#ls baird

[reinekes-fox]

Finally made a picture of the only book I ever did a book shrine for (excuse the shitty quality, my phone is really old):

Evensongs Heir, Songbirds of Valnon from L.S. Baird.

I bought two custom bound books on Etsy (I like one a lot better than the other, but the colours on both are really pretty.... now I am just missing one Thrush coloured).

Btw its gay, I think there is like one straight character in this book and everyone is so wholesome (well except the villains).

The fairy lights with the roses was made by my mother just for me.

Also, my first one, as you can see it is annoted to hell and back, and this is colour coded, every Songbird has its own colour.

And yeah thats the reason why I am now writing three Interactive Fictions. All thanks to this book.

[magicalyaku]

I read The Devil’s Luck by L.S. Baird and had such a tremendous good time that I actually felt the urge to express a fraction of my love beyond words. Here are the two protagonists Etienne and Frey! (Also I can’t believe I forgot the D’Grassa ...)

I hardly ever make fanart because I can never capture everything I want and end up with nothing in the end. So for once I decided to push through because “something that isn’t perfect” is better than “nothing at all”, right? :)

[lsbaird]

when god closes a door in your face somewhere he throws you out a window

Hi everybody, it's been a while! I know it's been a wild ride for all of us lately, through a rickety haunted house with bad effects and a highly dubious safety certificate, but I hope you and yours have at least managed to hold on to the bar. I'm not sure if I have, but I've got some news that might be of interest for any of you who still have this thing turned on.  

In April when my day job closed offices (belatedly I might add), I picked up Evensong's Heir to work on the long-overdue second edition in my off time. You might remember it was put out in 2013 in something of a rush, and some small (and one or two not-so small) errors remain. I've always wanted to go back for another polish. (Something that gave me some real Han-shot-First-sized guilt before I realized that I wasn't going to change any large plot bits, I don't have any bad CGI planned, and that JRRT basically rewrote a chunk of The Hobbit to make it fit the plot of LotR better sooooooo yeah.)

However, I was still going in to my office a couple times a week for in-person tasks, as well as making masks and dealing with the fun paralyzing anxiety that came free with everyone’s bottles of 2020's New Year's champagne, so I didn't progress very far very fast. But then last month, I got a fun new surprise in this time chock-full of fun new surprises: I lost my job. (I was six weeks short of being there fifteen years, and it was via a two-minute phone call, but that's a whole nother rant that doesn't belong here.)

So starting June 1 I began a new chapter of life: as a full-time writer! One who put out one indie-pub novel seven years ago! Which still pulls in about seven dollars in royalties a month! Whahoo! But my options are few, my unfinished drafts are many, and this was what I always planned to do--albeit in a couple more years and with a few more debts paid. But sometimes the universe throws you in the deep end. From the balcony.

In an ideal world I would bang out the next Songbirds book within two months, but I think we can all agree that this world ain't ideal. (It's especially not ideal when you lose a month's worth of your severance to taxes right off the bat.) My biggest conflict has been what I need to focus on first, because my usual ADD-fueled shotgun method is not going to work when I need to have some releases out fast to pay the bills. (Pay part of the bills. Contribute slightly to the bills. Cover the price of the stamp on the bills. You know.) I've been going around in circles for weeks. Do I try to get out the next Songbird book? Do I pick up one of my other books unfinished from years ago and buff it into shape for a faster release? Do I fuck off on all the old shit hanging around with all its baggage, and its notes on crop rotations, and family trees, and NaNoWriMo out a one-off book about-- idek, catboy alchemists late for anime school, or something?

But really, Songbirds is the only thing that makes sense. Even if it means rereading things I haven't looked at for years on end. Even if it means brushing up on my own (extended) canon. Even if it means having moments where I genuinely can't remember if I killed off a character (or if they even made it into EH or I was saving them for later orrr....?) Even if it means turning up here like a runaway hoping their key still works.

So here's what I have planned, at least today: to finish up the second edition of Evensong's Heir as soon as possible, and then to release the book of short stories set in the world of Valnon that I've had planned for ages. It's not the sequel, not yet, but hopefully that will be a bridge to the sequel, and give me time to produce the second book that my birds (and their sellswords) deserve.

(And if not, well. I'm not ruling out alchemist catboys.)

[snini-9]

Happy Birthday L83 Moonlight!

“Happy 30th birthday, L83! Thirty years ago today, the Center for Whale Research was fortunate to see and document L83 on the day she was born. The encounter with Southern Residents on July 27, 1990, turned into a memorable day: L83’s birth, followed by a Superpod.

Are you a Center for Whale Research Member? If not, consider becoming one. Your financial support helps us continue our studies and speak out on behalf of the Southern Resident orcas. Learn more >

L83 breaching in 2018 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

This is the way Dave Ellifrit remembers the day of L83's birth.

July 27, 1990, started early. The skies were partly cloudy with fog in the south of Haro Strait. Somebody was up and paying attention, saw activity on the water, and shouted “Whales!” to staff sleeping in tents and campers in the yard. We crawled out of our sleeping bags and made it down to the Center for Whale Research’s oceanfront deck by 0700 to watch and record K pod and most of L pod heading north. The whales headed past CWR in a loose group with a larger tight group of L pod whales behind them. All of L pod except for L1, L35, L54, and L65 of the L35 matriline were present.

We noticed that L47 was trailing the large group of L pod whales by about 50 yards and was moving slowly as they went by. Shortly after the whales passed, a big fog bank rolled up the west side of San Juan Island. We were socked in for the next couple of hours. Later that morning, the fog finally burned off some and receded back down the west side. A few of us decided to go see if we could catch up to K and L pods.

L83 on the day she was born, July 27, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Earthwatch staff person Rhonda Claridge, and I went out in 18-foot-long Namu, a boat on loan to Kelley and owned by Bob and Jean Van Leuven (previous owners of Western Prince). We saw our first whales on the northwest side of Stuart Island, right around the corner from Turn Point. We only saw two whales at first. They were hard to get close to and identify against the dark shoreline of Stuart Island.

The whales turned out to be L21 and L47. They were constantly changing directions. There seemed to be something strange about their behavior, and we eventually noticed something odd about the wake L47 was making. Finally, when the lighting was right, we saw a tiny, brand new calf with a flopped over fin next to L47! The calf—to be newly minted L83—had obviously been born since L47 passed CWR earlier that morning. There was a chance that it had been born right in front of us! L83 was L47’s first documented calf. The three whales straightened out and began traveling northeast up Boundary Pass. It became a very peaceful scene, and we soon left the new trio so they could have some alone time.

Sixteen-day-old L82 with L55 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

L62, L80 and L27, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Just a little over two weeks earlier, our colleagues Robin Baird and Pam Stacey had witnessed L55 give birth to L82 near Victoria. Their observations were quite different from ours. They reported several whales being involved and lots of splashing. The newly born L82 got thrown around a bit before all the whales porpoised west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It sounded so much more frantic compared to the quiet scene we had just witnessed. CWR staff got to see and document L82 two days after she was born. She seemed fine after her rough welcome to the world.

After reflecting on what we had just witnessed near Turn Point, Kelley, Rhonda, and I scanned for the rest of K and L pods. We found them deep in Boundary Pass heading northeast past Sandy Point on Waldron Island. They were acting excited and traveling quickly northeast in the direction of Patos Island while in a loose group with lots of splashing going on. When we were over halfway between Skipjack and Patos Islands, we just happened to look north. We suddenly noticed that J pod had arrived from the Strait of Georgia and were now lined up abreast and logging at the surface on the south side of Patos Island. Waiting for the Ks and Ls to arrive. We wondered if K and L pods would form up in lines and face J pod in a classic “greeting ceremony.” But K and L pods just trickled into J pod, and then the party got started.

K5 taillob, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

L10, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

While we didn’t get to see a greeting ceremony, we did have a classic Superpod on our hands. Everywhere you looked, there were large balls of rolling, socializing whales. Individuals would move from group to group. It was not uncommon for a whale from a group we had just left to magically appear with the whales we were currently looking at. It was hard to keep track of everything going on. Once, while we were all looking in one direction, we heard a little trickle of water behind us. We all jumped in surprise as L10 blew loudly right beside the boat.

Superpod socializing, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

K17 following around L11 and L77 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

The Superpod went on for the next several hours. The whales were still socializing when we left in the early afternoon. Only when we were leaving did we see L21, L47, and L83 again. They were on the very periphery of the socializing whales and did not look like they wanted to partake in the partying.

Center for Whale Research staff would see L83 again about three weeks later. She would, obviously, grow up over the years to be a big, healthy-looking Southern Resident female. She had her first documented calf, L110, in 2007.

1990 was a good calf year for L pod and the SRKWs in general. When we saw L pod for the first time in mid-June, there were already two new calves. L27 had shown up with her third calf, L80, and L60 had her first documented calf, L81. Then L82 was born on July 11 and L83 on July 27. L pod had a third summer baby and its fifth of the year when L84 first appeared in late August, traveling with L5 (even though it was L51’s first calf). And a sixth calf, K24, was born to K14 in the late summer, although we only saw it once in late September.

L47 and 18-day-old L83 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

1991 would bring more Southern Resident calves and some confusion. K14’s calf, K24, was gone, but K13 had a new one. We wondered if some calf switching had been going on before we looked at the eye patches and realized they were two different calves. It turned out that K14 had lost her calf while K13 had her second calf, K25. This was the first time we really began using eyepatches to confirm calves’ identities. During their first year, when they experience really patchy skin. We had a similar problem when L51 showed up in 1991 with a calf that we originally called L85, and then we called L28’s new calf of the year, L86. We eventually figured it out that L85 was L84, and it really was L51’s calf. L5 must have been helping out L51 with the care of the new calf. This is something that we have seen several times over the years in births involving new mothers. So L28’s calf became L85, and L4’s new calf was L86. This caused a whole lot of erasing on our ID sheets. Back then, we use to ID every frame of the black and white ID film. And this, we often reminded our Earthwatch volunteers, was one of the reasons we always did our IDs in pencil!

Fall of 1991 would bring two more Southern Resident calves when we first saw J26 and J27 on November 2—both under two weeks of age and J26 with part of his umbilical cord still attached.

Unfortunately, we just aren’t seeing this kind of calf production in Southern Residents anymore. Both L82 and L83 are well into their reproductive years and could easily have had three well-spaced calves each by now. And yet, L83 has a single 13-year-old male offspring, and L82 has one 10-year-old male offspring. This has become a worrisome trend in recent decades. Of the sixteen SRKW females born since 1990 who have been recorded with a calf or were thought to be pregnant at some point (J28, J31, J32, J35, J36, J37, J41, K27, K28, L82, L83, L86, L90, L91, L94, and L103), nine currently only have a single male offspring, two (J36 and L90) currently have no offspring at all, and three (J28, J32, and K28) are dead. Another five SRKW females born during the 1980s (J22, K16, K20, K22, and L72) also only had single male offspring. Another couple of SRKW matrilines only have male offspring, and three adult males are the sole survivors of their respective matrilines. We are looking at a lot of dead-end matrilines and a major population crash in the coming decades if more female calves are not born into the Southern Resident community.

L83 at 29 years, 363 days old (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Baby booms like the one we had in 2014-2015 won’t do any good if the calves don’t grow up and reproduce themselves. Of the eight calves born and named in those two years, six were males. One of the two female calves from that period has since died along with two of the males. Unless we can provide the whales with proper amounts of salmon and reduce the contaminants in their blubber messing with their immune and reproductive systems, the Southern Resident community will continue to decline.

We are doing our best to keep a positive attitude and will continue to document and monitor the population dynamics of the SRKWs in the coming years. We hope we will be celebrating L83’s and L82’s fiftieth birthdays twenty years from now and that they will be veteran grandmothers by then!”

Article taken from this CWR blog post. All credits go to them, I’m just passing it along. 

[crinoline-gremlin]

#dragoncon lineup! Sadly Allison Scagliotti canceled so my Jasper in Deadland is scrapped. Current lineup! Thursday day: Rose Tyler -- Girl in the Fireplace Thursday evening: Amy Lee -- My Immortal Friday morning: Seanan Mcguire -- Inspirational Women group Friday afternoon: Wendy Darling -- Peter Pan 2003 Friday evening: Princess Baird -- The Librarians Saturday morning: Olivia Caliban -- A Series of Unfortunate Events Saturday afternoon: Peggy Carter Art Nouveau Saturday evening: Peggy Carter gold dress Sunday: Queen Lucy -- The Chronicles of Narnia https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm2HDO-A-Ls/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r9y2fwnddiaw

[tachtutor]

Associations Between Personal Care Product Use Patterns and Breast Cancer Risk Among White and Black Women in the Sister Study Associations Between Personal Care Product Use Patterns and Breast Cancer Risk Among White and Black Women in the Sister Study     Taylor KW, Troester MA, Herring AH, Engel LS, Nichols HB, Sandler DP, Baird DD. February 2018

[mskrolgoes]

Day 4: Animal Rescue Center 

On this day of my trip, I visited Rescate Animal Zoo Ave, which is a Wildlife Rescue Center in Costa Rica. This is an incredible place that helps save hurt and injured animals. Once those animals are given food, medicine, training, and lots of love, they are released back into the wild. For any animals who can't be released due to health or behavioral reasons, This place breeds those animals and releases their offspring back into the wild. The animals here are treated so well. Our guide, Jeanne Marie Pittman, is an animal nurse who lives and volunteers here.  She told us lots of stories about the animals. One of them is about the toucan in the 6th photo. This bird was badly injured because a mean person ripped off the top part of its beak. So Jeanne, along with other animal doctors, used a machine called a 3D printer to make a new beak for the Toucan! The toucan is now healthy and happy! I met other animals here too like the Baird's Tapir (seen in the last photo). This animal is nocturnal, so it sleeps in the day and is awake at night. I also saw scarlet macaws, owls, sloths, ocelots, iguanas, and more! 

However, Rescate is very small, local, and doesn’t get a lot of money. They do their very best to take care of the animals, but they need money for new medical supplies and other items that help the animals. If you and your family would like to help, this is what you can do! 

1. Create a fundraiser and/or donate money to the center! Donations can be made here. https://www.rescateanimalzooave.org/home.html#contact . 

2. This rescue center has a wishlist on Amazon wishlist. The link for that is here https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1C71M2FJJYION .

3. If your family can help locate medical equipment or supplies for the animals, please email Jeanne Marie Pittman at jeannemarie@wildlifeaidint.org .  

[siavahdainthemoon]

Hey Sia! I know you're, like one of the best resources for queer books and I was wondering if you could recommend a bunch to me? I've decided I want to start a queer book review blog because it needs to be done. And any help you can give me would be really appreciated.

But of course lovely! (And I am so flattered that you came to me. YOU MUST LINK ME TO YOUR BLOG IF YOU MAKE ONE, OKAY?)

Bear in mind that the vast majority of these are fantasy or sci-fi. There’s a few historical ones in here, but fantasy is what I live and breathe, so.

THAT SAID: my list of Absolute Must Read Queer Lit

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek

Kushiel’s Universe series by Jacqueline Carey (especially the first and third trilogies.)

The Gaia Chronicles by Naomi Foyle

Under the Poppy trilogy by Kathe Koja

Rhapsody of Blood series by Roz Kaveney

Twin Kingdoms Romances series by MCA Hogarth

Everything ever by Catherynne Valente, particularly Palimpsest and Radiance.

The Raven and the Reindeer by T Kingfisher

Books of the Raksura series by Martha Wells

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Lost Souls by Poppy Brite (horror, be warned)

The Administration series by Manna Francis (pls message me for trigger warnings if you might need them)

The Shattered Sigil trilogy by Courtney Schafer (book one looks straight, but TRUST ME, it gets super queer)

Hexslinger trilogy by Gemma Files (warnings for high level of gore)

A Rational Arrangement by L Rowyn

Promethean Age series by Elizabeth Bear

Book of All Hours duet by Hal Duncan

The Inheritance trilogy and/or the Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin

Alpennia series by Heather Rose Jones

Evensong’s Heir by LS Baird (ignore the awful cover, truly gorgeous writing + story)

Sea Change by SM Wheeler

Turn of the Story/In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Metamorphoses trilogy by Sarah McCarry

Hild by Nicola Griffith

Bone Dance by Emma Bull

Riverside series by Ellen Kushner, incl the Tremontaine prequel series

Triptych by JM Frey

Tale of the Five series by Diane Duane

The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly

The Abyss Surrounds Us duet by Emily Skrutskie

I thiiiiiiiiiiink that’s probably enough to be going on with? XD

[gaymensfashion]

20 Finalists Named in Levi’s® x ARTS THREAD Design Competition

From 327 to 20.

We searched for talent from universities around the world for this year’s Levi’s® x ARTS THREAD Design competition, attracting more than 320 impressive applicants! Out of those, 20 finalists have officially been named.

The Levi’s® x ARTS THREAD Design Challenge is an annual partnership with ARTS THREAD, which provides online portfolio hosting to design students around the globe. This year, applicants were asked to define their own philosophies and create capsule collections for a new version of Levi’s Engineered Jeans.

Out of the 327 applicants, our panel of experts had the arduous task of trimming it down to 20 finalists. Congratulations to the following students and their schools that made the cut:

Siwar Dridi, Birmingham City University

Lucy Elloway, University of Leeds 

Cleo Harcombe, De Montfort University

Keun Il Choi, SCAD Savannah  

David Weksler, Shenkar

Mikayla Ahmad, Moore College of Art & Design

Alissar Hammoud, University of Technology Sydney 

Shaun Harris, Royal College of Art 

Yusun Lee, Kingston School of Art

Ncedo Nid Matomela, University of Salford

C’era Wolffe, University of Salford     

Da Eun Lee, Fashion Institute of Technology  

Viet Do Tu, Hanoi University of Fine Arts

Danielle Onyia, Kent State University

Alice Michell, Academy of Art University

Shelby Herndon, Virginia Commonwealth University

Lea Laronce, Ecole De La Chambre Syndicale De La Couture

Elyse Jones, University of Hertfordshire 

Rosie Baird, Edinburgh College of Art

Levi’s® Design team will narrow this list of finalists to eight. Only two will be chosen to partake in a 10-week summer 2018 internship at Levi Strauss & Co.’s San Francisco headquarters. They will get the opportunity to work with a group of designers led by Jonathan Cheung, Levi’s® Senior Vice President of Design, and take advantage of the LS&Co. Archives. Also, they’ll spend time at the Eureka Innovation Lab with Bart Sights, Vice President of Technical Innovation.

The focus of this year’s competition comes just in time for the 20th anniversary of the Levi’s Engineered Jeans, which were known for their ergonomically twisted leg seams. The collection reimagined the relationship of form, function and fabric, and prioritized the “freedom to move.”

Levi’s® is now looking for help to ignite another great revolution in denim while delivering comfort and performance in a sustainable way.

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lang: en_US

The post 20 Finalists Named in Levi’s® x ARTS THREAD Design Competition appeared first on Levi Strauss.

[hillcountrytimes]

Highland Capital Management LP Has Boosted Lhc Group (LHCG) Stake By $737,000; Chase Investment Counsel Has Lowered Vantiv (VNTV) Stake By $388,647

Highland Capital Management Lp increased Lhc Group Inc (LHCG) stake by 29% reported in 2017Q2 SEC filing. Highland Capital Management Lp acquired 11,000 shares as Lhc Group Inc (LHCG)’s stock rose 23.21%. The Highland Capital Management Lp holds 48,925 shares with $3.32 million value, up from 37,925 last quarter. Lhc Group Inc now has $1.21B valuation. The stock increased 1.04% or $0.68 during the last trading session, reaching $66.11. About 87,487 shares traded. LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) has risen 42.98% since December 4, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 26.28% the S&P500.

Chase Investment Counsel Corp decreased Vantiv Inc (VNTV) stake by 6.02% reported in 2017Q2 SEC filing. Chase Investment Counsel Corp sold 6,169 shares as Vantiv Inc (VNTV)’s stock declined 5.33%. The Chase Investment Counsel Corp holds 96,335 shares with $6.10M value, down from 102,504 last quarter. Vantiv Inc now has $13.03B valuation. The stock decreased 2.47% or $1.85 during the last trading session, reaching $73.28. About 1.54 million shares traded. Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) has risen 14.83% since December 4, 2016 and is uptrending. It has underperformed by 1.87% the S&P500.

Investors sentiment increased to 1.22 in 2017 Q2. Its up 0.26, from 0.96 in 2017Q1. It is positive, as 33 investors sold VNTV shares while 115 reduced holdings. 59 funds opened positions while 122 raised stakes. 150.77 million shares or 1.84% less from 153.60 million shares in 2017Q1 were reported. Mutual Of America Cap Mngmt Limited Co reported 6,011 shares. Caxton Assoc LP invested 0% in Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV). Fmr Limited Com owns 1.67 million shares. Moreover, Optimum Inv has 0.29% invested in Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) for 13,019 shares. State Of Wisconsin Inv Board has invested 0.04% in Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV). Bradley Foster And Sargent Ct accumulated 11,135 shares. Moreover, Bluespruce Investments LP has 11.59% invested in Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV). Parametric Portfolio Assoc Ltd Llc holds 144,562 shares or 0.01% of its portfolio. 4.34M were reported by Wellington Mngmt Group Inc Ltd Liability Partnership. Proshare Advsr Limited Liability Com owns 5,973 shares. Barclays Public Limited Co invested in 17,020 shares. 543,060 were reported by Smith Asset Mgmt Grp Ltd Partnership. Bridgewater LP reported 0% stake. First Mercantile Trust, Tennessee-based fund reported 9,033 shares. The Maine-based Schroder Investment Mgmt Grp has invested 0.18% in Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV).

Among 36 analysts covering Vantiv Inc (NYSE:VNTV), 22 have Buy rating, 0 Sell and 14 Hold. Therefore 61% are positive. Vantiv Inc had 85 analyst reports since July 31, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. RBC Capital Markets maintained Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) rating on Wednesday, August 9. RBC Capital Markets has “Buy” rating and $7800 target. The company was maintained on Wednesday, July 5 by Stifel Nicolaus. Robert W. Baird maintained Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) rating on Tuesday, July 18. Robert W. Baird has “Buy” rating and $7200 target. Jefferies downgraded the stock to “Hold” rating in Thursday, February 9 report. The firm has “Buy” rating by Suntrust Robinson given on Friday, January 8. The firm earned “Buy” rating on Wednesday, August 9 by Cowen & Co. As per Tuesday, September 8, the company rating was downgraded by Zacks. The rating was downgraded by Keefe Bruyette & Woods on Tuesday, October 6 to “Mkt Perform”. Wood downgraded it to “Market Perform” rating and $49 target in Tuesday, October 6 report. Jefferies maintained Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) rating on Wednesday, October 11. Jefferies has “Hold” rating and $72.0 target.

Analysts await Vantiv, Inc. (NYSE:VNTV) to report earnings on February, 7. They expect $0.90 earnings per share, up 30.43% or $0.21 from last year’s $0.69 per share. VNTV’s profit will be $160.01M for 20.36 P/E if the $0.90 EPS becomes a reality. After $0.87 actual earnings per share reported by Vantiv, Inc. for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts 3.45% EPS growth.

Since June 9, 2017, it had 0 buys, and 1 insider sale for $733,857 activity. Another trade for 11,622 shares valued at $733,857 was made by TAYLOR MATT on Friday, June 9.

Among 11 analysts covering LHC Group (NASDAQ:LHCG), 10 have Buy rating, 0 Sell and 1 Hold. Therefore 91% are positive. LHC Group had 29 analyst reports since August 7, 2015 according to SRatingsIntel. The firm earned “Hold” rating on Monday, November 27 by Robert W. Baird. The stock has “Buy” rating by Jefferies on Wednesday, July 19. Jefferies maintained LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) rating on Wednesday, September 20. Jefferies has “Buy” rating and $68.0 target. Jefferies maintained it with “Buy” rating and $6500 target in Tuesday, June 6 report. As per Friday, March 10, the company rating was upgraded by RBC Capital Markets. The company was maintained on Monday, July 17 by RBC Capital Markets. The firm earned “Hold” rating on Sunday, October 15 by Robert W. Baird. The firm has “Buy” rating given on Friday, January 27 by Benchmark. The rating was maintained by RBC Capital Markets with “Buy” on Monday, June 12. RBC Capital Markets maintained LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) rating on Tuesday, November 7. RBC Capital Markets has “Buy” rating and $81.0 target.

Since June 5, 2017, it had 0 insider purchases, and 3 insider sales for $1.82 million activity. The insider Coliseum Capital Management – LLC sold 14,450 shares worth $949,181. $206,670 worth of LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) shares were sold by Stelly Donald Dwayne.

Investors sentiment increased to 1.53 in 2017 Q2. Its up 0.17, from 1.36 in 2017Q1. It increased, as 14 investors sold LHCG shares while 56 reduced holdings. 38 funds opened positions while 69 raised stakes. 15.44 million shares or 1.26% more from 15.25 million shares in 2017Q1 were reported. The France-based Credit Agricole S A has invested 0% in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG). State Of Tennessee Treasury Department holds 69,032 shares. Ls Investment Limited Liability Co holds 0% or 600 shares in its portfolio. Moreover, California State Teachers Retirement Sys has 0% invested in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG) for 27,921 shares. 944 are held by Fifth Third Savings Bank. Massachusetts-based Numeric Investors Ltd Company has invested 0% in LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:LHCG). Picton Mahoney Asset Mngmt, a Ontario – Canada-based fund reported 16,100 shares. Capstone Asset Mngmt reported 3,603 shares or 0.01% of all its holdings. Boston Advsr Lc reported 10,660 shares or 0.02% of all its holdings. Loomis Sayles & Company LP holds 0% or 485 shares. 15,389 were accumulated by First Tru Advisors Ltd Partnership. Gilder Gagnon Howe And Co Limited holds 28,928 shares. Comerica Comml Bank owns 15,699 shares. Ubs Asset Mgmt Americas invested in 4,600 shares. Mufg Americas Holdings reported 204 shares or 0% of all its holdings.

Highland Capital Management Lp decreased Western Gas Equity Partners (NYSE:WGP) stake by 26,264 shares to 339,719 valued at $14.62M in 2017Q2. It also reduced Nexpoint Cr Strategies Fd stake by 948,289 shares and now owns 1.10 million shares. Neurocrine Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NBIX) was reduced too.

The post Highland Capital Management LP Has Boosted Lhc Group (LHCG) Stake By $737,000; Chase Investment Counsel Has Lowered Vantiv (VNTV) Stake By $388,647 appeared first on Stock Market News | HillCountryTimes | Get it Today.

from Stock Market News | HillCountryTimes | Get it Today https://www.hillcountrytimes.com/2017/12/04/highland-capital-management-lp-has-boosted-lhc-group-lhcg-stake-by-737000-chase-investment-counsel-has-lowered-vantiv-vntv-stake-by-388647/

[reinekes-fox]

Songbird writing

Yeah, needed to write sth since i am in a songbird mood, go and buy that book it has magical choir boys, ghosts, a badass blind queen and is gay, what more do you need? It has also so good worldbuilding and lore, it has its own lyrics! (dont be confused about the cover btw there is zero smut)

@lsbaird i swear i am normal

„Why did you pick the colour if you don’t even like it? Finally grew tired of all the black?” Preybird Kite couldn’t hold himself back from mocking his Lark, all in good natured fun of course. They knew each other since they had been flockboys, since they had been chosen as Songbirds and since than sung down Heaven… not literally, Valnon really didn’t need another earthquake. Now others stood upon the dais, sang what they had sung and worn the tributes that once had been given to them.

And now they were Preybirds, responsible for keeping the temple running. And he had changed the colourful Thrushs robes for a deep ruby, he couldnt bear parting with all that made him the Trush of Valnon, it was soothing to him.

Preybird Heron mumbled something that not even the trained singers ears could pick up and he chuckled. Maybe that was a lifetime of having to stand up early, while he only had to sing Noontide. His finger went to touch his ring, copper and garnet the sign that he had once been the Trush of Valnon.

Black and silver on Herons finger, the blond Lark. A bad omen, whispered rumours. He didn’t waste breath responding with an actual argument, covering them in swearwords like they deserved.

Lark and Trush, without their Dove. It was good like that, the doves were special, yes, but also dangerous. Eothans earthquake only showed that, and whenever he looked at the slab of stone that closed the door of the room of their missing third he shuddered. Still, he couldn’t help but yearn to feel complete. They were two where they should be three. Once it had been Saint Alveron, Lairke and Thryse. Now there were only Lark and Trush, waiting for something that wouldn’t come.

A missing piece. Sometimes he could have sworn he saw the second doves’ ghost, feel the cold breeze…. Of course he followed it. Maybe it had been good that he was Thrush instead of Lark, as he remembered the days he rushed back after exploring the catacombs and returned dusty and dirty, losing the sense of time in the underbelly of the ancient city, watching mosaics that now only decorated corpes looked at, and he assumed that he showed a lot more awe at the history surrounding him, and wondering who turned the skeletons into artworks. One time he cleaned up a pile that had fallen over.

As his term came to an end he began to sing to the dead, bringing them noontide in the middle of the night, having to accept that had been harder than he would have thought and he didn’t mention it to his Lark. He was the Thrush, the light in the darkness, the warmth of the sun, the middle ground between everything. Sometimes when he was in the dark, and didn't feel very sunny at all, he could have sworn there was someone singing alongside him, a beautiful and otherworldly tone. But he still recognised the voice of a fellow temple bird under the strangeness.

[tumimmtxpapers]

Dramatic enhancement of the detection limits of bioassays via ultrafast deposition of polydopamine.

Dramatic enhancement of the detection limits of bioassays via ultrafast deposition of polydopamine. Nat Biomed Eng. 2017;1: Authors: Li J, Baird MA, Davis MA, Tai W, Zweifel LS, Adams Waldorf KM, Gale M, Rajagopal L, Pierce RH, Gao X Abstract The ability to detect biomarkers with ultrahigh sensitivity radically transformed biology and disease diagnosis. However, owing to incompatibilities with infrastructure in current biological and medical laboratories, recent innovations in analytical technology have not received broad adoption. Here, we report a simple, universal 'add-on' technology (dubbed EASE) that can be directly plugged into the routine practices of current research and clinical laboratories and that converts the ordinary sensitivities of common bioassays to extraordinary ones. The assay relies on the bioconjugation capabilities and ultrafast and localized deposition of polydopamine at the target site, which permit a large number of reporter molecules to be captured and lead to detection-sensitivity enhancements exceeding 3 orders of magnitude. The application of EASE in the enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay-based detection of the HIV antigen in blood from patients leads to a sensitivity lower than 3 fg ml(-1). We also show that EASE allows for the direct visualization, in tissues, of the Zika virus and of low-abundance biomarkers related to neurological diseases and cancer immunotherapy. PMID: 29082104 [PubMed] http://dlvr.it/PyTV0x

[lsbaird]

working title: shutter (sneak preview)

[Something Halloweeny from my unfinished novel files. - LSB]

Jerde fell into step with the Downbridge crowd and slipped along with them, ladies in not-quite this year's fashions, sweepers looking for copper bits from passersby, rough-faced laborers moving in a sluggish stream towards the shipyards. The locals knew him, some in the trade would tip a hat and offer a muttered "Morning," as the Enforcer went by. Jerde, preoccupied with thoughts of breakfast, did not linger over social pleasantries. They were familiar, as were the shops and the streets, and they moved by Jerde in an unnoticed blur of the daily commonplace. He was only a few blocks from his destination when a glaring inconsistency in the scene broke him out of his reverie, and left him staring at the freshly-painted plate glass sign of a newly-opened shopfront. The letters, in crisp green outlined in gold, declared:

C.P. DEVLIN, PHOTOGRAPHY CABINET CARDS, PRINTS, PORTRAITURE, SPIRIT IMAGES

Without the last bit, Jerde could have bidden C. P. Devlin and his new enterprise goodbye and good luck, and been happily tucked into his coffee and molasses before the bells of Chantry Hill struck nine. But no, the bold statement was there, indelible, and Jerde sighed. Perhaps this one would be as easily seen off as the last one, provided the owner was in. On the other side of the painted letters, Jerde could see beyond his own reflection that the shop was lit. Duty, such as it was, called.

A bell jangled as Jerde entered, and he was at once enveloped in pleasant warmth, green velvet curtains, and the pungent scents of vinegar, albumen, and sawdust. The shop had been a stationer's the year before, shuttered when the owner died, and was a narrow little closet of a space, nothing but a wide-ish alley bricked and roofed to be habitable. A jumble of furnishings sat to one side, chairs to be pulled in for the sitters, a heavy oak desk for those who wished to look studious, bolts of spare drapery. Packing crates sat open beside the counter, a large satchel of printed carpet was tossed unceremoniously into the top one. C.P. Devilin, for all his fancy signage, did not appear to be quite open for business.

"Hello?" Jerde shuffled aside old newspapers on the counter and discovered a tarnished bell underneath; he tapped the clapper and found that it didn't work. "Anyone here?"

"Just a second!" Something clunked beyond the shut door of the back room--once a closet, now likely the photographer's dark room. There was a crash, a bit of creative profanity, and the eponymous Mr. Devlin emerged onto the scene with a dab of shaving foam behind one ear, yanking his bracers up over his shoulders.

Jerde summed him up with a glance. Tall, broad-shouldered, but not bulky--a man that could make his living through physical labor but clearly did not. His hands were deft, scrupulously clean for someone in an occupation rife with messy chemicals, and he wore a silver ring on the smallest finger of his left hand. His hair was dark, his eyes also, and his brows angled and thick in a way that charcoal artists adored. Jerde put him at no more than thirty-five, northerner, and a confidence trickster by trade. He swung one leg over an open crate and hurried to take Jerde's hand.

"Sorry, sorry, haven't really hung out the bunting yet, but welcome, all the same. You'll pardon the mess, I only just caught the train in yesterday."

"New in Queensriver, are you?" Jerde asked, though he already knew the answer to that question, and to several others as well. "You've set up quickly."

"Well, yes." C.P. Devlin looked around the messy studio with a slight frown, as though not sure how it had all come to be in this state. "Already had everything shipped down, only had to ship myself after. Felt I needed a change of scenery, so I said to myself, 'Chancery, old boy, it's time to pull up the roots.'" After this announcement, he smiled a winning, genial smile at Jerde, and balled up his fists on his hips as though there was nothing more to be done about the matter.

"I see," Jerde said, eyeing the overstuffed armchairs. They had not been shipped from anywhere, he knew, as that old brown horsehair monster had been in the window of one of the local junk shops for months. "Been in photography for long?"

"Oh, you know!" he said, in a way that cleared up very little. "Every picture I take is for the first time, I say."

I don't doubt it, Jerde thought. Only one thing lent credence to the fact that Chancery P. Devlin had been in the photography business for a long time, and that was his camera. The boxy apparatus balanced atop its tripod was easily thirty years out of date, an old wet-plate model long since retired in favor of more convenient cameras, those with auto-shutters and compartments built to accommodate dry gelatin plates. The charlatan Jerde had just seen out of town had even had a tiny little creature capable of using the latest acetate film, more delicate than a dragonfly's wing.

"Ah, she's an old work-horse," Devlin said, noticing the direction of Jerde's gaze. "I'm afraid she's the only one that made the trip, my others got held up somewhere around Richmond. But I can still make good prints from that one, even have an adapter if you'd like a set of jewel prints for all your sisters' lockets." He pulled a lens out from the carpet-bag and held it up to one eye, splitting his single iris into a dozen like some deformed spider's. "So!" Devlin concluded, setting down the lens. "What can I do for you?"

"I was interested in your more... esoteric services," Jerde said, peeling off his gloves. "I take it you are experienced in the art of photographing the unphysical realm?"

Devlin raised his courtroom-sketch eyebrows knowingly. "Ahh, I see," he said. "Should have pegged you for that type the minute I saw you walk through that door."

You didn't see me walk through that door, Jerde thought, with more annoyance than was strictly called for.

"Something about your eyes," Devlin said, leaning over the counter for a better look. "You're a seer of the unseen, one with the gift, as my gran would say."

"Born with a caul, at midnight, on a leap year's day," Jerde said, deadpan. He might as well throw it out; it was a fact. It was always better to bait the snare with some truth. "And you can guarantee a manifestation in your photographs?"

"Absolutely," Devlin assured him, and stuck his thumbs in his bracers, unaware of the trap that had just snapped shut around him.

"In that case, I would like a portrait," Jerde said, and pulled out his badge. "And I'm afraid I must insist on observing the entire process, to ensure there's no trickery involved."

The photographer looked from the badge to Jerde's face, nonplussed. "What's that?" he asked, peering at the badge through his floppy bangs. "A cracker-jack prize?"

"It is the emblem of the Bureau of Spiritual Affairs," Jerde answered, acerbic, "And as such it gives me the right to investigate the claims and the premises of any business purporting to offer goods, services, or other industry of a supernatural type."

"You're joking." The photographer went over the badge again, with its engraved motto: non cognitio sine fide, and the seven-pointed star with the flame at its center, and took a step back for a better look at Jerde's face. "You're not joking."

"I assure you, the reputation of this city is no joke to me," Jerde said, slipping his badge back into his vest pocket, where it rested snugly next to his father's pocketwatch. "No doubt that's what drew you here, as it has thousands like you. Queensriver was the epicenter of the war; every garret and gate-post has an accompanying ghost story. The very founding families were reported to consist of witches and seers far before that, even. But while the evidence of the supernatural world adjacent to ours is indisputable, it cannot police itself." Jerde narrowed his pale eyes at the photographer. "And sir, if you have come to swindle the people of this city, and to sully the emerging strain of para-natural science with tomfoolery and mawkish sales-prattle, then you had best pack up now."

It was a speech that Jerde saved for special occasions; usually the badge was enough to make his point. A rare few troublemakers set up shop in Queensriver without being aware of the city ordinances surrounding spiritual commerce, but once it was made clear to them just how deeply their pockets would be fined for breaking the law, and how far they would be kicked out of town afterwards, they usually packed up and left meekly, on their own, after only the first warning. There were other towns, less reputed for spiritualism, where the gullible could still be fleeced without running afoul of the authorities right off.

C. P. Devlin, however, was a new and interesting type of beast. "Let me get this straight," he said, and the snake-oily veneer on his voice was gone, leaving behind a less nasal, more blunt turn of vowel that Jerde found infinitely preferable. "You've got a whole organization here just to throw books at any poor bastard who sets up shop with a smoked lantern and a crystal ball?"

"Essentially, yes." Jerde felt a little smile creeping onto his lips. "Only charlatans guarantee results, Mr. Devlin."

The photographer leaned back on his heels, considering this. "A charlatan, or someone who really knows his business."

"I've yet to see anyone, no matter how gifted, turn up evidence on every try," Jerde answered. "Even the best seer cannot part the mists on occasion, even the most acute medium will encounter recalcitrant spirits. And as for photography, which is my particular line of investigation, it is far easier to induce a spirit to show on the plate by means of a little pre-exposure or superimposing than it is to coax one to stay still before the shutter."

Devin gave Jerde a long look, sucking in his cheeks as though sizing up a thug in a pub. "You think I'm a fraud, then?"

"On the contrary, Mr. Devlin. I know you're a fraud. And either you will produce a spirit in my picture by means of some trickery, which will earn you investigation by the Bureau and the levying of a substantial fine--or you will not, in which case I will have to write you up for false advertisement and report you to the chamber of commerce. And believe me when I tell you, of those two options, we're the easy ones to deal with."

Devlin crossed his arms, and it occurred to Jerde what the man was thinking. Jerde was not a big man, slightly built and with the physique of a man whose boyhood was spent in books and frequent illnesses. In a flat-out fight, all bets would be on the photographer, unless those placing the wagers were aware of Jerde's brief but stellar career in the Queensriver Seminary's boxing club. Jerde almost hoped the man would try to punch him. There was a distinct satisfaction in taking down someone overconfident, and Jerde was still feeling slighted about missing out on his biscuits. He was braced for Devlin to swing; he was not prepared for the man to laugh.

"Fine, then!" Devlin said, slapping his open palm on the counter. "I'll take your picture, and we'll see what comes out."

"I will have to be present during the preparation of the plate, and its development," Jerde warned him, taking off his hat. "And I assure you, I am familiar with all forms of photographic trickery."

"That makes two of us," Devlin answered, smiling his even, white smile. "But I'll do the photograph straight, and maybe one of your ghosts will oblige me with an appearance."

"I find that highly unlikely," Jerde said, and stepped over to the studio area of the shop. He found he liked Devlin, now that the man had put off his ingratiating manner. No doubt he would turn up a perfectly ordinary photograph, and be gone without a trace by the time Jerde had reported him to the city. Which, all things considered, was not the worst possible outcome. Jerde might even get a decent portrait out of the deal.

Devlin, for all his dishonest demeanor, knew his way around the camera and his darkroom. Jerde quietly supervised the cleaning of the glass plate, the mixing and pouring of the chemical emulsion, the loading of the camera. He inspected the space behind the drapes at the back of the sitter's chair, he found no wires or strings or fragments of reflective mirror. The printing paper Devlin pulled out for Jerde's portrait bore no prior markings.

Jerde settled into the brown horsehair chair, one hand on the arm and his pocketwatch open in one palm. Devlin did the usual amount of squinting and tilting and ducking under the camera's cloth, but as far as Jerde could tell, it was all honest toil. Devlin uncapped the lens, Jerde held his breath as his image burned into the silver emulsion on the glass plate, and it was done. All in all, a simple, straightforward photograph. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but effective.

"You know your trade," Jerde commented, as Devlin sloshed the glass plate in water before dropping it in the fixer. In the darkroom, lit by a single lamp flame under a red glass chimney, the negative image of Jerde on the plate was only an indistinct collection of smudges. "You could do well as a regular photographer."

"I've no taste to be a regular anything," Devlin answered, wiping his hands on his shirttail. "There's no money in it whatsoever." He raked his hair out of his eyes, peering at the glass plate on the bottom of the tray of fixer. "And you might not say that after this is done. Seems to me I've gone and got a great big blot right on the middle of the plate." He lifted his head and cast around the dim confines of the little closet. It was not only his darkroom but also his bedroom; a cot was wedged under a shelf-full of chemical bottles, and an old mirror and washbowl sat at the end of his processing table. "Get me that bit of backing board there, would you?"

Jerde, watching out of simple curiosity more than suspicion at this point, did as he was asked. He still ran an eye over the bit of cardboard, making sure no faint phantoms were inscribed on it in silverpoint. It was nothing more than a bit of paper coated to be reflective, to turn a negative plate into a positive image for the photographer to inspect before making prints.

"There," Devlin said, pulling the plate from its last bath, and holding it up to the board in Jerde's hand. "Hold it there. If it's just a smudge I might be able to scrape... it... " Devlin's voice dwindled to a little fragment of itself, and crumbled. Even in the dull light, Jerde could see the change come over the man's face. Whatever he beheld on that glass plate, it was nothing so idle as a fingerprint, and it sucked all the life from his face, leaving a ghastly pallor behind. Not even the red glow of the lamp could mask the horror in his eyes. "I didn't do this," he breathed, to Jerde. "I swear by every saint whose name I ever forgot, I did not do this."

"Didn't do what?" Jerde asked, but Devlin's hands were shaking now, and Jerde reached out to catch the plate before the man could drop it. Tilting it to the lamp, he saw what it was C. P. Devlin had not done.

It was a good likeness of Jerde, to be sure. In the negative plate his pale blue eyes were uncanny, his sandy hair oddly dark. The image was clear, and Jerde's hand holding the watch had not shifted during the photographing, so that every link of the watch-chain was as crisp as a new aspen leaf. It would have been a portrait fit to hang in his mother's foyer-- if not for the fact that there was a murdered girl standing behind Jerde's chair.

[katacala]

Seen at the Curious Iguana bookstore. Frankly, if you gave me God's phone number, I'd ask to be redirected to St. Alveron. :D

[reinekes-fox]

Some decorations I put up that gave me a bit of Songbirds of Valnon vibe (I am def going to rewrite the verse it looks so bad lol)! Also going to switch out the photo on the right.