#olas has the best magic don’t @ me

[claudiaeparvier]

Forspoken + Tanta Prav’s magic

[freddiekluger]

please drop the essay length analysis Judas and Jesus (extra gay Swedish edition), O great and knowledgeable monarch of our times

alright, you ask i deliver! please excuse any typos, my eyes aren't exactly working rn

welcome to my probably super subjective but correct analysis, aka

Judas Was Right and Jesus Was A Victim (At Least, In Swedish)

Before we get started, a couple points: i’ll try to avoid comparisons to other specific productions, i’ve only seen the other recorded 2012 british version which i didn’t like for reasons including but not limited to the amount of white people with dreadlocks. Also, my understanding of swedish is limited to a couple words and phrases, so most of the lyrics i reference will be english subtitles from Ola Salo’s swedish translation and therefore might not be the most accurate !

There’s so much i could cover in this, but for now i’m going to focus on how jesus and judas are portrayed in the 2014 swedish arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (JCS) starring Ola Salo as Jesus and Peter Johansson as Judas, along with how this production more implicitly views god. 

From the opening number, translated into swedish as En Dimmig Himmelsdröm (A Foggy Heaven’s Dream), Peter Johansson’s acting and semantic differences in the lyrics present us with a deeply sympathetic portrayal of Judas. Looking purely at language, the english equivalent Heaven On Their Minds instantly paints Judas as much more of a faithless doubter- lyrics exclusive to the english version like “all your followers have gone blind / too much heaven on their minds” and “they think you’re the new messiah / and they’ll hurt you when they find they’re wrong” strongly enforce Judas’ main motivation for his actions being that he has less belief in Jesus and God’s plan than any of the other disciples with strong statements judging the other disciples for following him and claiming that Jesus ISN’T the messiah. The swedish translation doesn’t paint exactly the same picture- the focus of Judas’ number becomes his fear for Jesus’ wellbeing, not because he isn’t the messiah (the production remains fairly ambiguous on this point), but because Jesus can’t cope. The root of Judas’ concern comes from fear for Jesus’ wellbeing, and the disciples are referenced as regularly misunderstanding and wilfully twisting Jesus’ words. The swedish equivalent lyrics for the above examples are “they say, “jesus is god’s son” / but you know how people can change” (judas isn’t concerned with truth, just the danger that jesus will be in if the tide turns), and “the kingdom of heaven is within us, that’s what you said / bu they sew it, stitch by stich into some kind of foggy heaven’s dream”. Judas is showing that he HAS been listening and cares for Jesus’ teachings, but ‘they’ [his disciples] are turning them into something else entirely, and Judas’ worries that the support of the masses is fragile at best- the lines “and everything you say gets twisted by your lackeys / it will be anything but what you’ve said”  and “you are being used by people who want you in their battle” reinforces this again. When combined with Peter Johansson’s tough but tender performance, in which he dances between disdain for Jesus, the institution, and affection for Jesus, the man (an important distinction), Judas is the harsh realist doing his best to look out for the man he loves. The way he takes Jesus hands and looks at him with love and urgency straight away establishes that his motivations are pure- Judas is doing what he thinks is best, even though it feels like no one will listen to him. 

That was long, but En Dimmig Himmelsdröm is the perfect character introduction for Judas. He’s not totally unrecognisable, still delivering digs about ‘Jesus, the little carpenter’s son’, his manner is still rough and at this point we’re not sure whether or not the claims he makes about the disciples have any truth to them, BUT we can also see how much Jesus means to him, an important point that give context to the intensity of their future arguments and really makes the whole story much more heartbreaking.

This brings me to Ola Salo’s Jesus. Delightfully camp and queercoded, Judas describes him as being caught up in his own magic and mystery and buckling under the pressure, and he’s not entirely wrong. Throughout the first act, Jesus basks in the luxuries that being messiah can give him (the oils Mary paid for using disciple funds that were supposed to go towards helping the poor, him absolutely thriving in the shopping cart in What’s the Buzz?), and is shown actively avoiding any reminders of the seriousness of his position. He’s sick of the disciples asking him for a plan, he chooses the comforting Mary, who’s theme consists of telling Jesus everything is okay and he doesn’t need to think about anything, over Judas, who is less perhaps ‘cosy’ but is actively trying to warn and protect Jesus from an awful fate. During The Temple, he starts to crack as he’s overcome by the followers begging him to make him well, fear in his eyes as he raises his arms while frozen on the spot trying to avoid being devoured by the frenzy in desperate need of a messiah. Judas’ point about Jesus buckling under the pressure is starting to look more and more reasonable, and the dashes of showbiz campness add to the sense that much of Jesus is a persona constructed for the masses to give himself enough distance to prevent him from being crushed by the weight of God entirely. Jesus, the institution, prances around, lays his hands on his followers, and projects an air of easygoing calm. Jesus, the man, is scared and alone, and Jesus, the man, really comes out in Last Supper, but before we get there, I want to circle back to the Jesus/Mary/Judas thing.

Jesus, Mary, and Judas are presented as a love triangle: so much so, that Judas seeing Mary sing of her love for Jesus (I Don’t Know How To Love Him) is actually played as the inciting incident that sends him to the pharisees. Judas, the picture of the jealous lover, storms onto the scene, breaking them up and attempting to kiss Jesus, who instead shoves him to the ground in disdain. Judas, who is perhaps a little controlling, realises that any influence he had over Jesus has gone, and it’s likely a combination of jealousy and the knowledge that Jesus won’t stop that prompts him to head to the pharisees. In his meeting with the pharisees (known in english as Damned For All Time, although that phrase doesn’t appear once in the swedish), Judas’ expresses outright that “I’m the one who sees / Jesus, he can’t handle it anymore” “the truth is that this hysteria is making him lose control”, once he can get past explaining how much this plan of action feels like a last resort. He never even verbally or physically accept the pharisees’ offer of money, he denies it twice before it is eventually thrown over him after he reluctantly gives them the date and time to find Jesus- we never even see him pick it up, unlike other productions which show Judas grabbing for the cash and place a higher emphasis on Judas making sure he ‘won’t be damned for all time’, painting Judas as far more self serving. When it comes to Jesus, Judas is active- he’s running around trying to help, caressing him, embracing him, grabbing his hand, kissing him. They share countless moment of intimacy, especially at the start, establishing the fondness between them instead of instantly jumping to their conflict. When it comes to Mary (and admittedly, this is partially because she’s a secondary character- don’t get me wrong I still love her and Gunilla Backman does a brilliant job), she’s much more passive. Other than the much more gentle kisses in I Don’t Know How To Love Him and her penchant for dabbing Jesus’ forehead, she’s mostly just ‘there’. She cares for Jesus after the fact, and even when performing acts of intimacy like the oil and the kiss, she maintains a lot of physical distance- her songs touch on this as, much like Jesus (admittedly for different reasons), she actively distances herself from feelings to protect herself, so naturally she literally places distance between herself and the object of her love.

This brings me back to Last Supper, Gethsemane ( I Only Want to Say), and the kiss of death that broke all of our hearts. Throughout this segment, this is when Jesus, the man, really comes through, and it’s devastating. In Last Supper, he properly expresses the sheer amount of loneliness he feels, reiterating how he feels everyone will forget about him once he’s gone, and doesn’t really care about him as a man (”for you, my blood is not worth more than wine / for you, my body is not worth more than bread” “you will have forgotten me as soon as i give up my life”). This devolves into the disciples fighting each other and, you guessed it, ignoring him. For the first time, Jesus meaningfully lets out his anger, and as it turns to Judas, Judas does the same. Because of the set up of their complicated romantic relationship and the stakes involved, the amount of personal attacks and anger that comes out of Jesus and Judas’ repeated fights (which get physical) make complete sense- Jesus’ frustrations come from the fact that his entire fate has been predetermined and to him, Judas is just another instrument in the ways he’s been controlled (both with Judas being his betrayer, but also the way that Judas’ constant advice and interference with Jesus’ life (most obviously, the mary thing) are acted by Ola Salo as becoming increasingly frustrating to Jesus)- these frustrations are directed at their real cause, God, in Gethsemane. Judas’ frustrations come from the fact that no matter how hard he tries to help Jesus and keep him safe, Jesus keeps rejecting his efforts resulting in “all that we’ve built up [being] destroyed”- Judas’ heart hasn’t just been broken by Jesus rejecting him romantically, but on every level. Here, he’s actually shown to be the disciple most passionate about helping people practically and long term, being the only one concerned about Mary taking money which was supposed to help people, manipulated by the pharisees with the promise of doing good for the masses, and criticising Jesus for how they could be doing so much for people, ending his part of Last Supper with “every time i look at you i ask myself why you let all your things go so wrong? / all i ever wanted was to help you”. 

This is also the point where Judas’ claims about the disciples are essentially confirmed, and this productions intent to portray Judas as more of a tragic hero become absolutely clear. In the english version, the disciples chorus remains virtually the same each time it appears, generally being far too calm considering their leader is about to die, revealing their aspirations to be apostles, and their intent to write the gospels to be remembered. the swedish translation still achieve this, but with variations from chorus to chorus it becomes much more poignant. i’m just going to stick to ttwo, which are choruses 1 and 3. In chorus 1, lines roughly translate to “i’ve always wanted to be an apostle / life is so nice when you’re saved/ then when we’ve got time we’ll write the gospels / then everything will be the way we want”-  the apostles declaring that life is so good when you’re saved supports Judas’ opening statement that they care more about some idea of heaven than anything else, not to mention ignoring the absolute horrors that Jesus will have to go through to be saved, while the final line about the gospels introduces their intent to change whichever details they need to make ‘everything the way we want’: once again, exactly what Judas warned us of in En Dimmig Himmelsdröm. In chorus 3, taking place after Judas storms out for the last time, these lines change to “never really liked that judas / never saw what jesus saw in him / then, when we’ve got time we’ll write the gospels / and we’ll angle it so he gets all the blame”. Judas as a sympathetic character is confirmed here, as the disciples straight up admit how they don’t like Judas anyways and intend to write him as a villain (also inadvertently admitting that, since they have to write the gospels to make it look like only Judas’ fault, Judas isn’t really the sole one responsible for everything that is to come). It’s deeply unsettling, and for me was the point where I really began to question how good any of these disciples were, and by extension, how good is this production’s God if his truly sanctified followers are acting like this?

Jesus vents out all of his anger and desperation in Gethsemane. He acknowledges his own powerlessness and begs him to change the plan, but with the dark stage and no response (along with Ola Salo’s spectacular acting) it becomes clear that if anyone is there, they’re certainly not listening (”you, who have all the power / can you please change the plan / for i can already feel the pain burning in me”). It’s worth mentioning that a lot of the imagery in this swedish version is much more intense than the english, both in this song and the production as a whole. Jesus plainly calls god “thoughtless”, begging to understand, and it’s that this point we realise that he agrees with much more of what Judas has been saying than he’s been letting on- Jesus’ faith appears to be the only thing keeping him from listening to Judas and running away. Judas’ messages about people misunderstanding Jesus’ words also come out (”you care that everyone sees / but not that anyone understands”), and his eventual agreeing to die is played less as an inspiring act of faith, and more an act of desperation as he realises, he realise has no other choice. In this song, we see just how much of Judas Jesus has valued and taken on board, and that his air of carefree aloofness which frustrated Judas was, as we’ve already touched on, a complete act. The line “might as well finish what i’ve... what YOU’VE started” is absolutely miserable, reinforcing one of the major themes of this production: the idea that Jesus and Judas were both just ordinary men tormented by futures defined by forces out of their control. Just as Jesus has absorbed Judas’ logic, as an audience so we have, and it’s difficult to view the rest of the play’s events as anything other than an immense and unnecessary act of cruelty.

we’re almost done i promise!

Even knowing what Judas has/will do, Jesus still greets him with love. Judas, still under the impression that Jesus will be okay and that he’s doing what’s best, approaches him with the utmost tenderness, and the kiss is a beautiful signifier of two things. For Jesus, the return of his love for Judas shows his realisation in Gethsemane that Judas isn’t the one who’s sealed his fate and has only being trying to help, it’s god himself who has decided Jesus’ future. For Judas, the kiss shows that despite all of the anger and frustration that has been pouring out of him, he truly does love Jesus, and the way he cradles the scared and alone Jesus to his chest afterwards shows just how much he wishes he could be the one to help him and keep him close. Even with all their arguments and dysfunction, here Jesus and Judas find comfort in each other, and it almost seems like everything will end up alright. It’s in this moment that Judas and Jesus are most identifiable not as enemies, or as villain and hero, but as archetypal lovers from a Shakespearean tragedy. Neither of them set out to hurt each other, but through miscommunications, their own flaws, and external forces (both natural and supernatural), their love is simply never to be. Furthermore, in the following torture and spectacle, everything that Judas predicted for Jesus is about to come true. Another detail I find interesting is the way that Jesus and Judas both sport black nail polish, leather pants, and similar length hair: along with just looking cool as hell, the similarities really reinforce how close they are and how much they influence each other- it feels like a contemporary version of carrying a cameo or a lock of your lover's hair with you, a way for 'star crossed lovers' to keep a piece of their beloved no matter what.

The disaffected persona of Jesus, the institution, comes back as he’s taken by the authorities and subsequently insulted, degraded, and whipped. Also the swedish version of The Arrest, when the chorus starts singing questions, contains this dick joke and I think we all deserve it: “why were you dating a whore? / talk about a huge magic wand!”

Skipping forward to Judas’ Death, this is where both his character and the production’s conception of god beautifully (and miserably) align. When Judas runs to the pharisees, minor semantic changes (along with the genuine concern and great acting from Peter Johansson) reinforce that this Judas genuinely didn’t know that Jesus would be beaten and sentenced to death the way he has been, and Judas’ concern regarding how things look is played less as ‘oh no people will hate ME!’, but how having sentenced the man you love to death is one nightmarish thing, but for everyone to think you did it knowingly and willingly and then congratulate you for it is unthinkable. Where the english shows Judas’ attempting to evade responsibility for Jesus death, the swedish is more focused on Judas’ guilt, horror, and regret. The english “I’d save him all the suffering if I could / don’t believe our good / save him if I could” is swapped in swedish for “If anyone should die here I should / don’t say I’m good / better if I died”. While the english statements are somewhat empty (sure, Judas says he’d save Jesus’ suffering if he could, but he can’t so we’ll never truly know) and are still focused on Judas’ attempt to construct himself as a good guy, the swedish translation has Judas admit his guilt (even if it’s not really his fault), and make the promise of “better if i died” which, given the name of this sequence, he later delivers on. When english Judas sings “Christ, I’d sell out the nation / For I have been saddled with the murder of you”, swedish Judas sings “Jesus, I’ve been deceived / because of my act your blood’s now being spilt”, and instead of ending this first section with “I should be dragged through the slime and the mud”, swedish jesus returns to the theme of character assasination with “i will be cursed as the one behind your murder”. 

The swedish translation of the next rework of I Don’t Know How to Love Him also places much more emphasis on Judas’ genuine romantic love for Jesus- we’d be here for hours if i listed everything but here are a few key contrasts. The english has Judas sing “I don’t know how to love him /  I don’t know why he moves me”, whereas the swedish has Judas crying while singing “how do I show my love / all I want is to be close to you”. Along with acknowledging Judas already loves Jesus, the entirety of this segment is shifted from Judas singing about Jesus in the third person ‘he’, to a direct address. Judas isn’t performing his sadness, or venting his emotions, he’s emitting one last desperate cry to the man he loves as he sobs on a stage completely shrouded in darkness, and it’s devastating. Peter Johansson lets his voice run raw as he’s belting, and interrupts lines with sobs, and this Judas answers the question of “do you love me too? do you care for me?” with a quiet “no”- Judas is about to go to his death convinced Jesus must hate him, just as Jesus will face his knowing his love inadvertently put him there.

We finally reach Judas’ actual death, and the production’s far more ambiguous (if not negatively geared) depiction of god comes to a head. Judas’ screaming at god the moment he realises that his god essentially forced Judas to be the one to kill Jesus (an act of ultimate cruelty given their love) comes across as horrifying in it’s validity, unlike in other english language productions where it follows the more common characterisation of Judas being an unbeliever who can’t take responsibility for his own actions. When he spits on the ground, screaming “you have murdered me!”, we can’t help but agree- Judas was trying everything he could to stop Jesus from dying, and yet here he is. Most notably, Judas doesn’t set up his own suicide- a noose literally descends from the heavens, already tied, and Judas is literally trapped between the edge of the stage, and the symbol of death behind him. Much like he didn’t choose to kill Jesus, Judas has no choice in his own suicide- it’s suggested to merely be another part of the plan god has for him, and Judas raising his arms to form a crucifixion pose before he finally turns and jumps, disappearing into the depths of the theatre as the rope trails down (somewhat evocative of a leap to hell), highlight the sick joke. Much like Jesus begging in Gethsemane, a plea with god that in anyway implies fault or cruelty is met with silence followed by a death sentence. 

When Judas reappears to the broken and bloodied Jesus in Superstar, he appears as more of a twisted hallucination than the literal spirit of Judas. He’s the opposite of everything he was in life, draped in colour, surrounded by red lighting instead of the signature blue, his hair quite literally let down, joking and dancing. Despite singing about him, Judas virtually ignores Jesus for the whole song except when he’s taunting him, snatching his hand away after a broken and desperate Jesus reaches out for the image of his beloved (refuting Judas’ belief that Jesus would die hating him), along with the swedish additions of Judas repeatedly addressing him as “little Jesus”. Where the living Judas was serious, sometimes harsh but always well intention, often paying more attention to Jesus than he received, this Judas is the opposite: light hearted but cruel, not caring about Jesus one bit. It’s somewhat an inversion of the beginning of JCS, where the tormented Judas was constantly reaching out to Jesus, and often met with scorn and insult (see: most of their arguments, this line from Everything’s Alright: “the thought is beautiful but quite unrealistic / yes, even quite stupid”). As the song goes on, and even as Jesus is crucified, the victorious scoring of the Superstar theme ends up reinforcing the cruelty and questioning of god distinctive of this production: Ola Salo’s Jesus is one of the bloodiest Jesus’s (Jesii?) I’ve been able to find, with blood covering his torso, his arms, and all over his face, not in passive dribbles, but violent ‘swooshes’ spreading out from his eyes, emphasising the fear and pain contained within them. As the music suggests how great and wonderful Jesus’ death is, the images straight out of a horror movie before us don’t seem to match up: as both Judas and Jesus question, if no one is understanding what Jesus is saying, why kill him? instead of making a point, you’re ensuring that the falsehoods continue to circulate, unless spreading the true message isn’t really the intent at all. or, simply that Jesus was wrong: his interpretation and teachings of god were far too kind and practical, and the true god really is the one that he briefly saw in the garden of Gethsemane, and that Judas saw before his death- a cruel and vindictive god using them for his own sick purposes. If you're a strong Christian, I'm sure you could watch this production and still believe that God was right (although I think Jesus and Judas being in love counts as blasphemy), but I think in doing so you'd lose part of what makes this production so hard hitting and, as i keep saying, devastating.

that’s pretty much it for this one! i feel like jesus and judas as a queer couple is less significant to this production than the fact that it’s specifically jesus and judas that are in love - they don’t face explicit homophobia as such, although i do think the paratextual and historical associations of queerness (both with them each looking visibly queer, and them as a couple) adds a beautiful dimension by subverting the standard christian teaching of Jesus’ sacrifice as “a love that changed the world” and making the love that truly could have been transformative (and was, to a degree) the love between Jesus and another man, not to mention the way in which queerness is often viewed as radical perfectly upholding the ‘radical’ views of god and the story of Jesus shown in the production. Why wouldn’t the love between two men be the love which has us questioning god, faith, and that which many of us have been taught since birth? Ola Salo has talked about how he’s able to be positive and negative towards christianity, along with how he wanted Jesus and Judas to really represent two sides of the same coin (’faith and intelligence’), and being bisexual along with having alluded to being raised christian (not to mention Breaking Up With God, a song by his band The Ark), it’s not surprising he’s managed to present such a nuanced and layered interpretation of Jesus Christ Superstar that even me, a trans exvangelical, can fall in love with.

UPDATE: @bands-and-hobbits has just let me know that Ola's dad was a priest! Apparently he's said that he liked the organs and the music, but that was all when it comes to christianity, which (when combined with Ola stating in interviews that the JCS soundtrack has been one of his favourite albums since he was 14) makes a lot of sense about the level of familiarity he had with the text giving him confidence to go in and make changes to really capitalised off of some of the themes that are hinted at in the english version- you have enough information to understand how everything works together, but aren't so dedicated to preserving belief that you feel you can't improve/change things (and my god are we glad he did)

[danco110]

“I-is it over?” asked one of the guards. The human peeked out from behind his cover to watch the few surviving gremlins flee the scene. A lone demon stood in the clearing, his purple skin and wings aglow with magic.

“That’s the last of them, Roswell,” the demon growled in a low voice. “No more pests.”

“Hey, everyone!” the guard shouted over his shoulder. “Kadan has saved us and our inventions!”

As if on cue, several inventors and automata appeared from the woodwork and began cheering the demon, much to his annoyance.

“I expect my payment of aether on time, as per usual,” the horned creature grunted. “I’m not a charity, you know.”

“You know, Kadan,” Roswell laughed, “I’d believe you if you hadn’t used your ‘payment’ to bring Ola back to life after that giant stepped on her last month!”

“She’s nothing to me,” Kadan snorted. “Another loyal follower, is all.”

“Sure,” the guard taunted. “Still, she really admires you-”

“Really?” the demon replied all too quickly, before he could stop himself. When he realized his mistake, he hung his head in defeat. “Just…don’t tell her I asked about her. Please?”

“My lips are sealed,” the guard answered, his smirk replaced with a genuine smile.

[It seems like you just want to resurrect the single best/favorite thing in graveyards over and over again, right?]

[cover2covermom]

Today I’m going to be sharing my favorite books that I’ve read in 2020 thus far…

» The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger’s Apprentice #1) by John Flanagan

Genre: YA fantasy

They have always scared him in the past — the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s apprentice. What he doesn’t yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied….

My mother-in-law actually recommended this book for my son.  After reading it for myself, I agree that this book would definitely appeal to boys.  There are some wonderful themes like hard work, courage, friendship, etc.  I would also consider this a wonderful gateway book into fantasy.

» Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black��in American by Ibi Zoboi

Genre: YA contemporary ((anthology))

Black Enough is a star-studded anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi that will delve into the closeted thoughts, hidden experiences, and daily struggles of black teens across the country. From a spectrum of backgrounds—urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more—Black Enough showcases diversity within diversity.

Whether it’s New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds writing about #blackboyjoy or Newbery Honor-winning author Renee Watson talking about black girls at camp in Portland, or emerging author Jay Coles’s story about two cowboys kissing in the south—Black Enough is an essential collection full of captivating coming-of-age stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.

Black Enough was a game changer for me.  I don’t tend to read anthologies because I find that I tend to struggle to connect to short stories, but I loved this collection!  What an excellent book to incorporate during #BlackHistoryMonth in February!

» Girls Like Us by Randi Pink

Genre: YA historical fiction

Set in the summer of 1972, this moving YA historical novel is narrated by teen girls from different backgrounds with one thing in common: Each girl is dealing with pregnancy. Four teenage girls. Four different stories. What they all have in common is that they’re dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

In rural Georgia, Izella is wise beyond her years, but burdened with the responsibility of her older sister, Ola, who has found out she’s pregnant. Their young neighbor, Missippi, is also pregnant, but doesn’t fully understand the extent of her predicament. When her father sends her to Chicago to give birth, she meets the final narrator, Susan, who is white and the daughter of an anti-choice senator.

Randi Pink masterfully weaves four lives into a larger story – as timely as ever – about a woman’s right to choose her future.

Wow!  A book about teen pregnancy set in the 70s?  Yes!  I flew through this book.  I was very invested in this story & the characters.

» Awkward (Berrybrook Middle School #1) & Crush (Berrybrook Middle School #3) by Svetlana Chmakova

Genre: MG contemporary ((graphic novels))

I’ve adored each graphic novel in this series.  Chmakova captures the essence of middle school perfectly.  She also does a wonderful job giving us a diverse cast of characters, and tackling relevant topics.

» On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Genre: YA contemporary

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.

While this didn’t necessarily have as much as an impact on me as The Hate U Give, this book was amazing in its own right.  I think Angie Thomas has a brilliant way of writing YA contemporary that is not only relevant & important, but also entertaining at the same time.

» The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA fantasy

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.

Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid’s voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy’s bidding but only for a terrible price.

Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love.

Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange—to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse.

This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.

  A collection of deliciously dark short stories are inspired by classic fairytales & folklore.  I LOVED these stories!  They gave me Neil Gaiman vibes, so if you are a NG fan, I’d recommend these stories to you.  I also adored the illustrations throughout that really enhanced the story.

» Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

Genre: YA contemporary

Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.

Far From the Tree is a beautiful YA contemporary about adoption, family, identity, and love.  Told in 3 different perspectives, I enjoyed the journey & development of each of these characters.

» Keeper of Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1), Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2), & Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger

Genre: MG fantasy

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain.

Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.

Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.” There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

In this page-turning debut, Shannon Messenger creates a riveting story where one girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world, before the wrong person finds the answer first.

I am LOVING this MG fantasy series.  While these books are a bit chunky, don’t let the page count deter you.  I fly through these books.   I’d recommend this series to fans of Harry Potter.

» SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: YA memoir ((told in verse))

A searing poetic memoir and call to action from the bestselling and award-winning author of Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson!

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice– and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

This is a must read for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.  While you don’t HAVE to read Speak to read SHOUT, I feel like it makes a bigger impact if you read Speak prior to this.  If you didn’t know, SHOUT is Anderson’s memoir told in verse.

» Loveboat, Taipei (Loveboat, Taipei #1) by Abigail Hing Wen

Genre: YA contemporary

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.

Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.

Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?

  This is a guilty pleasure type of read.  Actually, it reminded me a bit of Crazy Rich Asians a bit.  It is a tad racy for a YA book… So I’d probably recommend for older YA readers that are 16+

» The Penderwicks (The Penderwicks #1) by Jeanne Birdsall

Genre: MG contemporary

The Penderwick sisters busily discover the summertime magic of Arundel estate’s sprawling gardens, treasure-filled attic, tame rabbits, and the cook who makes the best gingerbread in Massachusetts. Best of all is Jeffrey Tifton, son of Arundel’s owner, the perfect companion for their adventures. Icy-hearted Mrs. Tifton is less pleased with the Penderwicks than Jeffrey, and warns the new friends to stay out of trouble. Is that any fun? For sure the summer will be unforgettable.

This is the perfect book to pick up during the summer months.  It really gave me modern Little Women crossed with The Secret Garden vibes.  The ending was so heartwarming it almost brought me to tears.

» Becoming by Michelle Obama

Genre: Adult memoir

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

  Despite the fact that this memoir is LONG, I was interested from start to finish.  I adore Michelle Obama and find her so inspiring.

» The Stonekeeper’s Curse (Amulet #2) & The Cloud Searchers (Amulet #3) by Kazu Kibuishi

Genre: MG fantasy ((graphic novel))

I enjoyed these subsequent installments even more than the first!  The art style is absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed the story line.  I can really see this as a TV series or movie.

» Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Genre: YA contemporary

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance – and Papi’s secrets – the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

Papi’s death uncovers all the painful truths he kept hidden, and the love he divided across an ocean. And now, Camino and Yahaira are both left to grapple with what this new sister means to them, and what it will now take to keep their dreams alive.

In a dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love, award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

Another 5-star read from Elizabeth Acevedo! Clap When You Land is a heart-wrenching book in verse about loss, betrayal, and forgiveness.

» All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

Genre: YA memoir

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

Johnson shares his experiences growing up as a queer black boy in this powerful memoir.  I love that Johnson wrote his story for the teen audience.  This is a must read!

What are some of your favorite books of 2020 thus far?

Have you read any of my favorites?  If so, what did you think?

Comment below & let me know 🙂

Favorite Books of 2020 (January - June) #BookBlogger #Books #Reading #Bookworm #BookNerd #BookTalk Today I'm going to be sharing my favorite books that I've read in 2020 thus far...

[royaliity]

W A N T E D   C O N N E C T I O N S

Hi there, fellas! Below the cut, I’ve included some wanted connections & filled connections too. Please, do not be afraid to reach out to me on any of them! I’m seriously open to anything, even if it’s an idea not listed or filled! (updated: 04/01 @ 1:51AM pst)

M A V E R I C K   S T A R K ( Son of Tony Stark & Pepper Potts )

Best Friend - Someone that knows him inside and out. They’ve been friends since childhood and could be complete opposites or absolutely the same. Either way, this one has to come from the MCU! | PETRA MAXIMOFF

Littlest Sister - His weak spot, his bright spot. These two are attached at the hip and he would do anything for her. He has a hard time teasing her but he will definitely randomly tackle her and “beat her up” like older brothers do. |  MORGAN STARK

Dependent - Someone that he has to constantly defend. He wants to make sure they’re safe and sound always by picking them up and moving them out of the fight before he kicks the ass of whoever decided to mess with them. | EVERY MCU CHILD TBF

Ex - He knew it was a bad idea, he did it anyway. Now they’re in each other’s lives forever for better or for worse. They just stick to him and maybe get him on a weird different level. | OPEN

Childhood Crush - He had a crush on them and they just never knew it. Even today he still has feelings for them, but pushing it down until it no longer exists still feels like a decent option. Worthless, but a decent option. | AUDHILD ODINSON

Friendenemy - Someone that really annoys the heck out of him and has extremely contradicting views but they work together so they have to make things work too. Definitely a Steve Rogers / Tony Stark kind of relationship. | OPEN

Labmate - Someone that keeps him from doing something stupid with his experiments. They keep him grounded, but hey, maybe they like to have some fun too. Who cares what they break? The Starks can fix it later, right? | OPEN

Enemy - Anyone against the family or anyone that tries to hurt his friends… Or maybe they hate him for the opportunity he got just for being Stark’s son. | SACHA BELOVA

T H E O D O R E   L I D D E L L ( Son of Alice Liddell )

Best Friends - People that are ultra-close to Theo and understand all the other crazy sides of him. They may not know about the whole “spirit” thing, but they know he’s a nerd trying to make it in the world. | OPEN

Older Sibling - Maybe they never believed in Wonderland or maybe they did. Either way, Theo always secretly looked up to them. They were the glue that held the family together and he just wanted to be as talented as them. | GEMMA LIDDELL

Younger Sibling - Maybe they never believed in Wonderland or maybe they did. Either way, Theo always kept  the beliefs of  fairy tales alive for them, even when they started to grow up. They’re much more mature than he was at that age, but that wasn’t a bad thing either. | OPEN

Ghost Pal - Someone that has stuck to him for one reason or another. He might be sharing his body with them every now and again or maybe he’s just someone they can talk to without manifesting and losing energy. Maybe they’re just helping him work out his powers. | KIERAN GRACEY

Guardian - Let’s face it, his big heart is a big target. He’s gonna need someone to keep him from getting thrown in the nuthouse or getting hurt because he trusts too easily. | OPEN

Crush - He stumbles over his words when he’s around them. He just can’t help himself. If he wasn’t so awkward, maybe he could manage to be with them someday. Either way, he still wants to be around them 24/7. | LYNETTE DESCHAMPS

Wonderland Buddies - Anyone from Wonderland that managed to sneak into the real world. They haven’t seen each other since both of them were kids. | ALL THE BUDS

K Y R A   K E N O B I ( Adopted Daughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi )

Best Friends - She’s always wanted the experience of getting dolled up and telling secrets like a normal girl. | OPEN

Partner in Crime - Someone that she can get in extreme amounts of trouble with. Whether it be pulling pranks or breaking some laws, it doesn’t matter, they’re game for it. | TOBY FITZHERBERT

Mentor - Someone to help her understand the force and how to be better with it. She’s chaotic, so whether it’s good or bad, she needs some help to get better. | OPEN

Good Influence - May go along with sibling or mentor or even friend, but someone who is constantly telling her she can be better and follow Obi-Wan’s good lessons. They help to chill out her firey emotions sometimes. | ARIN TICO

Bad Influence - Tells her to go for her emotions and that what she’s feeling isn’t bad if she channels it all into the dark side instead. She believes them, she just knows it isn’t a good idea... | BEN SOLO

Sibling Figure - Doesn’t matter if it’s brother or sister, anyone that she could consider an older or younger sibling would be amazing. She’s always wanted a family like that and envies it in many ways. | BRYN DAMERON

Friends w/ Benefits - She’s definitely open to a relationship with benefits! It’s kinda a thing for her to be with someone just for fun and enjoyment. She just likes to feel close to someone. | OPEN

Crush - Someone who develops a crush on her or maybe she finds she likes this person a lot more than she should. Maybe she’s afraid she’s gonna lose them too. Maybe they’re someone that makes her feel like she can make her Father proud. | DARYAN CRESSE

Enemies - Let’s face it, Obi-Wan had many enemies on the Sith side that may not like that Kyra exists and may want to take her out. | OPEN

B E A T R I C E   F I T Z H E R B E R T ( Daughter of Rapunzel & Eugene Fitzherbert )

Best Friend - Closest to her and knows everything she tries to hide. They can read her like a book and while they probably won’t call her out on it, they do try to keep her safe. | OPEN

Siblings (2) - She feels incredibly close with both of her siblings and is always putting their welfare above her own if she can. They make her life less lonely and she trusts them completely. | TOBY FITZHERBERT & OPEN

Guard or Stable Friend - Perhaps a child of Maximus or Pascal maybe? Someone who could have tried to teach her to protect herself and others and relied on her ability when they met as children. | OPEN

Ex-Friend or Ex - Someone that she thought loved her but she figured they didn’t after everything that happened. They were the one to make her wary of friendships at all. | OPEN

Corona / Arendelle Friends - More friends from Corona for her to adore or possibly become acquainted with. I would also like to see possible Arendelle connections! | OLA BJORGMAN

Controller - Takes advantage of her kindness and uses it to their advantage simply because she’s naive and easy to control once she trusts someone. | FELIX WESTERGAARD

Unique Friend - Someone to teach her that not all people are out there to be good and kind. Maybe they’re taking pity on her. Maybe she slightly annoys them. It’s flexible. | OPEN

H E N R Y   W A L T O N   J O N E S,  III ( Son of Indiana Jones & Marion Ravenwood )

Companion - Someone to follow him on every adventure, big or small. He would consider them one of the only people that don’t get offended by him and actually understands his thought process perhaps. | OPEN

His Little Sister - He took her on too many mini adventures when they were both kids. She’s one of the only people that knows when he’s faking it. Maybe a little more street smart where he can be a little book smart too. | OPEN

Ex - The initial person that broke his heart. Could have been when they were young or maybe things got too serious and he had to run away like dear dad? Either way, he tries to avoid them but he’s unable to. | OPEN

Enemy - Many people could fill this position. Especially if they’re greedy and disrespectful of culture or hurt others. | OPEN

Flirtacionship - He’s a pretty face with a little charm and they’re willing to put up with his bluntness and obsessive talk of history. | Adrien Solo

Apprentice - Someone he’s showing the ropes to! He doesn’t ever underestimate them, but definitely doesn’t want them getting hurt and he’ll do everything he can to make sure that doesn’t happen. | OPEN

M I K A S A   K O P O L I ( Daughter of Kiki & Tombo )

Coven - I would love it if the witches got together and created a coven of super diverse but interesting talents! The more power they have the better. Did someone say powerpuff girls?? | EDEN DALLOWAY-PIPER & OPEN

Customer - I would love it if she had a frequent customer that always required a certain potion or elixir… Or maybe they’re just addicted. Either way it works! | OPEN

Bad Influence - They’re so nice and pleasant to her that they convince her to use her magic for bad instead of good. Yikes, now they’re making drug-like concoctions or something. | KAL BARR

Best Friend - They realize her potential and push her to keep doing good and trying! They may go on adventures with her on the broom too! | OPEN

Big Brother - Someone that she looks up to more than anyone. She’s always pushing herself to be at their level. I would imagine they’re pretty close and work together well. | OPEN

Mentor - Maybe someone that wants to coach her more and make her better at being a witch! She could definitely use one at times. | OPEN

Apprentice - Someone she happens to be teaching about the magic world that she sees a spark in... She’s not a perfect teacher but they’re just starting out anyway! No biggie. | OPEN 

Attraction - She trips all over herself when this person comes near but she knows she shouldn’t ever fall for someone again. She would probably write them secret letters with flowers too. | OPEN

C H A R L E S   H A T C H A W A Y ( Son of Constance Hatchaway & Frank Banks )

Mortal Friends - People he can finally be friends with and helps him understand the mortal world just a little bit better. He may have been wary to trust them in the beginning but now he enjoys being around them. | AIDEN FUSSELBOTTOM

Macabre Delights - This person enjoys the darkness as he much as he does and delights in just talking poetry and sitting there in the comfort of the dark with him. They may talk a lot about their lives. | OPEN

Bright Side - This person brings out the light in Charlie. They make him feel happy like no one else had before. Maybe they make his life (or afterlife) a lot better than it ever was. | OPEN

Intuned with Ghosts - A mortal who’s sensitive to ghosts that he tells information to. He feels comfortable around them and will reveal information to them about the afterlife. | OPEN

Ghost Pals - Anyone from the mansion that managed to get him to talk and be social! | TAKEN

C L E M E N T I N E   N O R T O N ( Daughter of the Blue Fairy )

Her First Charge - Her felt as though he was falling in love with them and no matter how hard she fought to save them, she lost them. Most likely a ghost or vamp or something?? We can figure it out. | OPEN

Her Rival - An evil entity who Clem is strangely fascinated with and whom she would never say so. She likes to engage in banter with them and will fight them on occasion. Especially if they decide to come after her charges. | ALEKSIS CHERNABOG

Her Best Friend - Another fairy whom Clem admires greatly and finds to be much too good to ever be her best friend. They have history together and it seems as though they are always there to protect her at the most convenient of moments. | OPEN

Her Current Charge - Someone that is in need of a guardian angel and is alright with them having a very interesting empathetic connection. | OPEN

Her Older Sibling - Someone she trusts more than anyone and leans on more than they probably like. She learned a lot from them and sees them as a kind of equal and friend. | OPEN

His Younger Sibling - They’re little and therefore, they need protection too. They treat them how their older sibling treated her and is not embarrassed to make sure they’re okay. | OPEN

O L I V I A   F L A V E R S H A M ( Daughter of Hiram Flaversham )

Her Guardian - She’s bound to get into some kind of trouble and she really needs someone to stop her before she gets hurt. | OPEN

Her Mentor - They have a difficult relationship but she would do anything for him. Sometimes she feels like he’s the only one who knows exactly what’s going on with her and how much she actually needs people. | JOHN MOUSE

Her Best Friend - Call them the Dawson to her Basil. She needs a good partner that can keep her grounded and eating actual food. | OPEN

Her Rival - Someone that matches her wits and is out to hurt the people she loves the most. | OPEN

Her Confidant - Someone that understands how her mind works and listens to her babble on because they know they can help her and she can help them. | OPEN

Her Dependent - This person just needs someone’s protection like she did when she was little. She sees a lot of herself in them and wants to keep them safe. | OPEN

Her FWB or Ex - This is someone she probably trusted quite a bit and then they let her down in some way. She’s still drawn to them completely but she tries to stop herself from being with them to no avail. | OPEN

Her Mystery - Probably someone that she wants to expose as a fraud but can’t and while it frustrates her, she’s just too intrigued to give up. | OPEN

[weatherchanneloffical]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR OCS... JUST LIKE ANYTHING IN GENERAL

like i said before i have a lot so i am going to talk about my dnd characters that will hopefully be in the book/comic I want to make

1) Heath Khil! Half elf ranger, agender, 27, bisexual, 5′ 1″(~155 cm), small and sick of your shit. they grew up in a town that was full of humans so they always felt out of place. they were abandoned by their parents and raised by a man named Hector who taught them to use a bow and to use the swords that their parents left them, one elven in design and the other human. when they were 12 Hector disappeared and no one knows if he died or just left. when they were 20 some dudes came and tried to kill them and their best friend Jerome twice. so they decided to leave to A. find they guys that tried to kill them B. look for Hector C. find their birth parents and D. make sure that no one else would be hurt because of them

2) Reyqirelle Sen! Wood Elf sorcerer, female, 166 (~i still need to adjust this b/c of lore), lesbian, 5′ 8″(~173 cm), the life of the party! there is not much i can say about her backstory because of BIG SPOILERS for the story of a whole. but whats important is that she has both draconic ancestry and wild magic and that she is on the run

3) Zilkas Ansuonzeck! Forest gnome bard, male, 127, ace aro, 3′ 9″(~114 cm), smaller and full of rage. I DON’T HAVE A BACKSTORY FOR HIM RIGHT NOW AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM GOING TO DO. just know that he is chill but is not afraid to cut your shins and that he likes sitting on the shoulders of tall people so, Raymond and Ola

4) Luca [Redacted]! Half elf rouge, he/they (still trying to figure out the gender stuff), pansexual, 5′ 6″(~167 cm), hes that kid that likes to mess with people and fuck shit up. he was abandoned by his parents at the steps of a church, they left him two daggers one elven and one human, but the church burned down when he was young so he lived on the streets for awhile before he joined a gang called The Golden Wolves and he has a wolf tattoo on his left shoulder blade. he used to sleep around a lot but that stopped when he met and fell in love with a certain someone. he is also really good at getting info both through just talking to people and digging around.

5) Raymond Kent (aka my boy)!! Human paladin, male, ace gay, 6′ 1″(~185 cm), he likes to keep things in order and also protect people, in terms of personality think tenya iida! he was raised as a noble so he didn’t really get to go out much when he was 8 his house was set on fire because his family didn’t do anything about the drought that was going on, and he was the only one that survived. so like the stupid 8 year old that he was he went to the goddess of life and death to resurrect them, that didn’t work out at all and he ended up getting her symbol branded on his back and owing her a favor. he was then taken in by some gay farmers and they asked him if he could fix the drought so like the stupid 9 year old that he was he went to the goddess of agriculture and love to end the drought, she did but she too branded him and he owes her a favor too. when he was 13 he decided he wanted to become a paladin for the god of courage and self sacrifice. the gay farmers had a lesbian friend who was a paladin of that god so Raymond went to live with her and her wife. he completed his training when he was 18 and left on a journey to await the goddess’s favors. he is really sweet and likes protecting people but he can’t really open up. this changes when he meets and falls in love with a certain someone. also side note i love Raymond a lot and put him through too much shit that he doesn’t deserve but its for the drama so its ok

6) Ola Rinku! Aasimar cleric, female, lesbian, 6′ 8″(~203 cm), giant woman. I DONT HAVE A BACKSTORY FOR HER EITHER AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM GOING TO DO. just know that she likes to carry the small ones so Zil and Heath and also likes to make people happy!

7) Temperance! Tiefling monk, NB, pansexual, 5′ 10″(~178 cm), pretty chill but will get super pissed if someone is racist. i can’t really talk about their backstory because i am playing as them in a campaign right now! but what i will say is that they don’t want to get close to people because of their backstory

ANYWAY i love them all so much and i still have a lot of work to do but i hope you guys find them interesting!! and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask!!

[zimagine]

Just Like This (ft. Kang Daniel)

|| MASTERLIST||

Title: Just Like This

Member: Kang Daniel (Wanna One)

Rating: 19+ (?)

Theme: 'Kinda ordinary’ morning in your marriage life with Kang Daniel.

Warning: Kinda full of cheese (?), kinda smutty too…

Ola! It’s my first time writing a you-imagine kinda thing, I’m not even sure if I’m doing this right but… I sure hope you enjoy it!

Well here goes…

You got up after a few rounds of stretching. You tied your hair into a messy ponytail, quietly, so as to not disturb the two sleeping lovelies just on your right side of the bed.

As you walked to the other side of the bed, you suddenly had the urge to run your hands through his hair. It looked so soft and fluffy, and you just seem to can’t take your eyes, and hands for that matter, off of it.

So you reached out a hand, slowly stroking the root of his caramel brown locks, just the way he likes it.

Then your hand went down to his flushed cheeks, cupping them for a second, before his eyes fluttered open, catching you off guard.

You tried taking your hand away but apparently he was faster.

He grabbed your hand with his free hand and started kissing the back of it. You could’ve sworn you saw a cheeky smirk curving up on his lips.

“Sorry I got you awake,” you sheepishly said, turning away to hide your burning cheeks.

“Hmmm…” he chuckled. He brought his hand to your chin, turning your head to make you look at him. “Look over here, would you.”

You turned your head back to his direction, while still trying your best to not make unnecessary eye contact with him. Or you fear your heart would jump and you’d feel like wanting more than just a stroke on your cheek. Cause his morning look never fail to get you in heat.

He chuckled more.

“Babe, we’ve been married for 3 years now. What are your cheeks still getting flustered at?” He teased your shy self as he stroked the back of your 11 months old daughter who was sleeping soundly on top of his chest.

You stood up, “I’m not,” replying hastily, not wanting to lose to his teasing. And you turned around reaching for the door, red tints still galloping your cheeks and ears.

When he stopped you with a small yank on your wrist. “Come here. Lie down a bit with me.”

You felt an enormous burst in your chest as you hear his low, crackish morning voice. But you shook your head and tried heading for the door. “Mmm, I need to fix us some breakfast.”

But his grip was stronger. “Come here.”

It almost sounded like an order, although you knew it wasn’t. But you can’t help yourself from lowering your body and lying down on his arm.

“Okay… but just for a while.” You gave in and lied back on the bed.

He smiled in satisfaction as he wrapped his thick arm around you, stroking your back in the process.

“I miss you,” he said as he planted a soft kiss on the crown of your head.

“I really miss you,” and another kiss on your temple.

You looked up and found him looking back at you with hooded eyes. The strokes on your back had suddenly move down to your waist. And he was already leaning in, eyes fixed on your lips, as he pulled you into a long but soft kiss.

But that didn’t last long, for his breathing had turned heavier and his hand has found its way inside the thin material of your sleeping robe.

And you unconsciously let out a small moan, enjoying the erratic sensation of his skin as it touches your bare body.

He was pushing in for a deeper kiss when you pulled away with all your might. He looked disappointed and needy, craving for more of you.

“I…” you jerked off, gasping for air, before whispering straight into his ear, “I really think I need to fix us some breakfast before—”

Just like an eerie premonition, your daughter was awake.

He engulfed in sudden silence as the little one on his chest started moving and crying at the same time. He tried stroking her back and kissing the top of her head, but nothing seemed to work.

So you sat up and took her to your arms, giving him the coy look. And as if it was magic, she stopped crying as soon as she saw your face.

“Wh..? How did you do that?”

You smiled at him cheekily. Then you proceeded to lay your back on the bedpost with her still in your arms. You threw her a smile and she immediately responded with a laugh. Her little fingers poked at your chest as she looked at you impatiently, puckering her innocent lips in hunger.

You understood quickly and begin to unbutton your sleeping robe, until you realize Daniel was still lying on the left side of the bed, eyes scanning at you with similar hunger.

Honestly, you’ve always been very uncomfortable whenever he’d watch you breastfeed your baby. But more so than uncomfortable, you just felt embarrassed as he’s always given you the look of stripping you naked.

You stopped immediately, and kicked him softly on his stomach. “Turn over! Don’t you dare peek at us.”

He gave you a smirk. “Come on, baby. I’ve seen everything there needs to be seen,” he playfully tug your chin. “… What are you trying to hi—AWW!”

You pinched his arm, and you felt so sorry afterwards. But this was the only way to make him listen.

“Okay… okay…” he dejectedly replied as he turned over, back facing you.

You switched your focus to your baby daughter, speaking incoherent baby language at her as she enjoyed feeding from you.

Little did you know Daniel had been back at it; starring at his favourite girls more intense than ever.

You did not know until he suddenly came over and nipped his lips at your other exposed breast.

You gasped and bit your lips almost immediately to chew down any unnecessary moaning.

He gave you a quick look of what looked like a smirk full of tease, knowing that your left was more sensitive than the other. He casually laid his tongue all over your breast, his bunny teeth giving you the constant bite every so often.

And you were in total torture. You could not even move properly as your baby daughter had taken possession of your right breast.

“Danh.. hhh…” you tried really hard not to melt at his sudden movement. But your body reacted like always.

“I s-swear you w—mmph!” You were stopped by his fingers that broke through your lips forcefully.

You had no choice but to swallow the similar but different tingling sensation on each side of your breast. You threw your head back as you felt a familiar spiralling hinge in your stomach.

He didn’t stop there.

Slowly but surely, his naughty hand made his way to stroke your bare stomach in circular motion, just the way you like it. His hand went lower and lower, until it reached the hem of your underwear. He pulled it teasingly knowing you were in no position to move.

You bit your lips further, if that’s even possible, and shut your eyes as his finger move dangerously close to your heat.

He let out a smug huff on top of your already erect tip, still not wanting to let go of it, and then guided his fingers to rub your covered core slowly.

He held your legs with his as you felt yourself tremble in bliss.

Closer, closer, and closer to your peak.

“Awwa!”

And the both of you stopped moving.

You opened your eyes and saw your baby daughter smiling in satisfaction. Her face now beaming in excitement as she shook her small limbs all over the place.

“Aww, and we’re getting to the good part…” Daniel let out a hearty laugh and you just face-palmed yourself in utter embarrassment.

You cursed yourself mentally for enjoying and getting seriously disappointed that he stopped midway, all-the-while forgetting that you were breastfeeding your baby.

He stood up and took the baby in his arm to let her do her rounds of burping.

And you still had your face buried in your hands.

You slapped yourself to gather your mind, and ran for the door as soon as you fixed your clothing.

Only to be yanked once again by him, but this time on your waist.

You shivered as you felt his breath close to your ear. “Don’t relax just yet, babe. We’re continuing tonight where we left off.”

You left the room with your face burning red and his laughter echoing from inside the room.

-END-

O lord what have I just written… (face-palm) Let’s see if I can write something better next time hehehe

Luvluv, © zImagine

[learnafrik]

THE GENIE SCRIPT REVIEWS: Worth Investing In? [Unbiased + Honest Review] An In-depth Review of Wesley Virgin Genie Script (2021 Update)

Is It Possible To Manifest Your Desires When The Planet Feels Like It’s Falling Apart? 100% Yes!

I don’t want to scare you, but I’m ALSO going to reveal some unbiased and honest review about Wesley Virgin and its Genie Script Manifestation Mind Hack program that is currently rocking the internet space.

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

The Genie Script (Wesley Virgin) reveal some shady debilitating unethical subliminal government techniques they use to weaken your mind through cognitive dissonance with TV, radio, and even the Pandemic. Plus, there’s also ONE major “money crippler” that you’ll be thankful you can now break-free from using these unique frequencies as soon as tonight!

But let me warn you, 93.7% of people who watch the Genie Script Intro VIDEO to the very end, tears tend to roll down their cheeks, because The Genie Script peel the onion down to its core, exposing important people you may know using the genie script techniques, so today right now, relax and buckle up, you’re going to realize the undeniable truth about getting what you want sooner than later, right now. The final decision is your to make but am here to help you make an inform decision in this review.

The Genie Script is Wesley’s new 30-day program where he shows you how he applied a unique meditative technique to manifest a better financial, emotional, and mental life for himself.

So let start an honest Opinion from a Real Customer.

A REAL CUSTOMER GENIE SCRIPT EXPERIENCE (Get full story from medium.com)

You may be asking — Hold on a sec’ — how’s all that related to the review you wanna give?

I’ll explain…but before that, can I share a QUICK true story with you?

“2019 was a breakthrough year for me — I grew my business 400%, travelled to 7 countries, and even got back in shape. Looking back, I thought I had figured out the “magical keys” to business success and happy living until 2020 hit.

In the midst of all of health and economic crises of this year, the mass media became my newest favorite obsession. And after a 1 month or 2 of consuming all that garbage, I began to witness my financial and emotional white picket fence crumble right before my eyes.

Then came along an avalanche of setbacks: I lost 70% of my clients…struggled to stay afloat of my bills…become 10x more stressed…and even picked up some unhealthy eating habits.

In a nutshell, I lost my financial and emotional confidence and I became a slave to my own limiting beliefs and fear-propelled mindset.

Fortunately, the universe aligned in my favor when my mentor gave me a surprise call one day… and he was SHOCKED beyond his mind when he heard me talk.

He was shocked at how the 2019 version of me — you know, the confident, happy, and strong version of me had changed dramatically into a sad, broke, and fearful version of myself.

It didn’t take long before he diagnosed the problem as well as the source of the problem.

My problem �� Severe Scarcity Mindset

Problem source — Poor financial, mental, and emotional dieting

His recommendation — taking the 30-day Genie Script Program.

Upon hearing his recommendation, I was skeptical at first.

I still remember telling him:

“Really, you just want me to buy an online program to fix all my mindset problems?”

But somehow he managed to convince me to give the 30-day Genie Script Program by Wesley Virgin a try…and that 30-day experience became the best thing that happened to me this year. Period!

If I remember correctly, by Day 9(or thereabout), I woke up one morning and for the first time in a really long time, the energy all around me was infectiously positive.

In my own personal testimony, the program worked like MAGIC (sounds cheesy, I know) in fixing, reshaping, and reconfiguring my mindset. And upon completing the program, I just knew I had to unselfishly share my review with anyone who could benefit from it.”

Ola Dale.

Story from Medium.com

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

So since you know the foundation story behind why I’ve composed this review, we should plunge into what is the issue here.

THE GENIE SCRIPT, WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

So first of all, we should discuss the name — “The Genie Script”.

Wesley Virgin is attempting to paint the possibility that simply like a Genie who can make a wish work out as expected, everybody of us can likewise show our fantasies and wants in the event that we appropriately comprehend the correct methods to apply.

If you’ve ever tried meditation or any manifestation methods before and it’s not created the results you wanted to — you’ve probably blamed yourself.

You’ve convinced yourself you were doing it wrong. You’re not the right person to meditate.

But, I’m here to tell you that it’s not you that’s the problem. You’re getting the wrong results because you’re using the wrong techniques!

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

Wrong techniques that are over complicated, and impossible to master even for Buddah himself. They’ve become over commercialized.

You feel like you have to jump through a million hoops, only to find yourself back at square one. Firstly, it’s not your fault.

They’re the techniques almost everybody tells you to use, so why would you think to look outside of them?

The important thing is you’re now about to discover the unique way to meditate that actually delivers million dollar results.

A technique that’s so simple to follow and that’s why it’s so powerful.

Anyone can master this… AND with everything going on in the world — there couldn’t be a better time to do it.

So since we know the reasoning behind the especially fascinating name, we should discuss what the issue here is.

The Genie Script is Wesley’s new 30-day program where he shows you how he applied a remarkable meditation method to show a superior monetary, passionate, and mental life for himself.

In the program, he discussed how this extraordinary way of meditating successfully molded his brain for progress and without any help took him from being dead destitute into making his initial 1 million dollars.

I realize you may be thinking — Does that stuff truly work?

All things considered, once more, in case I’m being genuine, I was at first suspicious from the outset in view of the entirety of the phony masters out there on the web. Since what made me continue to tune in to Wesley Virgin were his secret stash of confirmations. This man in a real sense reported each significant achievement he had and it seemed like I was watching somebody’s memoir being played out.

Something else I can verify about his program is the profundity of value research that went into it. This is definitely not a run of the mill course program where an eager fella simply does an admixture of data, bundles them, and attempts to sell it at an excellent cost. I can truly bear witness to the way that the degree of exploration that went into this program was awesome and I found the data he was sharing profoundly practicable.

Alright, all things considered, we should proceed onward rapidly to discuss the assets inserted in this program.

THE GENIE SCRIPT: WHAT IS IN THE GENIE SCRIPT?

Asking What The Genie Script Program Can Do For You Is The Wrong Question

As long as you have the belief, dedication, and commitment, the sky’s the limit.

We could sit here, and talk through its possibilities, like finally being able to:

· Travel the world

· ​Have a happy, secure retirement

· ​Buy your dream car

· ​Pay off/get a mortgage

· ​Do house repairs

· ​Cover the kid’s fees

· ​Build a business

· ​Taking up new hobbies

· ​Create unreal memories with loved ones

· ​Take the weight off of your shoulders FOR LIFE

· But, that list could go on, and on for hours.

The better question is, “what can’t it do?” and the answer is “nothing.”

Besides…

Can You Think Of A Better Option Right Now?

There has never been a more important time than now to have financial security, and prevent yourself from having the carpet ripped from under your feet.

Realistically, that’s not going to come from your job.

Most businesses will be cutting back for a long time, before they even begin to look at promotions, and pay rises.

On a similar note, starting a business isn’t one of the wisest decisions either.

Not with the economy on its knees, and people tightening their pockets.

“Traditional” wealth avenues are all but shut

So, it’s time to turn to a different approach.

An approach that, unlike putting your neck out on the line to your boss at work, or your bank for a business loan — there is no risk.

If we’re being extremely picky, you might say, there’s risk in investing in The Genie Script program…

But, for the price of the Genie Script program as it currently is, then you’d have to say doing your weekly grocery shop was a risk.

Or, class going out for dinner is a risk.

It’s nowhere near the risk of investing a lump sum in the stock market, or a start-up.

Besides, in life you can never get anything for nothing.

Not anything valuable anyway. The Genie Script can make your dream and make you financially free the way it generated $1,000,000.00 in 30-days for Wesley Virgin.

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

So here’s what you’ll get by enrolling inside The Genie Script:

A. 4x 10-Minute Meditation Every Week

During these 10-min sessions, Wesley teaches how to master his unique meditation techniques. There are four (4) of these session every week.

B. Video Training On The 5 Meditative States

The root of successful meditation is really understanding the process. So in these training videos, Wesley breaks down the 5 brain wave states (Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta, and Gamma). He also goes in-depth into the benefits of each state and when to put yourself into each state to see the best results.

C. Access To Wesley’s Private Facebook Community

I’m personally a big believer in the power of community. So I was personally happy that Wesley included a private FB community where you’ll be able to connect with people with similar aspirations and vision like yours, get inspired by other people’s results, and most importantly, stay focused for the entire 30 days.

ADDITIONAL BONUSES!!! (THESE BONUSES ARE INCLUDED IN WESLEY’S GENIE SCRIPT PROGRAM)

Bonus #1: Wealth Frequency Binaural Beat Track

This simple binaural beat track will engage your brain in a totally unique, highly-potent state of manifestation simply by listening to it.

Bonus #2: Kundalini Touch Exercise

This exercise is a magical science that uses sound, mantra and energy healing to awaken beliefs of abundance to manifest physical desires more rapidly.

Bonus #3: Supernatural Third Eye Activation Exercises

Developing your third eye helps you to connect your self, and spirit and strengthen your psychic and manifestation abilities.

Bonus #4: Occult Walking Guided Meditation Audios

This is a technique that allows your mind to unconsciously concentrate and manifest your desires while you walk during your day to day routine.

Note: You Can Check Out Their Video Presentation For More Insights Into What You Should Expect By Joining This Program

GENIE SCRIPT PRICE: The Price You Have To Pay To Start Creating Your Dream Life In Just 30-Days with The Genie Script Program.

This is about you.

Think about all the things that you want to achieve in your life. I bet it goes way past the material things, like a nice car, house, or watch, real quick.

You want to build a legacy too.

A foundation for your family, future and present to thrive on.

You want to be their hero.

You want to be the person that changes the trajectory, puts everyone on a better path, and brings respect to the family name.

He want this to be accessible to everybody. So, usually the program is $389.00. But, for today, you can get your hands on it for just $37!

Whether you’ve tried meditation before and it hasn’t worked, or you’re brand new to it, this is your shot to master a technique that’s PROVEN to work.

And I’m sure you agree $37 is an insane deal to receive this priceless gift that allowed Wesley Virgin to

Retire his mom and pop

Buy both of his parents’ cars

Purchase the mother of his children a brand new house and car

Fly around the world to over 40 countries first class

Buy every dream car that he ever wanted CASH

Take his children around the world

Feed, clothe and educate 1000s of homeless men and women under the bridges in my city.

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

Imagine how you would feel if you took a small action right now that will magically change your entire life for the better. The choice is yours to make on Genie Script.

The program is available and accessible as soon as you make the purchase.

Lastly, the program comes with a 60-day 100% money-back guarantee. So if you’re on the fence because you don’t wanna waste your money that might be helpful to you.

But personally, I didn’t need to request for a refund because I was honestly very impressed with the quality of research, the practicability of the insights, and the ongoing internal and external transformation that have begun taking place in my life since I jumped on the program.

The Genie Script: Is it a Scam?

Prefer a video review instead to validate if it is a scam or not? Check out this authentic video review I found on YouTube

I do not consider The Genie Script to be a scam. Although the testimonies behind it is astonishing but don’t take my word alone on it but listen to what this other people have to say about Genie Script.

The Man Behind The Genie Script: Wesley Virgin.

First things first, let me make something 100% clear:

Wherever you are now in your life, whatever position you’ve found yourself in, cannot be worse than where Wesley Virgin was when he first started on his journey to abundance…

…unless you’re reading this from inside a prison cell.

It’s easy to convince yourself that anyone with wealth started off with some kind of advantage but Wesley Virgin was actually the opposite.

From his story, Wesley Virgin said:

“I had a truly troubled and chaotic early adulthood.

I was a seriously lost young man that was heading off of the rails fast, destined to become the next local train wreck.

So, I did what a lot of people do and joined the Army.

I figured it would give me the discipline, structure, and salary I desperately needed to turn my life around.

It wasn’t.

I got kicked out.

Then, I tried to see if college was for me.

I figured that was the secret to a stable, suburban lifestyle that I saw in the movies.

It wasn’t.

I dropped out.

After that, my life fell into the worst kind of routine:

Going to jail, getting released, and getting sent back.

It was 10x in total.

During the time I was out, I got myself into a ton of debt, I got evicted, I lost cars. I was stupid. I even resorted to writing bad checks so my kids could eat.

I was a terrible, absent father, that couldn’t even be there consistently for them with the basics that they needed. I was rock bottom.

These were all the thoughts that were running through my head in my last stint in jail.

There I was in my orange jumpsuit, on my metal “bed,” thinking to myself:

Did I want to live the rest of my life like this?

Is this all there is?

There must be a better way to provide for my family?

I don’t know whether it was seeing the same old guards, same old inmates, and same old cells…

But, something snapped in me hard that day.

It was the slap across the face that I needed to wake myself up and change my life.

I went on a search for something different.

Clearly, I couldn’t nail down a job, or any of the conventional routes to living a good, honest, and abundant life…

That’s when I discovered meditation and manifestation.

I know what you’re thinking…

An ex-jail bird, meditating himself to a better financial, emotional, and mental state — seriously?!

And I would have had the exact reaction as you.

I’d have given up just like I’d given up on the army, and college, but for one thing:

The results I experienced.

I told myself, Wesley, you have got to stick with this for 30 days, before you can call it a write off.

If not for anything else, just do it for the kids.

Wow, all I can say is, that I am thankful that I did…

After I Meditated Consistently For 30 Days, Using This Unusual Soothing Sound, I Manifested 1 Million Dollars!                                                                  

If you’re shocked, imagine how I felt when $1,000,000.00 hit my normally broke bank account.

They must have thought I’d robbed a bank to get that kind of money…

…when in reality all I’d done is meditate!

In an instant, my life changed. I paid off my debts. I put down a deposit on a house.

​I paid for a brand new car outright. I promised my kids the world and gave it to them.

But, it wasn’t just about the immediate short-term things.

Suddenly, I had visions, I had dreams, and I had the means to make them happen.

A life of:

Generational Financial Security

​Insane, Unimaginable Success

​Surreal opportunity

It was only later when people started to ask for my secret…

…that I realized I had created a totally unique meditation technique.

It was so different from what people were used to that when they tried it, they were blown away with the results it manifested.”

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

Wesley Virgin on Genie Script Meditation Program…

“If you’ve ever tried meditation or any manifestation methods before and it’s not created the results you wanted to — you’ve probably blamed yourself.

You’ve convinced yourself you were doing it wrong.

You’re not the right person to meditate.

But, I’m here to tell you that it’s not you that’s the problem.

You’re getting the wrong results because you’re using the wrong techniques!

Wrong techniques that are overcomplicated, and impossible to master even for Buddah himself.

They’ve become over commercialized.

You feel like you have to jump through a million hoops, only to find yourself back at square one.

Firstly, it’s not your fault.

They’re the techniques almost everybody tells you to use, so why would you think to look outside of them?

The important thing is you’re now about to discover the unique way to meditate that actually delivers million dollar results.

A technique that’s so simple to follow and that’s why it’s so powerful.

Anyone can master this…

AND with everything going on in the world — there couldn’t be a better time to do it.

With everything that’s going on in the world we have more time on our hands, and more need to take control of our own lives, and our finances than ever before.

You can start meditating the right way, starting tonight and attract wealth from the comfort of your own home. Then, when the world gets back to normal…

…you can always have this technique in your back pocket!

Think about it, whenever in this lifetime, might you have an opportunity as perfect as this to at least try something new like my meditation technique and give it 100% of your attention?

Mine was jail. Yours can be a pandemic!

If you pass up on this chance now, by the time you realize what you could have had, you either won’t have the time to invest to make it work…

Or, the current offer on the program will have expired.

Invest in yourself now, and thank yourself later!”

The Genie Script: Final Verdict.

So there you have it guys…that’s my review of Wesley’s new program The Genie Script.

As per Wesley, he planned the program as a thoughtful remedy (for your monetary, mental, and enthusiastic wellbeing) that you burn-through for 30 days, with the guarantee of emphatically modifying your psyche and permitting you show substantial outcomes and the kind of financial freedom you yearn for.

I’m as yet on the journey…and up until now, I can verify how I have become a considerably more engaged individual in my own mission towards my own objectives. The program assisted me with finding how to make reflection/meditation fun yet amazing, and it freed me up to grasping a wealth mentality.

I’m trusting my review helped in responding to your inquiries. Remember that on the off chance that you want to jump into his program, you can look at their authority site HERE.

Much obliged to you for perusing, and I’m wanting you to enjoy all that life has to offer!

>>>CLICK HERE TO GET THE GENIE SCRIPT FROM ITS ORIGINAL WEBSITE<<<

Affiliate Disclaimer: If it’s not too much trouble note that a portion of the links in this article are affiliate links, and thusly, I may get a remuneration on the off chance that you choose to enlist for The Genie Script Program. In any case, my remuneration will be at NO additional expense to what in particular you’re paying for the program. If it’s not too much trouble note that I am embracing this program simply because I’ve encountered it and I can completely 100% vouch for it.

[hockeybloggg]

Realty Leads 101 - Are You Copping Out of Following " up "

Working with a lead generation company has given me helpful insight into both real estate leads and agents. When i dealt with both ends: the consumer and the agents themselves, plus my job was to make them both happy. Sure right. Easier said than done. Visit here : Ola The consumer side is easy - real estate points want a home value, they want information on the market, they want a real estate agent and we get them that. The real estate agents? Well it is another story - they pretty much wanted everything within sun when it comes to real estate leads. They wanted to be passed people ready to list their homes with them asap, without a work involved on the agent's part. They want listings, not even real estate leads. Well, if I could provide that reliably, all the time, I'd either have a multi-million dollar company, or possibly I'd be doing real estate full time myself. Get this by means of your heads agents: there is no magic service out there intended to hand you listings for a low fee. Instead, all these services provide you with real estate leads and it is YOUR job to turn individuals into clients. Got that? Real estate leads + a person = clients! YOU went to the classes, YOU trained in up on sales and marketing techniques and YOU printed away all kinds of trinkets with your name and logo on them for use on your real estate leads. Ergo, YOU must convince your real estate will cause work with you. And if you're not converting them, maybe you really need to take a look at your own methods, rather than immediately blame the source of your real estate leads. By now, I've probably heard every alibi under the sun as to why online real estate leads are damaging or bogus. And that's all it is, an excuse, a cop out to make you feel better about not being able to go your real estate leads into listings. That being said, here are the absolute best 5 cop-outs I've heard over the years about following " up " with real estate leads and my responses to them. one I'm a new agent and no one wants to use a brand new agent. Well, how do they know you're a new professional? Did you announce it the second you spoke together with real estate leads? You don't need to tell all your real estate leads are actually new. If they ask, tell them, and be honest, but won't just volunteer the information. And how to you know "no one" wants to use a new agent - sounds like a uncouth generalization to me. You won't know until you get out there as well as try - convince your real estate leads that that should be new means you're cutting edge, the best thing out there right now, demonstrate to them what an expert you've become, even if you're new to the work. Just TRY to convert them. Assuming from the start your real estate property leads won't want to use you because you're fresh doesn't even give you a chance. 2 . Some real estate directs are on the Do Not Call Registry. So? There's no this type of thing as a Do Not Knock list. If your real estate brings are on the DNC Registry and you feel THAT uncomfortable endangering a call, you should have your butt in the car, directions into your hand and preparing yourself mentally for your introduction if you knock at their door. And actually, as per the basic guidelines of the Do Not Call Registry, if a consumer on the details makes an inquiry (which is what online properties leads are! ), you can contact them for up to three months after the inquiry. So you've got 3 months to get them within the phone, after that, there's still always that door! Avoid the use of the DNC as a cop-out method with real estate qualified prospects. It's a flimsy excuse. 3. It's unprofessional to go topple on someone's door. This is the line I usually got once suggesting stopping by the property. My thing is, who believed so? Who told you it is unprofessional to go head to your real estate leads' homes and drop off the information many people requested? That is a matter of opinion and as long because your real estate leads don't think it's unprofessional, you're decent. And by showing initiative and going out of your way to meet up with your real estate leads, you may have just earned a client for life-long. 4. These real estate leads are too far from my best area, or it's in a very bad part of town. It is probably my favorite cop out, because it just sounds idiotic to me. If your real estate leads are too far, why does you sign up for that area? Or, if you are getting some realty leads out of your area, how far? Most of the time, agents complain with regards to having to drive 30 minutes away. To me, 30 minutes of the time is DEFINITELY worth the fat commission check I possibly could get. And if some real estate leads are too far, have not you EVER heard of a REFERRAL COMMISSION? Find an amazing agent in the lead's area and send it regarding over. That way you'll still get a portion of the fee AND you've saved 30 precious minutes of your time. Once real estate leads are in a bad part of town, it results in it's a very low-value home and is located in either a ghetto or backwater somewhere. It pisses me off once real estate agents say that the home isn't worth their occasion. Guess what buddy? When you got your license, you increased knowledge that others don't have, but will need at some point. Be willing and open to share this with your real estate sales opportunities, no matter what the economic status of their home and source of income is. If you don't want to help them, no one can force you will, but you are a BAD agent if you're not at least ready to find someone who will your real estate leads. 5. Whether they wanted to be contacted, they would have given all their precise contact information. This is a tough one, because on one place I do agree with this SOMEWHAT. Real estate leads who make a good name, number, address and email seems to be further approachable than real estate leads that have fake names, and / or fake numbers, etc . But again, this statement is mostly a matter of opinion. You have NO idea what's encountering the consumer's head when they filled out their information. Might be they're not technologically savvy and thought if they fit their phone number over the Web, everybody would get it. Could be they mistyped something. Maybe they don't want to be hassled everyday by telemarketer calls but DO still want the content. Until you actually touch base with your real estate leads, you will have no idea where their head is at. What would certainly hurt worse, getting a phone slammed in your ear, or perhaps missing out on a $15, 000 commission because you THOUGHT individuals didn't need anything since they gave a wrong phone number?

[buttermybooks]

HI HELLO IT’S ME AND I AM BACK WITH ANOTHER AWESOME POST! I am so excited to have the opportunity to share a playlist from the amazing Emily Barr; inspired by her upcoming book THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS. 

This book first hit my radar when an arc showed up in my grab bag from YallFest in November. Immediately after we got the book, @thebookblr started reading it, and LOVED it. Taking her word for it, I dove right in and also LOVEDDDD it. I absolutely flew through this book, finishing in 4 hours, and then cursing myself for not savoring it more!!! 

I will leave a link to a playlist inspired by her time writing this book, as well as a little background from Emily on each song that was included. Buy links and Synopsis below the cut!!

(To listen to the playlist on spotify, click here)

Flora Playlist

I listen to a lot of music when I write: it’s best when played loud. Music helps me block out the sound of the outside world: it’s too easy to be distracted by letters dropping on the doormat, the slamming of a car door, a conversation in the street.

When I need to blast out words to beat a deadline, I blast out opera. It helps that I don’t speak Italian or German so no stories impinge on the one I’m writing. The operatic voices become beautiful instruments. If I need to sink into a deep and meditative period of concentration - to iron out troublesome plot wrinkles - I drift over to sweeping classical music: Brahms, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich or Chopin. I played the cello for year, and cello music is my comfort blanket.

However, early on in the process, when a book is beginning to take real shape, when ideas are bubbling faster than I can type them, when my characters can be anything or do anything, and I simply have to follow the threads and see what happens; this is when certain songs and certain albums become addictive. They start to soundtrack the novel. I played the songs on this playlist throughout the process of writing Flora Banks. I played them when I stopped writing, closed the laptop and had to get on with the day to day domestic chores. I can never quite switch off from thinking about the book I am writing, so all the while these songs were playing, a little bit of my brain was thinking about Flora Banks.

1: Glacier / John Grant / John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Live in Concert

This whole album is sublime. Witty, tender, hugely melodic songs and a full orchestra. Some songs are dark and some are romantic. John Grant is a wonder. He writes songs from the heart and sings them beautifully. He has had his demons and been close to the brink. He is also a huge lover of Scandinavia. In fact, I used him as the inspiration for the character of Toby in Flora Banks. Glacier is actually a song about the conflict between the church and gay rights, but the message is clear: be brave and find your own answers.

“Don't listen to anyone; get answers on your own 

Even if it means that sometimes you feel quite alone

No one on this planet can tell you what to believe

People like to talk a lot, and they like to deceive”

And when one is brave in the face of adversity, wonderful things can happen:

“This pain

It is a glacier moving through you

And carving out deep valleys

And creating spectacular landscapes

And nourishing the ground”

2: Looped / Kiasmos / Kiasmos

I played this album endlessly while writing this book. Every note of it matches Flora’s adventure. It is subtle and it reveals more with each listen. I love the pulses and the swooping strings and the periods of calm and the bursts of danger. The album is full of looped musical phrases that build and fall away and build again. There are some structural similarities to Flora in this respect. This particular song soundtracks Flora’s boat trip, away from the town and out in to the Arctic wilds.

Kiasmos is a duo and features the legendary Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds. Which leads us on to…

3: 3055 / Ólafur Arnalds / Arnalds: Eulogy for Evolution

I first listened to this album just before I first travelled to Svalbard in 2013. It’s by turns elegiac and joyous. This song in particular hits the spot. You can hear those Scandinavian winds and the piano is so delicate. Then in come the drums when you’re least expecting it.

4: Everybody’s Talkin’ / Iggy Pop / Après

I love Iggy Pop: seventy this year and as charming and as charismatic as ever. Thankfully he managed to survive the 2016 (Cohen! Bowie! Prince!) In 2012 he put out this album of covers. Most of the songs are French and Iggy croons throughout in his deep and croaky tremolo. Nobody could have predicted an album of such melodic easy listening. In it’s own way, it’s a pretty punk thing to do. I play this album a lot while cooking and it always made me smile. This song feels Flora like, especially when she is leaving Penzance.

“Everybody’s talking at me

I don't hear a word they're saying

Only the echoes of my mind

People stopping, staring

I can't see their faces

Only the shadows of their eyes

I'm going where the sun keeps shining.”

5: Where is my mind? / The Pixies / Surfer Rosa

I love this song. This song is playing in the opening scene, in which Flora is feeling out of place at a house party. The title is apt but completely unintentional - I just love the song. A dose of Pixies is good for the soul. Frank Black’s voice blows away the cobwebs.

6: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) / The Beatles / Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

I adore The Beatles. How did they do so much in so little time? Aside from their massive cultural impact, they simply knew how to construct a song and perform it perfectly. When The Beatles hit Spotify for the first time, I binge listened. It soundtracked the whole of Christmas. Flora listens to this album when she’s left home alone. The album also contains the song ‘She’s leaving home’ - something I only noticed while compiling this playlist.

7: Atmos VIII / A Winged Victory for the Sullen / Atmos

This album is hypnotic. It’s sort of ambient, droning, glacial, electronic classical. It hums and purrs and scrapes and whooshes. It’s meditative and clever. This song sounds like it’s echoing in a cathedral. Play it as loud as you can and let it hit you in the chest. To me this is what Svalbard sounds like.

8: The Beigeness / Kate Tempest / Everybody Down

I am in awe of Kate Tempest! She was born in 1985 and has already achieved more than most do in a lifetime. She is an award winning poet, an insightful novelist and a gifted rapper. She writes about real issues and is a fearless role model for young women. I love this song. And I like the message: stand up for yourself and don’t fade into the beigeness. Be heard and be seen. I think Flora has some of that spirit. Tempest’s follow up album ‘Let them eat chaos’ is a masterpiece. I am following her career with interest: I can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

9: How Long? / Julia Holter / Have You in my Wilderness

Again - an album I played over and over. Julia Holter is brilliant and this is such a polished album, simultaneously complicated and accessible. It feels like looking into somebody’s mind and not quite understanding the thoughts and feelings that are there. This song gives me goosebumps. It is woozy and intimate and her voice is spellbinding.

10: Northern Lights / Ola Gjeilo - Voces8 / Ola Gjeilo

Gjeilo is a young Norwegian composer and his work is gorgeous. Last summer my partner Craig and I spent a week in Tromsø, which is in the Arctic Circle in Northern Norway. There’s a cathedral in Tromsø, and it’s s a magical place beside the water with spectacular acoustics. Through the summer they run midnight concerts: we went to one and heard a mixture of Bach, Mozart and traditional Norwegian music. It was still light when we got there, and just a little bit dusky as we walked back over the bridge to our hotel. This piece - although it’s called Northern Lights and so is from the opposite end of the year - takes me straight back to that evening.

About The Author: 

Emily Barr (www.emilybarr.com) began her career as a journalist at the Guardian before realizing that she was drawn more toward books. After taking a year to go backpacking for a column assignment, she returned home with the idea for her first book, the New York Times bestseller Backpack, and never looked back. She has since written 11 additional books for adults. The One Memory of Flora Banks is her young adult debut. Emily lives in Cornwall with her partner and their children. You can follow her on Twitter @emily_barr. 

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. She lives under the careful watch of her parents, in a town she is familiar with, among people who are equally familiar with her story. She has not been able to recall any part of her past since she was ten, when the tumor that was removed from her brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this singular memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake and their shared kiss are responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step in reclaiming her life. With little more than the tattoo "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is, how old, where she lives, and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to the land of the midnight sun--Svalbard, Norway. There she is determined to find Drake, and to explore the romantic possibilities and hopeful future that their reunion promises her. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home. Rich with psychological twists, powerful moments of hope, despair, and confusion, and a landscape very much a character unto itself, FLORA BANKS is an emotionally compelling and immersive read that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, the depths of the human heart, and the power of the human mind.

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Enter for a chance to win one (1) of five (5) copies of The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr (ARV: $17.99 each). NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on May 1, 2017 and 12:00 AM on May 22, 2017.  Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about May 24, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

[jenmedsbookreviews]

I can’t believe it – conclusive proof (if it were actually needed) that I am a total tool I forgot London. In all of my roundups of the Orenda Roadshows I have attended, and all of my attempts to persuade you that you really want to attend one of this year’s five events, I forgot one of the biggest and one of the original roadshows from 2017 … London!!!

How the heck did I manage that right? 15 absolutely brilliant Orenda authors in one room and what a night it was.

The Orenda Roadshow 2020 Penarth Edition

The uninitiated amongst you, or those of you who are either new to #teamOrenda or who have perhaps not followed the fortunes of the team as closely as some of us (I mean me obvs) may be wondering just what an Orenda Roadshow is. Well … an Orenda Roadshow is like a book launch of event but on steroids. A nationwide touring celebration of all things Orenda where you will find the largest number of authors in any one place, outside of a bog standard festival, talking about their books, sharing the book love and spending time with their readers. It is both informative and entertaining. Fun and a place for serious book purchasing. A little birdy (Karen) tells me there is also the chance you may be able to pick up some not yet released titles as the authors prepare for their upcoming launches. You just don’t know.

To give you an idea what to expect, I’m going to be resharing my round up of the last three years worth of Orenda Roadshows. You can find my write up on the 2017 even in Liverpool right here and the 2018 Warwick event, which even the Beast from the East couldn’t stop, right here. Before I take you back over the highlights of the London event, here is the list of this year’s venues and the bookshops you need to stalk on Twitter and Facebook to keep abreast of the event and book your tickets.

24th February: Waterstones Glasgow 25th February: Drake the Bookshop, Stockton on Tees 26th February: Linghams Booksellers, Heswall 27th February: The Bookcase, Lowdham 28th February: Griffin Books, Penarth

Be warned though – these events are super popular so I’d recommend booking as soon as possible. Tickets are already on sale for Heswall, Stockton-on-Tees, Penarth and Glasgow so don’t delay. Book today. For those of you who are still undecided, let me tempt you some more with some info about some of the authors who will be appearing this year …

Appearing in Glasgow: David F. Ross; Doug Johnstone; Helen FitzGerald; Louise Beech; Thomas Enger; Johana Gustawsson; Simone Buchholz; Antti Tuomainen; Michael J. Malone; Matt Wesolowski ;Vanda Symon

Appearing in Stockton: Helen FitzGerald; Louise Beech; Thomas Enger; Johana Gustawsson; Simone Buchholz; Antti Tuomainen; Michael J. Malone; Matt Wesolowski; Vanda Symon; Will Carver; Kjell Ola Dahl; Helga Flatland

Appearing in Heswall: Helen FitzGerald; Louise Beech; Thomas Enger; Johana Gustawsson; Simone Buchholz; Antti Tuomainen; Michael J. Malone; Matt Wesolowski; Vanda Symon; Will Carver; Kjell Ola Dahl; Helga Flatland

Appearing in Penarth: Helen FitzGerald; Louise Beech; Thomas Enger; Johana Gustawsson; Simone Buchholz; Antti Tuomainen; Michael J. Malone; Matt Wesolowski; Vanda Symon; Will Carver; Kjell Ola Dahl; West Camel; Matt Johnson

The Orenda Roadshow – London

Okay. So normally this would be a big old blather about how I have been really busy at work and doing a bit of reading and blah, blah, blah. Well not this week. This week I have barely been at work, I’ve hardly read any books but I have been really busy. Really busy enjoying the bookish life which in this case has led to book buyage and book listing for buyage now I am home. In fact, I have been that busy that this weeks round up post is being split into two pieces. Yes. I am going to bore you that much today. Lucky you right?

As you can see from the picture above, me and my sister spent an evening with the lovely ladies and gents of Orenda books on Wednesday night. Much like the Liverpool roadshow it was an absolutely brilliant night only this time there were no less than 15 authors there. Fifteen! From left to right (although hard to tell in this picture – I do have some slightly better ones too I promise) Gunnar Staalesen, Kjell Ola Dahl (finally know how to pronounce his name properly – yay), Michael J Malone, Sarah Stovell, Matt Wesolowski, Steph Broadribb, Kati Hiekkapelto, Thomas Enger (I believe in Leeds it is now tradition to insert an mmmm here…) Paul Hardisty, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Antti Tuomainen, Stanley Trollip (Michael Stanley), Ragnar Jónasson, Su Bristow and of course the lovely Karen Sullivan. (And you might not believe me but I actually spelled all of the above without having to look them up. Of course if there are typos, then you probably will believe me but I think they’re correct…)

Now not only were we treated to a bit of an introduction to each of these fabulous writers (I can’t believe the now Petrona Award Winning author Gunnar Staalesen has been writing for 40 years – seriously does not look old enough), but we were also treated to a reading from each of them from their latest novels too. I always love to hear an author read from their own work as I think it just adds to the whole experience, the nuances they bring to the reading as they are able to draw from the ultimate perspective and understanding which they created when the book was written – the voice of the character within their head. Absolutely brilliant each and every one, and some wicked humour from the crew as always. I suspect Karen truly has her hands full on these here roadshows.

All those books. Aren’t they pretty? Now I may have purchased one or two (or six) books on the night because, you know, I bought a copy of all of the books on the last roadshow so it seemed only polite to purchase the ones I was missing… When I had the pleasure of meeting Johana Gustawsson she told me that my review made her cry – in a good way – which was so wonderful to hear. I love that kind of feedback as it means I am actually doing something right. I don’t manage many things so have to celebrate the successes when they come. I then got a squiggle from Paul Hardisty who bowed down to me in thanks for my review. Perhaps a tad excessive 😉 but it did make me chuckle. At the end of the day, all I do is write what I think. They do the hard work in writing such a wonderful book in the first place.

My greatest fear in all of this, and any blogger/reviewer can tell you that it becomes infinitely more difficult the more perfect a book is, is that what I write will not do the book the justice it deserves. That I will not capture in words the depth of emotion and often sheer joy that I experience when reading the sometimes harrowing, often lyrical, simplistically and stylistically beautiful and yet always ultimately magical words that these authors pour onto each and every page.

I am no writer. This post alone should convince you of that fact. I am not someone who finds it easy to put emotions and feelings into words. I’m just an moderately literate, occasionally eloquent numpty with a book, a blog and a passion for reading. I lack the creativity, the ability and, hell, lets be honest, the vocabulary to write anything truly insightful. As I sit and stare at a blank document for half an hour trying to find the perfect first line, and more often than not failing, I end up descending into a long and incessant ramble, or as I like to think of it, spewing my thoughts onto the page. I try not to think about it too much and I try not to go back and tweak (I suck at editing too – can you tell 😉 ). I like to leave my review in pretty much its first draft because to me it needs to be organic. Raw. Often I have to write a review straight away because I need to capture the excitement that the book has created within me. Sometimes I wait a while, gathering my thoughts because I need that extra time to recover and reflect. Orenda books, more often than not, fall into the latter category. Because that is what the process of reading these books does to me. Makes me need to take time to reflect. Each and every one.

The books may differ greatly in tone, narrative style and ultimately content but each book has taken me on a wonderful journey, capturing and exploring landscapes and cultures that I am often unfamiliar with, but making them live and breathe. Making them feel so real to me that I could almost be there. Be it a war in Angola, a concentration camp from World War II, domestic noir, serious investigation, exploring environmental or socio-politcal issues, folklore or just a damned thrilling chase across six US states, the emotions that their words evoke are just… argh, so strong, so mentally and physically challenging at times that the book truly knocks you for six, but all ultimately just brilliant. If you haven’t ready any Orenda books yet then I urge you to pick one up and start now. There really is something for everyone in Orenda’s rapidly expanding catalogue and in my opinion, for what it’s worth, these are some of the best author’s out there right now.

And I am gutted to be honest. I have had the perfect opportunity over the last five days to tell these people how absolutely fabulous I think their work is. How much I appreciate the gift that they have given me in creating such varied and vibrant worlds for me to immerse myself in. And I bottled it. Mostly it was just a nod of the head and a kind of ‘alright? I really enjoyed your book.’ cut to awkward smile and then scuttle away quickly. So I can only hope that perhaps my reviews have done the books justice. That they do understand how much I really love their writing and how, if I had a little more courage and wasn’t such a tool, I would tell them that in person. But I don’t and I am. So I guess I’m kind of doing that now. Badly. In a sort of mad rambling kind of way. As you do. (Or at least I do…)

So mad ramblings aside, if my thoughts and comments haven’t tempted/convinced you to dive in to one of the books then perhaps some pretty covers will. And they truly are pretty 😉 Almost as pretty as the squiggles inside them 🙂

If you want to purchase any of the books from these guys then you can find the relevant links by selecting their name below.

Gunnar Staalesen | Kjell Ola Dahl | Michael J. Malone | Sarah Stovell

Matt Wesolowski | Steph Broadribb |  Kati Hiekkapelto | Thomas Enger

Paul E. Hardisty | Louise Beech | Johana Gustawsson

Antti Tuomainen | Michael Stanley | Ragnar Jónasson | Su Bristow

You can also check out all of Orenda Books’ other brilliant authors over at the website Orendabooks.co.uk

Ooh. And just to mention, I was lucky enough to pick up a sampler for two upcoming releases from Orenda. Snare by Lilja Sigurðardóttir which will be out in e-book in August and paperback in October, and The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen which is out in October. I’m really not sure what you can say about a chapter which opens with a line about a urine sample… 

…

If all of this sounds right up your street, make sure to book your tickets for one of this year’s events and join me, and many other eager readers, in spending a fabulous night of bookishness with some of the nicest authors on the circuit. Three weeks tomorrow!!! Can you believe it?

See you soon.

Jen

Orenda Roadshows 2020 – A Preview I can't believe it - conclusive proof (if it were actually needed) that I am a total tool I forgot London.

[cover2covermom]

Goodbye April & hello May!

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel & I’m running toward it…

April seemed to drag on despite the days flying by.  Does that even make sense?  Like I’ve mentioned before, my days are filled with homeschooling, home projects, mask making, and reading.  I’ve been doing my best to fill my hours to ease the COVID-19 anxiety.

I received the notification that I will be returning to work next week, which was welcome news.  I’m ready to get back a little bit of normalcy in my life.  Thankfully, our library system is reopening in phases.  Our first phase will be employees only (3-5 employees in the building at one time) and offering curb-side service to our patrons.  As of now, we will not open our doors to the public until June 1st at the earliest.  At that point in time, we will be limiting the number of patrons allowed in the building.  It is definitely going to be a learning curve to see what my new work normal is going to entail.  I’m looking forward to adapting & rising to the occasion.

» Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

As per usual, Mindy McGinnis puts out another harrowing YA book.  I love survival stories, so I enjoyed this story about a girl that has gotten lost in the woods.  Be Not Far From Me was uncomfortable to read at certain points.

» Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker

*3.5 Stars*

This was a sweet story about two kids that form a friendship while hanging around an abandoned lot.  The first half of this book didn’t grab me and moved far too slowly.  I enjoyed the second half of this book a lot better than the first half.

» Keeper of Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1) by Shannon Messenger

An awesome MG fantasy!  I cannot wait to continue on with this series.  I’d recommend this to fans of Harry Potter.

» Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

*2.75 Stars*

I read this for one of my book clubs.   I think the author was attempting to write a book that would charm readers with eccentric characters & a humorous plotline, but don’t think it delivered.  Instead of being funny, the story felt odd & forced.

» A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

I think the author did a tremendous job writing a book from a wolf’s perspective.  You can tell the author did extensive research into wolves & their behaviors.  While I think this animal perspective was very well done, I didn’t think the plotline was all that entertaining.

» The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) by L. Frank Baum

I’ve decided to challenge myself to read more children’s classics in 2020.   To kick start this challenge, I started with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  This was a delightful read!  I was surprised to learn that the slippers were actually silver instead of ruby red… mind blown!

» SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is a must read for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak.  While you don’t HAVE to read Speak to read SHOUT, I feel like it makes a bigger impact if you read Speak prior to this.  If you didn’t know, SHOUT is Anderson’s memoir told in verse.

» Loveboat, Taipei (Loveboat, Taipei #1) by Abigail Hing Wen

*4.5 Stars*

This is a guilty pleasure type of read.  Actually, it reminded me a bit of Crazy Rich Asians a bit.  It is a tad racy for a YA book… So I’d probably recommend for older YA readers that are 16+

» Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger

I am LOVING this MG fantasy series.  While these books are a bit chunky, don’t let the page count deter you.  I flew through the first two books in this series this month.  Also, I’m happy to report that this second installment does NOT suffer from “second book syndrome.”

» Nooks & Crannies by Jessica Lawson

Nooks & Crannies is an excellent MG historical mystery.  Some of the elements of this story gave me Matilda mixed with A Series of Unfortunate Events vibes.  The audiobook is well narrated.

» The Penderwicks (The Penderwicks #1) by Jeanne Birdsall

This is the perfect book to pick up during the summer months.  It really gave me modern Little Women crossed with The Secret Garden vibes.  The ending was so heartwarming it almost brought me to tears.

Goodreads Challenge Update: 46 books!

*I know it says 47, but I finished The Last (Endling #1) on May 1st*

March 2020 Reading & Blogging Wrap-Up

April 2020 TBR

Childhood Classics 2020: TBR

Most Anticipated Books of 2020 (May – December)

Mini Book Reviews: April 2020 – Part 1

Mini Book Reviews: April 2020 – Part 2

If you were ever curious what a bookworm’s quarantine stress shopping spree looks like, here you go…

» The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising #1) by Kiersten White

There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

» Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly

The story of a deaf girl’s connection to a whale whose song can’t be heard by his species, and the journey she takes to help him.

From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she’s the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she’s not very smart. If you’ve ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be.

When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to “sing” to him! But he’s three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him?

» Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk–grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh–Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.

» Girls Like Us by Randi Pink

Set in the summer of 1972, this moving YA historical novel is narrated by teen girls from different backgrounds with one thing in common: Each girl is dealing with pregnancy. Four teenage girls. Four different stories. What they all have in common is that they’re dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

In rural Georgia, Izella is wise beyond her years, but burdened with the responsibility of her older sister, Ola, who has found out she’s pregnant. Their young neighbor, Missippi, is also pregnant, but doesn’t fully understand the extent of her predicament. When her father sends her to Chicago to give birth, she meets the final narrator, Susan, who is white and the daughter of an anti-choice senator.

Randi Pink masterfully weaves four lives into a larger story – as timely as ever – about a woman’s right to choose her future.

» The Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See

Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. Nevertheless, their differences are impossible to ignore: Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, forever marking her, and Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers. After hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a unique and unforgettable culture, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

» The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

A music-loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.

But there are things that Melati can’t protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames.

With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.

» Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai

Nadia’s family is forced to flee their home in Aleppo, Syria, when the Arab Spring sparks a civil war in this timely coming-of-age novel from award-winning author N.H. Senzai.

Silver and gold balloons. A birthday cake covered in pink roses. A new dress.

Nadia stands at the center of attention in her parents’ elegant dining room. This is the best day of my life, she thinks. Everyone is about to sing “Happy Birthday,” when her uncle calls from the living room, “Baba, brothers, you need to see this.” Reluctantly, she follows her family into the other room. On TV, a reporter stands near an overturned vegetable cart on a dusty street. Beside it is a mound of smoldering ashes. The reporter explains that a vegetable vendor in the city of Tunis burned himself alive, protesting corrupt government officials who have been harassing his business. Nadia frowns.

It is December 17, 2010: Nadia’s twelfth birthday and the beginning of the Arab Spring. Soon anti-government protests erupt across the Middle East and, one by one, countries are thrown into turmoil. As civil war flares in Syria and bombs fall across Nadia’s home city of Aleppo, her family decides to flee to safety. Inspired by current events, this novel sheds light on the complicated situation in Syria that has led to an international refugee crisis, and tells the story of one girl’s journey to safety.

» The Two Princesses of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre #1) by Gail Carson Levine

Twelve-year-old Addie admires her older sister Meryl, who aspires to rid the kingdom of Bamarre of gryphons, specters, and ogres. Addie, on the other hand, is fearful even of spiders and depends on Meryl for courage and protection. Waving her sword Bloodbiter, the older girl declaims in the garden from the heroic epic of Drualt to a thrilled audience of Addie, their governess, and the young sorcerer Rhys.

But when Meryl falls ill with the dreaded Gray Death, Addie must gather her courage and set off alone on a quest to find the cure and save her beloved sister. Addie takes the seven-league boots and magic spyglass left to her by her mother and the enchanted tablecloth and cloak given to her by Rhys – along with a shy declaration of his love. She prevails in encounters with tricky specters (spiders too) and outwits a wickedly personable dragon in adventures touched with romance and a bittersweet ending.

» The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre (The Two Princesses of Bamarre 0.5) by Gail Carson Levine

In this compelling and thought-provoking fantasy set in the world of The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine introduces a spirited heroine who must overcome deeply rooted prejudice—including her own—to heal her broken country.

Peregrine strives to be the Latki ideal—and to impress her parents: affectionate Lord Tove, who despises only the Bamarre, and stern Lady Klausine. Perry runs the fastest, speaks her mind, and doesn’t give much thought to the castle’s Bamarre servants, who she knows to be weak and cowardly. The Lakti always wage war, and the battlefield will give her the chance to show her valor.

But just as she’s about to join her father on the front lines, she is visited by the fairy Halina, who reveals that Perry isn’t Latki-born. She is a Bamarre. The fairy issues a daunting challenge: against the Lakti might, free her people from tyranny.

» A Crack in the Sea by H.M. Bouwman

An enchanting historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Thanhha Lai’s Newbery Honor-winning Inside Out and Back Again   No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans.   This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan—one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1976 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they’re not sure they’ll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, A Crack in the Sea.

» The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, one thing’s for sure: Sam Westing may be dead … but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

» Ballet Shoes (Shoes #1) by Noel Streatfeild

Pauline, Petrova and Posy are orphans determined to help out their new family by joining the Children’s Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. But when they vow to make a name for themselves, they have no idea it’s going to be such hard work! They launch themselves into the world of show business, complete with working papers, the glare of the spotlight, and practice, practice, practice! Pauline is destined for the movies. Posy is a born dancer. But practical Petrova finds she’d rather pilot a plane than perform a pirouette. Each girl must find the courage to follow her dream.

» Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

Trees can’t tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .

Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood “wishtree”—people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red’s branches. Along with her crow friend Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red’s hollows, this “wishtree” watches over the neighborhood.

You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red’s experiences as a wishtree are more important than ever.

» The Library of Ever (The Library of Ever #1) by Zeno Alexander

With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, bored–until she discovers a secret doorway in the library and becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian.

In her new job, Lenora finds herself helping future civilizations figure out the date, relocates lost penguins, uncovers the city with the longest name on Earth, and more in a quest to help patrons. But there are sinister forces at work that want to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves.

» Chains (Seeds of America #1) by Laurie Halse Anderson

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight…for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

» The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule–but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her–even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.

The acclaimed author of The Witch’s Boy has created another epic coming-of-age fairy tale destined to become a modern classic. 

Which books did you read in April?

Have you read any of the books I read or hauled this month?  If so, what did you think?

Did you buy any books?  If so, which ones?

Comment below & let me know 🙂

April 2020 Reading & Blogging Wrap-Up + Book Haul #BookBlogger #Bookworm #Bibliophile #BookHaul #Reading #Books #WrapUp Goodbye April & hello May! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel & I'm running toward it...

[myempirepro-blog]

Ep. #550 - NEGOTIATING YOUR WAY TO $1,000 DAILY INCOME 📍 Wholesaling Real Estate

BOOKS DOWNLOAD ➡️ http://SmartRealEstateWholesaling.com SUBSCRIBE ➡️ http://bit.ly/SubonYouTube

QUESTION ⁉️ “I need help.

I have attempted to walk away from this deal several times but the seller keeps asking for help.

I have a seller who is needing to sell his property.

He wants to sell for 190k.

The house is in great condition; I hate to say it but it needs less than $5,000 in repairs.

The estimated ARV (after repair value) is 230k.

After fees, my fee and closing cost, this is not a deal for the end buyer.

He also gave me an owner finance option with the terms of $25-$30k down, 7-9% interest rate and $1,700-$1,750 monthly.

How can I make this a deal?” The best positioning for negotiating in Wholesaling Real Estate is to be willing to walk away and... Mean it. The first 2 mistakes here is that you admitted to have attempted to walk away from this deal several times. 1st mistake - When you walk away, you have to mean it by waiting until they invite you back. 2nd mistake - You admit that it’s not a deal but you want to make it a deal somehow magically. That may be possible but it would only be possible if you have a motivated seller. What you have here is an investor who have found a sucker to suck into a deal that favors them; hence the multiple creative financing offers. I know I mentioned getting invited back as a good thing but here is an exception. This is an investor who is simply controlling you with follow up calls. He/She has managed to pique your interest because you are not equipped with 2 things. 1) Lead pipeline and 2) Knowledge You need a lead pipeline so your can walk away and mean it. Knowledge would be found useful when you get called back which is actually the best negotiating position. If you don’t have negotiating skills and knowledge when you get called back (follow up) into the best negotiating position, you will lose. Wholesaling real estate requires a 2 skills starting with... 1) Marketing (To fill pipelines with leads) 2) Prospecting (Retaining negotiating power) As you can see, none of it has to do with the legality of the business which is 99% of what they teach in real estate licensing class.

BLOG POST - https://myempirepro.com/blog/

ABOUT YOUR HOST ::::| Ola "Tux" Abitogun is the Creator of myEmpirePRO and author of Smart Real Estate Wholesaling. He became a FULL TIME entrepreneur in October 2006.

He is a computer engineer and an engineering management graduate from New Jersey Institute of Technology; (NJIT) class of 2004/5. He was born in Dallas Texas and raised in Nigeria by his Nigerian parents. He considers himself a proud Nigerian American.

Today, he is a marketing addict, trainer, marketing and business consultant, real estate investor and all around serial entrepreneur. Most importantly, he is husband and a father. The professional work he is mostly proud of is personally helping 1,000+ entrepreneurs around the world reach greater heights in their careers.

GET MY BOOKS ON AMAZON https://amzn.to/2VRzdvE

FREE @ AUDIBLE SMART REAL ESTATE WHOLESALING - https://adbl.co/2OeYqI2 REAL ESTATE MONEY SECRETS - https://adbl.co/2HuHPQa

FOLLOW OLA ONLINE HERE: Instagram :|: http://instagram.com/iTuxB Facebook :|: https://www.facebook.com/iTuxB Twitter :|: http://twitter.com/iTuxB

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WEBSITE myEmpirePRO :|: http://myEmpirePRO.com

  Check out this episode!

[mynameisdreartblog]

Devilish Deals 2

Leo: For the next big scoop. Ah, I know now! Is it a graph of how fish would drive if we gave them cars? «Uh, no? It’s a detailed chart explaining the fiscal consequences of the new legislation being passed today by the senators that we voted for!» Ugh, if you’re gonna be that political about it, then you’re gonna turn me off further, man. «Okay, deal with your sour attitude then; it’s not like this is gonna affect you immediately. Your QOL’s gonna lower subtly over time, and your baby-brother’s gonna keep whining about the fact that he can’t go to an after-hours clinic anymore because they’ve slashed all federal funding for them. And when shit really hits the fan, you’ll ask why these bank-workers who don’t look like bankers at all are coming to repossess your home. Just sit by and let that happen!» [,] Look, are you playing a character or something? You have a bad case of crazy eyes going on, and I wanna know if I’m being filmed or not: My privacy is very important to me. «Ms. Palmieri, I can assure you that I don’t record any of my encroachments, as that’d jeopardize the privacy of whoever’s door I land on. So, there’s my answer to your concerns about privacy.» <Oro starts to twitch, giving away that he’s afraid of something, thus letting his “crazy eye thing” become obvious.> «What do you think I take you for: Some kind of purse puppy? I’ve seen plenty of them in my life, and you’re not one of them; you’re just abstract, and you can find a way to embrace that.» I have no idea what a “purse puppy” is, whatever your name was. I was immersed earlier purely for the game of pictionary you were hosting earlier. «Well, I was immersed in detailing how newly proposed legislation will screw you over, and you’re not giving me reliable polling data!» <An armadillo appears to enter the open Ola Diara van, causing a noticeable ruckus.> «Do not focus on that creature! Instead, focus on the issues at hand.» Agh, you’re doing the crazy eyes thing again! I don’t like it; stop. «I can keep doing it! And I’ll keep doing it until you decide to contribute to stop this legislation!» [,] < After furious conversation between the two persists for three minutes, Ms. Palmieri stares at Oro with a deep, contemptuous look that implies something heinous was done. She walks back into her house, and closes her door with meaningful force, but not enough to shake the front of her house. All windows begin to suddenly close, and the ground under Oro’s feet begin to shake.> Wow, cool. That’s the second person who just magically spawned an earthquake underneath my feet because I said something they didn’t like. Unbelievable!

Taurus: In your usual shop. Status update for the restaurant: I couldn’t tell if it was the smoke signals coming off of weirdos who like to nomadically tour this place, but I think we’re losing customers because something’s scaring them off. I’ve noticed a sharp 20% decrease in usual customer attendance, and this clearly isn’t a result of the degrading quality of my cuisine: I always ensure that it’s top-notch no matter the cost. Therefore, the reason must be external, and it’s likely coming from something that’s been making the Gieger counter go off the fritz lately. <As Gresham lowers the marker from the whiteboard, he points his gaze at Natuk.> «Uh, if I’m following correctly, that likely means it’s the noise of the damn thing scaring people away. If I heard a Gieger ticks when I first enter a building, I’m gonna assume there’s nuclear fallout.» Uh, I also think you’re incorrect with that: Strange and somewhat concerning noises are part of the dining experience up here, and I would’ve lost more customers a longer time ago if the disturbance of such sounds was the culprit. <Natuk softly whispers to themselves> «Oh no, he’s doing this again: This happens every harvest season ‘cause he doesn’t understand that’s when people eat their own food.» Regardless, there’s something among us: A haunting presence that peeks out the corners of my eyes whenever I go up from this place to scout the weather for today. «Ugh, <Natuk’s eyes roll at being deliberately ignored> are you gonna tell me to go out and search for it again?» [,] Listen, I’m not one for superstition, — please just ignore my conspiratorial diagrams in the backroom — so I’m not gonna send you on a cleansing mission that I did years before. «Oh, that’s what I always get a glimpse of whenever you go back there. In that case, I’m slightly more relieved I don’t have to do this again!» …Which is why I’m leaving you in charge of managing this entire place while I’m embarking myself. «Wait, what?» You should’ve learned enough from the thirty months you’ve been around, so it’s yours while I confirm my suspicions. From my local knowledge, there’s always been an inkling that bad spirits gazed upon those soon to be met with misfortune high up on the cliff sides. [,] «Wait, wait! Where are you getting this staring figures idea from? Also, literally anyone can run this place.» You except the presence of conspiratorial diagrams and Gieger counters in a restaurant, but you draw the line at figures? Have you not been listening to me, Natuk? «No, no, I’ve been listening loud and clear. I’m just wondering why that’s your conclusion, and not any natural causes.» <Gresham stares down Natuk.> I’ve trusted the natural before, and it’s let me down too many times.

Aquarius: By offering a bit of blood. Gazing at the ever-expanding, formless ocean that takes up every corner of your vision gets you thinking about how small you are, as typical as that sounds. «You’re not doing a good job at trying to make me think outside myself; you’re not using enough showy language; you’re using active language.» Well, sometimes we don’t need to show anyone anything; did that thought ever cross your mind? «No, I always think about the bigger picture, the nuanced implications, and the encompassing meaning. That’s why I’m the navigator on this ship: You thought of me as the only person who could stare at barren oceans for hours on end and not become bored.» See, I don’t have to show you anything; that’s the job of the seas and the skies. Now, going back to what I was saying: Being out here for so long makes you complacent in the fact that you’re simultaneously small and large. We’re small in how our selves need to traverse something so vast in little units of ships, but we’re big in how we collectively impact these seascapes… Do you get that? [,] «I mean, it’s a fairly easy concept to grasp, Aukai. We’re small, I’m small, the ship’s small, you’re sorta small: I get it. But together, when our gross, salty bodies conglomerate to form an extremely complex, interlinking network of saltiness, we stink up the whole world.» It appears to be easy to grasp, but then you recognize that there’s an infinite layer of possibility below us that I’ll only ever observe a random instance of if I were to dive downward right now. What if I were to dive just three minutes later? I’d likely discover a whole underwater utopia instead of finding some small rocks and a school of krill. «I mean, you could also drown given how deep the sea goes down at this point.» Yeah, I’m really liking your nuanced thinking here: Thinking of hypotheticals that vanish in probability the moment a spare second passes. […] «With how much time you spend out here, you’re practically a sea creature of your own. Maybe some aspiring marine biologist will read about you in the newest issue of National Geographic: One that I’ll publish personally because nobody knows your behavior better than me.» There’s several people who know me better than you. And what you’re essentially saying is that every major epiphany in my life will be rewritten in allegories that children can easily read and interpret from a shark’s daily existence: Is that right? «Well, we’re thinking far ahead with this, and just to be sure we’re on the same page, you were talking about humans morphing into amphibian-like creatures in the future and how that can be triggered from this instance if we continue, correct?» <Aukai disappeared out of sight, leaving a ripple in the water from where she jumped off.> «Fuck.»

Pisces: Offered Satanist theory. Every coach spins their keys like they have nothing better do (they really don’t actually). I’m spinning my keys right now, but it’s clear that I’m not a coach: I’m neither bald nor frustrated enough to be one. Yet, Idrissa just left and told me to take care of her keys lest somebody else takes them. She trusts me out of all people, which is correlated with how well my performance has been doing. I’m now in the, uh, some type of BMI category: It was the one I was in two weeks ago but shifted below because of the excuse that our “weights are broken.” To tell you the truth, it’s more likely that nobody has ever made solid measurements of my body mass because it’s an amorphous structure. I mean, I consistently anger coaches because I never wear the skin-tight uniforms, and I get yelled at that I’m granting myself an “unfair advantage” because my baggy clothes are an inaccurate indicator of where I should be grabbed. I say I blame the people I’m up against for not understanding after multiple tries that the thighs are the best place to grab my flesh because that’s usually where it’s concentrated. […] Sorry, I went off on a tangent, who are you again? «There’s a persistent worry that the desire to create presentations numerously complex leads to an overall decline in digestibility and further blossoming. Therefore, it makes the coach in question attempt to sacrifice their deeply held complexities promised towards his students in favor of beating in the mundane until it becomes extraordinary.» Ah yes, thank you Maghazi: Thank you for your comments, proving my theory, and exemplifying how dimorphic my mind is. «I didn’t say that; what the hell are you talking about?» Unfortunately, I’m not the archetype who has voices in their head; that’ll be elaborated on sometime soon. «Maghazi, it’s Idrissa. I’m here to get my keys back because I need them to make sure we can leave the damn courtyard. I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it sounds like you’re messing with me, so cut it out.» <Various objects in the courtyard start to become laced in bright lines, detailing their physical geometry.> «But what does the spinning action accomplish? Is it one of those deliberate confusions — something that exists purely as a complicating agent? It’s based off real, tangible motion but becomes mystified by human interpretation, and thus made into something abstract. Abstraction is always the grounds for worship, as we know through the dreaded faithful.» <Idrissa shakes her head violently and recalls distinctly fake names.> «God, stop doing this! You do this every time you have one of your pretentious monologues, and it’s getting on my nerves!» Yes, I can very much feel the nerves, particularly those in your brain. <Idrissa yanks the keys out of Maghazi’s hand and the illusion stops.> What? You’re acting like I’m a nuisance.

[365footballorg-blog]

Warshaw: Each club's catchphrase ahead of the Conference Semifinals Leg 2

USA Today Sports

November 5, 20186:45PM EST

During the playoffs, every week takes on a life of its own. There’s a single-minded focus toward the upcoming game: Nothing matters except that one opponent, the one task. With that focus generally comes a buzzword or catchphrase. Everyone buys into the single message, a mantra that will determine success or failure.

Coaches use it in team meetings; players repeat it within the locker room. I took a stab at what the eight remaining teams will be focusing on leading into Leg 2 of the Audi MLS Cup Playoff Conference Semifinals.

Crew SC 1, RBNY 0

RETURN LEG: Red Bull Arena | Harrison, N.J.

Columbus

“Keep playing our game.”

After Sunday’s Leg 1, Pipa Higuain described his thinking before his sublime, game-winning assist with one of the best soccer quotes I’ve ever read:

“I thought maybe the center back would be very close to me and I risked the ball, as I always do,” he said. “I have to. It’s my job. I’m a No. 10. I have to try to do something different. If not, it’s not enough.”

The quote brings us full circle on the year for Columbus. We started the season – after they had lost last year’s leading goalscorers (Justin Meram and Ola Kamara) – saying they need to #TrustTheSystem that head coach Gregg Berhalter has built. Here we see the same thing in the decisive play of the Conference Semifinals.

Let’s parse what Higuain said here: “I risked the ball, as I always do.” For the Argentine playmaker, that “as I always do” is vital, and it’s important to break down why. Higuain isn’t on the field slinging through balls every time he touches the rock. He actually makes mostly safe, simple passes throughout the game; Higuain completed 80 percent of his passes in the regular season. But he always goes for the killer pass when it’s the right moment, as dictated by his job within the team.

Columbus complete simple passes as they move the ball to certain zones or situations, then it’s Higuain’s job to create goalscoring opportunities from those chances. When the time is right, “risk the ball.”

Armchair Analyst: @bwarshaw14 is a broken record about keeping it simple to play through the press. Today, Columbus proved him righthttps://t.co/cuUhkKpYA5

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) November 4, 2018

His moment of magic against Red Bulls was a phenomenal blend of art and system, creativity and mechanization.

And for it, Columbus are one game away from their third Eastern Conference Championship in four years.

NY Red Bulls

“We’re fine.”

If I’m a Red Bulls player, I’m lying in bed Sunday night thinking to myself, “Seriously, what can we do to stress Crew SC? They passed through our press, they beat us to second balls; the two ways we usually steamroll teams didn’t work. What do we have to beat them with?”

There’s still a question at the core of what Red Bulls are trying to do: If you prioritize off-the-ball actions, do you ever really have the upper hand? Or are you always dependent on the opponent lacking sharpness on the ball? Columbus were confident and clean in possession, and they didn’t cough the ball up under pressure. Is there anything Red Bulls can do to overcome that?

The tie isn’t over. Red Bulls could well steamroll Columbus in Leg 2. But I think they need to address that seed of doubt. They can’t assert the level of intensity required to beat Columbus unless they have full conviction. They don’t need to fix any tactical issues; they need to believe that their approach, if done to its maximum capacity, can supersede that of Crew SC.

Portland 2, Seattle 1

RETURN LEG: CenturyLink Field | Seattle

Portland Timbers

“Keep on, keeping on.”

The Timbers do what the Timbers do – stay compact in the middle of the field and annihilate teams on the counter – and nobody has been able to beat them when they do it. Remember this part of the year?

For the entirety of their 15-game unbeaten streak in the middle of the year, they did the same thing. Everyone knew what they were going to do, and nobody could figure it out. It got comically predictable at one point.

For a few games toward the end of the season they tried to expand their horizons and use more possession, but they failed and have reverted back to what they know. Since then, they’ve won (convincingly!) the three games that really mattered. I’d guess everyone around the Timbers organization would like to play more attractive soccer, but are comfortable winning.

Heading to Seattle, the Timbers should feel great about their chances. Sit-and-counter works better on the road than it does at home. Seattle will have even more pressure to carry the game and create chances. Portland have the best situation and odds of every team heading on the road for Leg 2.

Seattle Sounders

“Who’s up next?”

Seattle had an all-around horrible day on Sunday. After 15 minutes on Sunday, I thought they might cruise to a 3-0 win. Then it unraveled: A tight call went against them, Cristian Roldan limped off hurt, and Chad Marshall got carried off on a stretcher. I’d be surprised to see either of them play again four days later when the teams meet for Leg 2 on Thursday. I don’t know what injury can go from “I can’t run anymore” to “I’m good to go” in four days.

Going back to Seattle needing to win would have been fine. The Sounders have won eight of their last nine at home, including three against playoff teams. Going back to Seattle needing to win without Roldan and Marshall is a different story.

Roldan and Marshall are two of Seattle’s five most important players. I’m not sure any team in MLS could win a series this year missing two of their five most important players for 150 minutes.

But within Seattle’s locker room, they will phrase it as more of an opportunity than a problem. It’s someone’s chance to shine; someone’s chance to prove their value, to get paid. Everyone who has been claiming that they’ve been underutilized or underplayed all season, this is your shot. You have two days of training – the reserves will train hard on Monday and Tuesday – to show me you deserve to get those spots.

Usually playoff games come down to star players. Seattle’s home-leg hopes will come down to how well the backups insert themselves.

Atlanta 1, NYCFC 0

RETURN LEG: Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta

Atlanta United

“Get in the ice bath!”

There’s an interesting pattern in soccer: When most aesthetically pleasing teams are off, it’s often the intensity that determines the game. Thirty-nine fouls. Nearly twice as many as any other game on Sunday. Plus the most defensive-minded, gritty performance Atlanta have put in since March when they beat Minnesota while down a man for 52 minutes.

What a win. It seemed like the perfect confluence of events were happening that would bring Atlanta’s magical season to an end. Miguel Almiron on, Hector Villalba out, NYCFC healthy again, Yankee Stadium looming. But Atlanta put in a performance I wasn’t entirely sure they could do.

They committed 21 fouls, more than any other team on Sunday, and buckled down near their own 18 after taking the lead. I wouldn’t describe the performance as dominant like Matt Doyle did in his weekend recap – I think the jarring effect of NYCFC not totally dominating a game at home against a recently-wounded opponent made it feel like Atlanta controlled more than they did (expectation effect) – but that doesn’t make it any less impressive.

It seems possible Atlanta will run some (very) light training sessions this week. They don’t have anything they need to fine-tune: They’ve proven they can beat teams with the ball, without the ball, and on set pieces. Their only bugaboo is creating chances against a low block, but there’s almost no chance NYCFC sit deep when they need to win. For Atlanta, it’s about getting everyone ready to play at the same level for what will most likely be an equally intense game next weekend.

NYCFC

“April 15th”

That’s the last time NYCFC went into Mercedes-Benz. They drew Atlanta 2-2 in one of the best games of the season. NYCFC and Atlanta were clearly the two top teams in the league at that point (given the Red Bulls were just regrouping from a stalled Concacaf Champions League run). NYCFC didn’t look out of place at the Benz at all, and very well could have won. A similar performance could get NYCFC through on Sunday.

It’s important to note in that April 15 game, NYCFC didn’t even have David Villa in the lineup. If I’m in the NYCFC locker room, I’m reminding my teammates, “We almost beat them there, and we didn’t even have Villa!”

It’s overly-simplified, no doubt. NYCFC have the steepest mountain to climb of any team heading into Leg 2. But it’s also true that this lineup is capable of winning in Atlanta.

RSL 1, SKC 1

RETURN LEG: Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Sporting KC

“Remember who we are.”

Sporting KC got sucked into Real Salt Lake’s style on Sunday. SKC earned the top seed in the West through controlled, systematic dominance of the ball. But on Sunday, they succumbed to RSL’s open, frenetic (street) style.

We can use Ilie’s distribution as an example. When Ilie usually gets on the ball, he makes quick, short passes to establish Sporting’s control of possession. We can see it in his pass chart against LAFC on Decision Day presented by AT&T, on the left. Against RSL, though, he often took an extra second on the ball to try to play a more complicated pass, shown on the right.

It’s not just the the increased occurrence of the red misplaced passes that matter; it’s the general length of the misplaced passes. It’s not Ilie’s role to play those balls. But he, as did most of his teammates, got frazzled by the type of game that RSL play and reverted to RSL’s “go for it” way of thinking.

The winner next Sunday will be determined by the style of the game. SKC are the better team overall, but RSL are the better team if the game gets open and chaotic; it’ll be up to SKC to make sure they don’t fall into that trap.

RSL

“Let’s do it.”

This is how RSL have been living these last few weeks. It seems like their season is about to come to an end, but it’s just another day at the office for them. They had an uphill battle to make it into the postseason on Decision Day; then they had an uphill battle at LAFC; now they have it again at Kansas City in Leg 2. It’s just the life they live at this point. Improbable result? No problem.

Also, I loved Mike Petke’s postgame comments about the Nick Rimando gaffe that led to SKC’s equalizer: “I don’t think Nicky’s clearances or distribution was slow. I think what Nick was doing, because he’s a seasoned veteran, is he knows he can wait that extra second and something opens up and he can play that ball.” He didn’t just deflect blame from his player, he actually built him up. Well, the only reason he got into that situation is because he’s so good! That was awesome.

Series: 

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Warshaw: Each club's catchphrase ahead of the Conference Semifinals Leg 2 was originally published on 365 Football

[travellovekai-blog]

  Plazuela Machado

Along the way to visiting some museums, I stopped by the Plazuela Machado In Centro Mazatlan. At night this area comes to life with beautiful lighting and lively restaurants. However, as I am walking through here it is only around 11 am so the plaza is quiet and peaceful.

Brownie Mania

I stop in at Brownie Mania which is along the plaza. Jeff has been wanting to go here for quite some time so in his honor, I decided it’s necessary for me to try a brownie here. It’s a very tiny shop but it has a really nice outdoor seating that allows you to see the entire plaza. The brownie I chose was pretty darn good. I’ll definitely be taking Jeff when he returns from Alaska. I, of course, had to send him a picture of where I was and what I was eating. His was a pouty response but happy that I was there.

I continued my journey down Constitution Ave turning on Belisario Dominguez and then turned up Sixto Osuna. The entire walk from the Plazuela Machado is just four short blocks. It was already pretty warm out so I was grateful I left early for this adventure.

Museo Arqueologico

The Archaeological Museum of Mazatlan is a 20th-century historic house that aims to expose the pre-Hispanic culture of Mazatlan, Sinaloa. Before Spain conquered Mexico it was a country filled with indigenous people. Some of the native tribes were Tahue, Chahita, Aztecs and many more. The exterior of this building is well renovated and inviting. This is a small museum that has three separate rooms displaying over 200 artifacts. When you first enter the polite security has you sign into a register and then charges you 45 pesos. After which he explains to please not lean on the glass cases.

The first is a room that has mostly the descriptions of the tribes showing maps and culture development. One of the more intriguing to me was the display of four or five small children’s figures.  

The second room displays the day to day life of the varying tribe’s artifacts. The beautiful handmade items are amazing. The use of color and detail for such a primitive time is fantastic.

The third room displays weapons, tools, and information about the conquering of Mexico by Spain. Along with clay pipes and adornments that were worn in the era.

As I walked through each room I could feel apart of the history. Amazed at the ability of these primitive native tribes to create what they needed to survive in such harsh environments. I immensely enjoyed wandering the history from room to room. After about thirty minutes of imaging what it must have been like for these native cultures, I decided to move on.

Museo De Arte Sinaloa Institute of Culture

My next stop was at the Museo De Arte showing fine arts of the 20th and 21st century in Mexico. This is located directly across the cobblestone street from the Museo  Arqueologico. Just walk alongside the small park and the entrance is on your left. The museum was built in 1898 by Mr. Pablo Hidalgo and has been many businesses. Currently, it is the Mazatlan Art Museum which was founded in November 1998 as Constitutional Governor of the State of Sinaloa by Lic. Juan S. Millán Lizárraga. As you enter there is a large courtyard on the right is a building displaying artworks. This building is well airconditioned which I was extremely grateful for. There are two separate rooms in here.

The room off the right of the entrance is a display of plastics art. By a well-known plastic artist Sala Antonio López Sáenz. In this room are exhibited the most important works that constitute the collection of the institution, of Mexican artists of international recognition.

The main room which they call the temporary exhibition rotates artist at this time its mostly modern art. This room is filled with very important current creators, so here are exhibited works of guest artists from across the republic and of course the state of Sinaloa. All the pieces are well displayed neatly hanging with the information regarding each piece labeled to the right of it. I found the artists’ renditions to be very lively and creative.

In the back of the courtyard is a small simple gallery of photography. The artist is Rafael Villalba his photographs focus toward Delfos Contemporary Dance Works. The representation of passion, movement, light, and shadows allows him to initiate creative magic.

Inside the courtyard was a board filled with several children’s paintings. The future of Mexican artist continues…

Olas Altas

By this time it was a little later in the day and the summer air here in Mazatlan was getting very warm around 93 degrees. Woo time to head for the beach. Keep in mind it is currently July here which is the Hottest time of the year lasting up till the end of August or so.

When I left the courtyard from the Museum of Art I headed straight up Sixto Osuna the street ends just across from the Olas Altas portion of the Malecon. This is such a unique beach as depending on the time of the year the beach transforms from one side to the other. This part of the city has been part of varies historical events. At one time it was even worked as a dock. Where they shipped and unloaded goods from around the world, to the hideaway of friendly and enemy troops.

The waves that come here are quite high so it is not a swimming beach. But it is excellent for Boogie boarding, body surfing etc If your not a strong swimmer I’d recommend staying close to the beach.

There plenty of establishments to eat at. Anything from food carts to ocean view restaurants. We’ve eaten at Barracudas which was pretty good and has a nice small outdoor patio seating area that overlooks the ocean.  It’s also a great place to people watch.

The hotels in this area are very historic and well maintained. The Freeman was the first “skyscraper” in this area, a well-known property and has an overlook roof patio that has a 360-degree view from city to the ocean.

Carpa Olivera swimming pool

Not too far down the Malecon on the northern end is a protected saltwater concrete pool area. It has a beautiful concrete spiral sculpture placed into the pool area so its pretty easy to find. Its the best of both worlds allowing you to enjoy the ocean without being subjected to the currents. For over 100 years, generations of locals and visitors alike have played comfortably in as the waves roll and splash over the sides of the pool.

Monuments

In addition to the beach, Olas altos has important monuments for the Mazatlecos, such as the Venadito, the coat of arms of Mazatlán and Sinaloa, and the in honor of Pedro Infante and the composer Fernando Valadez.

All in all, this was a nice walk that took just over two hours. But I’d say a large portion of this time was spent wandering through the museums. So plan accordingly when you take this walk and wear comfortable shoes.

Please share in the comments if you have any ideas or things you’ve done. Or even places you are interested in learning more about.

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A walk along Sixto Osuna Plazuela Machado Along the way to visiting some museums, I stopped by the Plazuela Machado In Centro Mazatlan.