#joe vagabond

[djotime]

JOE KEERY via Vagabonde Adventures

[freckledjoes]

Joe Keery in Greece with Vagabonde Adventures recently :)

(do not repost :))

[harley-sunday]

Vagabond

Summary: There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for Daniel. Even if it means flying out to Singapore on race day. 

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader (unnamed OFC)

Warnings: Language

Word count: 1.9k

AN: How could I not? ♥

Part of the Pieces of Us universe (collection of one-shots). 

Pieces of Us masterlist 

The sound of your phone ringing pulls you out of your early morning slumber and you blindly reach for where it’s laying on your nightstand, swiping right to accept the call without really looking at the screen, “Hello?”

“Hey,”

You pull the phone away from your ear and look at it in disbelief, thinking maybe this is all a bad dream, but the caller ID confirms it's not, “Blake?”

“Yeah.”

Shit. 

“Taff-” there’s an urgency to his voice that makes your heart beat faster and sends your mind racing because there’s no reason to call this early unless- Oh God- Daniel- What if-

“Taff,” Blake says again, his voice kinder now. “I need you here.” 

You let out a whimper in pain because no- Not like this- God, not like-

“Oh. No that’s not why- Shit. He’s ok,” Blake quickly tells you, “but I need you to listen, ok?”

You nod, then realise he can’t see you and so you whisper, “Ok.” 

“There’s a flight from Perth at twelve ten,” Blake tells you, using what you and Daniel dubbed his ‘manager-Blake-voice’. The one that doesn’t take no for an answer. The one who you trust blindly. And so you listen. Even if you don’t know what the hell is going on. “You’re flying Qantas, so you can use priority. I’ve already checked you in, I’ll send you the boarding pass in a couple of minutes. I’ll text you the rest of the information for when you land in Singapore, but there’ll be someone to pick you up, drive you to the track so you can see him before the race starts, ok?”

Twelve ten. Ok. That’s means you’ll have to be at the airport at ten at the latest, even if you only bring a carry-on, so you’ll have to leave here at nine-thirty, which is an hour from now, so technically there’s enough time, unless-

“Taff?” Blake’s voice interrupts your thoughts. “I need you to make this flight, ok? It’s important.”

It’s important. 

The words echo through your mind as you try to connect the dots, try to figure out what it is you’re missing, try to understand why Blake would call you at eight AM on a Sunday morning during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, asking you to fly out not even four hours later. You try to come up with a million other reasons why he needs you there but it’s no good- You know there can be only one.

People say that whenever something mentally or physically terrifying happens, a person will either fight, or flight. You like to think there’s a third option; save what you can and make sure no one gets left behind. And so you ask, “Do you want me to pick up Joe and Grace?”

“No.”

You push yourself up from where you’ve been sitting on the edge of the bed and walk over to the window, peeking through the curtains to find the sun already high in the sky, “No, they’re driving to the airport themselves, or-”

“No, they can’t make it in time.” 

“Blake,” you whisper, something heavy settling deep in your chest because this is not how it’s supposed to go. “If this is- If he’s-” You take a shaky breath, “They should be there.” 

“I know, babe, but-” he sounds absolutely defeated. “I looked at all the options but with them at Karroun Hill they’re too far from an airport to make it work on such short notice.” 

You feel your throat go dry, because his parents should be there. ���Michelle then?”

“She’s got the kids-”

“I can take the kids,” you offer immediately. “If I go over there and watch the kids, Michelle can go. They might still let you change the name on the ticket if you-”

“Taff,”

You start to feel yourself get desperate, “He needs his family there, Blake.” 

“Taff,” Blake tries again, his voice filled with sympathy. “You’re his family too.”

***

It takes you forty minutes to shower, pack a small overnight bag, and leave the house. Of course you need to stop for gas, which costs you another ten minutes, but ninety minutes after Blake called you’re at the airport and waiting for your flight to board. Which isn’t for another two hours. 

You kill the time by having breakfast, or try to anyway, because you’re way too nervous to eat more than a couple of bites and so instead you find a quiet corner and send a text to Grace and Joe to let them know you’re flying out to Singapore. Michelle gets a text too- by now you know better than to call anyone in a public place, especially with this kind of sensitive information- and she replies within minutes, telling you to give her brother a big hug when you see him. 

You decide against texting Daniel, don’t want him to be distracted, and instead you spend your time people-watching and remembering the last time you were in Singapore, two years ago, when Daniel finished fifth in that piece of shit McLaren. It was his best result in that god awful final year with the team and so you ignored Zak Brown’s pleas to celebrate with the team and instead opted for a quiet celebration with just the two of you. 

You’re so lost in thoughts you almost miss the final boarding call but there’s a kind gentleman next to you that nudges your elbow and says, “Isn’t that your flight, sweetheart?”

***

In the end, there’s a delay leaving Perth, a delay arriving at Singapore, and a never-ending queue at customs. To say you’re on edge when you finally get into the car Blake sent to pick you up would be an understatement. It’s already past eight in the evening and there’s no way you’ll make it to the track in time to see Daniel before the race. Your already broken heart breaks into a million more pieces at the thought of that and it takes everything you have not to break down right then and there. 

The driver seems to feel there’s an urgency, weaving in and out of traffic effortlessly, dropping you off at the paddock entrance a mere twenty minutes later with a hesitant smile. You make sure to thank him by tipping generously before you get out of the car and step into the hot Singapore air.

With only a few minutes left until the race starts there’s an almost eerie quiet in the paddock, most people getting ready in their respective garages, pit walls, or starting boxes, and so you make it through the gates and into the alley behind the garages with relative ease. No one seems to pay you any mind as you walk to the VCARB garage, which suits you just fine. 

The formation lap starts just as you enter the back of the garage, the roar of the engines sending a shiver down your spine. You find your way through the maze of corridors, offices, and driver rooms with relative ease, grabbing your pair of headphones as you pass the comms wall, and then all of a sudden you’re in the actual garage and there’s no going back. 

You look around and find Blake in his usual spot, near the back, standing a little to the side so he can keep an eye both on the monitors and the pit wall. The pit crew is too busy watching the cars line up on the starting grid and so you’re able to sneak past them to stand next to Blake. You look at him once you’ve put your headphones on and connected them to the comms unit and your heart, oh your heart. He looks so defeated, the sad smile he wears so unlike him, and you hate it. 

There’s so much to say and yet you both keep quiet, knowing now’s not the time. It’ll come- After. 

And so when Blake puts his arm around your shoulders and pulls you close, just as the red lights come on one by one, you have to bite your lip to keep from crying and try to get time to slow down. You don’t want this race to ever start. Or end.

***

It’s when Daniel gets boxed on lap fifty-eight that Blake nudges you and motions for you to take your headphones off. When you do, he leans in and puts his mouth close to your ear, “Pierre’s going to share his channel with you after the finish, ok?”

All of a sudden there’s a lump in your throat and all you can do is nod.

***

“Ok mate, thanks again for the hard work,” you can hear Pierre tell Daniel. “When we stop at the bridge, P1 on full-car switch-off, P0 on everything else.” On the screen you see Pierre looking at the garage from over his shoulder, “There’s someone here with a special message for you, Daniel.” 

“Hi babe,” you start, the tears you’ve been fighting all day finally spilling over. “I just want you to know that I’m so proud of you.”

There’s a lot of static on the line but you think you hear him let out a quiet laugh, “Ah, I can’t believe this.”

“I’ll see you in a bit, ok?” You smile through your tears, “Take it all in, Dan. It’s yours.” 

On the screen that shows you his onboard camera, you can see him nod. It takes a while before he answers, but when he does his voice is full of emotion, “Yep. Understood.”

***

It’s when the screens show Daniel sitting in his car, in Parc Fermé after the race, that you need to step out of the garage and into the corridor that leads to Daniel’s driver room. Because all of a sudden it hits you. He’s never going to have a moment like this ever again. The quiet crying from earlier turns into big, ugly sobs because God, it hurts. There’s too many people around for anyone not to notice you and so you use your access code to unlock Daniel’s room and step inside, a safe haven in the middle of all this madness.

You try some of the breathing techniques Michael taught you when he was still working with Daniel and after a few minutes you’ve calmed down, if only a little. It’s then the door opens and Daniel steps inside and all of a sudden it’s like nothing else exists. He looks the way you feel and so you are wrapping your arms around him before he’s even had the chance to close the door behind him and tell him, over and over and over again, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” 

 You know there’s not much time, know he has interviews and debriefs to get to, and so you pull back a little and cup his face, rubbing your thumbs over the stubble of his beard before you lean in and kiss him. Hard. 

“I should go,” Daniel whispers against your lips.

“I know-”

“Wait for me?”

“Take as long as you need.” You stand on your toes and press another kiss to his lips, “You know I’d do anything for you, right?” There’s a hint of that mischievous smile you fell in love with all those years playing on his lips, and so you match his smile and add, “And-” 

Of course he plays along, “And?”

You rest one hand against his chest, over his heart, “You love me for it.”

He lets his hands fall to your hips and rests his forehead against yours, sharing a breath, “That I do.”

“That you do.” 

He presses a kiss to your forehead then, “Always.” 

[cirr0stratus]

And we are vagabonds; we travel without seatbelts on, we live this close to death

“Ain’t no grave, I guess.” He said, maybe meant it. Maybe meant it as much as he had the night he’d said it the first time, angry and scared and furious and warm, and for a moment, he could almost feel Joe under his fucked up fingertips.

“Yeah.” Joe said, voice low, a gentle agreement eight states away. “Ain’t no grave.”

An Old Voice by @blood-mocha-latte

[vintagelasvegas]

Postcards of Downtowner Motel, 129 N 8th St at Ogden – circa 70s, 80s. The motel was opened by local attorney Robert Cohen in '63. It has been owned and maintained by DTPLV since the 2010s.

When Cohen opened the Downtowner it was called the largest "apt-hotel" downtown with 93 rooms. The land was owned by the Pinjuv family. Cohen owned the motel, along with downtown’s MacDonald Hotel, Crest Hotel, and the Strip’s Vagabond/Center Strip Motel, totaling over 500 rooms in all.

In the late 70s Cohen was indicted in a child prostitution ring. Failing to appear for arraignment on charges of sexual relations with a 14 year-old, Cohen fled the U.S. and sought asylum in Israel. He was disbarred by Nevada Supreme Court in '79. Brought back to Southern Nevada, he plead guilty to reduced charges of statutory rape and received three years probation. In the 80s he was found liable for robbery and assault to guests at Downtowner motel because he failed to provide security. At his Crest Hotel, carbon monoxide poisoning caused two deaths and send others to the hospital. Throughout it all he fought for and won the privilege of gaming license to maintain slot machines at his hotels.

Metro officer and future governor Joe Lombardo appeared on the television show COPS in '91 making an arrest at the motel.

“This place is nice now. When I was an EMS, we used to carry bodies out of here all the time.” – Nef, 2019

Notes & Bolts. Review-Journal, 10/1/63; Couple Awarded $167,000. Review-Journal, 6/22/84; Phil Pattee. Fumes blamed for deaths, 20 injuries. Review-Journal, 7/6/85 p1; Monica Caruso. LV motels plan to cash in on mega resort boom. Review-Journal, 1/9/94; John L. Smith. Legal quirks allow former fugitive to buck the system. Review-Journal, 2/23/97.

[innervoiceart]

"Nature Boy" was Nat King Cole's first big hit, since then it has been covered over 1223 times! The story behind the song is even more sensational

Joe Moondad has the strange story of eden ahbez:

"In the late 40s, there was a rumor that there was a "hermit," disenchanted and disillusioned with the world, supposedly "out-of-sync" with society, living in California in a cave under one of the L’s in the Hollywood sign.

No one really cared about this strange man, until one night in 1947, when someone tried to enter backstage at the Lincoln Theater in Los Angeles. Nat King Cole was playing there, and the man said he had something for Cole. Of course, the employees didn't let the strange man see Cole, so he gave whatever he had with Cole's manager.

What he had was a song sheet, which Cole would later take a look at. Cole liked the song and wanted to record it, but he had to find the strange man. When asked, the people who saw the man said he was strange, indeed, with shoulder-length hair and beard, wearing sandals and a white robe.

Cole finally tracked him down in New York City. When Cole asked him where he was staying, the strange man declared he was staying at the best hotel in New York - outside, literally, in Central Park. He said his name was eden ahbez (spelled all in lower-case letters). The song he gave Cole was titled, "Nature Boy." It became Cole's first big hit, and was soon covered by other artists through the years, from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, most recently.

Of course, the media went crazy about the strange, mysterious man who handed Nat King Cole, one of the biggest hits during that time. Everyone went out to try to find out more about him.

What little they found was that he was once an orphan, who never stayed at one place very long, living in various foster homes. He explained he just never fit in and was always searching, for something.

["They say he wandered very far...

Very far, over land and sea..."

They found out he would hop freight trains and walked across country several times, subsisting solely on raw fruits and vegetables, then one day he completely vanished.

["A little shy and sad of eye...

But very wise was he..."]

He finally showed up again in the Hollywood hills. When a policeman stopped the strange, long-haired man with beard, sandals, and robe, ahbez simply replied, "I look crazy but I'm not. And the funny thing is that other people don't look crazy but they are."

["And then one day...

One magic day he passed my way..."]

He then showed up backstage at Nat King Cole's concert in Los Angeles, to present him with the song, "Nature Boy." No one seems to really know why he selected Cole, there were some rumors that he came out of hiding when he began to hear about the racism going on and trouble throughout the world, and he thought "King" was the best person at that time to pass his message along.

["While we spoke of many things...

Fools and Kings..."]

When he was asked about racism, he replied, "Some white people hate black people, and some white people love black people, some black people hate white people, and some black people love white people. So you see it's not an issue of black and white, it's an issue of Lovers and Haters."

It was that theme of love that he continued to talk about, what was missing in the world, and what would be needed in the future if we are to survive.

ahbez would eventually get his message out, especially after the counter-culture finally caught up with him and the hippie movement began, when other artists such as Donovan, Grace Slick, and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson sought him out. He also wrote songs for Eartha Kitt and had another song recorded by Sam Cooke.

In 2009, Congressman Bill Aswad recited the last lyrics of the song before the Vermont House of Representatives at the passing of his state's same-sex marriage bill in '09.

Author Raymond Knapp described the track as a "mystically charged vagabond song" whose lyrics evoked an intense sense of loss and haplessness, with the final line delivering a universal truth, described by Knapp as "indestructible" and "salvaged somehow from the perilous journey of life."

["This he said to me...

The greatest thing you'll ever learn...

Is just to love and be loved in return."]

"George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement.

He was known to friends simply as ahbe.

Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 for Nat "King" Cole.

Living a bucolic life from at least the 1940s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles and studied Oriental mysticism. He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruits, and nuts. He claimed to live on three dollars per week.

In the mid-1950s, he wrote songs for Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded by Sam Cooke, becoming the second and final Ahbez composition to hit the Top 40.

In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performed bongo, flute, and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, Eden's Island, for Del-Fi Records.

This mixed beatnik poetry with exotica arrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour making personal appearances, but it sold poorly.

During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles. Grace Slick's band, the Great Society, recorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio with Brian Wilson during a session for the Smile album in early 1967. Later that year, British singer Donovan sought out ahbez in Palm Springs, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation. In the 1970s, Big Star's Alex Chilton recorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographer William Eggleston on piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992 Rykodisc re-release of the album Third/Sister Lovers.

In 1974, ahbez was reported to be living in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland, and he owned a record label named Sunland Records, for which he was recording under the name "Eden Abba." From the late 1980s until his death, ahbez worked closely with Joe Romersa, an engineer/drummer in Los Angeles. The master tapes, photos, and final works of eden ahbez are in Romersa's possession.

Ahbez died on March 4, 1995, of injuries sustained in a car accident, at the age of 86. Another album, Echoes from Nature Boy, was released posthumously."

[heavenssins]

Ten people I’d like to get to know better

thank you for the tag @fairyheart & @gretagerwigsmuse <3 ive done this before but its time for an update!!!

last song: babooshka by kate bush

last book: again normal people by sally rooney (i love it)

last movie: conclave!!

last tv show: im rewatching Pretty Little Liars LMAO

last thing i googled: bats the ghost dog! (look him up he is just the cutest!!)

favorite color; forest green or blood red

sweet/savory/spicy?: savory and spicy🙂‍↕️

currently looking forward to: chicagoooooo chicagoooooooo

current obsession: joe keery again. and im starting my “slasher summer” vibe early. im obsessed with how the fear street movies make me feel<3 and white lotus. and obvi marvel. that never goes away though

no pressure tags: @sorchathered @sometimesanalice @waytogosmudge @arcane-vagabond & anyone who wants to!!!!

[help-imanartistt]

JRWI RIPTIDE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT (EP 53 ONWARDS)

okay joe iconis but why did you write the vagabond about gillion tidestrider?????

this is way less put together and very rambly so apologies for that

ITS LITERALLY JUST POST BANISHMENT PRE CHIP GILL IF THAT MAKES ANY SENSE. (its not just bc it mentions destiny but hey that helps yk)

The song starts out slow as Gill is slowly coming to terms with the fact that he feels like a bad person and how he feels deserving of his fate due to his actions. (I also like to the idea of the "formerly blonde hair" referencing some sort of crown or status symbol slowly fading or smthn?? idk idk) At the same time he is struggling to come to terms with it hence "i guess i'm what you'd call a vagabond" Even he is unsure of who he is anymore as he has now been made to feel like a bad person. After this line the song begins to pick up as Gill slowly gets more and more angry with himself and the world around him for his situation.

Here Gill is floating in the water left with nothing but his own thoughts. He decides to put his faith in destiny and put a smile on his face to pretend like he's okay. Mans is fully in denial. He tries to convince himself in the chorus that he doesn't need the elder's approval to feel like a good person and that he will be okay without their guidance.

This bit is also like gill eventually distracting himself and trying to move on but every time he looks at his sword the memories just flood back to him leading into the chorus.

This last chorus slows down quite a lot whereas the previous ones were more upbeat and angry. This coincides with gill finally coming to the realisation that he doesn't really know what to do with himself now that he's out of the undersea and that the elder's gave him direction. But now he's been left to figure out the world on his own and just wants someone to take him in and help him hence why he was so quick to trust Chip even after being taught about humans from the elders. Gill has also now at this point fully accepted his fate in the title of "The Vagabond"

thank you for coming to my ted talk

[darkmaga-returns]

Written by Derrick Broze

The Last American Vagabond

Nov 23, 2024

As President-Elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in less than 60 days with a plan to initiate the "largest deportation operation in history", it's important to reflect on the policies which lead to the current immigration crisis. 

On November 19th, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana released a report accusing the Biden administration of failing to "secure the southern border" resulting in the exploitation and abuse of migrant children.

The report, The Biden-Harris Administration's Failure to Protect Unaccompanied Children from Abuse and Exploitation, lays the blame for the crisis at the feet of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Department of Labor (DOL). Cassidy says the Biden administration's lax immigration policies led to the current situation where thousands of unaccompanied children have fallen prey human trafficking and forced labor.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had the power to prevent the exploitation of children by securing the southern border. Unfortunately, Democrats treated the border crisis as a messaging issue for their presidential campaign rather than address the humanitarian catastrophe that has resulted from failed Biden-Harris policies,” Cassidy stated.

Cassidy's report concluded that the Biden administration took several steps over the years which altered the process by which unaccompanied children are assigned a guardian, often known as a sponsor. Typically, the sponsors must be a family member or family friend who has undergone a vetting process, including a background check.

However, Cassidy says the Biden administration weakened the sponsor vetting process, including by working with a third-party contractor, The Providencia Group (TPG), which has an "abysmal record providing similar services to ORR in the past". Cassidy also accuses the ORR under the Biden administration of refusing to cooperate with Congressional investigations into their sponsor vetting process.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Dudley Dickerson

Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr. (November 27, 1906 – September 23, 1968) was an American film actor. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952, and is best remembered for his roles in several Three Stooges films.

Given the era in which Dickerson performed, he was usually cast in stereotypical roles that were common in films of the time. His boundless energy can be seen in what are rather restrictive roles, and was a master at what has become known as "scared reaction" comedy. One of his early screen credits was the Our Gang comedy Spooky Hooky (1936), as a bemused caretaker. Dickerson also appeared in Soundies musical films with Dorothy Dandridge and Meade Lux Lewis; Big Joe Turner had recorded three numbers for Soundies but was not present for the filming, so Dickerson stood in for him and lip-synced his vocals.

Modern viewers will remember Dudley Dickerson for his portrayals of startled cooks, quizzical orderlies, frightened porters, and apprehensive watchmen in such Three Stooges films as They Stooge to Conga, A Gem of a Jam, and Hold That Lion! In Hold that Lion, he played a lovable train conductor who memorably bugged out his eyes and shrieked, "He'p, he'p, ah'm losin' mah mahnd!" when a lion attacked him and ripped the seat of his pants while he was shining a pair of shoes. This gag had been used by Moe in a previous short, but Dickerson's portrayal of the scene was so funny that the crew (and Dickerson himself) could hardly contain their laughter, as one can hear in the final release.

Probably Dickerson's most memorable role was that of the hapless chef in the Stooges' A Plumbing We Will Go, in which he uttered in bewilderment, "This house has sho' gone crazy!" He was also able to show the range of his acting talent in this role, able to raise a laugh from the audience by just giving a suspicious, sideways look to a kitchen appliance that had previously acted up. The footage would be recycled twice more in future Stooge comedies: 1949's Vagabond Loafers and 1956's Scheming Schemers. Both films included a newly filmed scene of a raincoat-clad Dickerson informing guests that "dinner's postponed on account of rain" (a turn of phrase usually used to describe the cancellation of a baseball game due to inclement weather).

Dickerson received featured billing in several Hugh Herbert comedies produced by Columbia Pictures, in which, as Herbert's valet, he is always in scary situations and reacts with comic terror.

In the early 1950s, Dickerson appeared in several episodes of TV's The Amos 'n' Andy Show, usually as a lodge member or Joe the Barber.

Dickerson had also appeared opposite Columbia comic Andy Clyde. When Columbia concluded its long-running Clyde series, producer Jules White called Dickerson back to appear opposite Clyde in a remake of the 1948 short Go Chase Yourself. To White's surprise, Dickerson had lost considerable weight and would no longer match the scenes filmed in 1948. White regarded Dickerson so highly that he filmed the new scenes anyway. Columbia released the film in 1956 as Pardon My Nightshirt.

Dickerson retired from acting in 1959. He died of a brain tumor in 1968 at age 61, and is buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

[johnmarkmendoza]

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published in 1876, and narrates the life of a smart but mischievous boy Tom Sawyer living in the town of Mississippi River. This work is considered as classic American Literature and created a successful sequel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).

Tom's age was probably around twelve to thirten years old; as we can see in the novel, he was a jolley prankster young man. He also experienced a normal life of a lad, like making trouble with other boys and whitewashing the fench as a punishment. But later on in his life he met Huck Finn, a vagabond whose father is a drinker. One day when Tom and Huck came across with robbers, and among those robbers were Joe and Dr. Robinson, then the two men got into a fight, and Joe murdered the doctor. At a young age, these two young men were brought into contact with this kind of experience. In normal circumstances, it could be a threat to their mental development and may lead to trauma until they grow old.

Those experiences lead them to be pirates to run away from their dark past. After many events, Tom met Becky, a girl whom he had been engaged to. One day, when Tom and Becky wandered in a cave, they lost their way. At the same time, Becky suffered from a health issue. Tom tries to find a way out, and Tom successfully led Becky to safety. At the end, after these tragic experiences, they manage to live their lives as normal children and will no longer be affected by their terrible past but in an adventurous way. This novel reminds their reader about the vulnerability of a child's mind but, at the same time, the effects of being steadfast no matter our age.

[oflights]

Shuffle your on repeat playlist and list the first 10 songs that play, then tag 10 people.

thanks @geesenoises for the tag! you've made me want to listen to sufjan's latest again 😌

here's mine:

boygenius, Ye Vagabonds - The Parting Glass

Great Lake Swimmers - Don't Leave Me Hanging

Lorde - Green Light

Blind Pilot - Oviedo

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

boygenius - Souvenir

The Mountain Goats - Up the Wolves

Joe Hisaishi - A Girl of Fire

Taylor Swift - Clean (Taylor's Version)

Radical Face - Glory (Live)

pretty typical. i've been listening to Torn a lot because we're doing karaoke next week and that's one of my 90s/early aughts girl rock picks i'm determined to absolutely crush. been prepping and taking inspo from this lilithcore playlist that i love.

also Up the Wolves is because i was writing an aeneid movie adaptation in my head a little while ago and decided that would be the end credits needle drop. 😌

i'm tagging @moonflower-rose @peachesandpaperbacks @pixiedunhoff @thecouchsofa @raenestee @a-bichol @stationintern @kittycargo @feltwrong and @quail-in-red !! no pressure obvs

[aurorawest]

Another reading update

Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell - 4.25/5 stars

Surprise queer love story at the end! Also made me regret that we didn't stop in Tombstone, AZ, when we drove by it on our vacation to Arizona last year.

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem - DNF at pg 18

Prince and Assassin by Tavia Lark - 5/5 stars

This book was A DELIGHT. I didn't expect to love it so much because I've been burned by so many Rainbow Crate selections, but goddamn this one was good. I ordered the next five books in the series from the parking ramp where we watched the eclipse, lol.

Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray - 4.75/5 stars

The gay, WWII retelling of Beauty and the Beast you didn't know you needed. Really lovely novella.

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky - 4.5/5 stars

Time travel! Crystals! I'm a sucker for books where the main character realizes that their career isn't everything (clearly, since my debut novel is about that). I love Timothy Janovsky. He's so good at writing characters who are deeply unlikable but who you root for from page 1 to get their shit together.

Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best - 3/5 stars

A Glorious Mess by Kennedy Sutton - 4/5 stars

This is a prequel to a series I haven't read, but I really enjoyed it!

The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim - 4.25/5 stars

This is another high fantasy where I was like, okay, what happened again in the first one...? It slowly came back to me, haha. I love Tara Sim and this book was just as good as the first in the series. Definitely excited for the conclusion.

The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell - 4/5 stars

Cozy mysteries aren't really my thing, but I really liked this one. There was enough violence to keep it from twee overload.

The Bookseller's Boyfriend by Heidi Cullinan - 4/5 stars

The Path by Ariel Tachna - 4.25/5 stars

Aka, now I want to hike the Inca Trail. This was a great book about two guides on the Inca Trail in Peru (and if you know me you might know I have interest in guiding). Not only was the book just good, but I loved the exposure to a country that I don't know much about.

The Bachelor's Valet by Arden Powell - 5/5 stars

Hello????? This book is so good???? If you loved Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy, give this series a shot. It's very lighthearted, and I loved dumb, kindhearted Alphonse with all my heart from the first sentence. Also the cover is super pretty, I had to keep taking breaks to stare at it.

Assassin by Accident by EJ Russell - 4/5 stars

Tramps and Vagabonds by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay so I knew I'd love this book, because I went feral for Honeytrap, which I read last year. God this one was so good too. It's about two young men who ride the rails in the Midwest during the Depression. James is homeless and Timothy has parents he could go back to...except he's in love with James, obvs. If you're a fan of Cat Sebastian's mid-century books (We Could Be So Good, The Cabots), PLEASE read this. Gray deserves to be much more widely read.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Here's my copy after rereading:

Those are all the spots that were particularly emotionally devastating. This reread secures The Kingdoms as my favorite Natasha Pulley book. Maybe my favorite book, full stop. Missouri and Joe, god be still my heart.

[blood-mocha-latte]

hey :)) please may i ask for a snippet from the modern luztoye wip please? i am intrigued 👀

modern luztoye wip my bestie. my best friend in the whole wide world actually. it’s actually my best friend.

thanks for your ask <33

—

“There’s a song.” George said, vague, and shifted on the couch just enough to tuck his feet under him more fully. “That goes, like.”

He paused, hands paused in the air, and Joe watched him silently, fingers hooked around the neck of his beer, resting on his thigh. George cleared his throat, considered singing, and decided it would be a horrible idea.

“It’s like. Unwashed phenomenon.” He said, waved a hand. “Something vagabond.” The dip between Joe’s brow was deep.

“Diamonds and Rust.” He said, not really a question, and George pointed at him, felt the corner of his mouth crook up.

“That’s the song?” He asked as Joe took another swig from the beer, unperturbed. “The… it’s — the girl.” He managed to get out and Joe cleared his throat, shrugged.

“Joan Baez.” He said. “Wrote it about Bob Dylan, Judas Priest did a cover of it, hers is better. That one?”

George blinked. “I dunno.” He said. “Probably.”

Joe was watching him, face warmed by the lamplight. George looked back down to his own beer. “Why?”

George ran the pad of his finger around the lip of his bottle, thinking. “I don’t know, actually.” He said, hoped it sounded somewhat like a joke. “It’s just — I remember it, s’all.”

[jedivoodoochile]

Behind The Music

"Nature Boy" was Nat King Cole's first big hit, since then it has been covered over 1223 times! The story behind the song is even more sensational.

Joe Moondad has the strange story of eden ahbez:

"In the late 40s, there was a rumor that there was a "hermit," disenchanted and disillusioned with the world, supposedly "out-of-sync" with society, living in California in a cave under one of the L’s in the Hollywood sign.

No one really cared about this strange man, until one night in 1947, when someone tried to enter backstage at the Lincoln Theater in Los Angeles. Nat King Cole was playing there, and the man said he had something for Cole. Of course, the employees didn't let the strange man see Cole, so he gave whatever he had with Cole's manager.

What he had was a song sheet, which Cole would later take a look at. Cole liked the song and wanted to record it, but he had to find the strange man. When asked, the people who saw the man said he was strange, indeed, with shoulder-length hair and beard, wearing sandals and a white robe.

Cole finally tracked him down in New York City. When Cole asked him where he was staying, the strange man declared he was staying at the best hotel in New York - outside, literally, in Central Park. He said his name was eden ahbez (spelled all in lower-case letters). The song he gave Cole was titled, "Nature Boy." It became Cole's first big hit, and was soon covered by other artists through the years, from Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, most recently.

Of course, the media went crazy about the strange, mysterious man who handed Nat King Cole, one of the biggest hits during that time. Everyone went out to try to find out more about him.

What little they found was that he was once an orphan, who never stayed at one place very long, living in various foster homes. He explained he just never fit in and was always searching, for something.

["They say he wandered very far...

Very far, over land and sea..."

They found out he would hop freight trains and walked across country several times, subsisting solely on raw fruits and vegetables, then one day he completely vanished.

["A little shy and sad of eye...

But very wise was he..."]

He finally showed up again in the Hollywood hills. When a policeman stopped the strange, long-haired man with beard, sandals, and robe, ahbez simply replied, "I look crazy but I'm not. And the funny thing is that other people don't look crazy but they are."

["And then one day...

One magic day he passed my way..."]

He then showed up backstage at Nat King Cole's concert in Los Angeles, to present him with the song, "Nature Boy." No one seems to really know why he selected Cole, there were some rumors that he came out of hiding when he began to hear about the racism going on and trouble throughout the world, and he thought "King" was the best person at that time to pass his message along.

["While we spoke of many things...

Fools and Kings..."]

When he was asked about racism, he replied, "Some white people hate black people, and some white people love black people, some black people hate white people, and some black people love white people. So you see it's not an issue of black and white, it's an issue of Lovers and Haters."

It was that theme of love that he continued to talk about, what was missing in the world, and what would be needed in the future if we are to survive.

ahbez would eventually get his message out, especially after the counter-culture finally caught up with him and the hippie movement began, when other artists such as Donovan, Grace Slick, and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson sought him out. He also wrote songs for Eartha Kitt and had another song recorded by Sam Cooke.

In 2009, Congressman Bill Aswad recited the last lyrics of the song before the Vermont House of Representatives at the passing of his state's same-sex marriage bill in '09.

Author Raymond Knapp described the track as a "mystically charged vagabond song" whose lyrics evoked an intense sense of loss and haplessness, with the final line delivering a universal truth, described by Knapp as "indestructible" and "salvaged somehow from the perilous journey of life."

["This he said to me...

The greatest thing you'll ever learn...

Is just to love and be loved in return."]

➖➖➖

"George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement.

He was known to friends simply as ahbe.

Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in 1948 for Nat "King" Cole.

Living a bucolic life from at least the 1940s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles and studied Oriental mysticism. He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruits, and nuts. He claimed to live on three dollars per week.

In the mid 1950s, he wrote songs for Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded by Sam Cooke, becoming the second and final Ahbez composition to hit the Top 40.

In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performed bongo, flute, and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, Eden's Island, for Del-Fi Records. This mixed beatnik poetry with exotica arrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour making personal appearances, but it sold poorly.

During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles. Grace Slick's band, the Great Society, recorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio with Brian Wilson during a session for the Smile album in early 1967. Later that year, British singer Donovan sought out ahbez in Palm Springs, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation. In the 1970s, Big Star's Alex Chilton recorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographer William Eggleston on piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992 Rykodisc re-release of the album Third/Sister Lovers.

In 1974, ahbez was reported to be living in the Los Angeles suburb of Sunland, and he owned a record label named Sunland Records, for which he was recording under the name "Eden Abba." From the late 1980s until his death, ahbez worked closely with Joe Romersa, an engineer/drummer in Los Angeles. The master tapes, photos, and final works of eden ahbez are in Romersa's possession.

Ahbez died on March 4, 1995, of injuries sustained in a car accident, at the age of 86. Another album, Echoes from Nature Boy, was released posthumously."

[heavenssins]

on repeat tag game!

shuffle your "on repeat" playlist ten times and list the songs, then tag ten people.

thank you for tagging me @arcane-vagabond hehehe🩵🩵

1. It’s ok I’m ok by Tate McRae

2. Feast or Famine by Starkid

3. Running Up that Hill by Kate Bush

4. Corpus by Atta Boy

5. Take a Bite by Beabadoobee

6. Delete Ya by Djo

7. Runner by Djo

8. Générique by Alain Goraguer

9. Gloom by Djo

10. Akira by MICHELLE

most of it is Djo… im in love with joe keery.

no pressure tags: @sorchathered @waytogosmudge @floydsglasses @fairyheart