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The Female Architect Behind Buenos Aires's Underground Necropolis During a recent spring afternoon in Buenos Aires, some 70 people crowded into a narrow, subterranean corridor straining to hear an actor in a blue dress. “This place doesn’t exist in the annals of Argentinian architecture,” the actor informed them in Spanish, motioning to two columbariums stacked 14 niches tall. “And the architect’s signature isn’t hidden in any of this monument’s walls.” The group was gathered in the Sixth Pantheon, a two-level labyrinth of crypts, tunnels, and sunken gardens tucked within the city’s largest cemetery. In 2019, a local drama company, the Mutant Woman, began staging immersive theater performances in this underground city of the dead. By the end of 2022, A More Realistic Work Than That of the World had become one of the hottest tickets in town, selling out within minutes. In the production, fictional cemetery workers guide attendees through the Pantheon’s nine interlinked galleries and 40,000 vaults. Along the way, audiences meet Ítala Fulvia Villa, the female architect behind the midcentury marvel, whose name and contributions were nearly forgotten—until now. For years, this striking work of modernist architecture was either overlooked entirely or attributed to Clorindo Testa. The famed brutalist did indeed contribute to the Great Pantheon, as it’s also called, but the actor dressed as Villa wanted to make one thing clear—“Here, he worked for her. She was his boss.” The Pantheon is hidden in the very center of Chacarita Cemetery, which covers some 230 acres (about a third the size of Central Park in New York City) in one of the city's hippest neighborhoods. Chacarita opened in 1871 partly because its predecessor, Recoleta Cemetery, refused to take yellow fever victims. As with Recoleta, Chacarita is laid out along boulevards lined with Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and neo-gothic mausoleums housing everyone from ex-presidents to tango legends. But walk past the ornate memorials and the cemetery opens onto a vast swathe of grass. Many tour guides simply cross this lawn not bothering to tell people about the subterranean mausoleum that lies beneath. French architect Léa Namer, who has raised awareness of the Sixth Pantheon with a website, a series of exhibits, and a forthcoming book, first came across the building in 2013. “I had this feeling of being in mythology, like Orpheus going down into the underworld,” she says of descending one of its colossal stairways. “It was like discovering a large, forgotten city.” The Pantheon was an attempt to accommodate an unprecedented number of dead after rural migrants and European immigrants flocked to booming Buenos Aires during the early 20th century. With space for some 23,200 coffins and 17,000 urns, the Pantheon was designed to meet the demand. And yet, the first time Namer noticed sunlight from internal courtyards filtering through concrete latticework, she saw the hand of someone who ��tried to do his or her best to make the people visiting their dead, their relatives, feel good.” Namer’s Argentinian friends and colleagues could tell her little about the Pantheon or its origin. Even in 2018, an article in La Nación, one of Argentina's two primary newspapers, focused on Testa’s contributions—the exact extent of which are unclear, though it’s widely agreed he was responsible for designing the concrete screens with geometric cutouts and matching sculpture of a cross near the entrances. But the La Nación article never once named the project’s lead. A 379-page history of Chacarita cemetery, Angels of Buenos Aires, barely mentions the Sixth Pantheon, focusing instead on a series of smaller subterranean pantheons near the cemetery’s entrance. As Namer embarked on her own painstaking research, she unearthed a 1961 issue of Nuestra Arquitectura that featured the newly built Pantheon. It said the creators “sought to eliminate the sensation of a catacomb.” It described electric coffin elevators—still used today—and a state-of-the-art deodorizing system. It also listed those involved in the project, including Testa, who was then in his 20s, and, hidden in the magazine’s table of contents, the project’s planner and director: Ítala Fulvia Villa. “For me, it was a shock,” Namer said of discovering that the lead architect was a woman, “because when I was downstairs in the Sexto Panteon I felt something I never felt before while visiting a building. Now, almost 10 years later, I think I can say I almost fell in love with the building.” Among the few surviving documents pertaining to Ítala Fulvia Villa are letters from Argentina's Central Society of Architects, such as one offering condolences on the death of her father Celestino Villa, an Italian engineer who came to Argentina during the great European immigration wave. Some of them address Ítala, who never married or had children, as Señorita Arquitecto. The use of the masculine form of the word shows just how few arquitectas existed in Argentina at the time, and has inspired the creators of A More Realistic Work to make a docufiction film that borrows "Señorita Arquitecto" for its title. Villa was only the sixth woman to enter the University of Buenos Aires's architecture school. After graduating in 1935, she went on to become the sole woman among the 12 members of the Austral Group, a collective that included the designers of the famed butterfly chair. In 1937, Villa was one of the group members who helped their modernist muse, Le Corbusier, flesh out his master plan for Buenos Aires. Though the plan was never officially adopted, their vision of a waterfront “business city” eventually materialized in the form of Puerto Madero, a waterfront neighborhood in the city's central business district. Villa would go on to dedicate her career almost exclusively to urbanism, at one point creating a much-lauded, though never realized, plan to modernize the isolated and underserved Bajo Flores neighborhood in Buenos Aires. In the 1950s, while working in the city’s Directorate General of Architecture and Urbanism, she oversaw the building of several underground pantheons in Flores and Chacarita cemetery, including the Sixth Pantheon. Very little has been written about Villa’s intentions behind the Sixth Pantheon, according to Argentinian researcher and architect Inés Moisset, who featured Villa on her site “Un Dia | Una Arquitecta.” But Moisset sees much in common with urban, modernist interests—namely the idea of minimalist apartments and collective housing (in this case, in the form of crypts), the importance of circulation, experimentation with materials like reinforced concrete, and the idea of freeing up space for recreation. “I think we can deduce that the same ideas that [modernists] used for the cities of the living, she used for the cities of the dead,” Moisset said. The Pantheon was the city’s “it” resting place when it first opened, and yet it wasn’t included in Francisco Bullrich’s seminal 1963 survey Contemporary Argentinian Architecture, a slight that Moisset believes must have been intentional. “On the one hand female architects are always less recognized, but on the other hand I suspect that there was something personal between Bullrich and her,” she says. Like so much surrounding Villa, this is speculation. Even the exact date of her death in 1991 is unknown. Whatever the cause of Bullrich’s omission, Moisset believes it doomed the Pantheon to decades of obscurity. To remedy this, Moisset, alongside Namer and others, launched a petition calling for Buenos Aires to recognize the Pantheon as “one of the most significant examples of modernist architecture and landscaping, both locally and internationally.” The petition won the support of city legislator María Cecilia Ferrero, and the Pantheon is expected to receive final approval as a cultural landmark sometime in 2023. Advocates hope the designation will help win funds to restore the complex. Until now, much of the Sixth Pantheon’s upkeep has fallen on freelance caretakers hired by family members of the deceased. During the 50 years he has worked in the cemetery, 75-year-old Coco Alvarez, who tends to the Pantheon’s oldest gallery, has gone from cleaning and maintaining about 500 crypts to just 80 or so. These days, he says, few from the younger generations visit the Pantheon as relatives of those interred also begin to die off. This, at least in part, has caused the Pantheon to become “very neglected,” Alvarez says. He believes the city’s efforts to maintain it are just for show. “They come, they look, they take photos, but they never do anything,” he says. “I put in the lightbulbs, the trash cans, the ladders so people can climb up—the city doesn’t give me anything.” A More Realistic Work is currently on break, but the Mutant Woman theater company aims to remount the show in Chacarita soon. Those who attend are likely to see pigeons roosting inside gaping holes in the ceilings, crypt covers that have had their bronze numerals and crucifixes stolen, and covers that have gone missing entirely, revealing the coffins and urns inside. News reports describe “total abandonment” and urban explorers upload videos of their “terrifying” visits. The show’s carefully choreographed trajectory doesn’t shy away from the Pantheon’s more unsightly areas. “Even though it’s sad, it’s also beautiful in a very weird way," says co-creator of the production Victoria Roland. “If we’re talking about preservation and cultural patrimony, of course, this place should be much better taken care of,” she continues. “But for the play, which is an act of contemplation and an aesthetic event, you don’t judge these things. You just try to see what all these mixed sensations make you feel about death.” Roland believes the play has helped raise awareness of the Pantheon, and she and director Juan Coulasso have worked closely with its advocates. Among other things, they helped Namer install a ceramic plaque crediting Villa as the Pantheon’s architect and another plaque on Villa’s family mausoleum, located in the older part of the cemetery. Both have since been bleached by the sun, but Namer—true to her name—plans to replace them when she returns to Buenos Aires. Roland can no longer recall the plaque’s exact location, bringing to mind a line from the play. “It’s just like that,” an actor told the audience. “Once you go down, you get lost. It doesn’t matter where you walk or which corridor you choose, you always get lost. I think that’s what she wanted.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chacarita-cemetery-female-architect-villa-pantheon

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch41: Drops Of Jupiter Part 2- There’s Still A Life To Live. 

Intro: Pepper finally makes an honest man of Tony, and as the sun sets on, quite possibly, the most horrific year of their lives, the New Year brings a familiar face back into Steve and Katie’s life.

But Tony has some news that puts a smile on his sister’s face. If only her husband was as happy…

Warnings: Bad Language words. Brief mentions of Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: @angrybirdcr​ I LOVE YOU

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 41 Part 1

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

October 2018

Despite Katie’s protestations to the contrary, Steve refused to believe that Tony and Pepper actually wanted him at their wedding. She had tried in vain to convince him to go but at times like this he was so stubborn and, ironically, the only man on the planet that could rival him for pig-headedness was Tony himself. So now she was doubly pissed at him. He knew that, and if he hadn’t already he would have certainly guessed it by the way she was currently throwing things into her bag after hardly speaking a word to him since the previous night.

FRIDAY informed her that Happy was here to collect her and Katie closed her small carry case. Steve sighed and went to pick it up for her, fully intending on carrying it to the car, but she beat him to it, swatting his hand away.

“I got it, its fine.” she said a little curtly as she did up her jacket. “Baby, c’mon, don’t leave on a bad note.” He pleaded, following her into the living area. “You know I get that you might think Tony doesn’t want you there, but I do.” Katie’s voice was quiet as she levelled him with a look. “And I was kinda hoping that would be enough to make you swallow your pride for once in your God-damned life” His face fell and the expression on it almost made her relent and apologise. 

Almost.

But the Stark stubbornness in her won out and she simply left it at that, slamming the door behind her. 

Steve felt like shit. Absolute shit as he stared at the place his wife had been stood a few moments before, the noise of the door banging shut still echoed round his head. With a sigh he swiped at his face with his hands before he headed into the bedroom, changed and wandered down to the gym to work off some frustration.

****

Katie glanced at her reflection. The bridesmaid dress she was wearing was an Alexander McQueen, as was Pepper’s dress, her favourite designer who hadn’t been dusted. It was a deep, burnt gold, almost brown to look at with a hint of a shimmer, perfect Autumn colours. The dress was plain, with a sweetheart neckline, the bodice drawing in her waist and the skirt was floor length, with a slight flare to it.  Her hair was twisted up and she wore a white gold headband which was studded with diamonds and pearls, her mom’s necklace that Tony had given to her on her wedding day sat flush to her collar bone. But all that aside, what she really loved was her make-up. It was all autumnal colours, eyes lidded under a burnt orange which had a slight golden shimmer to it setting off her green and amber eyes to perfection, and the contouring was amazing. 

Smoothing down her skirt once more, she looked down and stepped into her gold Jimmy Choo heels and stilled as a familiar voice spoke.

“You look beautiful.”

Her head shot up and Steve’s eyes locked onto hers in the mirror before she spun round to face him stood in the doorway.

“I thought you weren’t coming?” She frowned.

“I wasn’t.” He said shyly, stepping into the room “But, after you left yesterday I thought about what you said and you’re right. So I spoke to Pepper and well, here I am.” Katie looked him up and down. He was dressed in his blue suit and underneath it he wore a light green shirt complimented by a tie more or less the same colour as her dress, along with his shiny dark brown oxfords. Exactly the outfit she’d picked for him and left at the front of the closet just in case. With his hair immaculately styled, short stubble impeccably trimmed and a nervous smile on his face, he looked absolutely gorgeous.

“I’m so glad you came.” She smiled, all anger forgotten as she stepped forward and he met her halfway.

“I hate it when we fight.” He muttered, gently kissing her, his strong hands on her back, pulling her to him. “I’m sorry, Doll.”

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” A familiar voice drawled and the pair of them turned to see Natasha leaning in the doorway, two flutes of champagne in her hand. She looked stunning in a knee length figure hugging bottle green dress.

“You look great Nat.” Steve offered, surprised to see a faint tinge of red flushing up the blonde’s neck and cheeks as she uttered a soft thanks before she looked at Katie.

“Came to let you know that Tony’s here.” 

Steve took a deep breath.

“Right, erm…” Katie tugged on Steve’s hand and took a glass of champagne off Nat. “Come on.” “Where are we going?” Steve frowned. “To see my brother, the pair of you need to get this out of the way before the ceremony.” “Baby, I-” “Don’t argue with me Steven.” she retorted, leading him down the stairs and out into the Autumn sunshine, across the lawn which was sporting a banquet tent and down the small path which had been lined with a gold carpet. Tony was stood at the end, under the arch which led into the tent where the reception would be held, directing people. As the Weather was nice, the actual ceremony was going to take place at the end of the wooden jetty. People were already settling on chairs on the banks of the lake.

Steve felt, and looked, like a deer in headlights when he caught sight of Tony. Katie squeezed his hand and whispered for him to relax as Tony, who had seen them approaching, started striding over to meet them.

“Well, don’t you look handsome?” Katie said to him, taking in his dark grey formal tail suit, ivory patterned waistcoat and ivory ruffled tie.

“Errm, shouldn’t you be with Pepper?” Tony asked, dropping a kiss to his sister’s cheek. “You look beautiful by the way.” “Thanks. Your gorgeous bride is just having her hair finished off and then I’m going to get her in her dress, but I wanted to come and see you first, we both did.”

“It’s a err, beautiful house.” Steve cleared his throat as he spoke and looked around. He’d never been before, and he felt ridiculously uncomfortable right at that moment for being a complete jerk. He should have done this months ago. "Well, it’s a bit like you Cap.” Tony replied, his eyes locking onto his brother-in-law’s. “Ancient, but nothing a little modernisation couldn’t fix.”

Steve let out a chuckle and took a deep breath. “Tony, listen, I want to apologize. For everything.” He swallowed a little before he continued.“What went down in Siberia was, well it was harsh, and I was out of order. I should have told you about your parents. I’m sorry, I really am.”

Katie held her breath, she knew how much that would have taken for Steve to apologise, so heartfelt as well and she knew he wasn’t doing it just for her. As she stood watching, she saw Tony bristle and she stiffened slightly.

“You should be.” Tony sniffed, but just as Katie was about to chastise him she saw his face soften, “But all that’s in the past now. You know, I get that Barnes wasn’t in control of his actions but I still can’t-” he stopped himself and took another deep breath ”Look, it doesn’t matter now, so let’s just say I understand why you did what you did even if I don’t agree with it. And I’m sorry too, Cap.”

Steve took a deep breath and gave a small smile. “I missed you Tony.”

“Yeah, well, that goes without saying because I’m so incredibly missable” Tony shrugged before he smiled “I missed you too, buddy.”

The two men shook hands before Tony gave a small huff and pulled Steve into a slightly awkward embrace, the two men clapping one another on the back.

Steve felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. As much as he had tried to deny it, Tony was like a brother to him and he had missed him. Plus, he knew how much it had hurt Katie them both being at odds. And he just wanted his wife to be happy and to move forward, past what had happened. As he looked over Tony’s shoulder he saw Katie watching them both, her eyes shining and she mouthed a thank you to him before she cleared her throat.

“Right, now that’s done can I leave him with you whilst I go do Bridesmaid stuff?” She spoke with a smile on her face that her two best boys were finally over their spat.

“Yeah, go ahead, in fact, I have just the job for you,Spangles.” Tony nodded, and the two men strode off, Tony’s hand in between Steve’s shoulder blades as they walked. Steve looked back at his wife as she strode across the lawns to the house before he turned his attention to Tony as they headed towards the lake.

*****

The wedding was beautiful. And whilst he really should have been thinking this about the bride, Steve seriously thought his wife was the most stunning woman there. As she walked down the aisle first, arm linked through Rhodey’s she caught Steve’s eye from where he was sat in between Banner and Natasha and he smiled at her, a genuine smile which she returned. When it was time for Pepper’s entrance, Steve glanced at Tony and couldn’t recall a time where he’d seen the man so happy, so emotional. 

The small ceremony was conducted, and it was time for Steve to perform the task Tony had given to him-signing the witness register along with Happy. It was a small gesture, but one which meant a great deal to the Captain.

Then, the rest of the afternoon passed in a bustle of photos, drink, food and speeches. Tony’s was slightly self-indulgent, as always, before he gushed about his new wife. Rhodey told plenty of stories about them growing up, and then it was Katie’s turn.

“As all of you here know, Tony brought me up from the age of seven.” Katie cleared her throat, glancing round at the various faces in the room. “Our parents died and suddenly there he is, twenty-one years old with a business to run and a pain in the ass kid sister to look after.” She scratched at her head. “My childhood was happy, I wanted for nothing, and that was all down to you.” She locked eyes with her brother. “Tony, I don’t tell you this enough, but I really am grateful for everything you did and everything you gave to me, least of all the absolute, unconditional love I have always felt from you. I know we have had our differences but you always told me that you could never be prouder of me if you tried, and I want you to know, that the feeling is mutual. I love you, not just as my brother, but as the best substitute father I could have wished for. And it makes me so happy to see you here today, after everything, with the woman that finally made an honest man out of you.” A few more chuckles, but Tony’s eyes were now wet with tears as he glanced up at her.

“Pepper has been a big part of my life for almost twenty years now, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d be happier with as a sister-in-law. But, you do know what you’ve let yourself in for right?”

Pepper laughed and nodded.

“Good, because he’s your problem now, good luck!”

Katie sat down as the room erupted into laughs and Steve pressed a soft kiss to her lips, gently wiping at her tears before they could ruin her make up.

As the night closed in, the Marquee was strung up with lights and wooden benches giving the place a warm, welcoming ambient feel. Far too soon for Katie’s liking it was time for the first dance. Tony clearly hadn’t told anyone she was performing as many puzzled faces peered up at her as she took the microphone in her hand and cleared her throat with a nod to the keyboard player who struck up the opening notes to Eta James “At Last.”

Tony’s face split into a grin as he offered Pepper his hand and the new Mr and Mrs Stark took to the dance floor, applause and camera flashes filled the tent as Katie sang, watching her brother and his new wife dance closely. In turn, Steve watched his wife, her voice s powerful and sultry, her eyes shining softly as she was watching Tony and Pepper revolve on the dancefloor. And then, as customary, people began to join them and Steve turned to Nat.

“May I have this dance ma’am?”

Natasha studied him for a moment before she smiled and slipped her hand into his, where he took her into a polite hold and steered them around the dancefloor, catching Katie’s eye causing her to smile.

When the song finished everyone turned to her and she flushed a little, giving a shy smile before she cleared her throat. “I’ve got one more.”

Tony frowned as he looked at Pepper who met him with an equally puzzled look, but when the band started to play, Tony’s face slid into a huge smile as Katie winked at him, before she once more began to sing.

“Now that she’s back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey…”

As she continued through the verse, Tony looked up at her, his eyes shining as he tossed his arm over Pepper’s shoulders, everyone in the tent gently swaying along to the song, and when the upbeat part kicked in, everyone hit the dance floor again.

Katie was now completely lost in the song that her and her brother had sung together so many times. She allowed the memories to wash over her as she sang, suddenly back in his convertible mustang cruising over the Golden Gate Bridge, then again dancing round in shorts and a bikini by the pool, then she was back in the kitchen, both of them holding wooden spoons to their mouths as make-believe mics. She sang out note after note and as she launched into the final chorus. Tony, who knew the song was coming to a big crescendo had stopped dancing to start winding the crowd up as she belted out the last bit of the song, eyes closed as she dipped slightly, hand extended by her side.

And now you’re lonely looking for yourself out there

The marquee erupted into a cheer and Katie smiled to herself, handing the mic back to the singer of the band who thanked her, drawing another cheer from the crowd. Steve walked forward and offered his hand to his wife to help her walk down the small steps from the stage.

“You amaze me every single day you know that?” His lips brushed her ear as the band struck up into a soul song and he led her towards the bar for a drink. She beamed at him, cheeks flushing from the singing and the adrenaline that had been pulsing through her veins at the fact she’d been stood on a stage, singing in front of a group of people for the first time since she could remember. He dropped a kiss to her cheek and she moved her head to catch his lips softly.

“Kiddo?”

At that she spun to face Tony, who didn’t say another word, simply pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tight, kissing the side of her head. She held him back, happily resting her head against his shoulder until he eventually released her, and then turned to head off over the dance floor to greet someone else.

“I saw you dancing with Nat.” Katie slid her hands up Steve’s chest as he ordered a beer and a gin and tonic, his jacket and tie now discarded on one of the chairs behind him.

“Jealous?” He arched an eyebrow, his hand settling on her hips.

“Not in the slightest.” Her hands connecting round his neck. “I thought it was one of the sweetest things you could have done. She’s been so down lately.” “She seems okay tonight.” Steve turned, watching the woman in question as she stood talking to Bruce. “Maybe she just needed reminding that there’s still life to be lived.” “That’s very philosophical of you, Captain.”

“I have my moments.” He grinned, looking back down at Katie, his hand on her hip pulling her closer. “Are you still staying here tonight or coming home?” “Undecided.” She teased, her hands resting on his chest, muscles broad and tense under her fingers.

“Well if you come back with me I’ll do that thing you like.”  His short beard scratched her cheek as he spoke softly into her ear.

“That’s blackmail.” 

Smirking, he kissed her softly. “I know.”

She did go home with him, and Steve was about as gentle and tender that night as she could ever remember him being. His lips were soft as he made sure to cherish every single part of her body. His hips rolled against hers, keeping them locked together, hands entwined together as he gently pinned them at either side of her head, eyes locked onto hers as he took her apart, piece by piece.

They lay there afterwards, Katie’s head resting in its favourite place on his chest, his hand gently running up and down her spine as she slept. Resting his head against hers, he closed his eyes on what had been a pretty amazing day in all honestly. He and Tony were back on an even keel, and being surrounded by people at the wedding, he couldn’t help but marvel at the love, friendship and happiness that had been present at the event. 

He hadn’t ever thought he’d see it again on that scale after the snap, and it gave him faith that, just like he had said earlier, there was still a good life to be lived.

*******

January 2019.

Steve pulled his jacket collar up against the snow and trudged across the car park towards the store entrance. A soft, white blanket covered the cars that lay abandoned after the snap, something he knew that the Government was going to have to sort at some point. Heading into the shop, he noted that it was reasonably busy compared to how it had been the last time he’d popped in a few weeks ago. He supposed that was a good sign. Grabbing a basket he headed straight for what they needed- milk, eggs, bread, bacon, fabric softener and tampons. Okay, so the last weren’t what they needed, obviously, more what Katie needed. She’d laughed when she had given him the list, remarking that this was the first time she’d ever sent him shopping for shit like this before offering to go instead, but he was a modern man now, they’d been together for almost six years, married for over three, he could deal with buying his wife tampons, right?

Now he was making a mental note, as some woman was slyly eyeing him as he grabbed a box, to remind his wife it’s a fucking good job he loves her as much as he does.

He whizzed around picking up the rest of the stuff and was heading to the till when he heard a loud shout. Spinning round on autopilot he saw one of the security guards chasing someone, a kid dressed in a pair of dirty jeans, a jacket that was far too thin for the weather, and a baseball cap, down the aisle. Steve let out a sigh. Shoplifting and petty crime had rocketed as people struggled to make ends meet following The Decimation. As the kid neared him he gently held out an arm to stop them passing and the child, a girl, gave a loud yell and looked up at him angrily. 

Instantly his heart leapt into his throat. Granted, it was a few years since he had seen her at the last Stark Christmas Party, but he’d recognise those large, deep brown eyes anywhere.

“Gerrroffff me!”

“Emmy?” He frowned, and she paused her struggling to look up at him and he removed his hat. “It’s me. Steve.” “I know you are.” She blinked, and then began to struggle again.

“Stop it.” He instructed, voice full of authority and he turned to the security guard. “What’s the problem here?” 

“Caught her down the aisle back there, shoving packs of chocolate and chips into her backpack.”

“Has she actually committed a crime yet?” Steve asked. “I mean, nothing has left the store. If I pay for it…” “No but she was gonna!” “But she hasn’t actually?” The security guard let out a groan. “Look pal, you’ve no idea what it’s like trying to keep this place straight.” “Oh believe me Sir, I do.” Steve mumbled, before he glanced down at Emmy. She was small, her dark, ebony hair was dirty and knotted, and her olive-skinned cheeks were pinched like she needed a good meal. He looked up at the man. “I’ll pay for the items and then ensure she’s dealt with.” “Dealt with?” The Security guard frowned before he looked at Steve properly and then his eyes widened “Holy shit, you’re Captain-” Steve cut him off, holding his hand up. “I assume that’s an acceptable proposition?”

“Of course Captain Rogers.” He nodded. Steve shook the man’s hand and then turned to Emmy.

“Give me the bag.”

She looked up at him before she sighed, handing it over. Steve tipped it out onto the conveyor belt at the till. A few bars of Hershey, some kettle chips, toothpaste, soap.

“Have you been on your own since, well, since it happened?” He asked and Emmy shrugged.

“Foster parents both dusted. Not that I care like, they were horrible. Better on my own.” Steve stiffened slight as he handed over some cash to the assistant. He studied Emmy as she packed her things into her bag. He couldn’t leave her like this.

“No one’s better on their own.” He shook his head. “Listen, I’ll give you two choices. You either come back to the compound with me for something decent to eat, or I can take you to one of the shelters.” “And if I refuse to do either?”

“Okay, three options.” Steve raised an eyebrow at her sass. “I turn you back over to Mall Cop over there and you can be handed into the police.”

Emmy snorted at his film reference before she looked down and plucked at something on her coat. “Is Katie…” “Yeah, she’s there.”

“Suppose coming to see her wouldn’t be so bad.” The small girl shrugged. Steve smiled, picked up the bag of groceries and gently went to place a hand between her shoulder blades, to steer her towards the car, but he stopped dead when she flinched violently to his touch.

“Hey, its okay.” he said gently. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

She looked at him, with an expression that made her look far older than her years and rolled her eyes whilst giving a snort. “Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

*****

Lucky alerted Katie to Steve’s return home as he shot off the couch next to her and headed to the door before it even opened. Katie glanced over the back of the sofa and did a double take as Steve headed in with a familiar face in tow.

“Emmy?” She gasped, getting up off the sofa. The girl smiled a little and allowed Katie to pull her into a hug “What are you doing here?” “He kidnapped me.” Emmy glowered at Steve who rolled his eyes as she stood up from where he had crouched down to greet Lucky.

“That’s crap Emmy and you know it.” He said sternly as he turned to Katie. “She was stealing.”

“Don’t look at me like that, it was that or starve.” Emmy shrugged.

“Starve? What? Wait, have you been-” Katie let out a groan as she realised the implications of what the kid was saying. “Oh, honey you should have found someone, got help!” “Better on my own.” Emmy repeated her earlier sentiment, kicking the floor with her dirty trainers. “And you can’t keep me here ya’ know?”

Katie looked down at the girl. She would be ten now, but she looked a lot smaller than she should be for her age. Katie glanced up at Steve who nodded to the kitchen.

“Listen, I was gonna cook dinner so at least stay for some food?” She asked. Emmy shrugged.

“Suppose so, what we having?”

“Pot roast.”

“Got any mash?” The girl’s eyes lit up and for a brief second Katie saw the cheeky little kid she had last seen a few years back.

“I can do mash.”

“Okay I’ll stay.” Emmy agreed before she looked at them both, a little sheepishly “Could I have some hot chocolate, like they used to do at the parties, please?”

“Sure I can manage that.” Katie smiled.

After settling her on the sofa, Lucky jumping up beside her, Katie retreated into the kitchen and gently shut the door before she set about making Emmy the hot chocolate she had requested.

“What happened?” Katie looked at Steve who sighed, crossing his arm.

“The Security guard at the store was chasing her after he caught her stealing.” Steve shook his head “She’s been on her own since the snap, said her foster family all disappeared.” “Shit.” Katie sighed stirring the cocoa powder and a square of chocolate into the hot milk.

“Yeah but,” Steve gently moved to hand Katie the marshmallows out of the cupboard, “she said something odd, about her being better on her own and she practically jumped out of her skin when I touched her. When I told her I wasn’t gonna hurt her, she said ‘that’s what they all say’”

Katie’s hand slipped at little as she contemplated Steve’s words, and she reached for a cloth to wipe up the liquid she had spilt. “You don’t think…” “I don’t know.” Steve sighed “But I couldn’t just leave her.” “No, course not.” Katie shook her head, reaching up to touch his face. “Just one of the many things I love about you, Rogers.”

He gave a soft smile. “I thought maybe we could give her a good meal, get her cleaned up and she could stay here tonight whilst we can figure out what to do.” Steve shrugged. His wife smiled at him, and grabbing the mug, she stood on her toes and gave him a kiss.

“You know,” she said, opening the door to the kitchen, “you might not be Captain America anymore but you’re still a hero.”

The three ate dinner and then Katie convinced Emmy to have a shower and, after digging her out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, settled her down in the spare room, promising her that neither of them were mad at her. Once she was convinced the eleven year old was asleep she dumped Emmy’s disgusting clothes in the washing machine, before she headed into the living room and snuggled down next to Steve who had poured her a glass of wine.

“She okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. Out like a light.” Katie sighed “I’m so glad you found her.”

Steve sighed a little. “She looked so lost. I can’t believe she’s been on her own for so long.” “Yeah well not anymore.” Katie scratched at her nose. “This is exactly why we need to sort those homes out. I mean there are hundreds of kids out there like that.” Steve nodded and took a long pull from his beer.

“Just seems so shitty.” Katie carried on “That she’s had two foster homes now and, ok, the last one doesn’t sound like it was so great, but we’re gonna shove her back in a home and…” She trailed off, tears in her eyes. “She deserves so much better, they all do.”

“Well,” Steve turned his head to look at her. “I’m sure you’ll make sure she has a good place for when she has to leave.” Katie stayed silent for a moment, before she took a deep breath and decide to just go for it and voice what was on her mind. “What if she doesn’t?” 

“Doesn’t what?”

“Leave”

“What, you mean, she stays here?”

“Would that be so bad?” Katie asked, “I just, I dunno, Steve, I can’t…” She trailed off, simply looking at him, a hopeful expression on her face that made Steve want to kiss the life out of her. He knew she loved the little girl, she’d always had a soft spot for her. And would fostering a kid for the time being be such a bad idea? It would mean changes, a lot of changes and they would be inheriting an eleven year old, with an attitude to boot. But, they had the room and Natasha was always on hand as well…

Maybe this was just another little way they could give something back.

“Why don’t we ask her tomorrow?” Steve suggested. “If she wants to stay then maybe we can look at it, at least until something else turns up.” “You mean that?” Katie looked up at him and he nodded.

“Yeah.” 

With a teary smile she shifted so she knelt up and reached to gently cup his jawline with her fingers.

“Thank you.” she kissed him softly.

***** Of course Emmy wanted to stay. And, after a fortnight of her being at the compound, Katie and Steve made the enquiry into fostering her on a more official basis, which was easier than it would have been pre-snap, officials keen to rehouse children with people that were willing to take them in. 

The first month was full of teething problems. Emmy had refused to go back to the house she had been living in, screaming blue murder when Steve had suggested they collect her things. So Katie had taken her out shopping for clothes and bits and pieces that she needed. Then she had refused to try anything on in the changing rooms. Ever patient, and recognising the signs of trauma and panic, Katie had calmed her down and told her they would simply take the clothes home to try on there, and that it wasn’t a big deal.

It transpired, after a tearful confession later in her room, Emmy was simply frightened that they would see the marks on her back left by the belt her foster father had hit her with and she had broken down, Katie simply laying with her until she fell asleep. 

The girl also had nightmares, and would often wake up screaming, but wouldn’t let Steve anywhere near her to comfort her. He didn’t take it personally, not after he knew what she had gone through with her foster father, but it did upset him somewhat to think that she could be afraid of him. As time went by she became a lot more comfortable around him, but still wasn’t really happy with any physical contact from anyone bar Katie. Steve simply respected her boundaries, Katie assuring that she would come round eventually.

Emmy found a friend in Natasha, the young girl spending a fair bit of time with the woman, often Steve would find them in the gym, Natasha teaching her some boxing move or other. Steve wasn’t completely sure it was a very good idea, but he left them to it as Emmy would come back to the apartment gushing about what she had learnt, keen to show them both her ‘moves’ as she called them. It was those moments that they both enjoyed, the signs of a cheeky young, innocent girl flashed through and it made Steve’s heart swell to see her coming out of her shell more and more.

Maybe more surprising, however, was how much she took to Tony. Katie said it was because they were the same mental age, which Pepper had vehemently agreed with. But Steve thought it was because Tony simply treat her like he would anyone else with his usual sarcasm and bluntness and she was fascinated by anything the inventor would show her when they visited the lake house. Turns out she had a real knack for technology, and the two of them set about on a project, building a small remote control robot which Lucky wasn’t quite so sure about as the dog would run away, bark, come back, and run away again whilst Emmy cackled away from her vantage point on the stairs where she controlled it.

Alongside this, Katie was still working on setting up homes for other kids through SIDE, and when she came home saying that there was a place for Emmy at the most recent one, the Rogers were both forced to face the reality that, whilst they had meant the fostering to be a temporary arrangement, neither of them wanted Emmy to be placed back into care.

So at the end of April, they made the fostering arrangement permanent.

Which was why Steve now found himself in a hardware store with a ridiculously hyper young girl, picking out a colour to paint her bedroom in.

“I don’t want pink.” Emmy frowned, looking at the colour chart on the wall.

“Well, what do you want?” Steve asked patiently.

“Purple. I think. Maybe a lilac.” “Okay there are some over there.” he nodded and she crossed the aisle to study the colour.

“I think I like this one.” 

Steve nodded. “Good choice,” before he found the tin with the correct shade in and dropped four onto the trolley. “Alright, that’s that done.” He turned to look at her “You wanted a new lamp too?”

“I don’t need one…”

“No, I know, but you wanted one.” 

Emmy’s face lit up and she nodded so they headed over to the light display. Her eyes went wide as she made her way straight over to a tall lamp, the shade of which was decorated with tiny, silver stars.

“I love it.” She said gently. Steve nodded, picked a boxed one up off the shelf and dropped it onto the flat bed trolley.

“That was easy.” He smiled.

“Please can I get some fairy lights for round my bed?” Emmy asked timidly “We told you kid, whatever you want, well, within reason.”  

With another face-splitting smile, Emmy selected some fairy lights. And a rug. And a few new cushions. And a throw. And a new bed for Lucky who seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her room when she was in there. Several hours and a couple of hundred bucks later they were on their way home after Steve had been cajoled into taking a detour through the drive-through for a burger.

“Hey!” Katie greeted as they walked through the door, Emmy carrying the cushions, Steve lugging everything else “Wow, you buy the whole store?”

“Is it too much?” Emmy asked, nervously “We can…” “No, I’m teasing, honey!” Katie chuckled, dropping a kiss onto her head. There was a moment and then Emmy burst into tears.

“Okay,” Katie sighed, taking her hand “Come on.”

Steve watched, feeling slightly useless, as he couldn’t help comfort the girl. He followed as Katie led her to the couch and he sat on the arm chair as Katie patiently sat Emmy down and waited until she had stopped sobbing. Lucky jumped up beside her and pushed his face into hers, licking away her tears as she wound her hands into the dog’s sandy coloured fur.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Katie assured her “Do you wanna talk about it?” “I’ve never had nice things.” The little girl wringed her hands together and looked up at Katie from underneath wet eyelashes. “And when I did, then my foster brothers would break them and then he would hit me because I didn’t look after them.” She never used her foster father’s name. It was always he or him. Steve clenched his fists and felt the nerve tick in his jaw as he fought back the urge to go on a rant about the asshole.

“You know we would never hurt you Emmy.”He leaned forward, fighting the urge to reach out and tuck the hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. “And no one else is gonna hurt you whilst you’re here.”

She wiped her eyes and gave a small sniffle. “I know.”

“So, how about we dry those tears and you help me make dinner?” Katie looked at her “Whilst Steve-O puts your things in your room.”

Steve let out a playful groan as Emmy giggled. “I really wish you’d stop calling me that.” Katie stuck out her tongue as he rolled his eyes and stood up, slapping his thighs with his hands. “The pair of you are a monumental pain in my ass.” “Language!” Emmy shot back as she smirked at him and he gave a snort, picking up the items they’d bought and taking them into her room.

Whilst they were in the kitchen, Steve set about fixing up her lamp, the fairy lights, tossed the new throw and cushions they had bought on her bed and set the remote for the flat-screen TV they had had installed on the wall on her nightstand. He called the girls to come and look and Emmy’s face was a picture, her eyes lighting up as she saw her room. She glanced around and looked at Steve, then to Katie, then back again.

“We can start painting over the weekend-” Steve began but was cut off when the girl threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her forehead to the top part of his stomach. Steve paused for a moment before his hand gently fell to the back of Emmy’s head as he stooped and gave her a hug back, looking up at Katie who was smiling from her vantage point in the doorway.

“She’ll come round in time…”  

His wife’s voice echoed around his head as he dropped a soft kiss to the top of Emmy’s head and smiled.

That was just another time in a long list of instances his wife had been right.

***** Chapter 42 Part 1

**Original Posting**

[famedexclusivearchive]

[ARTICLE] GOLD STAR MEDIA TO HOST HALLOWEEN PARTY FOR SECOND TIME

Following the media success of Gold Star Media’s Halloween party in 2018, fans and press alike waited for news of a followup in 2019, only for Gold Star to pass up hosting the event for a second year in a row.

Gold Star Media has now announced they will once again be hosting a Halloween party this year with attendees from their own company as well as BC Entertainment and Dimensions Entertainment and several other hot figures in the entertainment industry. According to industry insiders, an invite to the party was a hot ticket after Gold Star’s inaugural event saw such praise for attendees’ exciting Halloween looks.

This year, Gold Star has announced the party will have a theme beyond Halloween; it will be a masquerade ball with a “Modern Fairy Tale” theme. Media insiders suggest an even larger amount of attention will be showered on the event’s red carpet by media and fans this year.

The party will happen on Halloween night at an undisclosed venue.

ADMIN NOTES:

It’s time for a Halloween event! Gold Star Media has decided to follow up their successful 2018 Halloween party with another one two years later, this time themed as a masquerade ball. In addition to being a masquerade ball, the event is “Modern Fairy Tale” themed. All idols are expected to attend unless there are major extenuating circumstances such as illness or injury (which should be cleared with the admin, please!).

All attendees to the party are expected to adhere to a roughly creative black tie dress code and are required to bring a masquerade-style mask to accompany their outfit. They are also asked to keep in mind the fairy tale theme of the event, though they may interpret this as they wish; they may choose to dress up in a way that recalls a familiar fairy tale character or simply embody an elegant fairy tale-esque look, and they may choose to modernize it as little or as much as they want. A regular Halloween costume look isn’t expected or likely possible due to the dress code.

Idols will work with company stylists to choose their outfit. They’ll have more say in their look and more freedom than they normally do, but their outfit must still remain public-friendly and appropriate to their group or canon soloist image, i.e. a WISH or Lucid member won’t show up in a daring V-neck cutout dress.

Idol attendees will not be permitted a plus one and couple outfits must be avoided. Idols who serve as ambassadors of brands lending themselves to black tie attire at the time of the event may be encouraged or required within their deal to wear that brand in some way.

There will be a red carpet before entering the event for pictures that will be released as publicity. Group members will arrive at the event with their managers in vans and the rest of their group and photos on the red carpet will be taken in groups and then individually. Appointments at their regular salon will be made available for idols to schedule in advance if necessary. The red carpet will begin at 6pm, while the main event inside the venue will begin at 7pm.

The party will take place at a large modern ballroom-style event venue outside of Seoul proper, which will be decorated with modern, elegant decorations matching a typical modern masquerade ball look with a gold, white, and black color scheme.

Managers and other company employees, including CEO Bang Sunyoung herself for a period of time, will be present at this party, though press will not be allowed inside the venue beyond the red carpet.

Having a masquerade mask will be mandatory, and wearing it inside the venue is encouraged in the spirit of the event. 

Activities & Locations Overview:

The entrance lobby is where all attendees will congregate after exiting the red carpet to have their invitations and identities checked before being allowed into the event.

The main room of the event is a large ballroom set up with elegant decor in shades of gold, white, and black (decor examples: 1, 2, 3). Attendees are free to seat themselves as they wish at the tables places along the exterior of the ballroom, though they are reminded that staff is in attendance at the event and they must be on good behavior. Waiters and waitresses will still be present with trays of hors d'oeuvres such a gourmet cheeses, caviar, spiced walnuts, and crab and avocado toast and flutes of champagne, as well as sparkling mineral water for those who do not drink. A live string quartet has been hired for the evening and they will play a mix of classical favorites, songs from fairy tale media, and spooky classics such as horror movie themes. From 9pm onward, the string quartet will leave and be replaced by a DJ to end the night on a more high-energy note. At this point, the central dance floor of the ballroom is expected to become a central part of the event.

Escape room, a section of rooms of the venue have been set aside and taken over by a top escape room company, who has set up a personalized escape room situation within the venue created just for the event. They’ll allow in groups of six to eight people in at a time to solve the fairy tale-themed escape room. The escape room has a time limit of forty minutes with a predicted 60% success rate.

A lawn outside the back of the ballroom. At 10:30PM, there will be a viewing on the lawn of a scary movie on a large screen. Blankets will be laid out on the ground to keep attendees’ expensive outfits from getting dirtied and a smaller selection of small tables around the outskirts of the lawn will also be available.

A garden also outside the back of the ballroom. This features a walking path through a professionally-designed flower garden. Past the flower garden is a small hedge maze lit by lanterns to keep in the spirit of the event. 

Photo booths are set up throughout the venue which are free to use. The photo booths include a variety of Halloween- and fairy tale-themed props and offer the option to have the photos sent to your phone or printed off in a traditional photo booth manner.

A scavenger hunt will take place during the full duration of the event. A sign in the entrance lobby before entering the ballroom informs guests that there are six small white jack-o-lanterns hidden throughout the venue with numbers attached and guests that find all six numbers for a special code will win be entered into a lottery to win prizes such as tickets to Everland, a free stay at a resort on Jeju Island, etc. (The jack-o-lanterns can be found as follows: one in the ballroom on a table, one in the ballroom next to the stage with the string quartet, one in the entrance lobby on a white chair, one in the garden against the edge of a flower bed, one down an incorrect path in the maze, and one in a photo booth.) Winners of the lottery will be announced at the end of the event.

Timeline:

6pm-7pm: Red carpet for press photos.

7pm~12am: Masquerade ball main event.

7pm-9:25: String quartet as musical guest in ballroom.

9:25-9:30: Short speech by CEO Bang Sunyoung as a host representative before she leaves the event. The presence of staff members grows steadily more scarce after this point as they begin to leave for the night.

9:30pm~12am: DJ as musical guest in ballroom.

10:30pm~12am: Scary movie screening on back lawn (optional, guests may come and go).

Overall:

In game, this event takes place on the night of Saturday, October 31 from 6pm KST to shortly after midnight, but threads and other posts for this event may be started from Sunday, October 4 at 12am EDT / Sunday, October 4 at 1pm KST (the time this post goes up), to Saturday, October 31 at 11:59pm EDT / Sunday, November 1 at 12:59pm KST.

Threads may be continued past the end date, but must be started before then. Non-event related interactions may be conducted during this time as well.

NOTE: All posts related to the event should be tagged #fmdhalloween2020. Remember to use #fmdcall if you want to post a plot or starter call for the event, which I encourage everyone to do!

POINTS AVAILABLE:

As with all events, there are special points up for grabs.

INTERACTIONS: Having an event thread with a starter and at least three replies (starter ▻ partner reply  ▻ op reply  ▻ partner reply) by the end of the event is worth 2 points. This is valid for up to ten threads per muse this time and the threads can take place during any part of the event.

INTERACTIONS: Having an event thread going with someone your muse has never had a thread with before is worth 1 additional point for each thread.

INTERACTIONS: Posting an open starter for the event is worth 2 points. This counts for up to one open thread starter (not a text/sms post) per character.

CHALLENGES & PROMPTS: Completing at least three of the six event writing challenges and prompts found here is worth five points. **Solos you may choose to do for this do count toward your monthly total. (This is an experimental addition to events to inspire threads and may or may not be used in future events.)

MISCELLANEOUS: Posting an aesthetic or headcanon of your muse’s outfit and mask for the event is worth 2 points and does not count toward your monthly total.

You can also earn the normal amount of points through writing self-paras, etc. related to the event!

If anything in this post is unclear or you have any questions, please feel free to contact the admin. Please like this post to let me know you read it.

[echodrops]

The Promises I Am Making (2019)

Well, 2018 is over. Uff, I feel like I can finally take a deep breath! (This is merely an illusion; the stress is coming for me NEXT WEEK, eek.) My twelve-year tradition of fifty promises continues, despite the urgh… lack of progress last year. This year, as always, I decided to carry over some of the promises that I failed to meet last year; I am going to work hard to make 2019 the year of taking care of business like a REAL adult! I have from now until January 1st, 2020, to keep these. Good luck self!

 1) Be more proactive about tracking and following up with struggling students to decrease the number of students who drop from my class when they realize they cannot pass.

2) Find a place to put in volunteer hours because uhhhh like this is actually important to my work evaluation and I definitely need something to write in that section… Yikes, this spring is my last chance to do this!! @_@

 “The Utah House” promises:

3) Install the fire escape window in the Utah house, no matter how much it might cost, because I can’t get a totally unrelated tenant in that basement without said window…

4) Buy sod to add grass to the front portion of the lawn so that it no longer looks like garbage.

5) Fix the bricks near the windowsills on the Utah house to prevent long-term damage.

6) Get a watering system for my roses at the Utah house because I think my bro is probably killing them and that’s just not cool.

7) Work on the patio at the Utah house before it just flat out falls down.

8) Paint the stairwell so that there’s no chance of anything like lead paint or asbestos being exposed.

9) Trim the backyard bushes so the neighbors don’t hate us anymore…

Now back to our regularly scheduled disorganization:

10) Move into a new house in Texas where I can get real internet, please for the love of god…

11) Save money for my upcoming trip to Japan! 2020 baby!

12) Get my wisdom tooth removed because it’s still there and still killing me, yikessss.

13) Make an appointment with an eye doctor for like the first time in years. Good job, Yehn, good job.

14) Get my prescriptions refilled because I’m dwindling on asthma medicine and like… I could die from this… I should never have been left to care for myself; I’m not mature enough for this responsibility…

15) FINISH THE GIVEAWAY PRIZES I PROMISED LAST YEAR because holy shit I am incompetent and the worst and everyone has permission to hate me for starting things and never finishing them, fuck.

16) Go dolphin watching in the Gulf for real this time. Seriously, it’s $10 Yehn, you can do this.

17) Return to the Channel Islands to take better pictures. D;

18) Level all my classes to 70 in FFXIV before next expansion, please.

19) Organize and properly label all the photos on my computer so that I’m no longer desperately combing through folder and folder in blank confusion, looking for a single picture in a sea of thousands…

20) Update Home and a Half more than once? PLEASE??? The guilt I feel over this currently is crushing.

21) Complete the online American Literature class I am designing on time and with no corrections needed.

22) Earn 100% completion for Kingdom Hearts III. So excited!

23) Update my calendar with important dates—holidays, birthdays, etc.—and be productive about sending cards and well-wishes.

24) Get the garbage disposal in the Texas house fixed ASAP so I don’t have to wash the dishes by hand anymore because I absolutely hate that particular chore.

25) Finish all the books my coworkers and friends bought for me recently so I can thank them for their recommendations!

26) Actually move into my new place instead of leaving it completely undecorated and lifeless.

27) Try hard to get Creative Writing into a different area of the general ed. core so that more people will enroll in it.

28) Get caught up on my Ebird reports, even the old, old, old ones I never put in because I was slacking.

29) Throw away/return/sort all the stacks of old mail in the house (OMGGGG they’ve made me look like paper hoarder and I’m nootttt).

30) Clean up the garage before moving so that I don’t have to fight spiders to move when the time comes.

31) Find a way to boost grading productivity so that each class takes only two days to grade, maximum.

32) Go to a totally new restaurant and try their food.

33) Cancel old credit cards to make sure my credit is good before trying to buy a house (although I just checked my credit score and I’m in the great range already, so this is mostly for posterities sake).

34) Get official contracts from my tenants so I can use my rental income in my next loan calculation.

35) Talk to an HR rep about my retirement savings so that I can consolidate all my retirement accounts into one. (Man, look at all these ADULTING promises.)

36) Really finish decorating my office so it looks super cute and all my students want to visit me.

37) Not sign up for ANY more new responsibilities at work in the spring semester. This is the biggest challenge. D;

38) Migrate all the rest of my books to the new Texas house instead of leaving them in Utah… SOMEHOW.

39) Use my twitter account more often to make it worth following. I will try!!

40) Keep my hair cut nicely so I look less like a mess (than I really am).

41) Successfully find a bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding that matches the rest of the wedding party.

42) Make sure my skin is in good condition for the wedding so I don’t look like a disturbing ghost…

43) Complete my BNHA manga collection. Since my bro bought me a bunch of the volumes for Christmas, I might as well.

44) See a groove-billed ani. (It’s another type of bird.)

45) Respond to messages, asks, and comments more quickly. I promise I’m not ignoring people… D;

46) Lose ten pounds so that I feel more fit and comfy.

47) Pay down credit card debt by at least 1/3. Yikesssss, I really need to do this quick.

48) I will finally fucking finish that chapter 73 analysis of Noragami… I swear to god…

49) Reach 1700 followers on Tumblr. You should follow me—I’m only marginally a waste of time and space!

50) I will keep these promises. LOLLLLL.

Wish me luck!

[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

A history of tennis fashion and skirts: Why are they still such a must?

Serena Williams competing at the U.S Open 2018. (Photo: TPN/Getty Images)

On the first night of the U.S. Open, Serena Williams took the high road and responded to her catsuit ban by wearing a fabulous black tutu.

The French Tennis Federation president, Bernard Giudicelli, recently said Williams’s Wakanda-inspired catsuit (her words) “will no longer be accepted,” during an interview with Tennis magazine. “One must respect the game and the place.”

Discussion soon erupted on what type of tennis attire is considered appropriate or not. Tennis legend Billie Jean King chimed in on the conversation, slamming French Open officials for the ban. “The policing of women’s bodies must end,” she wrote in a Twitter post. “The ‘respect’ that’s needed is for the exceptional talent ⁦@serenawilliams⁩ brings to the game. Criticizing what she wears to work is where the true disrespect lies.” 

Williams didn’t let the controversy deter her from winning her first U.S. Open match against Magda Linette on Monday. For the occasion, she paired her black tutu with an edgy leather moto jacket, asymmetrical leotard, and white sneakers. The look is part of the new “Queen” collection inspired by the tennis star and made in a collaboration between Virgil Abloh, the acclaimed Off-White designer, and Nike.

With this look, the 23-time Grand Slam winner continues her stride as a statement-making fashion star on the tennis court, and, as history shows — she’s not alone. Anne White was the first player to wear a catsuit on the court, which caused quite a stir at Wimbledon in 1985. Unconventional tennis fashions have been worn by male players too. A notable example is Andre Agassi, who wore denim shorts to the U.S. Open in 1988. Serena Williams longtime rival, Maria Sharapova, explored creative fashion as well, wearing a tuxedo-style blouse at Wimbledon in 2008.

Despite these fashion-making moments, the iconic tennis skirt continues to be the key sartorial piece in the game. Above, a look at how tennis fashion has changed over the years and why the skirt endures.

Players in the Pavilion in University Park, Oxford, circa 1900. (Photo: Past Pix/SSPL/Getty Images)

During the 1900s, long-sleeved blouses and long maxi skirts were the style of choice for tennis players. “Tennis started out in the Victorian era in England as a lawn sport for the aristocracy,” said Ben Rothenberg, author of The Stylish Life: Tennis, on CNN.

Modest tennis fashion dominated the era, as seen below on a tennis player who wears a pussy-bow blouse with ballooned sleeves, long white skirt, and white sneakers, all covering up nearly every inch of skin.

Female tennis player circa 1900. (Photo: Getty Images)

The 1920s saw a loosening of dress codes with the introduction of sleeveless blouses and higher hemlines. Pleats also became a popular stylistic choice.

Here, Olympic and Wimbledon champion Suzanne Lenglen wears a knee-length pleated skirt. She accessorizes the look with a soft head wrap.

Suzanne Lenglen (Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

In the 1930s, skirts and hemlines continued to hit the knee, but pantyhose was no longer required in the dress code. Women began to wear polo shorts or another alternative: drop waist dresses or those cinched at the waist.

Cilly Aussem, left, after defeating Hilde Krahwinkel for the women’s singles title at Wimbledon in 1931. (Photo: S.R. Gaiger/Topical Press Agency/Getty)

By the 1940s, women embraced shorts for greater mobility on the court, but they still kept them classy (of course). Here, American tennis player Pauline Betz wears a short-sleeve blouse tucked into her high-waisted, soft pleated shorts and a belt to tie it all together.

Pauline Betz of the United States at Wimbledon in 1946. (Photo: Central Press/Getty Images)

In the 1950s, when Marilyn Monroe’s famous windy skirt photograph became an iconic moment in film history, tennis players like Lea Percioli bent the rules of traditional tennis fashion.

Her style on the court was often featured in the press, where Percioli embraced short skirts and dresses, even if that meant showing more than she planned on.

Glamorous Italian tennis star Lea Percioli in 1955. (Photo: Getty Images)

By the 1960s, mod fashion was front and center. Women took a more playful approach, embracing sleeveless tops and shirts with stripes, gingham, and other graphic prints like those seen here on  Virginia Wade and Lorna Greveille-Collins of England and Marlys Burel of France.

From left, Virginia Wade, Lorna Greville-Collins, and Marlys Burel. (Photo: George Freston/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

The 1970s was all about psychedelia. Colorful prints and patterns dominated the fashion scene, and this influenced tennis fashions, too, as exhibited here in a look worn by Martina Navratilova.

Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1977. (Photo: Tony Duffy/Allsport)

The 1980s witnessed a controversial look by American player Anne White, who wore a white spandex catsuit by designer Ted Tinling during her first match at Wimbledon. Little did she know that Serena Williams would sport a similar catsuit at the French Open more than 30 years later.

Anne White in her revolutionary one-piece. (Photo: Getty Images)

The 1990s were all about bright colors, loud prints, and plenty of scrunchies on the tennis court. German champ Steffi Graf wears a colorful floral skirt with a matching polo shirt and white scrunchie in her hair at the French Open in 1995.

Steffi Graf (Photo: Clive Brunskill/AllSport)

By the 2000s, brands like Adidas and Nike were emblazoned on tennis outfits of the top athletes. Here, Russian player Anna Kournikova wears head-to-toe Adidas.

Anna Kournikova (Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)

In 2008, tennis champions Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova pushed the envelope of traditional tennis attire at Wimbledon, a bastion of traditionalism. Williams opted for a white trench coat, while Sharapova wore a tuxedo-style pleated blouse tucked into white shorts — and both looks were designed by Nike.

Unfortunately, Sharapova wasn’t able to wear her new look for too long, as she was eliminated in the second round. Her winning opponent, Alla Kudryavtseva, had this to say of Sharapova’s look, “I was pleased to beat her: I didn’t like her outfit.”

Serena Williams (Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Maria Sharapova (Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In 2010, tennis fashion took a more scandalous approach when Venus Williams wore a lingerie-like, sheer black-lace dress with red piping, designed by Williams for her fashion label, EleVen.

Venus Williams (Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

In 2011, Venus Williams continued her fashion stride, sporting atypical tennis attire.

At the Australian Open, Williams sported a yellow woven, cut-out tank with a splash of color.

Venus Williams (Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)

In 2015, Maria Sharapova traded in her 2008 tuxedo shirt for a classic stripe shirt over what would become known as the “Nike Maria Paris dress,” an adjoining white racerback tank top connected to a pleated navy mini.

Maria Sharapova (Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)

In 2016, Serena Williams sported a classic all-white look in deference to Wimbledon’s all-white policy.

Serena Williams (Photo: Lindsey Parnaby/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

In 2017, 24-year-old Sloane Stephens won the U.S. Open women’s singles competition wearing a sherbet-orange tank dress and matching visor and shoes by Under Armour.

Sloane Stephens (Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images)

In 2018, Serena Williams debuts her Wakanda-inspired black catsuit at the French Open, which was designed to help prevent blood clots, a health issue she has been prone to.

The catsuit came under scrutiny by French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli, who recently said the style would “no longer be accepted.”

Serena Williams at the 2018 French Open. (Photo: Xin Li/Getty Images)

In the wake of this controversy, Williams debuted a brand-new look for the U.S. Open on August 27: a black tutu skirt, made by Off-White and Nike.

Serena Williams (Photo: TPN/Getty Images)

Read More from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Did Meghan Markle inspire pal Serena Williams’s $90 ‘Royal Duchess’ hoodie?  • Serena Williams inspires mothers to share their parenting stories ahead of the U.S. Open  • Venus Williams expands fashion label into plus-size: ‘Representation matters’

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. 

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The American Dream

Marshall                                                                                

FYW 1000C

Fall 2018

Inga Oladottir

10 Ways of Looking at The American Dream, a Numbered Multimodal Multi-Genre Research Composition

STORY

My best friend is from Bel Air, Maryland and her name is Annie. Me and Annie both go to St. Johns University in New York city and she used to always tell me how different New York is from her hometown. I never really understood what she meant by that because in my mind it was all America, how different could it be? But boyyy, I definitely saw the difference Annie always talked about as soon as I was in my friend’s town. The first time I went home with Annie, I was a couple months into freshman year and New York was the only place I had ever been to in America. I had no idea that there were places in America so different from New York that it almost felt like stepping into a new country. When I saw the town that she is from, and the neighborhood she grew up in, I just thought: That is the epitome of the American dream. She lives in a big, white house with a big front lawn. The house is surrounded by a white picking fence, and then when I looked around, so did all the other houses in her neighborhood. There was a yard sale going on in front of one of the houses so I got to see a couple of her neighbors, and they were all so friendly and happy looking. When we went back to New York a couple days later, my opinion about what the American dream is had certainly changed. I actually have two best friends and both of them are from America, but now when I look at them, I would only think that one of them has lived the American dream.

FACTS, STATISTICS, MEDIA

1.    The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. (googled the American dream definition)

2.    

http://www.generations.com/2015/09/21/the-evolution-of-the-american-dream/

3.    

http://scpaworks.org/2018/05/workforce-chartoftheweek-the-fading-american-dream/

4.    The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream – Tommy Hilfiger. https://people.com/celebrity/hilfiger-launching-fashion-reality-show/

5.    Less than 20% of Americans say they’re living the American dream https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/19/less-than-20-percent-of-americans-say-theyre-living-the-american-dream.html

6.    

https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-11-21/souring-american-dream

7.    What’s killing the American dream? Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1nXxPMsOIs

8.    Myths and realities of the American dream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQvAsXfMkiw

9.    Myth: If you have money, you will find happiness. Truth: Money isn’t everything.

http://www.paleobosslady.com/blog/the-american-dream-is-a-lie

10. The American dream on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

11. An article on what the American dream is today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

12. 36% of people that think their family has achieved the American dream.http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/31/most-think-the-american-dream-is-within-reach-for-them/

13. Fact: If your parents are on the bottom rung of the economic ladder, there’s a good chance you’ll end up there too.http://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/five-facts-about-achieving-american-dream

14.Cartoon on the American dream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L4YIkYP5uU

15.We need to remain a nation that doesn't just welcome but celebrates legal immigrants who come here seeking to pursue the american dream. - Ted Cruz

https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-ted-cruz-post-hispanic

TEXUAL ANALYSIS

The article “The Transformation of the American Dream” by Robert J. Shiller was published in The New York Times on August 4th, 2017. The article explains how the American dream has transformed over the years and how it shifts from being an idea about social justice and equal opportunity, to the idea of wealth and homeownership. It also deals with how American’s associate having a home and a business with living up to the standards of the American dream. The text shows us how the idea of the American dream has changed over the years, depending on what was happening in the country at the time. The text talks about different perspectives that different leaders have of the American dream, and how that influences how the public views it. The author uses facts and statements to support what he is discussing in the text and he uses it to make his own statements clearer. Using other people’s words to support your own is a powerful way to get people to listen because it proves that you are not the only one thinking that way. Another way to say this is that the author uses logos to appeal to the audience, he presents plausible arguments on logical or apparent logical terms to support his text. I think that the text provides us with a good example of what the American dream should be, but at the same time it also shows us what it is in reality. Today, the American dream is just about being rich and having a big, fancy house but that is not what it is supposed to be. In my opinion it should be hope, it should be a way for people to know that they are worthy and that they deserve to be treated like everyone else. The last passage of the text struck me the most because it stated what I have been thinking all along about the American dream concept. Shiller said in the passage that “we need to bring back the American dream of social justice” and for me, he last passage is the beauty of the whole text because it puts the American dream into perspective and I think that it is the central idea of what the dream is about. On the contrary, even if humans want the American dream to be about social justice, we get caught up in our greed for material things and forget the true idea of the American dream. We get stuck on this idea that we have to have money to live up to it and that ruins the clear concept of what the American dream is really about. This text is very important to my research paper because it deals exactly with my question, what is the American dream? The text shows us what it is supposed to be but it also shows us what many American people perceive it to be and that is why this text is so important to my research topic.

VISUAL ANALYSIS

List of things:

·     Many doctors trying to save the man

·     The man is old àThe American Dream is an old concept

·     The man has a hole in his chest

o  Maybe he was shot

o  It could be a hidden connection to the gun violence happening in the US.

1.    Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it and why? Where was it originally published?

This is a message from a girl named Karly Tinervia. She is writing on her blog about the book The Working Poor Invisible in America by David K. Shipler, where the picture was originally published. Karly talks about how the American dream is dying and how it is hard for people in poverty to get out of it.

2.    Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What words images or sounds suggest this?

The target audience is everyone that wants to listen to her message. She wants people to understand what Shipler is talking about in his book and be influenced by it. Karly is talking about a subject that relates to everyone that lives in America because the idea of the American dream relates to everyone and the man in the image is dressed in the colors of the American flag which suggest that it relates to Americans.

3.    What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.)

We see an old man that is lying on a table with a shotgun wound on his chest. The man is surrounded by several doctors but by the look of it, he has passed away. The man is dressed in the colors of the American flag.

4.    What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?)

The subtext of the message is that the American dream is dying right in front of us and it is too late to prevent it from happening. More and more people are not able to make enough money to live a good life and so many people never reach their goals of fulfilling the American dream.

5.    What kind of lifestyle is presented or what kind of injustice does the image seek to address?

The image seeks to address the issue of poverty and how unfair the system in America works. There is only a certain number of people that can live the American dream and those people are often those that are born into rich families, so everything is handed to them from the day they are born. People that don’t have that advantage have a hard time of reaching that same level of success and most of them never do.

6.    What values are expressed?

Social justice and equal right (or more precisely, the lack of it) are the values that come to my head when I look at the picture

7.    What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented?

The positive message presented is that there will always be people that are willing to help others, no matter if they don’t benefit from it. The negative message is that there are also people that will not do anything, they stay away and watch everything happening from a far.

8.    What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it disempower? How does this serve the media maker’s interests?

I think that this message should empower every American to be a better version of himself and maybe help the less fortunate.

9.    What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories?

The part that is not being told is how we got to this point. Why is the American dream slowly dying? Who is responsible for it and who is responsible for saving it?

10. What conclusions can you make about this image?

This image illustrates what is happening to the American dream and that if we don’t start doing anything about it now, soon it will be too late.

Analysis

This image was originally posted in the book “The Working Poor Invisible in America” by David K. Shipler. The book along with the image was first published on January 4th2004 but I discovered it on a personal blog. The owner of the blog is Karly Tinervia and in the blog that the image appears in, Karly is talking about the context of the book. The image displays an old man that is lying flat on a table with a shotgun wound on his chest. The man is surrounded by several doctors but by the look of it, he has just passed away. The man is dressed in the colors of the American flag but despite what we might think we see, the image has a hidden message. It symbolized how the American dream is dying right in front of our eyes, and that most people just stand by and watch it happen. In the image, there is one doctor that is still actively trying to save the life of the old man while the others just watch him and that is supposed to symbolize the reason for why the American dream is dying. Most people think that there is nothing they can do, or that the power is not in their hands, but, most people don’t realize that you don’t have to do anything significant to make a change. You can start by doing something small, such as helping the less fortunate in this country with small acts of kindness. Those little things, might just be the start for some people on the road to a better life that perhaps, makes them a little closer to achieving the American dream.

SURVEY

Do you consider you family to be a part of the middle class?

Are you an American citizen?

What do you consider to be the American dream?

Do you think that your family lived out the American dream? Why or why not?

Analysis of survey results

Most people that took the survey considered their family to be of the middle class and most of them were American citizens. When it came to provide an explanation of what people considered to be the American dream, I noticed that all the answers had something to do with having money and being able to provide for themselves. Some answers involved having a house, usually a big house with a family. Most people thought that their families had lived out the American dream, but there were couple participants that did not think so. You can see a couple of examples in the picture above, but the reason those people didn’t consider their families to have lived it out the dream was because of a financial crisis. When I look at the last two questions and compare the two, I see a clear link between them, due to the fact that people measure their success based on how much money they have. The people that think they are living the American dream are those who have money, and the people who don’t think they are living it, are the people with little or no money.

One answer in the survey really caught my attention. It was an answer to the question about what the American dream is and that person said “I think the American dream is that everyone has an equal opportunity to be successful if they put all their hard work into it.” I feel like that statement sums up the original idea of the American dream and the reason that people from all over the world come to live in America. Somehow, over time, the idea has shifted over to being a dream about wealth and power, and I think that my results show that.

EXPERT OPINION

The article “Envy and the American Dream” by Nitin Nohria discussed the issue of how jealousy can shift people´s focus away from their own goals and over to other people´s success. It is an interesting aprroach as to why the American dream has been deteriorating over the past years and because of that, I think it will take a lot of work to re-establish what the American dream used to be. “In the meantime, instead of envying the good fortune of others, let’s focus on what we can do to stoke and further individual ambition,” (Nohria).That is a part of why the American dream is becoming a very distant for some people is because they envy other people’s success and that prevents them from working on their own goals and having success in what they are doing. If those people would just shift their focus back on what they are doing and stop comparing themselves to others, they would get closer to their own goals, and even better, they would get closer to the American dream. I think that Nohria also provides me with a different perspective on my research topic because he is not originally from America. His views of the dream might be different from other Americans since he came to the country with his own ideas about the dream and what he thought represented America.

RESEARCH QUESTION DIALOGUE

Research question: “What is the American dream?”

Me: “Where is the American Dream?”

Source:““The American Dream is back.” President Trump made that claim in a speech in January” (Shiller).

Me: “What is the American dream about?”

Source: “Mr. Trump and Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, have suggested it involves owning a beautiful home and a roaring business, but it wasn’t always so. Instead, in the 1930s, it meant freedom, mutual respect and equality of opportunity” (Shiller).

Me: “What is the difference between the American dream then and now?”

Source: “It had more to do with morality than material success” (Shiller).

Me: “Why is the dream slowly dying?”

Source: “One reason Shipler believes the American Dream is dead is because hard work does not pay off” (Shipler).

Me: “Does hard work not pay off any more?”

Source: “This results in these people being trapped working a few low paying jobs with no advancement opportunities. America was built on the notion of hard work that will then lead to opportunity and success, but Shipler shows that this is not the case anymore” (Shipler).

Me: “Do you even stand a chance if your parents are poor?”

Source: “If your parents are on the bottom rung of the economic ladder, there’s a good chance you’ll end up there too” (Dwyer).

Me: “In our modern society, do you even stand a chance then if you want to start your own business?”

Source: “We are going to create an environment for small business like we haven’t seen in many many decades,” (Shiller).

Me: “What about the dream of owning a house, or a home of some kind?”

Source: “Mr. Carson has explicitly said that homeownership is a central part of the Dream. In a speech at the National Housing Conference on June 9, he said, “I worry that millennials may become a lost generation for homeownership, excluded from the American Dream”” (Shiller).

Me: “But is homeownership a part of the American dream?”

Source: “Mr. Adams emphasized ideals rather than material goods, a “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” And he clarified, “It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages...” (Shiller).

Me: “Does everyone have an equal opportunity to live the American dream in our society?”

Source: “If you want to achieve the American dream, the color of your skin matters” (Dwyer).

Me: “That needs to change, right?”

Source: “we need to remain a nation that doesn’t just welcome but that celebrates legal immigrants who come here seeking to pursue the American dream” (Cruiz).

Me: “The fact that immigrants want to come to America to pursue the American dream, does that make it a rather important concept?”

Source: “The American Dream is the country’s most important asset—more valuable than its extraordinary natural resources, deep financial capacity, or unparalleled workforce. It’s so valuable because it is a narrative that continues to draw people here from other countries, and it inspires those of us who are already here to work hard every day to better ourselves and our children” (Nohria).

Me: “What can help us save it?”

Source: “I agree with him that restoring confidence in the link between business success and social prosperity will be vital to sustaining the American Dream” (Nohria).

Me: “So what is keeping people from business success?”

Source: “Lately there are signs that America is shifting from an orientation of ambition toward one of envy. Whether it is the 99% who envy the 1% or the 53% who resent the 47% who are receiving government distributions, we are beginning to show signs of focusing more on others than on ourselves” (Nohria).

Me: “How does envy affect the American dream?”

Source: “It shifts people’s gaze toward others in a negative way and takes their focus off their own goals” (Nohria).

Me: “How can we change that and save the American dream?”

Source: “Fixing the problems that imperil this status will require difficult collective action. In the meantime, instead of envying the good fortune of others, let’s focus on what we can do to stoke and further individual ambition” (Nohria).

Me: “How do we want the American dream to look like when we save it?”

Source: “Instead, we need to bring back the American Dream of a just society, where everyone has an opportunity to reach “the fullest stature of which they are innately capable”” (Shiller).

Me: “But despite all the work that is before us, what do you think about America?”

Source: “Thirty years after my arrival as an immigrant, and despite the current hard times, I still see America as the best place to live and work and dream. Fixing the problems that imperil this status will require difficult collective action” (Nohria).

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW, OR WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO SAY?

The American dream has always been about freedom. People came to America to pursue the dream of freedom and happiness, being their own master and making money only for themselves. The American dream protects anyone that wants to pursue their dream and reach their potential to the fullest, (The Balance). The original idea about the American dream was that America should be the best country and that other countries would strive to be like it. “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” (The Balance). Over the years, the idea about the American dream has been criticized due to the fact that the poverty rate in this country is increases and there are very limited options to help the people that fall into poverty. Homeownership has always been a big part of the American dream and president Roosevelt created a system that insured mortgages to help more people be able to afford a home. President Roosevelt said that everyone has the right to own a decent home, have a job that supports one’s family, and that everyone should have the opportunity to get an education and receive health care, but to this day, many families still don’t have enough money to afford health care. president Obama made it his mission to try and change that, and furthered the FDR’s idea that affordable health care is a fundamental need in every country. Today, there are many disagreements over the definition of the American dream and some people even say that it does not exist anymore, (The Balance). There is a need in this country to do something, it does not matter if people think the American dream exists or not.  Income inequality, which is the gap between rich and poor, has been growing in America for approximately 30 years and Americas top 10% makes about 9 times as much as the bottom 90%, (Income Inequality). The wages in America have also been stagnating for over 30 years so the average American worker and the country’s lowest wage workers see no growth in their weekly wages, (Income Inequality). That means that even if you work and work, you always stay in the same place. You can’t climb up the income ladder because you are stuck with the same wages every week and that money goes to bills and things that are necessary for living. People have  a hard time getting themselves out of that circle and therefore most people get stuck there, (Income Inequality).  

CONCLUSION

The American dream is a concept created a very long time ago that, since then, has shaped American society and how we think about America. By definition the American dream is idea that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work, determination, and initiative, (American Dream). The concept about the American dream has always been the same but over time, people have changed it’s meaning into something else. The American dream has been turned into a competition between people, to become more successful than others and have a bigger house, better car and, overall, a better life. As stated before, the American dream is in essence about achieving success and being successful but it was never about being more successful than others. Everyone has their own ideas about what success is and in addition to that, everyone has their own goals and ideas about what kind of success they want to achieve. Fulfilling the American dream should not be about fulfilling the same dream, but instead, it should be based on what each individual desires. People need to stop comparing themselves to others because we all have our own journeys and we never know the motives behind each individual’s actions are. The original idea of what the American dream stands for has to be brought back. The idea that everyone is equal and should have an equal opportunity to reach their goals and be successful. For that to happen, there has to be a change in the American society, so we can be able to say that everyone has equal opportunities. The American economy has to change from being an “envy economy” back into what it was before, which is an “ambitious economy,” (Nohria), meaning that people have to shift their focus away from other people, over to themselves if success is what they are looking for, because that is how you achieve your own dreams.

Works Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. “5 Ways Our Founding Fathers Protect The American Dream.” The Balance Small Business, The Balance, www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-american-dream-quotes-and-history-3306009.

“The American Dream Is a Fu*King Lie.” PaleoBOSS Lady, www.paleobosslady.com/blog/the-american-dream-is-a-lie.

“American Dream.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream.

“American Dream.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream.

BridgeWorks. “The Evolution of the American Dream.” BridgeWorks, 24 July 2017, www.generations.com/2015/09/21/the-evolution-of-the-american-dream/.

Carter, Shawn M. “Less than 20% of Americans Say They're Living the American Dream-Here's Why.” CNBC, CNBC, 19 Sept. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/09/19/less-than-20-percent-of-americans-say-theyre-living-the-american-dream.html.

Dwyer, Dustin. “Five Facts about Achieving the American Dream.” State of Opportunity, stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/five-facts-about-achieving-american-dream.

Dwyer, Dustin. “Five Facts about Achieving the American Dream.” State of Opportunity, stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/five-facts-about-achieving-american-dream.

“Income Inequality.” Inequality.org, inequality.org/facts/income-inequality/.

“Hilfiger Launching Fashion Reality Show.” PEOPLE.com, Time Inc, people.com/celebrity/hilfiger-launching-fashion-reality-show/.

Jr., Ruben Navarrette. “Is Ted Cruz 'Post-Hispanic'?” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 22 Jan. 2015, www.thedailybeast.com/is-ted-cruz-post-hispanic.

Nohria, Nitin. “Envy and the American Dream.” Harvard Business Review, 1 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/2013/01/envy-and-the-american-dream.

PragerU. “What's Killing the American Dream?” YouTube, YouTube, 26 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1nXxPMsOIs.

Productions, WorldBeat. “The Myth and Realities of the American Dream.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQvAsXfMkiw.

Shiller, Robert J. “The Transformation of the 'American Dream'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/upshot/the-transformation-of-the-american-dream.html.

Smith, Samantha. “Most Say American Dream Is within Reach for Them.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 31 Oct. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/31/most-think-the-american-dream-is-within-reach-for-them/.

“The Souring of the American Dream.” Public Radio International, PRI, www.pri.org/stories/2011-11-21/souring-american-dream.

Star, Clovis. “The Collapse of The American Dream Explained Cartoon.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L4YIkYP5uU.

Tinervia, Karly. “Karly Tinervia.” Karly Tinervia, 1 Jan. 1970, karlytinervia15.blogspot.com/.

“Workforce #ChartOfTheWeek | The Fading American Dream?” SCPa Works, 7 May 2018, scpaworks.org/2018/05/workforce-chartoftheweek-the-fading-american-dream/.

[bellesdomain]

Starlight Express 6.0 - Mama the Steamer

Photos 1-3  - Reva Rice as Mama, dress rehearsal Photo 4 - Andrew Lloyd Webber and Reva Rice, opening night June 2018 Photo 5 - Regi Jennings and Reva Rice, closing night May 2018

OK.  so.  why. 

WHY did they change Poppa’s gender, not Electra?  Why do we not have a female Electra?  Who asked for Mama?  Who thought this a good idea?  Where did this even come from?  How does this fit the story?

Apparently, they had international auditions, and there were 10. TEN applicants to play this role.  I mean, I know they’ve struggled to find performers for Poppa - how many mature black guys want to learn to skate and move to Germany for a role?  Do they somehow thing there’ll be more mature WOMEN in musical theatre, prepared to learn to skate and move to Germany?  let alone try to maintain the racial diversity....  If they’d spent the last 20 years actively seeking to keep the cast diverse, maybe there’d be enough women who’s previously performed in the show who’s want to come back when they’re in the 30-60 age bracket (and haven’t settled down, had a family, moved career to something where there’s actual opportunities for mature women unlike the vast majority of musical theatre...)

They’ve pulled off an amazing coup in getting Reva Rice to join the cast.  But unless she decides to permanently move to Bochum, who’s next?  Who is going to replace her?  And in this rumoured new UK/English language production, who’ll be Momma there?  Who else has the skill set to perform this role?  Maybe...  3, 4 other ex-Starlighters that I know of are still actively performing, have the soul voice, and aren’t white.  Maybe 3.

Then there’s the role.  Poppa’s big numbers - Poppa’s Blues, the Starlight Sequence, and Light at the End of the Tunnel - all fall comfortably in a tenor range.  (I’m a trained singer with a fairly good alto range, I can hit Poppa’s notes for the big songs).  But there’s also a lot of recit - the story telling conversations, and those are all baritone.  The vocal range goes way down there.  You can style it out, sprechgesang it, fake it....  But it’s not ideal and not kind to the other characters.

Not Kind?  HAVE YOU HEARD THE STARLIGHT SEQUENCE NOW???  Mama is simply in a different key to Rusty.  It just cuts back and forth in the most jarring manner. (then poor Rusty’s vocal range is so abused in “I Do” as well....) Reva apparently can’t get those bottom alto notes?  Or they decided to mess about with it because of reasons? 

Is Mama special for being a female champion steam engine, or is her gender unremarkable? Why does she introduce herself with the “I Got Me” melody, as if she were one of the coaches?  (Since both Mama and Coco are Engines, the coaches clearly have a problem with Engines shoving them around, not Men... not all engines are men, so it’s an Engines vs Coaches issue, not Male vs Female.  and if Mama uses “I Got Me” because she’s a girl, why doesn’t Coco use it too?)

ANYWAY.  COSTUME.

Now bear in mind the first three photos are from a dress rehearsal, and the final image with Andrew Lloyd Webber is from opening night.  The difference that is immediately apparent is her wig - in the intervening week she gained a headscarf, and the wig is re-styled to look a lot better.  It looks atrocious in the first images, but credit where it’s due, by opening night the wig looks fine. 

So Mama’s basic costume, as seen in the race picture, is exactly what I hoped to see. She’s wearing the exact same design as Poppa, bit scaled and tailored to a female cut.  The only discrepancies are her under-shirt is painted into more, less the white/grey base but painted an “old gold”, and the neckerchief she wears is more subdued than Poppa’s bright orange.  These tweaks are an improvement in my mind, as the costume is more cohesive, less high contrast between the overalls/shirt which isn’t an important detail.  

We see Mama’s Blues - she has new set details surrounding her, a dilapidated water tower and bridge behind her (are they to scale?  or is the buffer seat to scale?  because those elements are NOT to scale with each other....)  She’s wearing a grubby old apron - suggestive of Grandma in the kitchen or in the garden at home, this works.  We’re seeing her in her own space, in private, hanging out with her friends / adopted kids.  You can bet she’s already offered them all some iced water.  She takes off the apron as a symbol of getting up, going out there to RACE - which is perfect story telling.

And then it all falls apart. Mama gets a skirt.  Because she’s GIRL and GIRLS WEAR SKIRTS.  How else would we know she’s a GIRL if she’s not in a SKIRT?! 

WHY???

Especially after we’ve already seen her throughout the show (the skirt only appears for Light at the End of the Tunnel) - we know the character, we’re comfortable with her already, but she has to be swathed in a massive amount of fabric to close out the show?

Allow me a brief ramble about skirts in European Fashion History.  Skirts have always existed to slow women down.  Our ancestors could do so much DESPITE their skirts, not because of them.  Little girls have to be careful of their pretty dresses while their brothers climb trees. Girls have to be careful not to have a Marilyn Monroe incident and let their skirts blow up. Skirts are a hindrance to physical activity - even the shortest skater dress skirts, purely decorative, are symbolic of this feminine archetype that women are to be slow, careful, cautious, take care of their appearance, to be decorative, not physically active.  (I’m sitting here wearing a dress right now, but if I wanted to mow the lawn, I’d have to change first)  Skirts represent the feminine home-maker, the wife, mother, source of comfort and refinement.  This is not a negative association necessarily, it’s simply the connection that’s made.  Look at our four classic coaches - Pearl the First Class carriage, ultimate in luxury.  Dinah the Dining Car - table-service, stylish restaurant.  Ashley the Smoking Car - a comfortable lounge car where you can relax and smoke. All three, appropriately, wearing skirts.  Then there’s Buffy the Buffet Car - serving quick snacks and drinks, not somewhere to linger, no-frills supplying your needs.  For speed and efficiency?  No skirt. 

So, why does Mama (and Coco, I’ve got a big problem with her design too) wear a skirt?  With this symbolism behind the garment, how on earth is is appropriate for an Engine to represent comfort and domesticity?  Why does Mama gain this at the end of the show, when her part in the narrative is complete?  What further development of her story does this costume change represent? 

Why bother?

So in conclusion, I have a big problem with the concept of Mama (as opposed to a female Electra which would have made a much stronger story).  I almost love her costume design.  And then they ruin it at the end. I’m very sceptical about Mama’s longevity - I think casting will be nigh-on impossible while maintaining any integrity to the character, and I’d much rather have Poppa back than scraping the barrel to find someone approximately appropriate to play Mama in years to come.   and sort out those keys.

[pjemporiumposts]

Buy Latest Sana Safinaz Winter Collection 2019

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[fashionmiddlefan]

Elan Zaha Collection 2018 By Khaijah Shah New Arrival ÉLAN has created a luxurious Pret-a-porter Line. ÉLAN lawn. The brand’s wildly successful seasonal unstitched printed fabric collection was first launched in 2012 and has quickly become a summer must have.

Recently added to the portfolio is ÉLAN Vital. A casual avant-garde ready to wear a diffusion line. With regularly updated designs. This line is proving very successful with busy women who do not want to compromise on elegance or comfort in their daily wear. Now elan is introducing the new brand Zaha.

See Also:-

Alkaram Studio Winter 2018 Viscose Embroidery 3 Piece Collection

Sana Safinaz Luxury Silk Dresses Winter Collection 2018

Ittehad Textiles Izabel Winter Collection 2018-19

Gul Ahmed New Winter Collection 2018-19

Nomi Ansari Bridal Collection ‘Maya’ at PLBW 2018

  Elan Zaha Collection 2018 By Khaijah Shah New Arrival Elan Zaha Collection 2018 By Khaijah Shah New Arrival ÉLAN has created a luxurious Pret-a-porter Line. ÉLAN lawn.

[travel-voyages]

'Glamping' Has Officially Come to New York City

By Bloomberg:  July 12, 2018

Governors Island is a mere eight-minute ferry from the southern tip of Manhattan (five minutes if you’re traveling from Brooklyn’s Pier 6) and already a favorite summer respite for harried New Yorkers. Before you’ve had time to stow your bike and collect your thoughts, you’ve been transported to a 172-acre car-free green space with playing fields and historic buildings, art installations and a grove of hammocks, plus an altogether slower pace.

Now you can sleep there, too.

After opening on June 29, with a grand opening event set for July 11, Collective Governors Island is a “glamping” camp from Collective Retreats that offers guests the kind of limited experience that’s trending in travel right now.

“Collective Retreats was born out of the belief that the travel experience doesn’t need to be confined to physical buildings that inevitably start to depreciate and become outdated very quickly after opening,” says Peter Mack, Collective Retreats’ chief executive officer and co-founder. Its mission, he explains, is to connect guests with the land, people, and themselves. “We don’t pave roads, pour foundation, or build any permanent structures in order to protect and respect the land we operate on.”

The company already offers seasonal luxury accommodation under canvas in other destinations where it would be difficult to build a hotel without impacting the beauty of the place, from 1,000 acres of ranchland in Vail, Colo., and Big Sky, Mont., near Yellowstone National Park, to an organic farm in New York’s Hudson Valley and a 225-acre ranch in Texas Hill Country.

“With this retreat, we are excited to offer an oasis for New Yorkers and visitors to escape the concrete and grind of the city, reconnect with nature, and recharge,” Mack says.

The accommodation arcs around a central lawn overlooked by Collective’s Three Peaks Lodge restaurant, where you also check in, hang out, and take in a view of New York Harbor that includes the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Manhattan skyline. An adjacent repurposed shipping container is a bar (alcohol license pending) and cafe for takeout, while a wooden stage will be used for live music performances but is also a handy platform for giant Jenga construction.

The head chef, Jason Rutigliano, works from an open kitchen/tent adjoining the restaurant. He does wonders on induction plates in lieu of gas flame, which isn’t allowed on the island. When he’s not cooking, you’ll see him sporting a selection of neon-colored headbands and talking to guests with gusto about the island’s farm, which supplies much of his produce, and the sustainability of the whole endeavor. He also played Uno with my kids; it’s that kind of place.

Diners can choose between an a la carte menu (highlights: chilled corn soup, $10; pan-roasted fish of the day with seasonal vegetables, $28; rigatoni Bolognese; $24) or the three-course “Ferry to Flame” prix fixe, which will change depending on what produce is available. Additionally, we were offered a BBQ-in-a-Box for a more authentic camping experience. You cook it yourself on one of the grills arranged around the lawn’s edge, but I gratefully accepted “Plan B,” to order off the menu after some light rain crushed my barbecuing confidence.

There are two types of luxury tents available. Ten “Summit Tents” (from $500, double occupancy, breakfast included) contain plush king beds or two singles and private bathrooms; roll beds can be added for up to two kids under 12 for an additional $100 a night per bed. Twenty-seven “Journey Tents” (from $150, double occupancy) offer a queen bed or two singles and share sparkling bathroom facilities, all with complimentary Beekman products. Next season, there are plans to add eight “Outlook Shelters” made from shipping containers. These units will include AC/heating, kitchen, bathroom, and a king-size bedroom with 180-degree glass walls to fully appreciate those knockout harbor views from your bed. For the 2018 season, occupancy maxes out at 100 people.

Inside the tents, it’s pure comfort, with neutrals and natural finishes such as fur throws, wood, and woven rugs. In the Summit Tents, designer Cassie Novick has also peppered slightly different nautical touches throughout; ours came with a rope light fixture, vintage books and binoculars, and brass compass. Add to that the 1,500-thread-count sheets, a French press coffee bar, electricity, Wi-Fi, and a hot shower—this was a far cry from my experience of a dome tent in Greece. With the tent’s front completely open, bug nets zipped up, we couldn’t wait for the sun to go down and the whole scene to light up, as the Staten Island Ferry glided back and forth. Magical.

One caveat: For all the tranquility that a night or two at Collective Governors Island offers, late evening is also when nightlife on the waterways comes alive with party boats. It’s fun to watch for a while, but when the beats continue into the early hours, it becomes (literally) tiresome. My kids slept through it after running themselves into exhaustion with new friends, but earplugs are an amenity that should be provided.

And keep those nets closed. Glamping or camping, it can get pretty buggy. Eve—a city kid if there ever was one—was slightly freaked out by the sheer variety of insects slamming themselves against our door. By the end she was prodding and trying to identify them. There were also fireflies everywhere on the big lawn, which the children chased around all evening once the weather cleared.

After a spectacular pink-tinged, heavily Instagrammed sunset, guests gathered around a fire pit area with seating made from stone found on the island. Experience Managers Tim Ullio and Matt Haeffner stoked the flames and entertained the kids with terrible jokes: “Don’t burn yourself, it’ll be a s’morgency!”

Guests were a cross section of age groups, including Paul, a gentleman from Queens who gave us a lesson in how not to cremate a marshmallow, and we met plenty of fellow New Yorkers as well as tourists. Collective’s Mack happily watched people mingle over sweet treats and wondered if he should add a second circle of stone seating. He also mentioned that previous guests have included a local couple who showered and dressed for work the next morning, catching the ferry directly to their jobs on Wall Street.

http://fortune.com/2018/07/12/glamping-in-new-york-city-nyc/

[thebeautywriters]

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[architectnews]

BALI National Landscape Awards 2020

British Association of Landscape Industries Awards 2020, BALI Design News, Yorkshire Garden

BALI National Landscape Awards 2020 News

4 Dec 2020

BALI National Landscape Awards 2020 Winners

Due to COVID-19 the 44th BALI National Landscape Awards was held virtually on Friday 4th December 2020.

PWP Landscape Design wins BALI Grand Award for Private Garden in Yorkshire

The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) has awarded its ultimate accolade to Registered Contractor PWP Landscape Design for its stunning BALI National Landscape Awards 2020 entry, a Private Residence in Yorkshire.

The formal garden won the Grand Award after being entered into the Domestic Garden Construction – Costs Between £100k-£250k category, sponsored by Registered Affiliate Van den Berk Nurseries.

photo courtesy of PWP Landscape Design / BALI

PWP Landscape Design’s Grand Award project saw the installation team tackle an extensive formal garden with a strong axis and layout, providing an enviable outlook from the house with colour and year-round interest. Aggregates, soil, turf, porcelain paving, steels and plant stock had to be craned over the house whilst it was still under construction. The garden includes an extensive lawn, hedges and borders, steel pergola, formal beds and a central sunken walled patio.

BALI Chief Executive Wayne Grills commented on their achievement, “PWP Landscape Design has entered our prestigious hall of fame, which includes 44 highly regarded Grand Award winning schemes from the last four decades. Our members, led by PWP Landscape Design, have once again demonstrated they are some of the most talented professionals in the UK, and we rightly celebrate them at the largest landscaping ceremony of its kind in Europe. I am delighted for Adrian, Ian and their team on such a magnificent scheme and I extend my personal congratulations to you, and to all our winners this year. COVID-19 may have placed restrictions on us in 2020, but it has done nothing to stop the quality, dedication and spirit of our members.”

On the Grand Award, Chair of the Adjudication Panel John Melmoe said, “Despite unbelievably challenging logistics and having to build this garden whilst the new-build house was under construction, PWP Landscape Design demonstrated superb workmanship across every aspect of the scheme. Precision cutting of the hard elements and expert selection and planting of quality stock has resulted in faultless landscaping perfection and an ecstatic client.”

Based in Leeds, PWP Landscape Design specialise in creating distinctive, functional and sustainable outdoor spaces, with a reputation for immaculate attention to detail and innovative design resolution. The team comprises of landscape architects, garden designers and horticulturalists.

Due to COVID-19 this year’s ceremony was held virtually, with hundreds of members, guests and VIPs tuning in to watch the special stream as it aired on Friday 4 December. Supported by Headline Sponsor and Registered Affiliate Green-tech, the annual event is a highlight for many in the landscaping calendar and provided the perfect end of year celebration which recognised the skills, hard work, quality, commitment and successes of Registered members.

In total 124 entries were judged by BALI adjudicators over the summer with 70 National Landscape Awards bestowed on 49 members in September. Of these 18 Principal and 4 Special Awards were announced during the virtual broadcast, including Specials for Best Design & Build for PWP Landscape Design, Best Newcomer to BALI for Registered Contractor Smart Landscape Design, who also won a Principal for a Private Residence in Bristol, and Best First Time Entrant for Registered Designer Jilayne Rickards MBALI. Jilayne was also presented with Best Use of Recycled & Reclaimed Materials alongside Registered Contractor Landscaping Solutions for their joint work on Principal Award winning scheme The Urban Retreat – London.

Registered Contractors idverde, Maylim, Frosts Landscape Construction, Bowles & Wyer, Tivoli Group, Landscape Associates, BlueFish Landscaping Contractors, John O’Conner (Grounds Maintenance), Landform Consultants, Green Acorn Landscape Design and Construction and Talbot Farm Landscapes were also awarded Principals in their respective categories. Registered Designer Lynne Marcus MBALI MSGD achieved a Principal for her Private Residence in Pentworth, West Sussex whilst International member DDON Planning & Design Inc. took home a Principal for their spectacular The Taicang Wave Fountain Yard. This year’s Affiliate Exceptional Service Award went to Registered Affiliate CED Stone Group.

2020 was the third year the Awards were successfully delivered by the team at BALI’s Landscape House. Events Project Manager Emily Feeney, who was promoted into the role in August, said, “I am incredibly proud of the achievements of the team in 2020. Once again, the hard work and determination of everyone involved resulted in us hosting a successful virtual ceremony which entertained hundreds of our landscaping colleagues, industry organisations and VIPs. I would like to congratulate PWP Landscape Design and our winners this year, well done to you all. Finally, on behalf of my colleague Diane McCulloch, I would like to extend a special thank you to our sponsors. Without you, there would be no ceremony and we truly value your ongoing support.”

Although the event was held virtually, members took to social media to share photos of their teams watching the ceremony remotely in a concerted effort not to miss out on the celebrations. BALI’s best dressed competition, which launched several weeks ahead of the ceremony, proved popular with teams sharing snaps of their outfits in the hope of winning a £100 gift voucher. The result will be published on the BALI Awards Twitter and Instagram accounts on Monday 7 December 2020.

A full list of award-winners and a description of the winning schemes will be available on the BALI Awards website shortly.

British Association of Landscape Industries, Landscape House, Stoneleigh Park, Nr Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LG, United Kingdom

Previously on e-architect:

9 June 2020

BALI COVID-19 Strategy News

BALI launches COVID-19 restart & rebuild strategy

The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) has launched its COVID-19 restart & rebuild strategy, incorporating three specific strands of support to help members out of lockdown.

British Association of Landscape Industries News

26 Mar 2020

BALI COVID-19 Statement

BALI Updated Position Statement on COVID-19 (coronavirus)

BALI Position Statement – COVID-19 (coronavirus)

Waterbeach New Town East masterplan Cambridge by LDA Design: image courtesy of architectural office

Liveable Exeter, Southwest England, UK, landscape by LDA Design: image courtesy of architectural office

The following documents are available for BALI members only and can be found on the BALI COVID-19 portal here.

25 Mar 2020

British Association of Landscape Industries News

BALI Position Statement – COVID-19 (coronavirus)

Filton Airfield Masterplan landscape design by British landscape architects Grant Associates: image courtesy of landscape architects

Comments on this British Association of Landscape Industries COVID-19 (coronavirus) Statement are welcome.

British Association of Landscape Industries, Landscape House, Stoneleigh Park, Nr Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LG, United Kingdom

Landscape Architecture

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Grant Associates image : Grant Associates

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Landscape Institute Awards 2018

Landscape Institute

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Barcelona Landscape Architecture

Scottish Landscape Architecture

Comments / photos for the BALI National Landscape Awards 2020 – Scarcroft garden in Yorkshire by PWP Landscape Design page welcome

The post BALI National Landscape Awards 2020 appeared first on e-architect.

[memoryonrepeat]

Hi everyone! How has the first week of 2018 been for you? I’m back at work and although it’s been a little quieter than usual, it’s also been pretty busy. I feel like I’m still in vacation mode, and working has been a little less than productive. I’m off to Dallas next week though, so hopefully that helps me get back into the swing of things!

I’m still going through photos from my travels last year, so here’s a recap of my trip to Vancouver and Squamish last September. I was in town for a friend’s wedding and flew in a day early to spend some time in Vancouver before driving up to Squamish for the ceremony. Vancouver is by far one of my favourite cities in Canada, and I’m always looking for an excuse to go back.

We stayed at The Westin in downtown Vancouver, and I absolutely loved our time there. The location is great for exploring downtown, with plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance. We spent the first day eating (see below for what we ate!), walking around Gas Town, and visiting Queen Elizabeth Park and English Bay.

Wearing: Missguided off-the-shoulder sweater (old, similar here), H&M skirt (old, similar here), Adidas sneakers 

Vancouver is known for its rain, and unfortunately it was raining on and off during our first day. It actually made the trip to Queen Elizabeth Park better though, because we were able to avoid the usual groups of tourists and had most of the gardens to ourselves. This park is beautiful to walk around in and has so many photo-worthy spots. 

I can never go to Vancouver and not spend time by the water, so our last stop of the day was to English Bay. This is such a pretty spot to take in the view or relax on the beach. It was definitely too cold to go in the water, but we had the best time just walking around the boardwalk and enjoying the scenery.

Wearing: Peace Collective sweatshirt, Aerie leggings (similar here), Adidas sneakers

Medina Cafe - This brunch spot is one of the highest rated and most popular in downtown Vancouver. We went close to when they opened for the day, and there was already a 30min wait! I can completely understand why though. The food was delicious, their drinks were good, and the staff was so nice and helpful. Worth the wait for sure.

Revolver - I love a good coffee shop, and Revolver had exactly the aesthetic and atmosphere that I love. It’s a pretty small spot, and the interior is all warm wood and dark accents - absolutely beautiful. Their coffee was also amazing.

Beta5 Chocolates - I saw this spot on Instagram, and really wanted to go because of the unique (and delicious) looking cream puffs. The store is actually located in an out of the way industrial area, so much so that I thought Google Maps had taken us to the wrong place when we first arrived! Their cream puffs are delicious though, and they have so many flavours to choose from.

Gene Coffee Bar - We stopped by at this popular little spot after visiting Beta5 Chocolates. My iced latte was so good, and I loved how open concept the space was. If I was still in school and needed a place to study, this would be it.

Shuraku Sake Bar - I can’t ever go to Vancouver and not eat sushi. Their fish is just so much cheaper and is better quality-wise than Toronto. Unfortunately though, I wasn’t a huge fan of this sushi spot. It was pretty affordable, but their sushi wasn’t really anything special for the price we paid. A+ for the presentation though (look at that sashimi!).

Belgard Kitchen - This is another spot that was located in a strange area (the entire block looked a little sketchy to be honest), but it was so good that the area didn’t even bother me. The restaurant is actually a combination of a brewery and restaurant in a shared space. The interior is beautifully designed, all of their food is farm to table, and their brunch menu was just amazing. Highly recommend checking it out.

We were off to Squamish for the wedding the next morning, and the drive was quite possibly one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in Vancouver so far. It was too foggy to get pictures, but on a nice day you can see the view of the ocean and mountains as you drive up.

Wearing: Aritzia dress (on sale now but sold out in my exact style - some other similar options here and here), Zara sandals

The venue the wedding was held in was breathtaking. It’s right on top of a mountain, and you need to take a 20min gondola ride to get up. The rain and mist made the mountains look even prettier, and it truly felt like you were on top of the world. The ceremony was so beautiful (I definitely cried), and we had such an amazing time there celebrating the new couple.

Our flight back to Vancouver was the next morning, but we made a quick stopover at Shannon Falls on the way back. We didn’t have enough time to hike up, but the view of the falls from the bottom was still beautiful. It’s definitely on my list of places to visit again.

We wrapped up the trip with brunch at Fergie’s Cafe, which was the cutest outdoor restaurant. You can choose to sit on the deck attached to the main restaurant area, or on the picnic tables on the lawn. They had a great brunch menu, plus delicious pastries. I wasn’t expecting to find such a good brunch spot out in Squamish, but loved this one.

That wraps up my first travel diary of the year! Thanks for coming along to Vancouver and Squamish with me. More soon.

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[silktunicsdress-blog]

Silk Tunics Fall Collection 2017 - 2018

Silk Digital Printed Lawn

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