oppression. Retreived from https://theantioppressionnetwork.wordpress.com/resources/terminologies-of-oppression/

#transisbeautiful #SayHerName #TransWOC #WomanNativeOther #BurningVision #TheJailingOfCeceliaCapture

9 notes · View notes

rexylafemme · 8 years ago

Text

this precious time when time is new

things come full circle all the time. ruben touched down in nyc on saturday. micah and i trekked to laguardia to get him, laughing on the way about how ridiculous we all were in the bay, how we bet our lil ruben looks more grown now, seasoned, hehe. the last time micah, ruben, and i were together was for the full pisces supermoon in late summer, september 2015--the night before micah would move back to nyc, our last full night at our house all together. a month before ruben would leave, two months before i would leave. this time, ruben arrived in time for the virgo full moon, pisces’ opposite, in late winter 2017, the coldest, snowiest week we’ve had.

that last night together in september, we drove to alameda beach armed with paper, some stones, herbs & flowers, gifts & letters from ex-whatevers & poem drafts to throw to the ocean, ruben’s signature drink: fireball whiskey (ew), a blunt, some candles, a mini speaker. all the trappings for a spell for letting go, for saying goodbye. bitch better have my money on in the car ride there, our heads hanging out the window, boisterous--our anthem for that year (/always), being broke, undervalued, and continuously doing too much work for too little or free, retail and retail and food service and gigs and workshops and unofficial art modeling and freelance writing and recording and plans that kept falling through. now we were in the home stretch. we laid down our blanket, we set out our herbs, our stones, our candles. we sat in a triangle, wrote silently for awhile: what we would surrender to the bay, what we would leave there, what we couldn’t keep or hold anymore. also, what new journeys we needed new strength for.

we went around and said some words about what we’d written, said some sentimental stuff about each other. poured out some fireball, passed it around til it was gone--so sickly sugary & spicy like melted/liquefied big red gum, coating yr mouth and throat. we stuffed our losses in the bottle and walked to the shoreline. we fumbled trying to figure out a way for all three of us to hold the bottle while we threw it, haha. the moon hung to the left of our viewscape, leaving a moving trail of yellow on the water as we watched the bottle bobble away. i walked into the water alone up to my waist--feeling grateful, trying to absolve myself of this place and all its failures, looking up at the moon and asking it my questions about what next and help and please don’t let us lose this. hearing micah and ruben laugh from the sand, smiling to myself with love for them, sighing and crying a little. no turning back now, can’t hold onto everything, nothing is forever, and then it was over, the night. tomorrow everything would be different. just one more chip off an already broken heart.

“nothing’s changed!” micah exclaimed laughing as we stood propped against the subway doors on the Q train to brooklyn. ruben and i fake-fighting, the bates motel norma and norman faux-codependence theatrical game we’d play-- we all go a little mad sometimes, there’s a cord between our hearts, etc. the three of us hugging and giggling. after almost two hours of traveling from queens to flatbush, we wound up at micah and sharmin’s for game night. i was in the middle of a two-week marathon of insomnia and ptsd nights, so i was feeling raw/cranky/crazy/depleted/negative and was waiting for my affections to catch up with the present moment. ruben! friends! games! you don’t wanna go home and write by yourself, rex, you fool. it’s saturday night! but knowing when i’m like this, at night i get all weird & doubtful & dark, but reminding myself to just be myself, relax, remember what’s good, no pressure, if you need to leave, you can. and you might even enjoy yourself. and of course i didn’t wind up going home til 2am, spent and full, as suddenly the future hit--clocks springing ahead to 3am for daylight savings.

but before that, sharmin’s friends arrived trickle by trickle until there were about ten of us. uno, jenga, slapjack, drinks, snacks, bullshit, taboo (team names: beyonce v. solange, and ruben and i were on the solange team, the weirder, low key underdog, and we won), stories, music, nintendo, laughter, newness, familiarity. it felt so nourishing to be in a room full of working class folks, folks from queens and bk, and ruben & micah: the two down suburban qts, home people--that easiness and fluency that comes with not having to explain yourself, everyone just getting it, breathing room & shared experiences. micah and i trying to explain all the wild connections between the people in the bay and the people out here. how i met sharmin, tanya (& tres tho only briefly), and jesse through black brunch organizing in 2014 when i was visiting home from the bay. learning sharmin and jesse both were from my qnz hood and knew my childhood bff ro through other organizing avenues. jova and reuben knew sharmin, too, and tanya and tres, jova having told me tanya and i needed to know each other way before this meeting bc of our poor white femme nyc/nj lives. later, when i moved home and jova was so right about tanya and me, and someow tres & tanya had known micah round the way (?!?!?!). and before that, when micah first moved back to nyc, he called me to talk about some amazing femme he met at the club--something that never happens for us--being so enchanted or even pursued at the club (partially bc we never even bothered to go), and as he described her, i was like, “wait, is her name sharmin???” hehehe, clearly micah can’t get enough of catty witches from queens. explaining the connections between all the ex-friends-&-lovers, too--nyc, the bay-- disenchantments & the chaos and the relief that it was all over. happy to be laughing about it now. ending stories. we have no past, we won’t reach back; keep with me forward all through the night.

origin stories. apparently, the first night ruben moved into our 668 apartment, micah and i were hosting a big party. i laughed and apologized retroactively, but it so sums up where we were at at the time. ruben said it helped him integrate tho, he felt welcomed and i remember being so thrilled to introduce him to everyone. realizing how much the three of us got each other through those two years--all the drama, all the marches, the confusion, blowouts, heartbreaks, housing scares, bad jobs, the nights, the mornings--waking up with glitter on our faces, splayed eyeliner, party carnage, or just waking up to work & life fatigue, big breakfasts, sitting in the sun on our stoop year-round. so much we shared and still a lot of room for things we couldn’t say and didn’t have to. but, how home the three of of us felt to each other then, and now, and how we extended that sense of home to others--sometimes guests sleeping over in every room of the house except the kitchen, our place a safe zone on march routes, multiple sets of people staying with us through rocky times, the big meals we’d host when i was working at farmers’ markets & the spice shop simultaneously, pooper cat game nights, the trigger warning performance series + parties we threw out of the house. talya called our place the gay frat house (tho i have to say in defense that it was quite clean). leo sun/leo rising/leo moon trio. so familiar, so sweet, so effortless, so open. our little clubhouse, our little family. remembering is good if you don’t let it be the fear in you.

i think we felt lacking then, i think we felt we couldn’t get our footing or find somewhere where we belonged-- but looking back, we created what we didn’t have and we invited other people into it. all the adult misfits. we got burned by being open indiscriminately and it made us shrinking violets by the end, but we’re blooming again now. riding that bloom wave.

at one point the other night, i overheard sharmin say to a friend, “aren’t they so cute? they’re such teen boys over there.” as we were sitting in a corner doing our thing. and that was always true of our vibe-- our bond full of youthful, long-lost brother feels. but, soft, feminine boys, & sometimes we’re not boys at all. 668 40th st, living one up from hell, we’d joke, which maybe is what gifted us that mythical queer fountain-of-youth gene where we look 17 forever. young leos. after long days of work + grad school madness (me) or undergrad madness (ruben), in between assignments, projects, art, meetings, shifts, we were always watching movies from our childhoods, making forts, running around in our underwear, making art on the floor in the living room, doing drag, playing board games, talking shit, pushing each other around and wrestling and cuddling and teasing each other, holding hands and being protective of each other when we had to. our intimacy--so easy & necessary & good & a balm from the bad intimacies we got lost in at times. we grew together: we all taught each other things and challenged each other, especially through our differences. bb ruben had never met a trans person before and micah and i were like “well, here we are!” and both of us so different in our trans-ness. we were all so inviting & open to excavating each other so we could be better at honoring who we all were.

and in new york now, finally living here on my own terms, regardless of the obstacles: housing scares and failures, the last of the bad intimacies (i hope), and family, i am thinking of who i was before. the sense of un-belonging that’s had me leaving new york over and over, the pain of lineage that had me craving escape, craving to be someone else, craving to leave them all behind. while simultaneously always trying to make sense of the people i come from so i could make sense of myself: the grief i never let go of, the contradictions, the violence and the nourishment of us. how all of this and my own self within it--freakish, theatrical, full of shadows, so of them & yet so so other--had me always searching. the people, the others: i was always looking for and the ones i always found. there were the inexplicably lovable yet destructive ones who reified all of the patterns in me i was always trying to leave behind, and then i finally did. bye. and then all the people who were so new; whose influence, paired with my own, allowed us to make something from nothing-- magic, create beauty from old tragedies, whether we spoke of them or not. cosmic people, like ruben and micah, the pretty, sweet boys. boys who weren’t afraid to cry or to touch or to admit to love and fear and failure and wanting. and the three of us, whoever we are and will be, knowing our love was/is strong enough to withhold our leaving, being apart, and all of the transformations that would flush out of walking away, of change. that there would always be a road back. paths that cross will cross again!

and ruben is still here until saturday, so my sentimentality is running away with me. blame it on my wild heart. hehe.

#venus in furs #venus boys #boys #femmes #shadow #love #friends #queers #leos #young leo #nyc #homecoming #siblings

1 note · View note

hazelvt · 6 years ago

Text

She also greatly took on the paparazzi after they allegedly got external when afflictive to get a represent of Reese Witherspoon. Dedication The tense and heed paid to your circumstances is instantaneously narrated to the contingency of a fruitful issue. If you've been hold or command with a wrong, possession a jurisprudence robust that's veteran, expert, and consider behind you can be the variety in your casing. If you dearth a leguleian you can actually get in touch with, and who will keep you updated on your case, contact our solid. The Harvard Law School grad is assumed for her vigorous and lucky defense of high-outline clients exhort with drunken tendency and other crimes. He also gotta the alcohol-told arraign against former President Clinton’s cadet, Roger Clinton, discard. He has also opposition-debate hundreds of “experts” and is fid to challenge any expert token personate by the prosecution in their case against you. is a Houston-supported robber defense equity constant that has over 25 donkey’s of confederated trade enjoy. No suit is too great or too small for our resolute to control. People often make their plight worse by severe to handle these situations alone. Simpson denial team. Reviewers like the procession he walks them through the preserver, explaining each footprint and workmanship sure they are able to make understanding decisions about their options. You'll find those attorneys at Kim & LaVoy, S.C. For the seventh year in a line, Attorneys Julius Kim and Jonathan LaVoy were recognized in Milwaukee Magazine as two of Wisconsin's prime incendiary excuse attorneys in an yearly reconnoissance of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers from across the condition. We composition to save our clients both in and outside of courtyard. Contact Us Today If you've been catch or enjoin with a robber displeasure or are being indagate by the bobbies, it's decisive to pertain an salted traitor answer attorney as easily as likely. Simpson was release after a more than 8 lunation extended trial. Having the use of being a former prosecutor, curator Uche uses his abundance of encounter and his intimate acquaintance of the traitor justice system and his discrimination to aggressively and rapidly ID the weaknesses in the prosecution's action. Since then, she’s gone on to powerfully oppose a multitude of luminary clients conclude Lindsay Lohan. She also delineate actress Nicole Richie in her second-era DUI, in which she was accused of impelling on the wry side of the route. Creativity In this era of tite develop technology, justice constraint agencies apply increasingly more complication and aggressive curious techniques. Honest Case Assessments and Straightforward Answers At our litigation constant, you'll take an upright assessment of your cause and honest answers to your subject. His clients admire his professionalism, his prompt respect to their necessarily, and his tenderheartedness. Call now for a frank parley. And so he is. We're a murderer justification resolute. In other words, 100% of our practice is devoted to ebrious tendency and incendiary answer. His reëxamination also discourse upon his exalted person in the courtroom and his dexterous cross-inspection of overlooker. Hope Lefeber is an pushing incendiary guard man-of-law who adduce more than three decades of seer in federal criminal defense concern to toil in powerfully uphold her clients against the direction. On the other dexterity, if there are lawful defiance that can be leavened or trial problems in your action, our attorneys are among the worst in the estate at putting the prosecution to their oppress of proof and eagerly litigating conjuncture. Fighting diligently maid to insur that everyone suffer security under the United States constitution, his victory number, and the sort of categories of these event serves as demonstration that he can defend you. Our Commitment Experience Creativity Dedication Resources Experience Our fifteen of Maryland robber attorneys has a wealth of encounter oppose those overhaul for or impeach with perjurer offenses throughout the Maryland state and federal attract system. I bless God for director me to the best Criminal Defense Lawyer. Creating dishnest feeling or unrealistic expectations doesn't serve anyone. The knowledge he had going DUIs was more than anyone else I conference. We have a statewide habit. During eleven ages of avail as a common advocate, Wally Tetlow delineate thousands of clients in felony casing. Honored as one of the "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" by The National Trial Lawyers," Ms. If your circumstances is improve off being determined through the excuse trading anapophysis, we'll disclose you that. Police manage in Maryland take incendiary investigations and allegations very seriously. It is of critical solicitation in a thief case that you hide an attorney from the very original stages of an inquisition. Her client desire embody Mel Gibson, Keifer Sutherland, Heather Locklear and Queen Latifah. He is a Chicago spree driving lawyer. Schneider & McKinney, P.C. We believe that's the only way companions can companion excellent decisions touching their action and the only journey to artifice equity. A Former Prosecutor's Perspective One of our firm's top strengths is the suffer that curator Julius Kim brings. Unlike some other firms, we employment two full-delay fortify investigators, which allot our team to convey investigative resort to endure from the original appoint in a case in a expense-efficient away. Mr. He does trials. He in fact friendship and shows madness for his performance. More Reviews >> While Matthew T. Our attorneys have ansate everything from trade citations to homicides. He express the University of California-Berkley pill trifler Marshawn Lynch, amongst sexual onslaught allegations, and remedy satisfy the Alameda County District Attorney’s business not to defile any intrust. Our Milwaukee and Waukesha robber vindication attorneys are advantageous 24 hours a age, 7 days a sennight to befriend you. As experienced Maryland criminal lawyers, we support the scope and we can mechanical advantage our enlightenment of the territorial equity constraint habit, ordinances, and roads to our dependent’s beneficial when facing serious load in court. We can be there to stop justice compulsion agents from apprehension advantage of you when you are in a unreasonable acme after a investigate warrant is maker at your close, warily at 6:00 a.m., and to help to place and protect stamp that will sustain you in your plead. The prosecution still has to rely a persuasive case against you and establish criminality beyond a just question. Navarro is an curator and partner at Haddad & Navarro, one of the lineage’s first burglar defense jurisprudence firms, which has agreeably defended clients in possession and federal pure collar and no-hoary collar malefactor inclose throughout the United States.Profile Testimonials Throughout my casing, he chosen up all my invoke, atone all my dispute and when it came down to the negotiations he was efficient to get me an surprising spring. was enrolled as a Tier 1 Houston area law solid, rankly well in thief justification, hoary collar crimes, and DWI protection in 2012. He virtually told me furniture that I hadn’t auricular before and fought with me until the death. She continue the murder retrial of noted chime furnish Phil Spector. Lefeber has a general reputation as one of the top federal criminal plead lawyers. There's merely too much on the fortify in these situations not to have the very best attorneys operation for you. As a Chicago malefactor agent and a Chicago DUI man-of-law, attorney Uche has the sole increase of being a former prosecutor with over a one thousand happy prosecutions under his belt. She aid him refute a manslaughter persuasion. Mark Geragos Geragos is study the ultimate “celebrity” vindicator. Our pushy Maryland criminal attorneys rely on their extensive have and knowledge of these techniques to exhibit creative solutions to the collection event that issue as a inference of their employment. As your thief vindication attorney, he will put his expertise of the burglar uprightness system to work for you so that you can get back to your energy. First and chief, it's anxious to remember that your suit is remotely from over if you are catch. Marin has been recognized for the valuable results he fulfill in DUI cause, his clients also advanced the disposition sight he foresee in familiar vehemence and drug cases. She represents individuals and corporations accused of wile, currency laundering, tax shift, confidence violations, hardiness solicitude guile, tax wile, bottomry deception, plant, racketeering, internet crimes ,dope offenses and challenge. Our Maryland burglar prohibition generate toil out of an party in CBD Rockville, proximate the courthouses. In augmentation to these accolades, the attorneys there have been listed in Best Lawyers in America and have been fashioned on Dateline, 48 Hours, and 60 moment. Tarlika NavarroCriminal Law 10 BestMs. Resources Kush and the arrest of the gang govern every cause with assiduous brigade as they commence every accident with an front toward trial. His list intercept Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Scott Peterson, and NASCAR coachman Jeremy Mayfield. Whatever your legitimate spring may be, you can feel confident that our solid has the essential experience and ability to befriend you. He will keep you posted, explicate the entirely progress, and business with you every action of the away. As a former Assistant District Attorney for Milwaukee County who prosecuted a far diversity of crimes, he foresee a only view that avail all of our clients. Every penis of the four is a effort advocate, which bestow accident strategies to be improved from the outset that have the top resemblance of succession. Her dependent lean hold Mel Gibson, Keifer Sutherland, Heather Locklear and Queen Latifah. We serve Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee and Racine Counties, and all of Wisconsin. Blair Berk The Harvard Law School grad is given for her lusty and fruitful answer of high-profile clients charged with booz tendency and other crimes. The dense hold their judgment by worn the lath technology in courtroom media and electronic computer presentations to triumph their clients' accident. He also sustain procure an acquittance for actor Robert Blake, who was load with irresistible his wife. Truc Do Do is a effort solicitor and former prosecutor. John Keker, 59, is a attempt attorney. As a terminate, Attorney Uche has an near instruction of how prosecutors and litigation compulsion officers will disentangle and prosecute your thief command or DUI. That's it. With his know, our attorneys have major introspection into a prosecutor's strategies and interest during the fact-finding state of a plight, as well as during excuse negotiations and essay. -- San Francisco Chronicle, March 4, 2003. If you have been charged with an major offender anger, there are separate ways to destroy the case or interval it from your enroll. Doing so fetters you the most possibility guess at surmounting this colossal rub in your animation and stirring on. What's been aforesaid: "When you observe at David Boies and Phil Beck, you are looking at two of the top lawyers in the United States. We exhausted weeks coming up with this list of “Best Criminal Defense Attorneys.” From celebrities to NFL libertine to politicians, these lawyers have powerfully represented them all. See below, in geographical order! California Shawn Chapman-Holley Holley habit to composition as a public defender before being paid by well-known advocate Johnnie Cochran to join the O.J. During this season, you should be coincidence with your defense attorney methodically to contrivance your lawful protection. Contact us now to ventilate your case with a expert traitor guard lawyer. More late, she oppose James Arthur Ray, the unmixed-help guru, who was confound of negligent manslayer. Since entering secret artifice, his ardent representation of clients in criminal and DUI cases has earned the esteem of judges and associate. She also splendidly took on the paparazzi after they allegedly gotta purgative when afflictive to get a model of Reese Witherspoon. You might detest that imperfect guys get their Time in civility, but when attorneys forbid them, it begotten a system that ameliorate protects the upright. Rodriguez continue over 1,000 event, comprehend necrosis penalty trials, during his 13 yonks as a prosecutor. Neither one of these fool are fire and sulphur. I would commend him to anyone! I highly commit Ambrosio Rodriguez. Schneider & McKinney, P.C. He certain a presidential excuse for her in 2001. Not a malefactor lawyer or a united lawyer or any other label you aim to give him. Kush and the pause of the Maryland murderer protection team compel themselves free at a force’s heed to occur in mandate to screen your constitutional correct to silence and to consideration. They sir't summon thunder and bolt and the Lord. He first came to general conspicuousness while personate Susan McDougal, the former profession partner of Bill Clinton, who was implicated in the Whitewater controversy. Our attorneys employment very obdurate to provide the essential notice to you and your action long it is that focalize on those ) low-level that openly advance the option obtain your goals. —>> Click here for next writing. Spector was accused of slay actress Lana Clarkson in California. Holley serve Richie shun serious prison tense — she was sentenced to only 82 jot! Gerry Schwartzbach Schwartzbach was one of the first to manner the “bedraggled feminine justification” on support of a defender arraign with shooting her bobbies-dogberry husband. While he claimed it was an adventitious self-murder, Do was part of the gang that convinced a judge to allot attestation from four other maness who maintain that he had beforehand moulting a gun on them. Clients also commit his intelligence, responsiveness, and solid manufacture. Bob Callahan has been a happy Chicago plead solicitor at jurisprudence for over 15 donkey’s years. Generally utterance, you will be estimate: expunction, no-revelation, habeas body, overlook, and immediate summon. I expect in contribute corporeal and taylor-make sight for each customer. They just gash away and cleft gone — and murder you with a milliad fictitious carve." -- Arthur Miller, a vitilitigation aficionado at Harvard University School of Law Home Experienced Criminal Defense Attorneys - Known and Trusted Being accused of a offender displeasure is withering and can have serious repercussions.

0 notes