#that and just having a kind of hectic January is likely what led to the delay. my b

[pain-in-the-butler]

OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! OMG COATTAILS THIS WEEK! I’m just curious what’s the word count for this chapter?

The update in total will be approximately 24.7k! Thanks for your excitement 😉

[kylagabrielle22]

“Excruciating Reminiscence”

      On the morning of 27th of June, 2015; it was very gloomy and dull to start the day. I stepped outside to our backyard and viewed an aurora firmament that was the tincture of holocaust near the horizon. The ground was cracked underneath my feet and the breeze was humid; it had not rained in a month already. Dust stuck to my ultra-boost Adidas shoes as I made my way to our neighborhood to begin my usual morning jog.

      Everyone knew me as an ambitious woman, calling me names such as “Bridget Jones in-your-face” but I knew myself better that I was a sophisticated lady even if I was that aggressive when it comes to my aspirations. I was kind of lean, with dark, long, frizzy, and wavy auburn hair and my skin was tanned since I was young. I had squint lines at the corners of my hazel brown eyes gained by a memoir spent beneath the sun; at twenty-two, now and then I wonder whether I could decide and have the life in the metropolitan or in the bush I had chosen.

      The daytime was already becoming tepid and the sun was reflecting much light luminously. So, I twirled up the sleeves of my button-up, dry fit Adidas shirt. I wore my usual bluish and faded jogging pants which had grown cottony and cozy over the years. Actually, all of my outfits were just bought at the boutique near our house which was selling a lot of cheap, good, quality second-hand items. I glimpsed at my white G-shock watch and it was a little bit after 8 in the morning. I realized I had a long plenty of time ahead and I still need to do some tasks.

      I pulled the gate open then closed the gate again. When I got home, my family was not there already because my parents were at their work and my siblings had their own family now. Since I am the youngest, I still need to go to school and I better prepare myself already. I took my shower, brushed my teeth, put my well-ironed school uniform on, wore my black shoes with white socks and of course I did not forget to put my go-to make-up routine on my lovely face.

      I arrived at our school early always and I never had the chance to be late. I always got highest scores during examinations, written quizzes, oral recitations and even performance tasks. I always represented my section and my academy during competitions with confidence thus I never lose. My teachers always praised me and I was a favorite to most of the folks whom I knew but I cannot deny the fact that there were some people whose insecure about me and easily get jealous on my achievements in life.  

      “Six more months Bridget Jones in-your-face slash sophisticated Bridget lady, you are going to the metropolitan at last and achieve all your dreams there’, I said to myself as I was finally done writing my valedictory speech in my pocket-sized room. I got bored right after writing my speech; I got my android phone and listened to some songs on my hacked Spotify account with my favorite playlist on. I imagined things while listening to the songs; I formed a mental picture of my life in the metropolitan and how my life could be if I was already there. I knew for sure that I could live there peacefully and fabulously. I closed my eyes, felt the rhythm of the melody of the songs until I slept.  

      On the afternoon of 21st of September, 2017; the most awaited moment in my entire life happened. I was now travelling to my metropolitan dream. The first hundred country mile was on rutted gravel rocks pocked with potholes, first on the reserve, then winding past a number of subnormal villages. That partition would take up to the early afternoon, I was not fond of travelling but I allowed my mind to wander as I took in the world I called my dearest metropolitan. Until, I saw tall buildings and a lot of luxurious cars, I knew that I was already at the border of the metropolitan.

      Indeed, dreams do come true and sometime I was here at the metropolitan area. A big thanks to my former academy and to my Byzantine bloodline I was able to have a big opportunity to apply to some big companies here and I got the job immediately. My life here started well; I had a very nice house with silk-lined wallpaper and polished parquet flooring. The kitchen was about twice the size to our old kitchen, and the refrigerator, when I opened it, was always pretty full. I could say I got a pretty good salary.

      Time had become fragmented, headstrong, arriving and departing in chaotic array of hours. I got tired of my hectic schedule in this metropolitan life I had here. I got tired on my work and I did not have much appetite to begin my day. What was worse was that I did not have much time with myself. So, I gave my life a break. I explored the city life and went each night to clubs and bars. I even tried smoking weed and drinking whatsoever drinks they called.

      On the evening of 30th of December, 2018; I was dressed in faded blue Levis jeans, velvet red Channel sandals, and a yellow sleeveless Burberry blouse that dipped to a low V in front. With smooth, tanned skin and auburn hair framing high cheekbones, I drew my gape with irresistible force. My round eyes widened with some effusive enthusiasm when I eventually came to a breathless stop in front of a guy. He was wearing an all-black outfit and he was smiling above the cosmos with the full moon and dazzling stellar.  

      I have not felt this kind of feeling inside of me way back then. This emotion was unfamiliar to me and I do not know how to react. I was caught off by him and this might be cliche to think but I truly fell in love at first sight of him. Since I do not know what to that moment I turned my back on him and closed my eyes for about a minute. When suddenly, someone patted my shoulder. So I turned and faced the person, surprisingly it was the guy.

      He asked me if I was all alone tonight and if it was fine to me if I let him be my friend. I directly said, “Yes, of course. I’m Bridget Jones and you are?”. He replied, “Andrew Sterling my lady.” while shacking my hand. We went to a night club; we talked about our chaotic lives, we danced on the dance floor like we knew ourselves for so long already and we drank a bucket of alcoholic drinks.

      I was getting tipsy and when I am tipsy I cannot control myself already. I danced and drank one more bucket of beer while he was just watching me and was beaming all along perfectly. I was so exhausted and did not realized that it was already 31st of December which means it was New Year’s Eve. I slept with him in a motel close to the night club and all I could remember was that he said “I love you Bridget Jones.” and kissed me passionately.

      I woke up hearing the swishing sound of the wind and the noise of the cars passing. It seemed, oddly, and I slowly opened my eyes. I lay enthralling it, letting it crystallized, letting my cerebrum play catch-up, as I recognized each for what it was. I looked for my phone to see what time is it but I could not find it. I tried checking it on my bag but I also could not find my bag. “Fudge, darn it!’, I screamed loudly. All of my cards were there; my credit card, ATM card and even my debit card. I got nothing left with me but only my body.

      Then, I remembered what happened last night, I remembered the guy named “Andrew Sterling”, whom I fell in love at first sight with. I realized that I was just being tricked all that night. He just used his charm on me to take my bag; my cards and my phone. I was being swindled by a guy whom I fell in love with for the very first time. No one is completely predictable hence, we all have blindsiding bursts.

      It felt like a long time ago. Although, I could still recognize the lady I was then, I see nothing more than a congruity to the lady I am now. Life before with my mom and dad seems even complete than life without them and living all alone. I forgot my very own and had not paid attention to my parents’ life in the hinterland. I was too ambitious and I focused too much on my aspirations which resulted in a worst situation. I forgot that I was once the sophisticated lady even if they knew me as” Bridget Jones in-your-face.”.

      On the dawn of 1st of January, 2019; I was in the middle of nowhere, it was raining so hard and all I can hear was the tormenting sound of the thunder and the never-ending noise of the raindrops. My heart still wanted my metropolitan dream to be possible but the universe was not governed by wants or even needs. Some things do not work, no matter how much you want them to. I let my choices led me to the wrong path in life. The scary part, I thought to myself, was not the pain but the lasting existence. From now on, I must reckon on things that felt like they came from somewhere deeper than mere reminiscence.  

[regularspelling]

Four-Year Summary

So there are a number of reasons that I didn't update the blog for the last four years, but there were a few big ones that stopped me where I did left off and not get back to it. Let me break them down.

Death of a friend

One of my closest friends died about a week before my last entry. That did not exactly put me in the best of spaces for a while, particularly because of the circumstances. I have talked some about it on a thread on Reddit, and will probably repost that on here sometime later, so for now I'll not go into it further for now.

CMS Failure

The old blog/CMS software I was previously using, PivotX, had actually long since ended by that point. The final maintenance release was June of 2015. I had been running on that system since the beginning, or rather an older version of it simply titled Pivot, and it was really starting to show issues with that age with various weird bugs on the site. The developers of PivotX had moved on to start a new CMS, called Bolt, and I had actually started the process to convert over to that, but there was some issues with running it on my server with some configuration items that are on by my host being recommended to be off with whatever combinations of frameworks they were using to make Bolt. As I worked on this on and off, there were long periods of time where there was no talk and no update from the Bolt devs, and the future of it was uncertain, and that kind of drove me away from finishing the migration.

Other Projects

For about a year and a half, I was actually doing some major contract project maintaining a high-traffic site. Since I work full time, this means all my spare time was done working on this project and its feature development and maintenance, and so any spare time where I was working on that I had no interest in other programming, either something for this blog or any game development, with what free time I had. Once that contract ended, then I had time to start looking into more stuff. Which led right into...

2020

What else to say? We all know how that dumpster fire went. My previous contract had ended around January of 2020, and so I only had a little time to start diving into other things before the world turned upside down. What's worse, early in 2020 I had started some new dieting, and so I was trying to adjust to that and the differences in how I felt because of that as the pandemic began. Then there was a major earthquake in Salt Lake City in the middle of March. A 5.7 scale one for the initial, with major aftershocks of 4 and 4.5 that same day as well as many smaller ones. That earthquake day hectically getting all my team at work ready to be able to work from home and going around and making sure the equipment was set in place to not be damaged from further earthquakes, as that was pretty much the day that they made the sure call that they were building up to as pandemic ramping up of everyone had to be set to work from home that day, building was closed after that. And for the first few weeks or so of that, I felt sick and really tired. Doesn't seem like I had Covid at that time, based on some later antibody tests I took for a study, but between just general earthquake anxiety and maybe something else I caught around then, I was not well for a while after pandemic started.

That's the four major things that happened before. As I started feeling better again last year, and could focus on doing stuff again, I decided to try and work on getting my blog back up and running again. After the experiences with the previous blog going EOL and not getting updates, and the general idea that it's bad to let web software languish because of how often security vulnerabilities come up with old not-updated software, I decided for a different approach. I already didn't have comments turned on, so there was no need for a web-based software to begin with. Instead I'd look into an offline CMS, that would just generate static pages for me to upload to the server. And after trying a few but not giving me the exact flexibility I wanted, I ended up deciding to make one myself that met what I wanted.

So that's what I did. I wrote my own offline CMS, which I just completed this week. Still some features I want to add to it over time, but it's usable now. And I'll go more into that work in another post.

(from Regular Spelling https://ift.tt/2ZKhWnI via IFTTT )

[enkisstories]

The android cemetery (Ch. 26)

The trio enters the beach, two pairs of feet made of flesh and bone, one of plastic. The snow scrunches below their soles as they walk. It is pure white, untouched, pristine. The wind has given it a wavelike texture, like an ocean that you can walk on. Silence hangs over the beach. The world’s hectic is far away. Out here everything is calm, serene. In short, this is a place that has waited for somebody entirely else than these people! Tina picks up a handful of snow.

“Not much to work with, but serviceable.”

At this point Gavin shook his head in irritation. How different from how he usually heard it had Tina’s voice sounded in the video! But of course it would. Daniel’s acoustic module was different from natural hearing. Connor’s hearing was probably even more different and strange. Definitely strange! Gavin had never given that much thought. He knew he should feel appalled, but what he did instead was hugging Daniel tighter. What would his own voice sound like through his partner’s ears, the man wondered?

*Splash!*

The first snowball lands with precision, albeit less force than a human could have put behind it. And this is the only reason Daniel has dared toss it: Without his weighted gloves the former household android’s hands couldn’t seriously harm anybody even if Daniel wanted to. But his manual dexterity is near super-human and his agility considerate.

Tina: “Whoa, Sardines! Gavin’s not joking when he calls you “killer android”!”

A short hesitation, just long enough for Gavin to “revenge” Tina with a surprise shot. His next throw misses.

Daniel: “Just you wait! I’ll get even!”

The next snowball hits Gavin in the chest. Daniel dances across the beach now, dodging snowballs and returning the favor. A heavy baggage drops, to be buried in the sand under the snow. Until this moment the deviant hadn’t been sure if this little “wargame” would not trigger some sort of killer reflex. Not even when the two humans gang up on him or when Tina goes to her knees for a moment does Daniel experience anything different than a playful mood.

Can he trust these humans? Probably not. They may yet backstab him some day. But one thing Daniel is sure of now: If nobody else, he can at least trust himself again.

“Now that’s a kind thought about the man you had just kissed for the first time!” Gavin snorted.

“What thought?”

“Me backstabbing you!”

“Well, I was kinda right, wasn’t I? Given what happened two weeks later… wait, did I say that out loud? The part about trusting you and Tina?”

Only now Daniel realized that he had commented the scene the whole time. Not the Daniel standing here in the apartment, but his older self from January. His thoughts from the past had turned into a narration that accompanied his memory-video now.

“What’s happening?” the deviant gasped. “That’s not what I wanted to show you! That’s not what I wanted to happen!”

The screen flickered, then the snowball fight faded out, to get replaced by different scene: A black cat wearing a collar of green climbed onto Gavin’s lap. Daniel watched as the cat licked his partner’s face. The image blurred, then new scenes followed the ones before in quick succession. Sounds and images, some heartwarming, others disturbing, but many of them too short to make anything out of them. There was something about… salmon grind on sliced bread?

“Nooooo! Not that!” Daniel cried. “That’s private!”

Connor noticed Gavin lick his lips. The particular way the human was looking told Connor that Gavin’s thoughts were not food-motivated, but connected to another kind of hunger. Not in the least interested in the erotic application of salmon breadspread (or anything erotic in regard to Gavin Reed) the android shouted: “Yes! Let’s keep that private! Very private!”

Daniel tried to disconnect from the TV. Jacking out took what felt like an eternity and even afterwards what had been uploaded already was still running its course.

Suddenly the onlookers saw Daniel looking downwards into Connor’s eyes. One eye, more precisely. The other was dead. The deviant hunter was asking questions… something about a place called Jericho…

Emma screamed and the scene changed again. A dark sky… blood in Daniel’s face… the cityscape tumbling over, no, that was himself, falling. Falling…

“And that particular gem I only ever showed Connor!” Daniel whispered.

“Well, this is how memories work for humans”, a visibly shaken Jason Graff said. “Via associations. We cannot shape them into a family movie and obviously a deviant’s brain works exactly the same.”

“So I cannot lie in this mode?”

Jason nodded. Having worked in the Humanization department for years, his grasp on general android coding was a bit rusty, but this was what he felt right at home at. Professional interest had also allowed the man to realize that he was dealing with one, maybe two, deviants here, but just file the discovery as another fact to work with instead of freaking out.

“Worse”, Jason said, “you cannot keep anything private. An interrogator might say “relax” and the next thing he sees is your last lovenight with Mr.  Reed here.”

“Shit…” Daniel muttered. He covered his eyes while the TV screen was running the last of the uploaded material for all to see:

It has come down to it. Two days left of 2039 and then we will have seen the last of Detroit for a month. It will be good to see something different, even though the reason for us leaving is… less than flattering. But here we are, still understaffed and not even a PM700 is left idle in the charging boxes.

Gavin: “No chance but to take you with me today into a city where a mystery android killer’s on the loose…”

Not much of a mystery, Daniel thinks. The android killer is another android. The thought is sickening. Even if Brandon is killing his kin on the Villareal mob’s behalf, as they suspect, it is a fact that he has joined the syndicate out of his free deviant will, knowing full well what he was getting into. Gavin spits on the pavement, then draws a pistol.

Gavin: “Take this! And if you see a suspicious LED, shoot before asking! The gun probably doesn’t outrange Brandon’s sending range, so take it out before it can even think of initiating contact!”

Daniel accepts the pistol without thinking at first. Then he remembers getting handed a similar one by Lieutenant Anderson three months ago, when they had rescued Connor from the vice-mayor’s home. Daniel hadn’t used the weapon, not even on Connor. Alright, he had tried using it on Connor, but only to wound, of course!

Or had he?

Back in fall the android had been little more than a talking household appliance indeed, still shocked into submission and dropping the occasional sarcastic comment at best. Ever since, Daniel has re-won his former confidence. And it dawns to him that holding a gun again is probably a very bad idea. Because what will stay his hand this time, now that his fears have left him?

Daniel: “Take it back, please! I couldn’t accept a weapon even if I was a human! I’m just an auxiliary, no officer.”

Gavin: “Pfft! At this rate you’re going to make Captain before I’ll be Sergeant! Did you know our beloved inspector bitch sent Hank and me each a certificate for exemplary success in android training? So today we’re going to practice walking the neighborhood without killing people, acting patrol officer Phillips!”

Daniel: “No! I can’t… really not! Damn you, Gavin, couldn’t you at least have given me an empty one?! Take it back! Take it back, take it back, take it back!”

But exactly that Gavin cannot do, even if he had wanted. There is no telling if not some reflex might kick in, causing Daniel to shoot at the human who attempts to disarm him. They all have noticed Daniel wince when Gavin suggested paintball as a teambuilding project the day before. The prospect of holding a weapon, even a toy, is frightening Daniel for good reason. With his weighted gloves the household android can hit as hard as a human. With a firearm, to the contrary, he is vastly superior. And with his temper you never know what might happen.

The way the android is shivering, the most likely outcome is an outdoors lamp in the second floor needing to be replaced within the next two minutes.

Standing… Staring…

Then a quick action and then an android head sinking down on the detective’s shoulder.

Gavin: “Congrats, Sardines, you shot the perennial dandelion. I agree it was loitering there in a provocative fashion.”

Daniel: “I cannot do this… Please don’t make me!”

Gavin: “If I step aside, you’ll fall.”

Daniel: (no reaction) Gavin: (steps aside)

Daniel (falling): “Damn you!”

Sitting… still staring, but decidedly not each other.

Gavin: “I’ve talked to my parents and to Hank, yes, to Hank! And we agreed that you’ve come a long way already. Not the whole distance, though. You want to belong, but that goes two ways. We need to be able to trust you, too. And inevitably there’d have come the day to take it to the test. Today seems as good as any other. Come on, man up!”

Daniel: “Hear, hear! It must be dawn - the apes in the jungle start clamoring!”

Gavin: “I don’t have time for your insults - I dropped my pocket calculator!”

Daniel: “Right… about that…”

Daniel wriggles out of the embrace and rams his fist hard into Gavin’s stomach. Then he sits upright and watches with satisfaction how the human is cringing, still holding the officer’s pistol loosely in the other hand.

Eventually they grab each other’s hands and stand up again.

Gavin: “I’ll tick “correctly judging the appropriate level of violence” off your list of lessons.”

Daniel: “Looks like it. Got a holster to go with the gun?”

Gavin: “Yep. Here! - Oh, and one more thing: when the Andersons ask how it went, you tell them we had an enlightening talk consisting of reasoning, respect and all that other mature crap!”

“So that’s how it happened? But you told us you had an enlightening talk cons…” Connor started to protest back in the present. When he saw Daniel and Gavin grin, he stopped. “Ah. Right. I see. Suckers.”

On the android’s lap an eggshell-colored cat with a blueish grey mask was kneading his legs while wearing a world-removed expression. Nobody had noticed it making itself comfortable there, not even Connor. Sometime during the video the android had realized that he was stroking something and just continued doing so. Loki purred, but stopped whenever he realized what he was doing.

“We are even now, Con’”, Daniel claimed. “Next to lie to the other pays a thirium sherbet.”

And that was it. They had reached a point where they were seriously considering sitting down together and having that sherbet, even throw in a blue smurf ice cream for Hank, Tina and Gavin, none of which had exactly made their life easy in 2038. But everything they had achieved might still get invalidated by a single phone call of Mr. Graff’s. Emma and the androids turned towards the CyberLife employee. Tense, disdainful, even daring him to give them a reason to slap him. Violence was still an option, Jason realized. The deviants certainly were not choir boys and neither were their human allies preaching sunshine and photosynthesis. But even if the worst would come to pass, it would be the result of a conscious decision, not because some lines of code had corrupted and were forcing the android into a killing spree.

That much Jason understood now.

[thefemalehustler]

INTERVIEW: NYC EVENTS PLANNERS KIM CHANEL x JUNAE BROWN

Hey ladies! Thank you for taking the time out your hectic schedules to talk to me!

First of all tell me what made you get into throwing events and what were you doing before you got into events?

Kim: For me, one thing that solidified it was my visit to South By Southwest in 2015, it was a fascinating experience to me. Just to see his curators or brands were able to produce interactive events and bring their ideas to life was something I just simply found interesting. After coming back from that trip at that time I was so ready to have an event to showcase artists in some way or even just come up with a theme that everyone could enjoy!

Junae: I've technically been throwing events dating back to backyard pool parties with my cousins as a kid lol I've always sort of been the "plan the fun" person amongst my friends, so I guess that's where it began. Fast forward to college I started hosting events, and threw this huge BBQ on campus sometime during my Junior year. That led to me being elevated President of student government and activities where we produced about 66 events per semester (sounds crazy I know lol). After college I put together and promoted some events in the city, and while working at Sony put together both staff and artist events. They seem to follow me.

You have become known for throwing fire events together collectively, when did you first start working together and how did your first event come about?

K: We were working in the same building (Sony Music) together and a mutual friend asked me if I knew Junae and at that time I never met her, after that we followed each other. So from that I saw that she threw events before so I asked her questions, tips etc. She gave me much useful information. Then we finally met at this party. We were like "yo let's just throw an event together!" So we started planning for it like two months prior and called it "Trappin' N Dabbin" we had it at a very intimate venue and it was packed. It was an amazing feeling.

Junae agreed: Kim and I started working together in Fall 2015. It's crazy because I was at Columbia records and she was at Epic at the time, and a few mutual friends kept trying to link us. Eventually we started following each other on Twitter and one day she mentioned she wanted to throw an event but wasn't sure how to go about it. I told her if she needed help to just let me know, when she did we met up and Trappin' N Dabbin was born! We mesh really well both creatively and as people, so it's been nothing but litness ever since!

With NYC being jam packed with so many amazing music events how hard is it to create something that stands out from the rest and what would you say makes your events unique?

K: One thing Junae and I try to do is make the event more interactive more than anything and come up with something creative to draw people in. For instance we may try to have free food, we love taking care of people and making sure they're getting more than just an average party.

J: I wouldn't say it's difficult to create something unique per say but that you just need to make a conscious effort to bring something different to the table. There's rarely ever anything completely new under the sun, just new ways to execute the same ideas. I think what makes our events unique is the atmosphere we create. Our main purpose with creating events in the first place was to take everything we don't really like about events and produce the opposite vibe. I think we create a space where regardless of who you are you can come have a good time and be yourself. Everyone's "elite" and the gaol stays simple... have fun! We're probably a little crazy for it but we try to give people more than their money's worth and add things to make it different each time. I doubt we've had the same party twice. We also take different approaches with our marketing, graphics and promotion but we'd need a 2nd interview to cover that lol

What is your favourite thing about the NYC music scene and what would you change about it?

K: I've always been an admirer of the New York City music scene. One thing I admire about it is the fact that there is always access to discovering a new artist and a widespread of opportunity to just simply network at events. I love to see the genuine support. Although I'm not from there I would love to see the native artist be given the opportunity to have a louder voice and eventually rise up in the music business but I see artists are in fact throwing their own showcases and events which is very commendable.

J: My favourite thing about the NYC music scene is that there's so much of it, but it's still somehow very tight knit. It's definitely it's own little community regardless of if you're more gritty, trap, experimental etc. New York is still "that place" in a lot of ways, and I'll always love my city. The only thing I would change is for there to be a platform for artists to aspire to be allowed on, actually controlled by culture... no politics and no corporate influence.

Junae are you originally from New York? If so which part and how did it influence the events you throw?

Yes, I was born and raised in NY and I'm from Harlem, on the EastSide. To be honest my neighbourhood growing up was a party nearly 24/7, whether it was just people outside, actual parties, or cars blasting music. The stage to the Puerto Rican Day festival every year was literally outside my living room window. I think it taught me what all different kinds of people coming together to have a good time looks like, and more than anything how to make a little into a whole lot.

Kim you are originally from Philadelphia, what was it like growing up there? Did you start off throwing events there first and if so how does the scene differ to NYC?

We don't have a huge music scene there but at the same time some of the most talented artists in the music scene are from Philly. Growing up while artists like State Property, Eve, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild were around definitely have Philly this amazing feeling back then. Now everyone is starting to make a name for themselves and it's something I love seeing. Back in the early / mid 2000's there was a huge wave of Philly creatives throwing their own events, coming up with their own clothing brands and they were as young as 17/18 years old. Now that I'm older I realise how cool that was. However, now that side of Philly is coming back. I didn't start throwing events in Philly but recently I just realised back in high school I remember high school friends and I were in the works of throwing our own events as young as 16 years old. I wish I could find the flyer. I just realised it was an interest of mine even as a teenager.

Where besides New York have you thrown events and if you could throw a music event in any country where would it be?

K: Besides New York, we've thrown events in Atlanta, our birthdays happen to be back to back, mine is February 4th and Junae's the 5th so we thought we could partner up with our friends in Atlanta who go by the name of Money Makin Bro's and have a party of which the outcome was amazing! We've had one in Philly last year in July and we have another one coming up July 7th of this year. We get a lot of people from other cities like Houston, Boston, L.A etc

J: We'll be back again soon to Philly and Atlanta and the plan is to hit a few more that been requesting for a little minute now before the year is out... hey west coast... hey CT! If I could throw a music event in any country it would have to be Japan. There is SO much urban and Hip Hop culture there, and from what I've heard they know how to party!

What has been your event highlight so far?

J: Probably the time we promoted a party in 9 days for January 2nd... it was only our 2nd event and people were lined up the block unable to get in. It was definitely no higher than 10 degrees outside (sorry again guys!). We were over capacity at like 10.30... the venue felt like a 4 train at rush hour but we partied all night anyway lol. There was a moment Kim and I looked at each other like "is this really happening?"... and it really, really was.

K: I think bringing Ye Ali and Lil Uzi Vert's produced Maaly Raw was a highlight for me since I am a fan of both so it was really cool to have them in the same building. My event highlight has been just the people who continue to come and support no matter what, that's a highlight every time.

What has been the craziest thing that has happened at one of your events?

K: Well our hosts (Mouse Jones and Funny Julius) are always doing something crazy at our events so totally lost count. It's always a good time with them!

J: I honestly can't pick a craziest thing, but as Kim said just know that each crazy thing involves our hosts who do the most! They're such an important piece to our puzzle lol if you know you know.

Who would be your dream event host?

J: Call me sentimental, but I really love our current hosts, it's hard to imagine the event without them. But I mean if Drake or somebody wants to grab a third mic I'm here for it haha!

K: I don't think I have a dream event host but I have a few dream DJ's, Swizz Beatz, Just Blaze, DJ Drama, Mister Cee, TM88 and Sonny Digital.

Junae you also recently launched your own creative agency Browned 2 Perfection, congratulation on that! Can you tell us s bit more about it?

Thanks so much! Browned 2 Perfection is a Creative Marketing Agency focusing on helping creatives become the best version of themselves. We do so by taking what is already great about Artists, Brands, Products and Personalities and curate a unique way to get those things felt by the masses. Specialising in out of the box Marketing strategies and experiential events the priority is always that clients creative purposes are fulfilled their way; Browned 2 Perfection. So think consultations, Marketing and Branding Plans, and events without the boring stuff :)

Can we expect you ladies to take a visit to London any time soon to bless us with a fire event?

K: Of course we would love to! I think our 90's / 2000's party would be a hit over in London!

J: Speaking it into existence for this Fall or 2018!

Finally what advice would you give to anyone reading this that may want to follow in your footsteps and launch their own event?

K: My advice would be to start small and work your way up, implement a lot of your own taste / perspective in your event. Always try to think out of the box when it comes to flyers and the actual event. With flyers at most times it's their first impression of the event your having and you want to make it look attractive as possible. Ideally you want to give yourself a 4-3 week window to promote. Don't announce anything until you are completely ready and make it interactive / gauge what would interest the audience you're trying to target.

J: The first thing I would say is go for it. Don't wait, don't waste time watching other people do what you want to do either. Imagine how you want the event to be, it's purpose, find a small team that add just as passionate as you... keep integrity at the forefront and execute. Also invite me I'd love to attend lol!

Follow Kim and Junae on Twitter and IG for all event updates! Twitter: @_KimChanel_ @JunaeBrown IG: @KimChanel_ @JunaeBrown

[worktherooms]

Bartenders and Bud-light

Lin x Reader

Word Count:4,209 (I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened :/)

Disclaimers: Alcohol mention, 1 curse word? 

A/N: This is my first fanfic of any kind, so feedback is definitely welcome!! I took a prompt online “you make eye contact with a stranger across” and just ran with it. Thank you @secretschuylersister for reading it over!! I hope you all enjoy (cause I enjoyed writing it!!) 

You found yourself at another stupid college party, where groups of college kids were chugging god-knows-what from red solo cups while some Top 50 song blared from unseen speakers.

It happened to be the first party of your senior year, friends were reuniting after their semesters abroad and talking about their respective summers. You scanned the room in search of someone you knew, but instead your eyes landed on a dark-haired boy chuckling in a corner. You have seen this particular male around campus, either running to class late with mismatched shoes or goofing off in the dining hall with his soccer team.

You two have never really crossed paths since he was a theater/music major, while you were a journalism major. Although do remember having an English class together your freshman year, but he didn’t talk much in class so you never paid much attention to him. But seeing him at this party sparked your interest, maybe because it was your senior year and all your friends all seemed to have found their soul mates? That couldn’t be! You were in the process of job applications and thesis planning– definitely not the time for romance.  

You were standing alone near the drinks, the people who you came with were off somewhere playing beer pong or catching up with others who were back from abroad. Bored, you glanced down at the drink that your friend Maggie had concocted for you before she disappeared with some frat boy. You took a hesitant sip, winced, and set it down. There was way too much vodka and you had one too many incidents with the alcohol. Instead, you reached for a bud light.

Suddenly someone approached the table, it happened to be mysterious-theater guy. He glanced at you, and after a beat he asked “Hey, can you hit me up with a bud light too?” You shrugged and passed him the beer. He thanked you, dark, thoughtful eyes never leaving yours, and made his way back to his group of friends.

It had been a normal interaction between two people. Why was my heart pounding so fast? And why was I thinking how his hand had lingered on the bottle for a second before letting go? You thought, taking a gulp of beer. And how he had eyebags and disheveled hair but still looked good? Before your thoughts could spiral even more, her future lawyer friend, Natalie made an appearance.

“Maggie texted me saying she’s staying with the frat guy tonight.” Natalie smirked.

 “Huh, I’m not surprised. Guess we’ll get details tomorrow? Ready to go then?”

“Yep.”

As you walked out of the party with Natalie, you didn’t realize that the mysterious-theater guy was still peering at you with curiosity.

After that party, you seemed to be seeing more of this mysterious-theater guy around campus. Either passing him on the way to class or checking your mail at the student center, he happened to be there. You didn’t pay much attention to it considering your school had a relatively small campus where you would see the same people several times a day. Occasionally you two would run into each other at some event, but the only interaction being a simple ‘hey, can you pass me a beer?”

It was soon time for the last finals of undergrad therefore you saw less of the mysterious theater guy, and decided to let it go, focusing on finishing up strong instead. Soon after, graduation approached and, of course, the graduation parties.

Maggie led your group of friends straight to the bar and ordered gin and tonics for the group. Then promptly launched into a conversation about her boyfriend, the frat boy. You, only half listening, examined the room. Most graduates were there- playing pool, engaging in conversations with their former professors, or dancing. A group of theater guys stood off to the side, downing beers like their lives depended on it.  

You wondered where THE theater guy was. Usually he would have been at the bar already, asking you, or in this case the real bartender for a beer. Speaking of, you haven’t seen him since the grad ceremony.

“Hey, who are you looking for?” Natalie asked, sipping her gin and tonic, her brown eyes wide with mischief.

“U-uh, no-one. W-why?” You stuttered. Were you being that obvious?

Natalie rolled her eyes.

“Please, you’ve been gawking at that group theater guys since we got here. I didn’t know they were your type. But hey, who am I to judge. Just tell me. You haven’t been on an actual date since September junior year!”  

“I have! This past January I went out with that engineering guy.”

“Jeremy?! Y/N, someone who was NOT a complete dumbass.” Natalie ranted to her friend.

“Oh.” You shuddered at the thought. It had actually been one of your worst dates. He wasn’t bad looking but too self absorbed and oblivious. No wonder you blocked the guy from your memory.

“So who is it? I’m actually pretty familiar with those group of guys.” Natalie pressed, looking over at the group herself. “Maybe I could set you up! And you guys could double date with me and Mark!”

“Uh well, I don’t know his name. But I think he’s a theater/music double major like Mark, he’s also on the soccer team.”

Natalie’s eyes twinkled with knowledge. “Hm…I think I had a calc class with him once– does he have ever messy hair, dark dreamy eyes, a little shy, never seems to wear matching shoes?”

“I haven’t really noticed his eyes, but yeah, messy hair, mismatched shoes, also likes Bud Light.” You added.

“How would you know if you never spoken to him?”

“I acted as a bartender for him a couple times.”

“AND YOU NEVER ASKED WHAT HIS NAME WAS?!” Natalie shrieked, causing a couple heads to turn. “C’mon Y/N, don’t throw away your shot.” The future lawyer grabbed your free hand and marched over to the group of theater majors.

“Natalieeee!! What’s upp?” A particularly drunk guy slurred, slinging his arm around her.

“I’m not here for you, Mark.” Natalie wiggled out of his grasp, trying to hide her smile. “I wanted to ask where Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda was?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” One of the more sober guys asked. “He immediately flew out right after graduation, apparently he immediately got some acting gig in LA, that lucky bastard.”  

You couldn’t believe your ears. He had moved across the country–a whole 3,000 miles away doing geeky theater stuff. You didn’t even want to pursue this guy, just intrigued by him.

——————————————————————————————————————

A Year Later

“A medium cappuccino with skim milk and two sugars, please?” You told the barista at the counter.

“That would be $4.25”

You gave her the money and took your drink, then looked around the busy cafe for a spot to sit. After traveling around the world for the past year you needed some time to collect your thoughts, to think about your next steps before flying out again. You noticed one free seat across a familiar mop of dark messy hair hunched over a laptop.

Mysterious-theater- guy? Lin-Manuel? What was he doing here? Even with the nagging from Natalie, you never reached out to him. With the constant traveling and full time career, a boy wouldn’t fit into that equation. You’ve known this since undergrad, but the only available spot was across from him. Taking a deep breath, you walked over to the theater stud not knowing if he would recognize you.

“Well, if it isn’t Bud Light boy.” You queried, trying to sound casual. It has been a while since you’ve seen each other. Lin looked up, facial expression confused for a moment before recognition came.

“Well, if isn’t my old bartender, Y/N right? How’s it going?” Lin asked, closing his laptop.

You never mentioned your name, so must’ve been the work of Natalie? “Work and traveling,” you nonchalantly replied. “What about you, Mr. LA?”

“The name’s Lin actually.” A beginning of a smile forming on the Latino’s lips. “Life’s been hectic, had to come back and visit the parents. Heard you were conquering every continent though?” He asked, then gestured for you to sit. You obliged, taking a sip of your coffee.

“So that’s the word on the street, huh?”

Lin nodded. How come he never had an actual conversation with this girl? Why didn’t he stay a little bit longer near the drinks during those parties? He mentally kicked himself. The only time your name was mentioned to him was when Natalie would talk about her cool journalism major friend who practically lived in the News room. As smart as he was, he never put two and two together.

“From what your friend Natalie has told me, you’re on your way. When’s your next project?”

“May, so in a couple weeks then I’ll be off to Brazil, until Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas.” You explained. “How about you?”

“Sounds like a crazy life you lead. But I have a gig out in LA right now, but also working a play about Washington Heights and growing up there.”  

“Sounds exciting! So I guess you’re trying to be the next Shakespeare?” You teased.

Lin smirked, “nah, I couldn’t be compared to the genius, that’s the goal though.”

You and Lin spent the rest of the afternoon talking: everything from freshman year roommate horror stories to incompetent co-workers. Before you knew it the sun was setting and most of the afternoon crowd had dispersed, Lin was in the middle of a particularly intriguing story about him showing up at an audition with his pants inside out, when you noticed the time.

“I would love to find out if you realized you had your pants on inside out in time but I promised Natalie I’ll meet her for dinner, but it was great catching up with you, Lin.”

“Oh.” Lin’s face visibly fell. “It was fun talking with you too, Y/N. When can we meet up again? So I could tell you if I got the part!”

“Was that an excuse to get my number? Cause I’m assuming you got the part?” You quirked an eyebrow.

The boy feigned shock. “Huh maybe it was, pray tell then, what’s your number?”

You gave him your number and asked for his in return.

“I gotta tell you though, I’m heading back to Cali next Thursday so I hope we can catch up before then?” Lin asked, running a hand through his already messy hair.

“If you’re lucky.”

“Here’s hoping I’m lucky cause you’re one interesting girl, Y/N.” He winked and headed out the shop.

You don’t blush easily but the way this overenthusiastic theater nerd said your name made your cheeks color. As cliche as that sounded.

To Natalie 5:35 pm

I have so much to tell you over dinner!!

————————————————————————————————————————-

Several hours later, when you met Natalie at your favorite restaurant, you recounted what happened earlier that afternoon.

“Y/N, girl, I’ve been telling you for the past year to at least message him on Facebook, but did you listen? Nope.” Natalie exclaimed.

“You’re right, I should’ve, I just have this whole field journalism thing which doesn’t allow me stay in one place for more than a week. Any type of romantic relationship wouldn’t fit into that crazy lifestyle. “

“You should get to know him better! From what you told me he could be interested, it’s the twenty-first century, girls have the right to ask guys to hang out first. And Lin’s a nice guy-unlike Jeremy.”

You took in Natalie’s words. Judging by your conversation, maybe you should ask him to hang out-it couldn’t hurt. Even if nothing comes out of it, you might gain a friend on the West coast. Which might be a way to network, in order to find a more stable job.

“Y/N, what’s going through your head?” Natalie prompted.

“I’m going to text him to meet up before he leaves.” You decided. “Because why the hell not?”

Natalie raised her glass to toast with your’s “Hear, hear.”

To: Playwright Lin 7:10 pm

Hey, about your pants & interview, would you be so kind to tell me about it Tuesday?

From: Playwright Lin 7:11 pm

So you are curious? Tuesday works for me, how about dinner? would 7 work?

To: Playwright Lin 7:12 pm

7s fine. I look forward to hearing the rest of your story, Lin.

From: Playwright Lin 7:14 pm

I look forward to telling it, Y/N!

“Judging by how red your face is, he either responded with something sexual or cute.” Natalie teased. You showed your friend the messages which earned you a ‘see I told you’ look.

—————————————————————————————————————————

As Tuesday evening rolled around, You felt a sort of nervousness that you haven’t felt before– not even during the SATs or first job interview. Get it together! You scolded yourself. It’s just dinner with a guy. After taking a quick shower, you contemplated on what to wear. As if on cue, your phone dinged with several texts from Natalie as you stared blankly into your closet.

From: Natalie 6:00 pm

Since ur my best friend, i know ur freaking out about what to wear…u should wear that sweater im obsessed with and those black jeans. U don’t want to try too hard but still look cute.

Txt if u need me.

(Please don’t need me ;))

U got this!

You grinned and rolled her eyes, feeling the anxiety of going on a one-on-one with a guy disappear. Natalie had a point though, the pink sweater had a flirty flair to it and paired with black jeans gave a seamless look. It was an appropriate outfit for a first date if one can call it that. After grabbing your purse, you stepped out the door.

To: Natalie 6:50 pm

Wish me luck!

The restaurant you agreed on was walking distance from your apartment; so you weren’t too worried about leaving ten minutes before the meeting time. It was a small Italian restaurant that you both happened to enjoy while in college. Lin had agreed on meeting outside the place to avoid either one sitting awkwardly alone.

As you approached the restaurant, you noticed that Lin was already there, tapping away on his phone. You walked up and stood next to him. He didn’t notice.

“You millennials and your Apple phones.” You quipped.

“Guilty” Lin responded, putting his hands up. “Ready to go in and stuff our faces?”

“Ready if you are.”

You and Lin entered the restaurant, where you were immediately greeted by a hostess, who escorted you to your table.

“Here you are, your waiter will be with you shortly.” The hostess said.

“So continue about your audition story,” You said, after sitting down. “You must’ve left quite an impression.”

“You could say that, for once I was on time to something, and realized 15 seconds before my audition that my pants were on wrong. So I rushed to the bathroom, changed, with approximately 2 seconds to spare.”

“There should be an Olympic event for that.” You said, earning a laugh from Lin.

For the rest of dinner, you both listened intently on what the other had to say. Lin spoke animatedly about his upbringing in ‘The Heights’, as he called it, which you were beyond intrigued about. You could listen someone talk about their passions on end, especially from a cute boy with a equally as cute speaking voice. Before you knew it, the hostess had come over to give you the check.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the restaurant’s closing soon, I don’t mean to rush but it’s nearing midnight.” The hostess said.

“Shall we split it?” You asked, reaching for the check. Since it was closer to Lin he quickly grabbed it.

“Nope, my treat.”

“It’ll feel more like a date if we didn’t split it. And I was the one who asked you.” You pointed out.

“You’ve got a point there. But it’s all on me next time.” Lin deadpanned as he slid the check back over so you could look at it.

When will next time be? You wondered. He’s going back to California in less than 48 hours. And you’ll be in Brazil for the next 7-8 months. Maybe it was the wrong decision to go out with someone so charming, smart, and funny. It was only the second ‘date’ and you were already falling for him. The thing that you had been dreading.

“Can I walk you home?” Lin asked.

“Sure, thanks.”

You allowed him to walk you back to your apartment but neither one of you spoke. Each wondering what will come next after tonight, knowing your respective careers were demanding and happened to be on different sides of the world. As you arrived in front of your apartment, Lin was the first to speak.

“Look, I had a great time tonight, but given our circumstances, I don’t know when’ll I’ll see you again.” He whispered, his dark eyes meeting yours.

You sighed, a million things going through your head, you ultimately responded with “Let’s make an effort to stay in touch, and not make the same mistake as in undergrad without getting each other’s information.” You gave him a small smile, in which he returned.

“You can count on it, I’m pretty good with the whole tech thing.”

You leaned in for a hug, thinking a handshake would be too casual while a kiss would probably suggest something more.

“Bye, Lin.” You whispered, as you pulled away. “Have a safe flight.”

“See ya, Y/N.”

With that, you opened the door and disappeared inside your apartment, leaving Lin pining for you already.   

————————————————————————————————————————-

A Year Later

After spending 7 months in Brazil learning about the culture and reporting about different political issues, you returned home knowing your next assignment wouldn’t be for a couple more months.

You needed these couple months to figure out where she stood with Lin. During the first couple months, phone calls and Facebook messages were daily. You had both wanted to Skype but due to the time difference and hard hours, it was hard for you to find a comparable time. In the last couple months, your communication slowed to only a few texts a week and less often phone calls, since apparently Lin was in the process of getting his musical to broadway and working part time. He would still send you pictures of Shiba Inus almost everyday which he knew were your favorite dog breed.

But when you texted Lin saying that you were going back home, you never received a response, which confused you but eventually brushed it off as him being busy. You knew that long distance friendships were hard, especially after college with everyone off doing their own thing.

Not only was only keeping in touch with Lin hard, it was difficult to get through to Natalie, who was swamped with law school work. You had been back for almost four months before being able to find a time to meet up with your lawyer friend.

Finally one day in April, you finally managed to find a time. You decided to go to the bar early and wait there for Natalie finish up at her criminal law class. You had ordered a bud light, picking at the label on the bottle, when you felt the presence of someone taking a spot next to you, before you could say anything, the person spoke.

“A bud light, please.” The person told the bartender.

Your  eyes shot up when she heard the familiar voice. A voice you heard only through the occasional phone call. A person you hadn’t had a real conversation with for the past couple months. A person who ignored your text when you had explicitly said you’ll be back. You looked to the side and there he was, Lin, with his ever messy hair and eye bags, ordering the same type of beer as he did in college.

“Lin.” You breathed.

The actor turned to you, his face lighting up when he saw who had said his name.

“Hey…it’s been a while.”

“What are you doing here?!” You shrieked with a mix of excitement, anger, and shock. How dare he ignore you and then show up? Of all the bars, you run into each other at the same one, giving ‘of all the gin joints’ a true meaning.

“Well to tell you the truth, I quit the acting gig in LA.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “I’m sorry, WHAT?”

“Uh, yeah, didn’t want to pursue something that probably wasn’t going anywhere, so I came back here, looking for another opportunity-maybe really focusing on the musical. In all honesty, I wanted to see you, you’ve been on my mind the whole the whole time I was out West. Seeing those Brazil pictures on Facebook was really something. Doing what you love, it’s incredible and inspiring really. I know our paths are extremely different, but I want to make an us happen.”

You stared at him, taking in every word of his confession.You never experienced someone, much less a guy reveal his true feelings to you-willing to quit a job for you. You were only 24, you had your whole life ahead of you, and this wonderful guy just appears and ruins all that by quitting his job and wanting to be with you-travel with you. All of this was absurd. You couldn’t let that happen so you shook your head.

“Listen, Lin, I like you. A lot actually, but we only graduated college less than two years ago, we only gotten to know each other through technology. As much fun as our brief face-to-face interactions were, you can’t give up your dream of being the next Shakespeare, continue with your play and acting–for me. I’m never in one place for long, my office is out there.” You gestured around and continued. “So Lin, do what you love, keep writing, but be you, and you’ll know when the right time for an us is.”  

Lin’s face was unreadable “I guess you’re right, Y/N. See you around.” He sighed, and left the bar.

What you didn’t tell him was your next assignment would be in New York, where you had found a permanent job there, working as an editor for the New York Times.

————————————————————————————————————————-

2 Weeks Later.

“Hello, I am looking for a Lin-Manuel Miranda, I believe he works here?” You asked the concierge at the front desk of an impressive looking New York studio lobby.

“Ah, yes, is he expecting you?” The concierge inquired, looking at an appointment book.

“I’m a friend, tell him… Natalie is here to see him.” You lied.

“OK, give me a moment.”

The concierge pressed a few buttons and said. “Mr. Miranda, a young lady named Natalie is here to see you.” She paused, allowing him to speak, then nodded. “You can go right up, 11th floor.”

“Thank you.”  

The elevator ride up to his office gave you time to think. Of course you were nervous, you haven’t spoken to Lin since that night at the bar 2 weeks ago. Natalie had told you that he was heart broken, but you did the right thing. Lin couldn’t give up his whole career to be with you by dropping everything and wanting to travel with you.

The elevator finally dinged and you stepped out and walked down the hall until she saw the door that read 11C. Under that it read, “Lin-Manuel Miranda” You grinned to herself, so he has his own dressing room, you then hesitantly knocked on the door.

“Come on in!” His voice rang from within.

You turned the door handle with shaking hands.

“Nat-oh, Y/N?” His voice was filled with hurt and confusion when he realized it was you.

“Before you say anything, I came here to admit something: I actually got an editing job in New York, and will be moving here in a couple months. The only reason why I didn’t say anything before was that you took me by surprise, showing up to the bar like that. After not speaking directly for so long took a minute for me to process. I know I’m doing the same to you right now, which is completely unfair but I needed time to think and realize that there should be an us.” You rambled.

“Really? You got a job in New York, to be with someone who happens to be working on a play here? And 2 weeks ago when that same someone asked you, you full on shut them down? Leaving them to reevaluate entire life. Huh. Funny how that works.” Lin said, even with his somewhat scathing tone, you still recognized a playfulness to it.

“We were never good at the whole timing thing.” You confessed, noticing the distance between you two has diminished. “I like you, Lin Manuel.”

“I like you too Y/N,” Lin confirmed, “but I have to ask again, is this the right time for an us?”

“Let’s just give it a shot, bud light boy.” You said, closing the space between you and Lin.

[danasukontarak]

Dana’s Travel Diary: Bali’n Out in Indonesia

International travel ideas often seem lofty, unattainable, reserved only for posh socialites with daddy’s bread to blow. I know I’m not the only 20-something who ever felt relegated to perusing Wikitravel or thumbing through the pages of an issue of Afar Magazine to get my affordable adventure fix. Admittedly, successful and seamless international travel also requires a decently-paying job and some tenacity for saving (at least one or the other). Before working at my current job and having both a salary and bountiful PTO, travel was not impossible, but far more limited by time and money. That said, the place I’d always had my eye on, the place that seemed overflowing with natural and spiritual wonder, was Bali.

The most popular travel destination in all of Indonesia, Bali is a quirky little anomaly of an island within a country with a notoriously harsh governmental regime. The people of Indonesia began to elect their president just 13 years ago in 2004. The penalties for drug crimes are harsh. On the trip, we only uttered the word “ganja” once, to a tatted-up taxi driver with ear gauges. His reply: no. As a man vacationing from Jakarta told me on Kuta Beach, cracking open a can of Bintang (Indonesia’s Heineken), “You know Bali, but you don’t know Indonesia.”

The people in Bali practice Balinese Hinduism. In fact, they are the only part of Indonesia that is not predominantly Muslim. The women wore colorful three-quarter lace shirts, patterned sarongs, and sashes eloquently tied around their slim waists. They walked with baskets on their heads, babies slung round their shoulders. Guys wore patterned headbands and also wore artfully tied sarongs around their waists. Frangipani and incense offerings in stapled banana leaf trays litter the sidewalks and windowsills of nearly every building we passed in Bali. The Balinese women prepare these at multiple times throughout the day, a pleasant floral reminder of this island’s unique culture. 

I paid for my flight in early October, for a trip I took in late January. I was able to find a roundtrip ticket for the 10,000 mile journey for $750. (That’s only 7.5 cents per mile!) Tickets can run an upwards of $1,200 from D.C. to Denpasar, so I grabbed these before the weird online airline algorithm and Big Brother saw hearts in my eyes and hiked up the price before I could click submit. Reminder: always browse flights on Incognito Mode. 

Before traveling, my research was limited. Basic research is necessary, of course, such as what the currency and conversion rate is (Indonesian rupiah [IDR], roughly 13,000 per USD), or where your hotel is in relation to the airport, or what season and general climate it will be during your stay. I talked to my friend Claudia, who’d been to Bali a few months before. I checked out a few major tourist destinations online (the must-sees), and left the rest up to fate, as I tend to do. 

We departed from Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C. I traveled with my ex-boyfriend, the awkward result of planning for trips in super advance but not planning on a breakup. It worked out, though. I was glad to be traveling internationally not just with another person, but a man. I never felt endangered at all during my trip, but I had no idea what the general atmosphere would be like. There were a few notable times I was relieved to have had his male presence (i.e. when I panicked over a lizard in the hotel room; when we wanted to travel by motor scooter through congested streets; when I had to carry a bowling ball of a fresh coconut through Ubud). Major media would love to have you believe that, as a traveling woman, you’ll be kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. I feel you run this risk at equivalent levels no matter where you go. TBH. No need to be scared or paranoid, but also remember: a little common sense and alertness go a long way when traveling.

Our flight was 22 hours, collectively. The route was D.C. to Detroit to Incheon (South Korea) and finally to Bali. The meals on board the Korean Air flight from Detroit to Incheon were hit or miss. Bibimbap was a hit. Everything else (seafood and potatoes, beef and vegetables, etc.) was an extreme miss. During one meal, I opened an applesauce-cup of the softest tofu I’d ever seen in my life - it was almost liquid. I looked around to see if the Asians on board were on board with this virtual tofu smoothie. It looked like no cup was left uneaten, besides mine.

When we arrived in Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, we were approached immediately by a seemingly friendly and helpful taxi driver. It was past midnight and he stuck by us quite adamantly as we fumbled with our phones as they attempted to pick up Indonesian cell service. He offered his phone so that I could call my hotel and arrange an impromptu middle-of-the-night check-in (which I hadn’t prepared for). I watched the driver, Norman, wave away other people also appearing to be in need of his assistance. What I figured was that he had an eye for Americans, or rather, our American dollars. In my limited experience, the most money you will spend on transportation whenever traveling internationally, is the cab ride from the airport to your lodging destination. Norman charged us $55. We didn’t ask the price prior to departing, but we’d assumed it was cheap because of the way he described pricing of hostels and homestays. This was the single most expensive charge during our time in Bali; it is an unheard-of taxi price once actually anywhere in Bali besides the airport.

When searching for hotels prior to the trip, I saw that the average price of a pretty nice hotel over there was not much more that what you’d pay for a shitty hotel here. I used Expedia points (earned from flights over the past few years) to get a discount on already-affordable 4-star resorts. The first hotel we stayed at was Blue Karma Resort in Ubud. They were very accommodating and welcomed us in at nearly 2 in the morning, showing us to a very lovely hut-style room with outdoor shower and cabana. In the morning, we also saw that there was a beautiful shared infinity pool, and a nice on-site restaurant with yummy breakfast and fresh fruit salad. 

The hotel was in a somewhat remote area, but shuttle/taxi/scooter service was abundant. In Ubud, there are many street markets with cool pants (I bought three), keychains, native trinkets and the like. Ask “How much?” but be prepared to be given a price marked up with the Gringo tax. Counter with a reasonable offer, and they’ll most likely be glad to accept. It’s cool to negotiate with vendors and taxi drivers - do not expect to negotiate in restaurants with posted prices, or anywhere else where you are actually billed. 

Also, tipping is a nice gesture, but service fees are generally built in to all charges, especially at hotels and restaurants. I did, however, leave tips for the cleaning staff at each hotel - just a dollar or two, which I’d read is the equivalent of many of their entire day’s salaries. 

In Ubud, we walked down a busy street to get to the Sacred Monkey Forest. Taxi drivers beckon for your business every three steps. Stray dogs dodge pedestrians skillfully, while others nap between scooters and storefront steps. Entry to the monkey forest is about 3 USD, and vendors inside sell bunches of bananas to feed to them. If you hold banana above your head, they’ll climb up your body to grab it. If you aren’t vigilant, monkeys will snatch any loose items from your pockets or hands. We lost a pack of rolling papers to one stealthy monkey, who then pulled it apart like an accordion and abandoned it upon discovering it was inedible. 

On the second day started at 2 A.M., when we left in a shuttle to go on the Mt. Batur sunrise trek. Mt. Batur is an active volcano that has erupted as recently as 2000. It’s highest point is about a mile up, and the ascent takes about 2.5 hours. The tour company fed us a banana pancake and strong coffee for breakfast, and the hike began in quite the anticlimactic fashion as we stumbled along behind a 19-year-old Balinese guide, criss-crossing paths with many other tour groups. I began to sweat and lose my breath after about 45 minutes, before the hard part even started. Several parts of the path are dangerously rocky, while others are sandy, slippery, and almost impossible to navigate without falling straight down on your ass. When we reached the top, we were given banana sandwiches and an egg boiled in volcano steam (still liquid and almost raw - I fed it to a stray volcano dog). The view was incredible, despite our guide having doubted the sunrise would be visible on such a cloudy day. 

The walk down was easier but still not easy. Our guide held my hand to help me down tricky areas, and asked my ex, “You jealous?”

Food in Bali was delicious and cheap. It seemed that most of the warungs (Indonesian word for small restaurant/eatery) had similar menus, and at most, you could get appetizers, entrees, and beverages for under 15 USD. We ate enough curry, satay, and sambal to last a lifetime.

The next morning, we rode on the backs of scooters to the hidden treasure that is Tegenungan Waterfalls. The ride was pleasantly risky. There’s nothing like accepting a motor scooter ride from a stranger in a foreign country. We passed a butterfly farm and lots of places that sold Buddha statues and carved stone items. We reached the waterfall at about 10 A.M., and a long set of stairs led down to a gorgeous sight.

At that time in the morning, only a few people were there already. The crash of the waterfall was thunderous and humbling. I approached with caution, wading at a respectful distance, enjoying God’s beauty.

The scooter ride back into Ubud was hectic, because we happened to run smack dab into the Saraswati festival, which happens twice a year. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and learning. My kind of gal. People were flocking out of temples en masse in traditional Balinese dress, and there was a scooter traffic jam amidst the celebration. My driver was incredibly skillful and brazen, getting through the traffic by any means, sidewalk driving, and truck blocking necessary.

Back at Blue Karma, we packed our bags and headed to Nusa Dua to check into our second hotel, Jimbaran Cliffs Private Resort and Spa. The pictures online for this resort looked amazing, its primary draw being the private infinity pool on the terrace of each room. The first thing I did was jump in with a plate of complimentary fresh papaya, pineapple and watermelon.

The area where we stayed in Nusa Dua was a lot different than Ubud, a lot more like a “regular” city. Our hotel, however, was so hidden in the cliffs that we got a taxi driver stuck in a narrow brick alley trying to find it. 

We heard that Aussie surfers and locals at Kuta Beach had the best and easiest access to Bali’s famed magic mushrooms. Though marijuana is highly illegal, shrooms are pretty much normalized. Officially, they became illegal a few years ago, but its availability in Bali is akin to the availability of weed in D.C. On Kuta Beach, we were offered shrooms in Coca-Cola, which we tried but didn’t feel too much. Kuta Beach was extremely dirty, with trash lining the shore and stray dogs snarling at each other. Little old lady vendors won’t leave you alone until you agree to a henna tattoo or a foot massage or a black stone bracelet that’s “cheap, cheap for you.” 

The shopping malls near Kuta Beach are nice, and it was kind of comforting to browse through Zara and H&M while halfway across the globe from home. On our last day, we rented a scooter and took it solo through the city, filling up our tank from a lady on the side of the road with an Absolut bottle full of petrol.

We had a big seafood dinner by the beach on our last night, and headed to the airport for a 1 A.M. flight back to Incheon, and then Detroit, and then D.C. Aside from a slight fiasco with Customs in Detroit over a dragonfruit I’d tried to bring back with me, the journey was alright. This was the second stamp in my adult passport and well worth the extreme jetlag. 

It’s a trip I recommend for anyone with any shred of a sense of adventure to go on, and somewhere I’d definitely consider returning to by myself. If you are considering planning an excursion to beautiful Bali, here is a summary of what I’ve learned, some handy tips based on my experience: 

1: Search flights often and purchase flights early - You can also sign up for price alerts through most travel websites. Remember to browse flights in incognito mode! 2: Know what to expect, but know that you won’t know what to expect - Do SOME research, but more importantly, just be openminded with common sense. 3: Plan ahead for transportation from the airport upon arrival - Check with your hotel before your trip to see if complimentary shuttle/taxi service from the airport is provided! You may also want to call and arrange a taxi ride beforehand if possible, to avoid the higher fees at the airport. 4: Stay in more than one hotel and explore multiple areas while in Bali - Each place has a different vibe. Stay in at least two areas. DON’T stay in a Hilton or other American chain hotel - you’ll be cheating yourself. 5: Negotiate prices, and check multiple options - It’s ok to negotiate prices in most instances. Vendors will always start off high. 6: Do everything, immerse yourself in the culture, be kind to locals - It would be a good idea to download Google Translate and download the Indonesian language library, just in case you don’t have service and need to translate something for a local. 7: Be careful with shrooms and DON’T check for weed - Weed is a no-no in Bali, but shrooms can be risky (especially if you are unaware of the potency and dosage). 8: Don’t try to bring a dragonfruit home with you - CBP will be on that ass.

[salmenzo]

Weekly Update - Monday, January 25, 2021

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

Dalai Lama

Good Morning,

The temperatures certainly did drop this weekend.  While the sun was out, it was very deceiving.  I had to run my weekly errands, and I got some extra cardio in by running from the car to the stores.  The wind was the worst part in my area.  Regardless, it was good to try to take a little break from the hectic pace of the work week.  I hope that you too had some time, even if cold, to decompress this weekend.

Budget Update

The next meeting of the Board of Education to discuss the budget is this Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 6 p.m.  The meeting can be found at the link below.

All meetings can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/wpsconnections/live.

As I shared last week, the budget maintains all services from this year.  There is a slight reduction in teaching staff due to enrollment decreases; however, we always monitor those numbers as to not exceed district established class sizes guidelines.

Vaccination Update

As I shared in the update Friday, I stopped by the clinic on Thursday at the Wallingford Senior Center to witness the process.  I was very impressed by the hard work of Steve Civitelli and his team.  The clinic was efficient and very well organized.  We are still holding out hope that we can begin to vaccinate our staff some time in February.  This is solely dependent on the Governor's opening of 1b. for educators and also the availability of vaccines.  I will keep you posted.

Again, if you are 75 or older, the Wallingford Health Department will be in contact soon to schedule an appointment.  The next group will be those who are 65 or older in our district.  Again, that will open once the Governor releases that option.  The remainder of staff will be scheduled following that.

As I have also shared with some who have reached out to me directly, you are welcome to access the vaccine through other channels, as long as you qualify for the vaccine.

10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine

The Sheehan High School Dramatic Arts Society has been working hard, “virtually” on their newest dramatic production. They will be “streaming'' 10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine  on February 19 & 20, 2021 beginning at 7:00 PM. A streaming ticket for this event is $20.00 and will allow you to stream to your TV and have your family watch the show. Streaming Tickets can be purchased from our website: http://bit.ly/SheehanDrama. Each ticket has its own unique streaming code. 

If you're spending a long time at home, it can be a challenge to keep yourself occupied. Luckily, 10 Ways to Survive Life in a Quarantine is full of handy solutions, from putting on a musical with your dog, to becoming an announcer for a made-up sport, to falling in love with an inanimate object. Hey, we promised handy solutions - we never said they wouldn't be strange. Whether or not you're inspired to take up origami and squirrel observation, this play is sure to bring a laugh to anyone who finds themselves unexpectedly indoors.

Sheehan’s production stars:  

Arianna Kaplan ‘21, Emma Connors ‘21, Ryan Villano ‘22, Vincent Atienza ‘22, Heather Gaydowen ‘22, Jacob Shook ‘22, Julie Rochniak ‘22, Marissa Capozzo ‘22, Travis Karosi ‘23, Emily Conte ‘23, Hailey dela Chevrotiere ‘’23, Julian Bingham ‘23, Ava Kaplan ‘23, Ava Lewellyn ‘23, Ronan Liu ‘24, Jesse Heinrich ‘24, Trinity Duffey ‘24, and our hosts for the evening Shane Kaplan ‘21 and Shannon McKenna ‘22. 

We hope to “see” you there!!!!!!

Another Capstone Project for Your Support

My name is Hitika Patel, and I am a Capstone student at Sheehan High School. For my Capstone project, I am creating a multicultural support group where first generation/immigrant teenagers can vent, discuss, and celebrate our journeys and struggles through adapting to the dominant, Americanized culture.  During these meetings, we will hold fun activities, competitions, games, and tutoring sessions so we can connect with other first generation/immigrant teenagers who share similar struggles. 

These meetings will be every other week on Sunday mornings, and the first meeting will be March 7th via Google Meet! If you may know of any fellow first generation/immigrant teenagers of Wallingford who may be interested in joining my group, please email hjpatel@wallingfordschools.org. 

Commitment - Conviction - Consideration

Below are this week’s staff shout outs!

I would like to just take a minute and say THANK YOU!!! I've wanted to send an email out for sometime now but just have gotten to it. Thank you to everyone in the district for working so hard and putting in so many hours since March to make this school system work. Yes, things may not be perfect, but I think what we have here in Wallingford is wonderful.

My kids go to Pond Hill and Stevens and I have to say they are excited to go to school everyday and come home happy!!! In this time we are facing and with all the challenges I'd have to say there is success there.  Even when Pond Hill was in virtual learning my daughter enjoyed it.

My daughter is in 5th grade with Ms. Parr and she just enjoys going to class. The bond they have built within the classroom has made this easier even though the teachers are overwhelmed and they are making it work. 

My son is in 1st grade with Ms. Coppola. Even though this is her first year at Stevens and facing a whole group of new challenges with a new school and covid I'd have to say she is doing amazing as well. He is learning and advancing and comes home excited to tell me what he has learned.

Like I said in the beginning I Thank You all.  From everyone in my kids' schools to the Board of Ed and Dr. Menzo for everything you have done for the kids and the community.

Good Morning! Although I'd like to list every single staff member here at Stevens, I thought I'd choose some of our newly hired COVID related support staff that have come on board this year to assist during these challenging times.

Deisy Garcia - PT Building Asst.

Devin McCarthy - PT Building Asst.

Cathy DeJesus - Covid Cleaning Team

I would also like to give a big shout out to our Custodian Nick Tremaglio for his tireless work in keeping our building clean and safe and our Nurse Suzanne Pallotta for assisting staff, students and families during this difficult and sensitive time.

One more shout out for our School Principal Mrs. Kristina Kiely for all of her hard work, support and ability to navigate and guide us all through this time, not an easy task, but she does it all with respect and a smile..

I'd like to shout out to other staff members not directly here at Stevens, but in our district as well for the outstanding job they're doing though this process:

Sal Menzo

Linda Lavelle

Jennifer Krass

Sharon Bukowski

Dave Bryant

just to mention a few....too many to list!

My daughter LOVES her classes with Mr. Robideau and Mrs. Reed. I always overhear laughter and screams mixed with a ton of learning! They are both upbeat and engaging and really know how to get these kids involved and create a real sense of togetherness while everyone is apart.

Her thoughts - “They are both fun and they get that things aren’t easy or normal right now and they are patient and helpful. They know it’s stressful and they do whatever they can to joke and make activities that are fun. Like Mrs. Reed’s Kahoots game gets so competitive and we get so excited! Or Mr. Robideau made an assignment based on the LED string lights we all have in our rooms! They make class enjoyable and I think everyone in class would agree.“

I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation for my daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Megan Lemieux. She goes above and beyond every single day for my daughter and her classmates. Most children come home and when asked about their day typical responses are “good, fine, I don’t know.” However, the second my daughter gets in the car she tells me about all the fun activities she did that day and every morning she tells me how excited she is to go to school and play with her teachers and friends. Every lesson is presented in a fun and engaging way she does not realize she is learning. Mrs. Lemieux is a one of a kind teacher and I truly believe my daughter’s love of school and learning, especially during these unprecedented times, is because of how wonderful a teacher she is.  

I recently saw an email pertaining to positive shout outs for teachers.  I wanted to send a huge shout out to Mrs. Meyer, who is a first grade teacher at Highland. She has gone above and beyond for my daughter. As a result my daughter is having the best year ever. I know first hand how different and difficult it is this year (being a teacher myself). Mrs. Meyer has made my daughter feel safe and loved and she wants to go to school even on the weekends. She has learned so much in such a short period of time and it makes me so happy as a parent. I feel so lucky to live in such a wonderful town and I also want to thank you for everything!!

Mrs. Meyer and her para, Ms. Calage, have done so much for my daughter this year and I truly can't thank them enough.

I've been teaching 19 years myself and my step mom was a teacher for 40 years (worked in West Haven with Judy and Maria actually). So teaching is something we cherish!

Thank you, again for a great year!

Hello Dr. Menzo and Mr. Zocco,

I would like to share with you that I felt the parent-teacher conferences I had on Tuesday night were great.  All of the teachers I met with (there were 12 of them) answered any questions I had, gave me some insight as to how my children are doing in class and what I can do to support them, and most importantly, wanted to check on how my kids were doing outside of school concerning the pandemic.  My two children are doing well so some of the conferences were only for a short time, but all of the teachers were genuinely interested in the well-being of my children. 

These teachers are going the extra mile for all students and I wanted you to be aware.  I am so glad my children attend Sheehan High School.   Thank you for everything you are doing.  

Make it a great week!

Sal

Dr. Salvatore F. Menzo

Superintendent

Email - smenzo@wallingfordschools.org

Twitter - @SalMenzo

Wallingford Public School District

 Wallingford Public School System Mission

To inspire through innovative and engaging experiences that lead all learners to pursue and discover their personal best.

 THE INFORMATION IN THIS TRANSMISSION IS PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL AND INTENDED ONLY FOR THE RECIPIENT LISTED ABOVE.  If you have received this transmission in error, please NOTIFY ME IMMEDIATELY BY E-MAIL AND DELETE THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE. Responses provided by this E-Mail are SIMILAR to ordinary telephone or face-to-face conversations.

[celebritylive]

Lady Gaga is uniting famous faces to put on the One World: Together at Home special amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly two weeks after she announced the star-studded benefit special, the singer, 34, led the two-hour broadcast, which was hosted by late-night stars Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.

Gaga kicked off the benefit concert with an uplifting cover of Nat King Cole’s classic “Smile” from her home. “What I’d like to do tonight is give you permission, at least for a moment, to smile,” she said.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed unbelievable acts of bravery, courage and kindness all around the world in response to this global pandemic. Everyone from the doctors and nurses on the frontlines to the volunteer mental health specialists, grocery store workers, delivery workers, mail workers have all shown unprecedented levels of kindness throughout the fight against COVID-19,” she said at the top of the event.

“We want to get to the other side of this pandemic and I know you do too. But tonight is not a fundraiser so put your wallets away,” Gaga added. “It’s our love letter to the world.”

Thank you, @LadyGaga, for your commitment to the @WHO and healthcare workers around the world.

Join us and take the pledge to stay home at https://t.co/26xVXSb0qy. #TogetherAtHome pic.twitter.com/udStJRw3Q3

— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) April 19, 2020

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RELATED: Lady Gaga and Global Citizen Raise $35 Million and Announce Virtual Benefit Show for Coronavirus Relief

View this post on Instagram THE SHOW STARTS NOW!!! Btw look at that kiss

– #ladygaga #littlemonster #ritabot #anywhere #thefame #thefamemonster #bornthisway #artpop #joanne #love #peace #liveshow #live #girlsgirlsgirls #roararepublic #enigma #stupidlove

A post shared by Little Monster & Ritabot (@gaga_rita) on Apr 18, 2020 at 5:01pm PDT

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Hours before the start of the benefit, the Oscar winner tearfully thanked fans on Instagram Live. “I love you all so much, I love the world so much. What Global Citizen has done with the World Health Organization is so beautiful,” she said.

“I’m so grateful to the healthcare workers and the medical workers, the grocery store workers and delivery people, postal workers, all the other non-profits that are working so hard. I just want you to know that this is really a true love letter all of you all over the world. I hope it’s a reminder of the kindness that’s occurring right now, you’re all so special. The world is a special place,” she continued.

The star later added, “Since I was a little girl I always wanted to make people happy and I didn’t know why, but I think I know today. I love you very much.”

“What I’d like to do tonight is give you permission, at least for a moment, to smile.”

@ladygaga #TogetherAtHome https://t.co/F6SR52rqSO

— Born This Way (@BTWFoundation) April 19, 2020

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Gaga previously revealed that she and Global Citizen have already raised $35 million for the World Health Organization.

The A-list special will raise money through the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to support local and regional charities providing food, shelter and healthcare to those in need amid the ongoing health crisis.

During the special, there will be appearances and performances by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, J Balvin, Andrea Bocelli, Burna Boy, Billie Eilish and FINNEAS, Elton John, John Legend, Chris Martin and Alanis Morissette.

Pianist Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Paul McCartney, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Eddie Vedder and Stevie Wonder will also be featured, along with David Beckham, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Kerry Washington, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Shah Rukh Khan.

In addition, Alicia Keys, Amy Poehler, Awkwafina, Camila Cabello, Celine Dion, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, LL COOL J, Lupita Nyong’o, Matthew McConaughey, Oprah Winfrey, Pharrell Williams, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Usher and Victoria Beckham are set to make cameos.

Along with celebrity cameos, frontline doctors, nurses and families from around the world will be headlined.

RELATED: How Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga and More Celebrities Are Social Distancing During the Coronavirus Pandemic

We’re LIVE! Tune in to One World: #TogetherAtHome for performances from some of the world’s biggest artists, stories from frontline workers, and insights from health experts. It's all in support of the @WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Watch now: https://t.co/Yu68OWPvHG

— Global Citizen (@GlblCtzn) April 18, 2020

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Gaga, who has been social distancing with her boyfriend Michael Polansky, recently spoke with Fallon about planning the special, telling him: “We’re going to have amazing hosts and and the truth is that we’re also going to do a lot of other things that are going to be different and exciting, and this is what I really want to do with the show.”

While Gaga has been keeping busy and organizing the special, her little monsters will have to wait a little longer to hear her new album, Chromatica.

In March, she told fans that she would be delaying the release of her upcoming sixth LP due to the global health crisis. “I wanted to tell you, that after a lot of deliberation, I’ve made the incredibly tough decision to postpone the release of Chromatica,” Gaga said, adding that the record, previously planned to drop on April 10, would be coming out later this year. “I will announce a new 2020 release date soon.”

RELATED: Tired of TV? PEOPLE’s Favorite Music, Podcasts and Audiobooks to Enjoy Listening to While Social Distancing

Gaga continued, “This is such a hectic and scary time for all of us, and while I believe art is one of the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn’t feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic. Instead I prefer that we spend this time focusing on finding solutions. It’s important to me that the attention is on getting essential medical equipment to healthcare professionals, making sure kids who depend on public schools for meals get the assistance they need, and that we help those who will be financially impacted by this pandemic.”

Chromatica will be Gaga’s first new album since 2016’s Joanne, which became her fourth consecutive record to reach number one in the United States. For her 2018 film A Star Is Born, Gaga also wrote and recorded a few tracks, including the Oscar-winning song, “Shallow.”

In February, the Grammy winner released “Stupid Love,” the first single off of Chromatica (though the song had leaked back in January).

The One World: Together at Home special will air on April 18 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET/12 a.m. GMT.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.

from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/2XTgcIO

[thisdaynews]

Christian Eriksen: I was the black sheep at Spurs

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/christian-eriksen-i-was-the-black-sheep-at-spurs/

Christian Eriksen: I was the black sheep at Spurs

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Christian Eriksen on leaving Tottenham for Inter Milan

Christian Eriksen says he was “the black sheep” at Tottenham for being “very honest” over running his contract down at the club.

Denmark midfielder Eriksen joined Inter Milan for £16.9m last month, ending six and a half years with Spurs.

The 27-year-old’s admission he wanted to leave in the aftermath of the Champions League final defeat by Liverpool led some fans to turn on him.

“I did get the blame for a lot of stuff, for being the bad guy,” he said.

His contract at Spurs had been set to expire this summer.

By the time Inter boss Antonio Conte offered an exit route, Eriksen says he had grown tired of the speculation about his future and weary of the finger-pointing from the stands.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Sport, Eriksen outlined his frustrations. In addition, he explained why he feels the treatment he received came because he wanted to be honest, the excitement he feels at joining Inter and Sunday’s derby with AC Milan at the San Siro.

Football Daily podcast: Eriksen’s Inter view and a Newcastle Cup run

Is there a sense of relief to get all the talk of your future over and get playing at a club without all the background noise?

Eriksen: “Yes. England, for the last few years, was very hectic. After what I said in the summer, it was just about ‘when is he going to leave?’ Every game it was ‘Is he leaving? Is he not leaving?’ Of course, a lot of people were speaking about it.

“Even the fans you see on the street were like ‘Thank you, goodbye and good luck’. But I was still there. It was a bit weird. In my head and for my body, it is good that I am in a new place and I can start again.”

Can you wind back to the Champions League final? That was obviously a disappointing night. (Mauricio) Pochettino raised doubts about your future. You gave the interview when you said you were thinking about a fresh challenge. The conjecture went on for weeks. Did it play on your mind? Did that bother or affect you?

“I wouldn’t say it affected me. In England, when your contract is shorter, it is like you have to leave now. You are gone. In the end I played about 30 games that were like goodbye games. It was like ‘this might be his last game’, ‘this might be his last game’. It kept rolling.

“In my head I was ready to try something new but felt if nothing came, I was still ready to play for my place. I was not a different player in that sense. But I was in and out of the team. However, even if I had a four-year contract, this season would have been difficult after the Champions League final.”

Eriksen made 305 appearances for Tottenham, scoring 69 times and played in the 2019 Champions League final, which Spurs lost 2-0 to Liverpool

It seemed the problems Tottenham had were pushed back to you and your form…

“But that is the thing. If you have a short contract, you will be the black sheep. Of course, I did the interview. I was very honest. I felt I had to be honest. I didn’t want to hide like a lot of players do. Everyone is different. I was honest. I wanted to say it out loud.

“I did get the blame for a lot of stuff, for being the bad guy. I read I was the bad person in the changing room, that ever since I said I wanted to leave, it was no good me being there. To be honest, over the last few years, if anything came up, any player would think about leaving but I was the guy who said it publicly.”

Jose Mourinho didn’t really settle the situation down. In a very Jose way, he was nice but there was always a ‘but’. Did that affect things at all?

“No. When the window is not open, there can only be talk. There cannot be anything concrete. I think Mourinho did well. He could have said ‘he wants to leave, so he is not going to play any more’. He didn’t do that.

“After I told him where my feelings were and what I would like to do, he told me just to be happy and if I was needed I would play. I was needed in a few games where I did make a difference. It was more as an extra rather than in the starting XI of course.”

When you talk about Tottenham, it does seem to have unravelled very quickly after finishing last season on such a high…

“Yes. It did. The Champions League final was such a special moment. In the history of Tottenham, it was the first time. To be there was so nice and beautiful. But you lose and the next day it is the end of the world. That is how it goes.

“Afterwards it was difficult. People were still sad from the Champions League final when the season started. After you get a few bad results, then you go into a spiral you are not used to and it was difficult to come back up.

“But if you look at the Premier League, there is only one team that is really flying. All the others are trying to find their place, not only Tottenham. Some seasons are like that.

“The history of the last five years is of Tottenham being where they have not been before for a long time. It was not a time to end but, in a way, it just came along which was something we didn’t expect and didn’t want.”

So we get to January. When did you find out, when did you think, you would be leaving?

“Not until it got serious. In the end it comes down to what Tottenham wants to have and what Inter, or any other club, want to pay.

“In the end you are controlled by Tottenham. You are controlled by [chairman Daniel] Levy. He says yes or no. You try to be as professional as you can be and not to force anything through in any way.”

Was it always Inter Milan? There were a few clubs mentioned. Manchester United were routinely mentioned…

“For a few years but it was never really likely. We did speak to them of course and we did hear what was possible and what wasn’t possible. But, in the end, me personally, I wanted a new challenge. To stay in the Premier League would have been an easy solution.

“Of course, staying at Tottenham would also have been a solution but, for me, it just came down to wanting to try a new challenge in a new country. Once Inter came up it really wasn’t a difficult choice.”

It is amazing how many former Premier League players are here…

“Yes. And a bit of the English culture straightaway and a bit of the English language. I am not the only one who can’t understand everything in Italian. It is funny that so many players have come over – and also at the same club.

“That doesn’t happen often. I don’t know if it makes it easier. You can speak with them about where you are going to live, what kind of house you are going to look for, what has happened, what hasn’t happened. You speak more with them and you can speak the language with them.

“But it doesn’t really matter. It depends on the group you come into. So far, it is a very nice group of people and players.”

Eriksen only scored three times for Tottenham this season before he joined Inter Milan

It is an exciting time to join Inter Milan. They are challenging for the title, have got Europe are still in the Coppa Italia…

“Yes. Historically, it is not that easy to come in January. Everyone is at the same fitness level because they have trained together all season. I need to fit in with how they play and learn the different things they do.”

And this weekend, you couldn’t have a much bigger game to play in and any team with Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a bit of star quality about it…

“He brings a name with him of course. And there is (fellow Dane) Simon Kjaer. I have spoken to him, even before, when he was over here and we were speaking to Inter back then.

“He was not that far away at Atalanta. It will be the first time I have played against him so that will be fun. Hopefully we will show where we are in the league.”

Read More

[baddestseahorse]

Can my first post be a rant? Fuck it, it’s kind of a rant.

So here’s the thing... The past year or so, maybe two, I’ve come to learn quite a lot about myself. I suppose many of us feel the same after significant events, tough times, and some reflection. I should add that I have always been learning oodles of things along the way, breakthroughs here and there, but this most recent set of events, it’s significant - but I’ll come to that later. 

The thing about all this learning though? It’s very important what you do with that information. Knowledge is power! I don’t think I’ll ever try to stop learning about myself. I do love to learn other things as well, however this self-discovery of (continuously) figuring out how my brain works, what I need, what tendencies I may have, etc. - it’s all led (and still leading) me to become a better, healthier, and happier human: Keanu Reeves. Just kidding, but I do want to continue to become a better version of myself. That shouldn’t be that hard, right? You’d be surprised. 

My whole life has felt like I’ve been struggling along, trying to keep up, catch up, trying to get by and make it through the day. Not to say I haven’t had happy times in my life, but this shit is tiring. Truly I thought I was just a loser who didn’t try hard enough - that’s what everyone told me so it must be true right? Study more, pay more attention, don’t be so lazy, try harder, eat all your food or your cousin won’t play with you, concentrate more, why can’t you be more like so-and-so? I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m not like so-and-so for a long ass time now, but thanks (and btw, so-and-so ain’t all that great either). 

So fast forward to years of struggling, awkward parent-teacher interviews where they ask me What’s wrong with you??? I’m 11, how the fuck am I supposed to know? Hundreds of late attendances, skipped classes, calling in sick to work (interestingly never called in sick to work for ages until last year), no motivation. Still didn’t figure out how to be like so-and-so, guys. What did I do? I made some awesome friends... turns out they too were struggling. 

Once they opened up, I had come to realise it was more than that. We were not struggling. We were suffering. I was suffering. The whole fucking time. Things started clicking in the back of my mind. Memories came flooding back. The entire time everyone was asking what’s wrong with me and all I could do was give them a shy little “I don’t know.” Or make something up because I had no idea what the hell else to say - I had been suffering from depression and (social) anxiety, and I had no idea. 

But I was a bit more grown, things were working out for the better, I had figured out how to manage things enough to get by, although not the mot healthy way, but hey, it was all self-taught. Besides, it wasn’t that bad, my friends’ mental health and anxiety attacks were far worse, and I made it this far, I had friends and held down some relationships, right? ... right? No big deal.

Hah. Big Deal. 

Fall 2017 I had been promoted (see, I was doing okay!). Sure the job I had been doing was hectic as hell and it was incredibly draining so much so that I didn’t want to speak to people or hear noises or see friends after. But this new job, it’s meant to be better. And it was... to a point. That point was our busy season + our micro-managing director of operations about to sell the business + my mental health. 

If there is any take-away from this, this is #1: DO NOT SACRIFICE YOUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING FOR A JOB THAT WOULD REPLACE YOU IN 2 WEEKS.

No, I didn’t get fired or anything, but I made a stupid sacrifice for downplaying how I felt. I worked such long hours, was overwhelmed, my coworkers were overwhelmed, it’s too late to hire and train anyone new anyway so I suffered, All I thought about was work. I was stressed and anxious 24/7, my entire body was tense and in pain all the time, I was SO tired, I barely saw my friends or family, all I wanted was to be alone for a while, but I couldn’t do that because Did I remember to add this to that file? Oh man this client’s been waiting on this for weeks. Shit did I reply to that email? I need to do that first thing tomorrow. It was constant from the moment I woke up to the moment I eventually fell asleep... if I could sleep. Did I mention I also have insomnia now? This went on for weeks, Christmas break was barely a break. Only getting Christmas day and Boxing Day off, I was barely off - my brain was at work. I don’t even remember how I managed to get anyone gifts. It was horrible. 

Early January, I got a cold, as you do in Canada. But also as you’re far more prone to getting not sleeping, being under stress, and not resting. I couldn’t call in sick, I had to work through it right? Then I’d be letting my coworkers down, they were getting work piled on them too, that’s not fair. So I went to work, and my cold never went away... for weeks. I couldn’t stop coughing and eventually I had some shortness of breath. Then some turned into a lot. A lot turned into I can’t talk for more than a minute or walk down the hall without being winded like I ran a marathon and my heart is beating so hard it’s about to join a marching band. I needed to see my doctor. Still trying to keep up with work, I made an appointment outside of work hours (I managed to not stay late, miracle!). After many back and forths to my doctor’s office, chest x-ray, blood work, even a heart ultrasound. Everything was clear... except my head. I burst into tears in my doctors office. She was always digging deeper, she confirmed what I was experiencing was all anxiety. I tried to cut back at work but it didn’t stop. It made me feel worse about myself. I broke down all the time. Eventually my doctor said enough is enough and I didn’t return to work for 5 weeks. 

At this point I couldn’t do much without thinking my legs were going to give out or I would pass out. So I was forced to do nothing and work was forced to stick it. I had 5 weeks to try to rest and get better. I started reading a book to help me learn about anxiety and and I signed up for some virtual counselling. It was rough, but finally after 3 weeks, I began to feel a little lighter, a little more energy and towards the end of the 4th week I started to feel more like myself and got to enjoy those last few days off. When I had returned, I came back to some major changes, hoping that it was for the better. It wasn’t, the environment was toxic for me and I knew I had to get out. After months and months of applications, I finally got a better job and WOW the difference is surreal.I’m much happier and have a FAR better work/life balance. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until I took myself out of there and found a healthier environment. I had gotten so used to feeling so terrible that I thought it was normal. 

 I continued therapy after I returned to work. Although it was expensive, I’m glad I did. A little hint from my therapist helped me learn that I also have ADD. ADD/ADHD gets a bad rap for being over-diagnosed to calm high energy kids down. After lots and lots of reading, it only made more sense. I have ADD.

Do you even know how many more light bulbs turned on, how many things clicked?!?!?!?!? I was blown away. And super super super sad that all this had gone on and no one really tried to help me. Not that anyone owes me anything, but when I was younger, my parents, teachers, etc. Maybe due to ignorance, mental health stigma, maybe because I was smart so I couldn’t have anything really wrong with me, lack of education on how to recognise these things. I’ll be okay. But my heart hurts for those who have no idea why the fuck their lives keep falling apart. The kids who don’t know what’s wrong with them. The kids who know but things, money, people stop them from getting the help/treatment/medication/shoulder that they need. The adults who have so much potential and still have no idea and things just won’t come together and they think it’s all their own fault. For all the assholes who ask why they can’t just get their shit together - they had it together but 49736584275642 things came up and they forgot about it for a while.

It’s really hard fighting your own brain. So yeah, I won’t ever stop trying to learn about myself. I want to work with my brain, be happier, healthier, and an overall better person for myself, and those around me. 

This blog is about it be that journey. I have lots of goals to crush this year and I need to make it happen!

Wish me luck!

[stem-175-blog]

What it’s like to be a 11th grader (or 12th grader) student and how to deal with it

By: Blanco, Merwyn Floyd S. || 2017-000161

      We’ve been wondering what it’s like to be a senior high school student. So, what it’s like to be a 11th grader? Well, I will tell you first about the K-12 (which then led this to Senior High School program) that was implemented by the DepEd (Department of Education) way back year 2016. 

The K-12 program of DepEd has four tracks that they offer which are: 

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)

ABM (Accountancy and Business Management)

HUMSS (Humanities and Social Sciences) and;

GAS (General Academic Strand)

    DepEd said that this K-12 program will help the incoming Grade 11 students to provide sufficient time to mastery of concepts or skills, develop lifelong learners, and to prepare them for the corporate world. 

     My experience on the first day as a 11th grader is a little bit awkward. You might feel that your class is super quiet at that moment. You may also feel so ashamed on what is gonna happen. At first, you might think it is going to be a piece of cake due to the seemingly “easy” subjects. But as the term progresses, you could start to feel like you’re under a cloud feeling each pour of stress, especially the science and math-related subjects (or business-related subjects if you chose ABM as your track).

    And some say that the difficulty of subjects depends on what track you chose. But it really doesn’t matter on what track you chose, when you really want that track that is related to your course, then these will be easy for you. 

   Oh, by the way, I want to share some facts about Senior High School with you. Did you know that in your Oral Communication subject, you have to make a sppech like an informative, persuasive, occasional, and even impromptu? And this is considered as your Performance Task part of your grade and done weekly. So for those who aren’t that confident in speaking in front of many people, this subject will train you to remove that anxiousness in you and to speak more clearly. 

   Another one, there’s a subject here called ‘Personal Development’ (or PerDev, as I call it). This subject discusses about on how we think, on how introverts and extroverts are interacting with each other, different kinds of mental disorders that people usually encounter and how to deal with it and many more. I gotta say that this is one of my favorite subjects not only because of our teacher (and considering the reasons above) but also because unlike other subjects, you are not having information overload. Thus, you can still remember what lesson you had. 

    But being a 11th grader student is not easy as what you think. The frustratingly difficult quizzes and exams, mountains of projects and practical exams, the hectic schedule, and a very strict grading system that we follow. Because when you don’t submit something (a project) that is 50% of your grade, you will surely get a failing grade and if you do fail even ONE subject, you have to repeat the subject next term. But I’m not scaring or threatening you guys, I’m just warning you and worried about your future if you don’t change your study habits from the past. 

 Oh, and speaking of study habits, here are some tips on how to survive Senior High School: 

    1. When a project is set on a deadline (i.e. “The deadline is on January 15, 2018”), pass it on time (but earlier is better). 

    Remember, a deadline is a deadline. And the date set by your professors is the deadliest deadline. 

    2. When there is a quiz or exam, REVIEW FOR THAT QUIZ OR EXAM. 

     This is the part wherein most students fail the subject. “Bukas pa naman yang exam na yan eh”, “Magrereview na ko”. But in reality, they are just scrolling through their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

     C'mon guys, it’s 2018. We need to remove these bad habits and be a better student because these will widen your knowledge and be a effective listener. 

    That’s why professors give you quizzes and long tests so that they can tell if you’ve really learned something from them. And if you got a high score, that is considered as a respect for them. 

    3. Just enjoy being a Senior High School student. 

     The negative thoughts you have possibly made up in your mind about Senior High School, don’t notice that. Look on the bright side, if you really study hard, followed the two tips I gave you and have goals in life, you are really gonna survive 11th grade (or even 12th grade). 

     In the end, there is nothing to be scared of about being a 11th grader student. It’s just that you have to change our attitudes that is causing your fear and be more hardworking to be a successful person. This program by DepEd is indeed helpful to know what do you want to be in the future. 

[cristinajourdanqp]

Summer Reset: 30 Days, 30 Actions (Plus a 21-Day Staff Challenge AND Giveaway!)

At the onset of our annual 21-Day Challenge this past January, I offered up a post that proposed thinking small—“41 Primal Action Items and Individual Experiments for Success in 2017.” The idea here wasn’t shrinking our scope to the exclusion of big visioning, but homing in on the day to day aims we can set for ourselves that make the big changes happen.

I think June is a good time to revisit that premise—and to host another 21-Day experience for those more inspired in the summer months. 

For several weeks now, we’ve all seen the calls for “swimsuit season.” And while that’s not a bad motivation in and of itself to make positive changes, it’s hardly the only reason to feel spurred to a Primal reset.

In January, it’s easy to get caught up in the stir around turning over a new leaf. This year is the year I’m turning my entire life around. And maybe it is. But for some people, that aim ends up feeling too big and distant, and their ambition is short-lived.

This time of year, however, (at least for me) it’s easier to think about a Challenge in more immediate terms. I’ve honestly seen people more inspired by the closer-in question, “What kind of summer do I want to enjoy?” There’s an automatic framework implied here. It’s not about what one should do but what one wants to do. It’s less about living a healthy life than living up the good life…summer’s specialty.

So, what kind of summer do you want for yourself? Take a moment and really ask. What activities do I want to enjoy? What seasonal foods do I want to take advantage of? What do I want to have the energy to take on? Where can I build more leisure into my week? How can I be outside as much as possible? In summer, the means and the end can often feel more potently one in the same.  

Likewise, it’s easier to stay in the scope of daily choice if your goal is to relish the season one day at a time. Grill the best meats you can get your hands on? That’s dinner tonight! Use the freshest produce in new ways? There’s your salad to go with said meats. How about a walk after dinner to take in the extra light and balmy evening? Early light makes a few sprints in the morning sound pretty good with time for coffee on the deck afterward. You’re always looking for the next thing to enjoy, which sounds like the perfect way to live a great Primal life to me.

Personally, I like mini-challenges as an overlay to the larger endeavor anyway. There’s an instantaneous kick-back. No long arcs of progress to get vague about. Do the action today and bask in the benefit. Uncomplicated achievement. Immediate gratification.

In that spirit, I’m offering 30 actions for the 30 days of the month. Pick all or as many as you feel inspired to do. Let them prompt other ideas. Use them to get the momentum going. Claim your summer, and don’t let any of it slide by unappreciated.

30 Days, 30 Actions

June 1st: First things first. Commit to the most resonant elements of slow living this summer. Make clear intentions to keep your schedule and pace in check. Because, really, does anyone want a hectic summer?

June 2nd: Write down everything you eat in a day and how you feel afterward. Clarity is a good starting point, no matter what level of change you’re looking to make.

June 3rd: Practice some cold water immersion in a larger lake or river that’s still cool this time of year.

June 4th: Unplug today (or maybe one day every week).

June 5th: Join my staff in taking on a summer Primal Blueprint Challenge. Yup, no need to wait until New Year’s for the support and fanfare of a group endeavor. We won’t be giving away any cows this time of year, but you’ll be in excellent company with tips, recipes, and stories from some of my Worker Bees. (See below for more details!)

June 6th: Assess your true fitness level.

June 10th: Hit your local farmers market (or take a day trip to one nearby). Enjoy the vibe and the collect as many recipes as you can.

June 11th: Take a nap…preferably outside.

June 12th: Experiment with a supplemental food that’s new to you.

June 13th: Spend the whole day barefoot.

June 14th: Do one (or more) of the awesome workouts featured in our guest posts lately:

Give Some Love to Your Hips

The Secret to Athletic Longevity Movement Assessment

How to Build Strength and Muscle with Progressive Calisthenics

20 Easy Bodyweight Exercises to Build Functional Arm Strength

June 15th: Get a retreat on the calendar ASAP.

June 16th: Go keto for the remaining two weeks. We’ll have recipes for it all summer long in addition to informative articles (including a definitive guide next week).

June 17th: Hike a new trail or park in your area, or devote the day to an urban hike.

June 18th: Skip the commercial kits for a “summer detox” and try safe and genuine forms of detoxification support.

June 19th: Relish summer the old school way.

June 20th: Bike to work.

June 21st: Invest in collagen for health—with the rich quality bone broth or a high quality supplement.

June 22nd: Upgrade your morning coffee routine.

June 23rd: Give some serious thought to activities and people who drain you. Give yourself permission to take a break from them for 21 days (or as many days as possible) if you can. Just maybe this is a gift you should’ve given yourself a long time ago…?

June 24th: June is National Camping Month. Whether it’s a solo adventure or a full-family endeavor, commit to one night under the stars this month as one of the great Primal joys (with added benefits of course). The National Wildlife Federation every year sponsors the Great American Campout event. They’re taking pledges and even hosting a contest with some fun prizes, so take advantage.

June 25th: While you’re at it, try your hand at some Primal survival skills. Pick at least one, and set out to master it in the wilds.

June 26th: Expand your Primal eating into a new international cuisine.

June 27th: Encourage someone in their health journey (e.g. friends, family, MDA comment board/forum), or submit your success story to MDA to offer the ultimate inspiration to others.

June 28th: Try a sweet meat of some kind—grilled, braised, slow-cooked, sautéed, open-fire roasted…whatever sounds most appealing. This usually isn’t the first thing Primal newcomers do, but it’s a tasty threshold to cross. Order it from a clean eating restaurant if you’re not ready to cook up the innards yourself.

June 29th: Envision something big for your Primal lifestyle and commitment to the good life (whatever that means for you) in July—and make a plan for it.

June 30th: Don’t forget to chase down more awe, pleasure, and euphoria this summer.

The Summer, Staff-Led 21-Day Challenge

Join several members of the Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Blueprint, and Primal Kitchen staff as they kick off summer with a 21-Day Primal Blueprint Challenge reset.

Follow along on the Vimify app (accessible from your desktop computer or iOS-compatible device – iPhone or iPad) for Challenge prompts and progress, and see more of the staff’s tips, recipes, and stories on the PRIMAL KITCHEN®, Primal Blueprint and Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram pages. 

The Staff 21-Day Challenge kicks off on Monday, June 5th, so get set for next week with these preparation ideas. And for more guidance and tools, check out the 21-Day Transformation Challenge Packages—for the ultimate reset support.

The Giveaway…

And now I want to hear from you…. Which challenge are you willing to take this month? Will you be joining the staff on their 21-day reset? Choosing something (or several) from the full list here? A new idea entirely?

Share your answer on the comment board, and I’ll select one random comment for a PRIMAL KITCHEN® gift package that includes:

A canister of my new PRIMAL KITCHEN® Collagen Fuel (Vanilla Coconut or Chocolate Coconut)

A 6-pack of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Coconut-Cashew Bars

The full collection of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Dressings: 

Green Goddess

Caesar

Ranch

Greek

Honey Mustard

The Deadline: Midnight tonight PDT

Who’s Eligible? Everyone. We’ll ship this prize package anywhere in the world!

Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. I’m excited for this summer. Are you? Offer up your Challenge commitments, and good luck!

[fishermariawo]

Summer Reset: 30 Days, 30 Actions (Plus a 21-Day Staff Challenge AND Giveaway!)

At the onset of our annual 21-Day Challenge this past January, I offered up a post that proposed thinking small—“41 Primal Action Items and Individual Experiments for Success in 2017.” The idea here wasn’t shrinking our scope to the exclusion of big visioning, but homing in on the day to day aims we can set for ourselves that make the big changes happen.

I think June is a good time to revisit that premise—and to host another 21-Day experience for those more inspired in the summer months. 

For several weeks now, we’ve all seen the calls for “swimsuit season.” And while that’s not a bad motivation in and of itself to make positive changes, it’s hardly the only reason to feel spurred to a Primal reset.

In January, it’s easy to get caught up in the stir around turning over a new leaf. This year is the year I’m turning my entire life around. And maybe it is. But for some people, that aim ends up feeling too big and distant, and their ambition is short-lived.

This time of year, however, (at least for me) it’s easier to think about a Challenge in more immediate terms. I’ve honestly seen people more inspired by the closer-in question, “What kind of summer do I want to enjoy?” There’s an automatic framework implied here. It’s not about what one should do but what one wants to do. It’s less about living a healthy life than living up the good life…summer’s specialty.

So, what kind of summer do you want for yourself? Take a moment and really ask. What activities do I want to enjoy? What seasonal foods do I want to take advantage of? What do I want to have the energy to take on? Where can I build more leisure into my week? How can I be outside as much as possible? In summer, the means and the end can often feel more potently one in the same.  

Likewise, it’s easier to stay in the scope of daily choice if your goal is to relish the season one day at a time. Grill the best meats you can get your hands on? That’s dinner tonight! Use the freshest produce in new ways? There’s your salad to go with said meats. How about a walk after dinner to take in the extra light and balmy evening? Early light makes a few sprints in the morning sound pretty good with time for coffee on the deck afterward. You’re always looking for the next thing to enjoy, which sounds like the perfect way to live a great Primal life to me.

Personally, I like mini-challenges as an overlay to the larger endeavor anyway. There’s an instantaneous kick-back. No long arcs of progress to get vague about. Do the action today and bask in the benefit. Uncomplicated achievement. Immediate gratification.

In that spirit, I’m offering 30 actions for the 30 days of the month. Pick all or as many as you feel inspired to do. Let them prompt other ideas. Use them to get the momentum going. Claim your summer, and don’t let any of it slide by unappreciated.

30 Days, 30 Actions

June 1st: First things first. Commit to the most resonant elements of slow living this summer. Make clear intentions to keep your schedule and pace in check. Because, really, does anyone want a hectic summer?

June 2nd: Write down everything you eat in a day and how you feel afterward. Clarity is a good starting point, no matter what level of change you’re looking to make.

June 3rd: Practice some cold water immersion in a larger lake or river that’s still cool this time of year.

June 4th: Unplug today (or maybe one day every week).

June 5th: Join my staff in taking on a summer Primal Blueprint Challenge. Yup, no need to wait until New Year’s for the support and fanfare of a group endeavor. We won’t be giving away any cows this time of year, but you’ll be in excellent company with tips, recipes, and stories from some of my Worker Bees. (See below for more details!)

June 6th: Assess your true fitness level.

June 10th: Hit your local farmers market (or take a day trip to one nearby). Enjoy the vibe and the collect as many recipes as you can.

June 11th: Take a nap…preferably outside.

June 12th: Experiment with a supplemental food that’s new to you.

June 13th: Spend the whole day barefoot.

June 14th: Do one (or more) of the awesome workouts featured in our guest posts lately:

Give Some Love to Your Hips

The Secret to Athletic Longevity Movement Assessment

How to Build Strength and Muscle with Progressive Calisthenics

20 Easy Bodyweight Exercises to Build Functional Arm Strength

June 15th: Get a retreat on the calendar ASAP.

June 16th: Go keto for the remaining two weeks. We’ll have recipes for it all summer long in addition to informative articles (including a definitive guide next week).

June 17th: Hike a new trail or park in your area, or devote the day to an urban hike.

June 18th: Skip the commercial kits for a “summer detox” and try safe and genuine forms of detoxification support.

June 19th: Relish summer the old school way.

June 20th: Bike to work.

June 21st: Invest in collagen for health—with the rich quality bone broth or a high quality supplement.

June 22nd: Upgrade your morning coffee routine.

June 23rd: Give some serious thought to activities and people who drain you. Give yourself permission to take a break from them for 21 days (or as many days as possible) if you can. Just maybe this is a gift you should’ve given yourself a long time ago…?

June 24th: June is National Camping Month. Whether it’s a solo adventure or a full-family endeavor, commit to one night under the stars this month as one of the great Primal joys (with added benefits of course). The National Wildlife Federation every year sponsors the Great American Campout event. They’re taking pledges and even hosting a contest with some fun prizes, so take advantage.

June 25th: While you’re at it, try your hand at some Primal survival skills. Pick at least one, and set out to master it in the wilds.

June 26th: Expand your Primal eating into a new international cuisine.

June 27th: Encourage someone in their health journey (e.g. friends, family, MDA comment board/forum), or submit your success story to MDA to offer the ultimate inspiration to others.

June 28th: Try a sweet meat of some kind—grilled, braised, slow-cooked, sautéed, open-fire roasted…whatever sounds most appealing. This usually isn’t the first thing Primal newcomers do, but it’s a tasty threshold to cross. Order it from a clean eating restaurant if you’re not ready to cook up the innards yourself.

June 29th: Envision something big for your Primal lifestyle and commitment to the good life (whatever that means for you) in July—and make a plan for it.

June 30th: Don’t forget to chase down more awe, pleasure, and euphoria this summer.

The Summer, Staff-Led 21-Day Challenge

Join several members of the Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Blueprint, and Primal Kitchen staff as they kick off summer with a 21-Day Primal Blueprint Challenge reset.

Follow along on the Vimify app (accessible from your desktop computer or iOS-compatible device – iPhone or iPad) for Challenge prompts and progress, and see more of the staff’s tips, recipes, and stories on the PRIMAL KITCHEN®, Primal Blueprint and Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram pages. 

The Staff 21-Day Challenge kicks off on Monday, June 5th, so get set for next week with these preparation ideas. And for more guidance and tools, check out the 21-Day Transformation Challenge Packages—for the ultimate reset support.

The Giveaway…

And now I want to hear from you…. Which challenge are you willing to take this month? Will you be joining the staff on their 21-day reset? Choosing something (or several) from the full list here? A new idea entirely?

Share your answer on the comment board, and I’ll select one random comment for a PRIMAL KITCHEN® gift package that includes:

A canister of my new PRIMAL KITCHEN® Collagen Fuel (Vanilla Coconut or Chocolate Coconut)

A 6-pack of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Coconut-Cashew Bars

The full collection of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Dressings: 

Green Goddess

Caesar

Ranch

Greek

Honey Mustard

The Deadline: Midnight tonight PDT

Who’s Eligible? Everyone. We’ll ship this prize package anywhere in the world!

Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. I’m excited for this summer. Are you? Offer up your Challenge commitments, and good luck!

[milenasanchezmk]

Summer Reset: 30 Days, 30 Actions (Plus a 21-Day Staff Challenge AND Giveaway!)

At the onset of our annual 21-Day Challenge this past January, I offered up a post that proposed thinking small—“41 Primal Action Items and Individual Experiments for Success in 2017.” The idea here wasn’t shrinking our scope to the exclusion of big visioning, but homing in on the day to day aims we can set for ourselves that make the big changes happen.

I think June is a good time to revisit that premise—and to host another 21-Day experience for those more inspired in the summer months. 

For several weeks now, we’ve all seen the calls for “swimsuit season.” And while that’s not a bad motivation in and of itself to make positive changes, it’s hardly the only reason to feel spurred to a Primal reset.

In January, it’s easy to get caught up in the stir around turning over a new leaf. This year is the year I’m turning my entire life around. And maybe it is. But for some people, that aim ends up feeling too big and distant, and their ambition is short-lived.

This time of year, however, (at least for me) it’s easier to think about a Challenge in more immediate terms. I’ve honestly seen people more inspired by the closer-in question, “What kind of summer do I want to enjoy?” There’s an automatic framework implied here. It’s not about what one should do but what one wants to do. It’s less about living a healthy life than living up the good life…summer’s specialty.

So, what kind of summer do you want for yourself? Take a moment and really ask. What activities do I want to enjoy? What seasonal foods do I want to take advantage of? What do I want to have the energy to take on? Where can I build more leisure into my week? How can I be outside as much as possible? In summer, the means and the end can often feel more potently one in the same.  

Likewise, it’s easier to stay in the scope of daily choice if your goal is to relish the season one day at a time. Grill the best meats you can get your hands on? That’s dinner tonight! Use the freshest produce in new ways? There’s your salad to go with said meats. How about a walk after dinner to take in the extra light and balmy evening? Early light makes a few sprints in the morning sound pretty good with time for coffee on the deck afterward. You’re always looking for the next thing to enjoy, which sounds like the perfect way to live a great Primal life to me.

Personally, I like mini-challenges as an overlay to the larger endeavor anyway. There’s an instantaneous kick-back. No long arcs of progress to get vague about. Do the action today and bask in the benefit. Uncomplicated achievement. Immediate gratification.

In that spirit, I’m offering 30 actions for the 30 days of the month. Pick all or as many as you feel inspired to do. Let them prompt other ideas. Use them to get the momentum going. Claim your summer, and don’t let any of it slide by unappreciated.

30 Days, 30 Actions

June 1st: First things first. Commit to the most resonant elements of slow living this summer. Make clear intentions to keep your schedule and pace in check. Because, really, does anyone want a hectic summer?

June 2nd: Write down everything you eat in a day and how you feel afterward. Clarity is a good starting point, no matter what level of change you’re looking to make.

June 3rd: Practice some cold water immersion in a larger lake or river that’s still cool this time of year.

June 4th: Unplug today (or maybe one day every week).

June 5th: Join my staff in taking on a summer Primal Blueprint Challenge. Yup, no need to wait until New Year’s for the support and fanfare of a group endeavor. We won’t be giving away any cows this time of year, but you’ll be in excellent company with tips, recipes, and stories from some of my Worker Bees. (See below for more details!)

June 6th: Assess your true fitness level.

June 10th: Hit your local farmers market (or take a day trip to one nearby). Enjoy the vibe and the collect as many recipes as you can.

June 11th: Take a nap…preferably outside.

June 12th: Experiment with a supplemental food that’s new to you.

June 13th: Spend the whole day barefoot.

June 14th: Do one (or more) of the awesome workouts featured in our guest posts lately:

Give Some Love to Your Hips

The Secret to Athletic Longevity Movement Assessment

How to Build Strength and Muscle with Progressive Calisthenics

20 Easy Bodyweight Exercises to Build Functional Arm Strength

June 15th: Get a retreat on the calendar ASAP.

June 16th: Go keto for the remaining two weeks. We’ll have recipes for it all summer long in addition to informative articles (including a definitive guide next week).

June 17th: Hike a new trail or park in your area, or devote the day to an urban hike.

June 18th: Skip the commercial kits for a “summer detox” and try safe and genuine forms of detoxification support.

June 19th: Relish summer the old school way.

June 20th: Bike to work.

June 21st: Invest in collagen for health—with the rich quality bone broth or a high quality supplement.

June 22nd: Upgrade your morning coffee routine.

June 23rd: Give some serious thought to activities and people who drain you. Give yourself permission to take a break from them for 21 days (or as many days as possible) if you can. Just maybe this is a gift you should’ve given yourself a long time ago…?

June 24th: June is National Camping Month. Whether it’s a solo adventure or a full-family endeavor, commit to one night under the stars this month as one of the great Primal joys (with added benefits of course). The National Wildlife Federation every year sponsors the Great American Campout event. They’re taking pledges and even hosting a contest with some fun prizes, so take advantage.

June 25th: While you’re at it, try your hand at some Primal survival skills. Pick at least one, and set out to master it in the wilds.

June 26th: Expand your Primal eating into a new international cuisine.

June 27th: Encourage someone in their health journey (e.g. friends, family, MDA comment board/forum), or submit your success story to MDA to offer the ultimate inspiration to others.

June 28th: Try a sweet meat of some kind—grilled, braised, slow-cooked, sautéed, open-fire roasted…whatever sounds most appealing. This usually isn’t the first thing Primal newcomers do, but it’s a tasty threshold to cross. Order it from a clean eating restaurant if you’re not ready to cook up the innards yourself.

June 29th: Envision something big for your Primal lifestyle and commitment to the good life (whatever that means for you) in July—and make a plan for it.

June 30th: Don’t forget to chase down more awe, pleasure, and euphoria this summer.

The Summer, Staff-Led 21-Day Challenge

Join several members of the Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Blueprint, and Primal Kitchen staff as they kick off summer with a 21-Day Primal Blueprint Challenge reset.

Follow along on the Vimify app (accessible from your desktop computer or iOS-compatible device – iPhone or iPad) for Challenge prompts and progress, and see more of the staff’s tips, recipes, and stories on the PRIMAL KITCHEN®, Primal Blueprint and Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram pages. 

The Staff 21-Day Challenge kicks off on Monday, June 5th, so get set for next week with these preparation ideas. And for more guidance and tools, check out the 21-Day Transformation Challenge Packages—for the ultimate reset support.

The Giveaway…

And now I want to hear from you…. Which challenge are you willing to take this month? Will you be joining the staff on their 21-day reset? Choosing something (or several) from the full list here? A new idea entirely?

Share your answer on the comment board, and I’ll select one random comment for a PRIMAL KITCHEN® gift package that includes:

A canister of my new PRIMAL KITCHEN® Collagen Fuel (Vanilla Coconut or Chocolate Coconut)

A 6-pack of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Coconut-Cashew Bars

The full collection of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Dressings: 

Green Goddess

Caesar

Ranch

Greek

Honey Mustard

The Deadline: Midnight tonight PDT

Who’s Eligible? Everyone. We’ll ship this prize package anywhere in the world!

Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. I’m excited for this summer. Are you? Offer up your Challenge commitments, and good luck!

[watsonrodriquezie]

Summer Reset: 30 Days, 30 Actions (Plus a 21-Day Staff Challenge AND Giveaway!)

At the onset of our annual 21-Day Challenge this past January, I offered up a post that proposed thinking small—“41 Primal Action Items and Individual Experiments for Success in 2017.” The idea here wasn’t shrinking our scope to the exclusion of big visioning, but homing in on the day to day aims we can set for ourselves that make the big changes happen.

I think June is a good time to revisit that premise—and to host another 21-Day experience for those more inspired in the summer months. 

For several weeks now, we’ve all seen the calls for “swimsuit season.” And while that’s not a bad motivation in and of itself to make positive changes, it’s hardly the only reason to feel spurred to a Primal reset.

In January, it’s easy to get caught up in the stir around turning over a new leaf. This year is the year I’m turning my entire life around. And maybe it is. But for some people, that aim ends up feeling too big and distant, and their ambition is short-lived.

This time of year, however, (at least for me) it’s easier to think about a Challenge in more immediate terms. I’ve honestly seen people more inspired by the closer-in question, “What kind of summer do I want to enjoy?” There’s an automatic framework implied here. It’s not about what one should do but what one wants to do. It’s less about living a healthy life than living up the good life…summer’s specialty.

So, what kind of summer do you want for yourself? Take a moment and really ask. What activities do I want to enjoy? What seasonal foods do I want to take advantage of? What do I want to have the energy to take on? Where can I build more leisure into my week? How can I be outside as much as possible? In summer, the means and the end can often feel more potently one in the same.  

Likewise, it’s easier to stay in the scope of daily choice if your goal is to relish the season one day at a time. Grill the best meats you can get your hands on? That’s dinner tonight! Use the freshest produce in new ways? There’s your salad to go with said meats. How about a walk after dinner to take in the extra light and balmy evening? Early light makes a few sprints in the morning sound pretty good with time for coffee on the deck afterward. You’re always looking for the next thing to enjoy, which sounds like the perfect way to live a great Primal life to me.

Personally, I like mini-challenges as an overlay to the larger endeavor anyway. There’s an instantaneous kick-back. No long arcs of progress to get vague about. Do the action today and bask in the benefit. Uncomplicated achievement. Immediate gratification.

In that spirit, I’m offering 30 actions for the 30 days of the month. Pick all or as many as you feel inspired to do. Let them prompt other ideas. Use them to get the momentum going. Claim your summer, and don’t let any of it slide by unappreciated.

30 Days, 30 Actions

June 1st: First things first. Commit to the most resonant elements of slow living this summer. Make clear intentions to keep your schedule and pace in check. Because, really, does anyone want a hectic summer?

June 2nd: Write down everything you eat in a day and how you feel afterward. Clarity is a good starting point, no matter what level of change you’re looking to make.

June 3rd: Practice some cold water immersion in a larger lake or river that’s still cool this time of year.

June 4th: Unplug today (or maybe one day every week).

June 5th: Join my staff in taking on a summer Primal Blueprint Challenge. Yup, no need to wait until New Year’s for the support and fanfare of a group endeavor. We won’t be giving away any cows this time of year, but you’ll be in excellent company with tips, recipes, and stories from some of my Worker Bees. (See below for more details!)

June 6th: Assess your true fitness level.

June 10th: Hit your local farmers market (or take a day trip to one nearby). Enjoy the vibe and the collect as many recipes as you can.

June 11th: Take a nap…preferably outside.

June 12th: Experiment with a supplemental food that’s new to you.

June 13th: Spend the whole day barefoot.

June 14th: Do one (or more) of the awesome workouts featured in our guest posts lately:

Give Some Love to Your Hips

The Secret to Athletic Longevity Movement Assessment

How to Build Strength and Muscle with Progressive Calisthenics

20 Easy Bodyweight Exercises to Build Functional Arm Strength

June 15th: Get a retreat on the calendar ASAP.

June 16th: Go keto for the remaining two weeks. We’ll have recipes for it all summer long in addition to informative articles (including a definitive guide next week).

June 17th: Hike a new trail or park in your area, or devote the day to an urban hike.

June 18th: Skip the commercial kits for a “summer detox” and try safe and genuine forms of detoxification support.

June 19th: Relish summer the old school way.

June 20th: Bike to work.

June 21st: Invest in collagen for health—with the rich quality bone broth or a high quality supplement.

June 22nd: Upgrade your morning coffee routine.

June 23rd: Give some serious thought to activities and people who drain you. Give yourself permission to take a break from them for 21 days (or as many days as possible) if you can. Just maybe this is a gift you should’ve given yourself a long time ago…?

June 24th: June is National Camping Month. Whether it’s a solo adventure or a full-family endeavor, commit to one night under the stars this month as one of the great Primal joys (with added benefits of course). The National Wildlife Federation every year sponsors the Great American Campout event. They’re taking pledges and even hosting a contest with some fun prizes, so take advantage.

June 25th: While you’re at it, try your hand at some Primal survival skills. Pick at least one, and set out to master it in the wilds.

June 26th: Expand your Primal eating into a new international cuisine.

June 27th: Encourage someone in their health journey (e.g. friends, family, MDA comment board/forum), or submit your success story to MDA to offer the ultimate inspiration to others.

June 28th: Try a sweet meat of some kind—grilled, braised, slow-cooked, sautéed, open-fire roasted…whatever sounds most appealing. This usually isn’t the first thing Primal newcomers do, but it’s a tasty threshold to cross. Order it from a clean eating restaurant if you’re not ready to cook up the innards yourself.

June 29th: Envision something big for your Primal lifestyle and commitment to the good life (whatever that means for you) in July—and make a plan for it.

June 30th: Don’t forget to chase down more awe, pleasure, and euphoria this summer.

The Summer, Staff-Led 21-Day Challenge

Join several members of the Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Blueprint, and Primal Kitchen staff as they kick off summer with a 21-Day Primal Blueprint Challenge reset.

Follow along on the Vimify app (accessible from your desktop computer or iOS-compatible device – iPhone or iPad) for Challenge prompts and progress, and see more of the staff’s tips, recipes, and stories on the PRIMAL KITCHEN®, Primal Blueprint and Mark’s Daily Apple Instagram pages. 

The Staff 21-Day Challenge kicks off on Monday, June 5th, so get set for next week with these preparation ideas. And for more guidance and tools, check out the 21-Day Transformation Challenge Packages—for the ultimate reset support.

The Giveaway…

And now I want to hear from you…. Which challenge are you willing to take this month? Will you be joining the staff on their 21-day reset? Choosing something (or several) from the full list here? A new idea entirely?

Share your answer on the comment board, and I’ll select one random comment for a PRIMAL KITCHEN® gift package that includes:

A canister of my new PRIMAL KITCHEN® Collagen Fuel (Vanilla Coconut or Chocolate Coconut)

A 6-pack of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Coconut-Cashew Bars

The full collection of PRIMAL KITCHEN® Dressings: 

Green Goddess

Caesar

Ranch

Greek

Honey Mustard

The Deadline: Midnight tonight PDT

Who’s Eligible? Everyone. We’ll ship this prize package anywhere in the world!

Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. I’m excited for this summer. Are you? Offer up your Challenge commitments, and good luck!