#pickle ball courts

[nationallawreview]

Office Tenants: Do Due Diligence on Your Landlord

Office markets from coast-to-coast are struggling mightily, especially in major urban downtowns. Chicago’s downtown business district (i.e. the Loop) is no exception. Right now, Chicago’s Loop office vacancy rates are the highest since such rates have been recorded. In April of this year, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that downtown office vacancy broke 25% for the first time on record,…

[voltrons]

there is so little i wouldn’t do to play a team sport

[likeimseventeen]

Landscape Austin Summertime photograph of a sizable, traditional backyard with concrete paving.

[moonspower]

vi is in a constant match of pickle ball doubles between his bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder vs his c-ptsd and autism

and he's the ball.

[littlesansabird]

Landscape - Traditional Landscape

Summertime photo of a medium-sized, typical backyard with concrete paving.

[fringeyguygoesrogue]

Concrete Pavers - Traditional Landscape An example of a large traditional partial sun backyard concrete paver landscaping in summer.

[i-am-mycroft-holmes]

Traditional Landscape in Austin An example of a large traditional partial sun backyard concrete paver landscaping in summer.

[monstameme]

Outdoor Playsets - Landscape Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional partial sun backyard concrete paver landscaping in summer.

[weyesbloodgf]

seeing a movie in a theater that is empty but for you and two old people is truly the closest thing we have to a cure for the human condition

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This 1990 sculpted stucco home in Ramona, CA is the largest I've seen like this. It has 4bds, 3ba, 2,389 sq ft and has a pending sale for $777,429 + $155mo. HOA.

It's very sculptural and professionally done. Usually homes like this are DIY and globby. Look at the windows in the entrance.

The architecture is incredible. So many details.

It's very open concept and look at the wavy mezzanine above. Even the stairs are sculpted.

The details. This house is a giant piece of art.

The kitchen is rounded, also.

Nice dining room with a glass wall and view of the garden.

The main floor bedroom must be a guest room. It has a built-in bed and side tables.

It's a very angular room and doubles as a home office.

Even the tub is an unusual shape.

The mezzanine is lovely.

Looking down at the main living area.

This must be the primary bedroom.

The ensuite has a taupe sink vanity. That's different.

Wow, look at the shower.

The pool is a unique design.

They've got a separate hot tub.

The HOA fee is for the amenities like the golf course and pool.

It's got tennis and pickle ball courts.

Volley ball, too.

And, they've got a lake.

This is a horse riding track. I guess you provide your own horse.

It looks like it's the only house of its kind in the neighborhood. It's on a .53 acre lot.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/23636-Atex-Ct-Ramona-CA-92065/16757437_zpid/?

[yushiteru]

for you and only you

description: yushi x reader (the many privileges you have as yushi's girlfriend, fluff)

in my head, yushi is totally the type to reserve certain acts of service and leniencies for his girlfriend. not that he wouldn't do anything for his members, but he just can't seem to say no to you. while his members may annoy him or get on his nerves sometimes, these same idiosyncrasies are endearing to him when its you.

riku always likes to joke that you have yushi on a leash. not in any offensive way, of course. you guys are both highly independent individuals, with no tendencies to become overly dependent on others. but there was something about you that yushi seemed to lose any sense of hesitancy or uncertainty around.

it wasn't to the extent that if you said jump, he would jump in a heartbeat. no, it was much more heartwarming, and it was something his members caught on to very quickly, for better or for worse. for example, the other day, you were having a quick dinner with yushi, jaehee, sakuya, and riku after their practice had wrapped up and your work day had similarly ended.

circled around a small table crowded with greasy cheeseburgers wrapped in checkered parchment paper, french fries piled on with seasonings, and a handful of coke zero cans, the voices of the boys boomed over the loud pop song blaring throughout the food joint.

in the midst of the commotion, you plucked the tomatoes and pickles off of your chicken sandwich and dropped them onto yushi's plate next to yours. without missing a beat, yushi picks them up, adding them to his own burger. this exchange does not go unnoticed by an observant sakuya, who exclaims "hyung! why don't you ever let me give you my onions and lettuce?" pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.

yushi hardly blinks, silently digging into his food all the same. warmth rises to the surface of your face, trying to subtly hide behind your can of coke. but sakuya is unrelenting, "when have you even liked pickles, hyung," he sulks.

"what are you talking about, i've always liked pickles."

riku bursts into laughter, suddenly sporting a knowing grin. "ahh, i know what this is all about. sakuya, you'll understand when you grow up," he teases.

the boy in question scoffs before picking back up in his previous conversation, sparing you from any further embarrassment. you peer out of the corner of your eyes at yushi, who looks back at you as if nothing had even happened, because the both of you knew how frequently this actually occurred. yushi, who happily eats your scraps, leftovers, and unwanted food without you even asking.

another instance of what many would call "girlfriend privilege" is whenever you guys had free time of which the members oftentimes liked to spend playing soccer or basketball on an outdoor court near their neighborhood. most of the time, you just liked to be on the sidelines, preferring to watch them play and shout out words of encouragement, or sit on a bench catching up on a book.

on the days when the boys drag you out onto the court with them, insisting that it will be fun and that they won't rough house too much, you're running after them, pulling over-exaggerated fakes on them or playfully trying to smack the ball out of their hands.

there's an unspoken, but clear difference in the way yushi plays those nights. if he was just playing with his members, especially soccer, he has no mercy and bolts past them to the goal. while some of the members can put up a good fight against him, sakuya is often heard whining that yushi isn't giving him a fair chance. there's no end in sight to his boasts if he manages to score one on him.

but when it comes to you, yushi always let's you score. and not in a way that can get a little frustrating sometimes, when it feels like the other isn't even trying and giving in too easily to appease you. no, he makes it as natural as possible, picking up speed and dribbling past you when needed, but perhaps he doesn't pull out as many trick shots as he would've normally. maybe, he doesn't reach as high as he usually would to block your shot and for all one knows, he could be putting up less resistance and strength in defending your attempts at kicking the ball.

one thing is for sure, he goes all nine yards in praising you when you do score, high-fiving you in celebration, even if you were on opposite teams, and jabbing playfully at the younger ones for needing more practice. ryo would tease that he's going easy on you, but him and the rest of the members are secretly just as happy to let you win.

a/n: how cute is he 🥹 this was slightly self-indulgent hehe, i need someone to eat my tomatoes and pickles too !! let me know if you want to see more of this, i had a lot of different ideas to include, but thought it might get a little too long and wordy.

[irishmammonagenda]

hii , do you mind doing diavolo x m!court jester reader?

i saw a post with a king x jester trope and i could not get it out of my head 😭 it can be headcanons or a short drabble, wtv you want!!

hihi! this is such an interesting thingy to write and i apologise for taking a while to write it, writing male characters is fun but lowkey kind of hard for me😔✊

i also dont know what jesters do and my knowledge is watching horrible histories when i was younger so this is widely inaccurate heehee

no but fr i think in another universe diavolo would be a jester tbh

dividers by @/ioveartfilm

grma for requesting <3!!!!

Funny Funny (I'm in love with you.) Diavolo X M!Court Jester Reader

He laughs at your jokes like a man on crack

You're his favourite employee in the castle and your room is right beside his chambers (he made sure of it)

You sneak into his room for sleepovers sometimes. Barbatos has given up on propriety.

The Little Ds help you with your super cool jester preformances. They're surprisingly good at dancing and balancing plates.

You use the Little Ds as juggling balls sometimes.

Diavolo has promoted you as much as possible, bro atp people think you're a consort instead of court jester.

like they will full on go up to you to pitch ideas or put in a good word for Diavolo since he'll listen to you.

Barbatos also forces you to tell Diavolo news that'll make him angry or upset since he takes it a lot better coming from you.

Unrelated but you'd 100% be friends with Solomon and Thirteen. Which is awkward when theyre in the same room together.

Apart from Barbatos and Lucifer occassionally disciplining you, you are untouchable.

"Your Heighness...." A noble bows in front of Diavolo's throne. Why that scumbag had requested an audience with the Demon Prince, you had no idea. Technically you weren't even supposed to be listening in, but no one had noticed you on the chandelier yet so that was their problem.

And your problem when Barbatos eventually found out. Said Demon standing beside Diavolo's throne.

You watch as Diavolo nods along, uncharacteristically serious. "What do you need?"

"Well...I believe if we stopped trading pickles to the humans it would be a lot less daunting to create them-"

You blink. What the fuck. Bro requested an audience for this? Damn, this was so unserious it was good material for your next stand up routine.

You watch from overhead as Diavolo blinks, his wings stiffening ever so slightly, the crimson-haired prince raises an eyebrow. "You want to stop trading pickles to the Human Realm?"

"Yes, My Lord." The noble responds earnestly.

"No."

The demon blinks, astounded.

"Excuse me, may I ask you repeat that, my Lord?"

"No. Human's love pickles. They're our main traders. It'd sour relations even more." Diavolo says, you watch as Barbatos takes a deep breath, and as the Demon Prince begins to get annoyed.

You stiffle a laugh at the noble squandering, which leads to your downfall as you move your hands over your mouth, taking them off of your jester hat.

Which falls.

All the way down to the ground.

The bells on the hat jingle.

Barbatos' eyes are trained on you like a hawk. So are Diavolo's, but his eyes are more of an excited child on christmas than anything else.

The noble's eyes widen.

"Sup?" You grin awkwardly. The noble, sensing a way out of this pickle debate uses this as an excuse to say his goodbyes and leave.

Diavolo doesn't even notice. Barbatos just shakes his head ever so slightly.

"That guy was in a real pickle...!...Haha...right guys?" You laugh awkwardly, and despite the fact you're not funny at all, the Prince cackles like it was the best stand up routine he'd ever heard in his life.

You were currently at a banquet talking to the Little D's about your next juggling stunt when a demon approached you.

"Hello." She smiles, her red lips glossy.

"Sup."

"Well, I was wondering if I could ask a favour or two....." She looks hesitant but composed.

You nods your head, the bells on your hat jingling. You're convinced Diavolo put them on there to serve as some sort of cat bell.

"Well....I had an idea for expanding our trades of magical herbs to human world Alaska...since a few witches have been living on quote on quote 'lesbian cottages' there."

You whistle. "Damn. Do they have huskies?"

"A lot of them, from what I hear." She nods, her tail wrapping around her leg absentmindedly. "Could you put in good word for Lord Diavolo for me?"

"Sure?" You tilt your head, the bells jingle slightly.

The demon grins, "Thanks he'll listen to you more thoroughly!"

Little D No.2 pops out from your breast pocket. "That's because everyone thinks you two are gay for eachother."

You yank him out of there. "Go annoy Mammon."

"Sir yes sir!"

At this point you should be the Avatar of Pride.

"Sire. I'm telling you. He just stabbed several upper class demons with a rusty spoon!" The demon knight urges Diavolo, who isn't even looking at him.

"You expect me to believe that?" Diavolo tilts his head. You nod vigorously from where you're covered in entrails and holding a rusty spoon in your hands. "MC wouldn't hurt a fly."

The knight looks from you to him with a lax jaw.

What.

The.

Fuck.

That knight's putting his two weeks in now icl.

^^ idea from that one person on tiktok (sirleoninsunglasses) i cant get it out of my head.

can you tell im a merlin fan.

gang idk what noble people talk about i made these discussions up as i went along but i can assure you that pickle trading and lesbian witches in alaska are actually the only thing nobles talked about in history i pinky promise

[libraford]

The Pickle Ball drama is wild!

For those that don't know, pickleball is like if you played ping pong on a full size tennis court. It is generally considered an 'old people's game.'

Retired people wake up early in the morning and the first thing they do is go play pickle ball with their likewise early-rising friends. I'm talking like... 5:30am. And the first thing they do when they get there is complain that the bathrooms aren't open.

Of course they're not open. The park employees don't get to work until 7 and the facilities don't open until 9 at the latest because we only got two guys to unlock the whole city. Calm down. Go before you leave the house or get comfy with the bushes.

Well, someone gave the Head Complainer a key to the bathroom. Because we seem to reward this kind of behavior, I guess. So when I get to Madeline Park at like 8:30 the bathroom is already unlocked. But I still have to clean it.

Before I do that, though, I have to take care of the trash. Today, it is full to the brim with beer bottles. I'm pissed about this because it was clearly the pickleball folks who were drinking, which is illegal on the premises, but as previously mentioned- I'm not a cop.

But more than that I'm pissed that there's broken bottles in there, which is a hazard to me. I have to double bag the trash and be really careful or I'll have a sparkly glass shard bracelet.

I run my arm along the rim of the bag and it comes out...red? I didn't think I got cut. It is undeniably blood, but more notably it belongs to someone else.

Well, I'm washing that arm thoroughly. I scrub it off my arms in the women's room and use hand sanitizer, and then clean the bathroom while im there.

I go into the men's room to do that one next. There is blood on the sink, the floor, and the toilet. And y'know, I'm used to blood in restrooms, I'm just not used to blood in the MEN'S restroom. It's not like... a fatal amount of blood, but more blood than should be outside of a person.

Well, that's no good. I clean it up, but it's eating at me that I've already encountered human blood twice and it's not even 9 yet. So I go over to the Head Complainer and I ask him:

"Hey uhhh... there was a lot of blood in the men's room. Is everyone alright? Do I need to file an accident report?"

He gives me a good-natured laugh. "Oh, that's just Greg. He came over from Kauffman Park and I have to say- didn't like the rules he played by."

Oh my God what a vague and horrible answer. I cant tell if nes joking or not. "Is... is Greg okay?"

"Oh, ha hah ha! He's fine, he's just back at Kauffman Park where he belongs."

"Oh! Okay then. Ha...hahah..." Absolutely terrifying.

Day 7/50.

[calciumcryptid]

A while back I made a post that psychologically speaking Phum's primary example of a romantic relationship would have been TanFang, and it explains the entirety of PhumPeem.

Here is the elongated version of that:

Brief Sociology Lesson: In sociology there is something called agent of socialization. An agent of socialization serves as your first interaction with society. Everyone's first social agent they interact with is family, which (typically) sets up gender roles and more.

To put it simply, Phum's first interaction with a romantic relationship should have been his parents, but his parents abandoned him in another country during a pivotal part of his life development with only Fang on the line.

Presumably, Phum returns to Thailand around high school (or upper secondary school) so while he would have exposure to a romantic relationship it was probably nothing concrete or nothing he would find important enough to internalize.

Of course, high school is where Tan enters and TanFang begins their courting ritual. Phum wasn't there for the initial punch, but I have no doubt in my mind Fang told him about it. Phum was there for when Tan helped the brothers out of a pickle and got to witness more of TanFang. We, the audience, know that Phum and Tan become friends despite Tan's other friend group.

Then we have the canon of the show, where Tan CANONICALLY bargained Phum interacting with Peem again on the grounds of Phum scoring Tan a date with Fang which means Phum must know something about Fang's feelings.

Now imagine you are Phum. You have abandonment issues, and the one person who made sure to check in with you and you respect more than anything gets into a situationship (eventually a real relationship) with a guy who he punched in the face upon first meeting, and this hot artist dude who is unfairly pretty and attractive when he is mad kicks you in the nuts. Tell me you wouldn't be sociologically trained to immediately fall in love.

TLDR: Alternate Universe where TanFang messed with Phum's romantic perceptions so much that he was pavlovian dogged into immediately falling in love with Peem upon the kick of the balls, and instead of the servant deal Phum just asked for Peem to go on a date with him-Oh wait, isn't that almost canon?

[lyonnerileyauthor]

hitting your writing goals

I've been getting a lot of asks lately about how I write, so I wanted to put it all in one post.

this was my writing history for Five Gifts for the Blacksmith's Wife.

it helps IMMENSELY when I go into a book with a Tumblr short to use as my outline. it gives me a sense of the mood, the characters, the central conflict, everything I need.

I rarely use outlines because most of the time, I have that base to work with. the other thing I do is WRITE A BLURB. write out what it would sound like if you were pitching someone your book.

here's the blurb for Five Gifts:

When her village faces a winter of starvation, Sita draws the shortest straw. Now she’s to be given to the orcs across the river in exchange for food and supplies so her family can survive. Given the chance to choose her own husband from among the eligible orc bachelors, she selects Gurrek, the reluctant blacksmith, who clearly doesn’t want her. He’s the safest option. Gurrek has always wanted a wife of his own, but not like this. Now he’s saddled with a human woman who needs new shoes, new clothes, and can’t even speak his language. He wants nothing to do with her, and yet her sweet, strong personality draws him in closer with every passing day. As Sita and Gurrek try to find a place to fit within each other’s lives, attraction begins to bloom between them. But Gurrek refuses to touch a woman who never wanted to be his in the first place. Can Sita break through the blacksmith’s high walls to become his true wife, mind, body, and soul?

boom! you know where it starts, what the central conflict is, and the question leading into the second half of the book. then I usually have a separate doc called "third act" where I work out what the climax and resolution will look like. this is sometimes when I'll write another little short to capture the tone and vibe of the climax.

okay so the writing part.

you can't wait for your muse to come to you. the more you wait, the less she visits. you have to go out there and chase that bitch down.

I show up almost every day to write. (I do take off days, usually to do admin or make videos.) I just eke out what words I can, even if it sucks ass. eventually, if you really just muscle it, let yourself get EXCITED about the characters and the story you want to tell, the words will start coming. but you can't do it if you don't show up.

I've also trained my brain in some very specific ways. making coffee is my "start" button. when I make coffee and sit down at the desk, I've trained my brain to say "okay writing time." I always make the coffee, then open the doc and write. no exceptions. it took a while to build the habit but now it's like pavlovian. sit down with coffee, write book. I've also adapted this to having a bubbly water or tea at night.

rolling the ball downhill

the goal is to get the ball rolling so the book starts writing itself. you know that feeling, the ZONE, where you know what's going to happen and it just streams out of you.

I use something I call the but-therefore method. stg learned it from a video by the South Park guys.

if you're reading your outline aloud to yourself and you say, "and then this happens," I often find myself running into that and being like "but what?"

every step in the outline should be a but or a therefore. the blacksmith wants a wife, but not this one (a human wife). therefore, he's mean to her because he wanted an orc wife. but, he finds himself growing fond of her because she tries so hard. therefore, he wants to court her. etc etc

this gets me out of all KINDS of pickles. when I run into a roadblock I just try to think of 1) what could get in the way of where they're headed or what they want, 2) what consequences it could have. good time to think about what your character's buttons are and what would push them.

setting goals

goals really help me push through when it's hard. I know it CAN be easy so it's like, how do I find the stream that I can get swept off in? you gotta hunt and hunt around for it sometimes and there are days when I never get into the zone.

I set a range for my daily goal, like 2500-5000. if I do 2500, that's fine, I can set it aside for the day. if I do 5000, keep pushing if I want but that's a good place to stop. I find that by 2000 words is when I know whether it's going to be a good writing day or a bad writing day. bad writing day, i can stop at 2500 and be happy. good writing day (especially toward the end of a book when the dominoes are falling over) I can get up to 8k, but I try not to do that anymore because it turns my brain to mush.

ok that's all for now I hope this was helpful :)

[quitealotofsodapop]

And it will be Tang's right, although they both will have a LOT to talk about in regards to how to move forward, what with Tang being Tang Sazang's reincarnation and Wu being Sun Wukong. Like, obviously, they know now that Wukong snd 'Mihou' were hiding from the Jade Court to protect their egg, they get it, and don't. Lame them, but there is a distinct difference between what they thought it was and what it actually was. All Pigay can say is that if ANY Celestial or demon tries to go after those two idiot kids (pigsy: I don't care if they're millenia old godlike beings, they're a couple of stupid kids who got themselves in a stupid situation) and their baby, he's getting the pinball out.

prev.

With all this talk about Wu being Sun Wukong, Mihou being the Six Eared Macaque, and Tang being the Great Tang Monk? Pigsy is not excited;

Pigsy: "I swear to Buddha if I'm reincarnated from that disgusting, perverted, son of a-" Wukong, nervously deflecting the convo: "Hahaha! Mind the language around minors, boss." [*points at Red Son*] Pigsy: "Ah. My bad. Gotta work on that before the Egg gets here." Macaque, surprised: "You... still want us around? Even after what's happened and knowing... all of this?" Pigsy, thinking for a bit: "In the end, demi-gods or whatever; you two are a pair of stupid kids who got yourselves into a bit of a pickle. Your kid is gonna be born into a world that'll fear, maybe even hate them just for being alive. I get why you felt you needed to hide from the people upstairs. I wasn't lying the first night we met that my door is always open." Pigsy: [*places hand on either monkeys' shoulders*] "And I'd be glad to have you guys under my roof again." Macaque: [*begins tearing up before wiping his eyes on his scarf*] "Damn. I hoped I wouldn't start crying." Wukong: "I didn't!" [*start sobbing like a baby*] Pigsy: [*hugs the two monkey like a dad do, trying hard to hide his own tears*]

Pigsy knows there be a storm coming with the Egg's arrival, but he wants to be there for the ride.

This Pig ready to slam a ping-pong ball into Li Jing or the Jade Emperor's dome if they ever come sniffing around his restaurant!