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officialwittek · 4 years ago

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pt. 1

*gif is not mine*

word count: 2,097

please forgive me if this is rough. i been outta the writing game for a minute. enjoy!

7:30 am.

The obnoxious ring of my alarm disturbs my peaceful sleep. I groan and move the blankets off my legs, stretching my arms to the ceiling. After my morning stretch I walk to my bathroom and turn the water to the hottest it can go before stripping my pajamas off. I quickly step in the shower, welcoming the warmth on my skin. I let out a sigh as I felt all the tension from my restless night glide down the drain. After a good 15 minutes I finally muster the strength to step out and wrap my towel around myself. I finally dry off and go to my closet to pick out an outfit for the day.

My eyes scan the closet before finally landing on a black pinstripe blazer dress with a zipper slit on the thigh, a thick belt around my waist with a chain in the front, and some knee high boots with black beret. After getting dressed I started on my hair and makeup. I went for a natural but full beat with my favorite pair of falsies and put my hair in a simple French braid down my back. I walked out to meet my roommate Carly.

“Good morning sleeping beauty” I says, she acknowledges me with the wave of her hand and walks back to her room as I smile and start making my matcha latte

I boil some water and grab the oat milk from the fridge. After making my latte I settle on some Oreo cereal for breakfast. I glance up and see my roommate exiting her room, looking ready for the day.

“Whatcha got planned for the day?” Carly asks, I shrug and look at her casually

“I might have a meeting to discuss signing with Arista, and making my own album” I comment casually, watching her eyes widen with excitement

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? Is David hiding somewhere with his camera?” Carly replies, I shake my head and watch her eyes fill with excited tears

“Baby!!! We have to tell everyone” she exclaims, I shake my head and cross my arms in an X shape

“We will tell them when I finish the meeting, I don’t wanna jinx myself” I whine, she nods understandingly

“Alright I should get going, let me know where you guys are so we can meet up after. You can ONLY tell Erin. I’ll see you later” I say, grabbing my work bag and keys from the counter

After a nerve wracking drive to the office I finally arrived. I take a deep breath and walk into the building where an assistant meets me. We take the elevator to a conference room.

We finally finished the hour long meeting. I brought a friend, who happened to be a lawyer to look over my contract before signing it. I shook their hands and said we would let them know in a few hours. After our meeting my friend and I headed out to get some boba and take a look at the contract. I quietly drank my black milk tea and sent a few texts to my friends.

“Looks pretty good, initial here and here... ok and just put your signature here” She said, I nodded signing and initialing away

They called the label and let them know we had signed the contract. My friend went and dropped off the contract while I headed to David’s. When I opened the door I noticed almost everyone was here, except for Jeff and Scott. I took my shoes off and quietly headed into the house.

“Soo.. what’s the verdict?” Carly asked, everyone looked to me in confusion

“Signed, and I’ll be starting my music journey with Arista today” I yell, my friends jump up in celebration and crowd around me

“We celebrating tonight bitches” Zane exclaims, and at this point who cares that it’s a Monday morning and they’ll most likely forget tonight

“Make sure you guys invite Jeff, and we’ll get Sage so drunk she can tell HIM how horny he makes her” Carly says, prompting David to take out his camera again and makes Carly repeat it

“God I tell Carly ONE time that I would get Jeff crush my head between his biceps and suddenly I’m being crucified for being horny” I retort, earning loud laughs from everyone else

“Tell David what you told me last night, after seeing Jeff’s insta post” Carly commands with a wide smile, I sigh and look right at David so I’m not looking straight into the camera lens

“Allegedly when I was a little litty last night, I was stalking his instagram and I saw the picture of him spraying water on himself in your merch… and allegedly I said that I would let him knock my cervix into my lungs and I would apologize for simply being too weak to handle it” I whispered, but everyone heard me anyways and as if on cue the devil himself walked in through the front door

“Jeff come listen to this” Jason says, showing the footage he recorded of me saying what I just said, I stood there in shock, Jeff quickly turned to me and smirked

“Come here baby” Jeff says, throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me to a bedroom while our friends laughed

“Finally, I’m getting the dick I deserve” I yell, Jeff puts me down gently after we round the corner

“Also Todd told me we’re celebrating for you, what happened?” He asks, I tell him the news and he lifts me up again

Jeff and I had been close from the minute we met, it really felt like I met my platonic soulmate to be completely honest. We’re always jokingly flirting with each other for the vlogs and if I’m not with the girls I’m usually with Jeff. Although, lately he’s been too busy to hang out or workout together, on the contrary he’s always free for David and the rest of our friends but when I want to hang out one on one there’s always something. It felt nice, just being the two of us. But alas, as soon as he finished the hug he waltzed right back to our other friends.

“Yea I’ve been doing good, how about you?” I mumble to myself, walking back to our friends as we talk about what to do until the rest of our friends are free to go out for the night

Natalie, Zane, David, and I decided to go somewhere and film some stuff and have a little photoshoot while we were at it. We took some videos of us fucking around in the parking lot of some mall. Zane decided to provide some commentary for the vlog as Nat and I took pictures.

“Look at these whores, won’t take no fucking pictures with me. I’m SAgE anD i’M a FaMoUS MuSICiAn, FuCK YALl” Zane yells, I hand my phone to Nat and walk over to David’s Tesla, grabbing the small paintball gun in the trunk

“Fuck with me again little bitch” I said, walking up to him and shooting him two times in the leg with the paintball gun, he cussed me out on the floor while the three of us laughed our asses off

“Alright let’s get going so we can collect everyone before we go out... or we could have it at David’s house so I don’t have to worry about flashing my ass to random people?” I ask, making puppy eyes at David as he reluctantly give in

“Fine, but you’re helping clean up after” He says, I nod eagerly as the four of us pile into the Tesla

“I’ll let Suzy and Jonah know, everyone else will probably be at the house anyways” Natalie says, quickly typing on her phone

We arrive at David’s house as the sun is setting and we start getting ready for everything. Toddy and Jeff go on an alcohol run, while the rest of us started setting everything up. Natalie and Zane go to get more solo cups and some extra things. I’m helping David put away some valuable things while everyone makes the house presentable and work on making it Zane and Heath proof, which could be impossible.

“Can I be in control of the music king?” I ask, David rolls his eyes at the horrible nickname and nods I connect to the speaker while pouring shots for everyone with the alcohol we have at the house

After I was done pouring the shots the ones who went to run errands came back and we all huddled in the kitchen. I put the down the bottle and we all hold our glasses up.

“May we all get absolutely plastered, and some of incredibly high. Maybe both? And may Zane stay away from the hospital for one fucking night, amen” I yell, we all cheers and take shots

After smoking with some of our friends I go back in the house and find it absolutely packed with people. David is multitasking with taking disposables and filming an incredibly drunk Zane and Ilya. And above all the talking and yelling I hear the familiar beat.

‘Do it, baby. Stick it, baby. Move it, baby. Lick it, baby...’

I scream and run to the make shift dance floor, my girls behind me as I start grinding on Corinna as she smacks my ass. I’m screaming the words, someone hands me a drink and I slowly start to feel myself get loose. Everyone making a circle around Corinna, and myself. We switch and I fall on the couch while Corinna gives me a lap dance.

“PUSSY SO GOOD HE GOT MY NAME ON IT” We scream, grabbing each other as Zane somehow finds himself on my lap too

After the song I make my way to the bar with Zane and Heath, my favorite drinking buddies. After getting a lot more alcohol in me than my entire being can tolerate we go back and start dancing. I was swaying to the music, occasionally dancing with our friends when I feel someone grab me.

“What do you think you’re doing? Shaking your ass for everyone to see” the faint linger of that Staten Island accent makes me smile, but it quickly changes to a frown when my brain registers the words he said

“What do you think Jeffreyyy? I’m-” “Zane what the fuck” I turn and see our friends huddled around the bathroom

“Watch out everyone” Natalie says, backing up and taking a running start towards the door and successfully kicks it down

“Zane why didn’t you say anything? We thought you were dead man” Jeff laughs, I walk into the bathroom and laugh at the sight

After a few more hours the strangers have left the house and our friend group is still going strong. I quietly nurse my water that Jeff forced me to have. David taking some disposables of the rare quiet moment.

“Zane.. I bet you won’t try and fight Jeff right now” I slur, my world still spinning from the poison in my body

“For what?” Zane replies, I smirk and look at Jeff

“Dude I’ll straight up kiss whoever wins” I say, David immediately bringing his vlog camera out and quickly explaining the situation

“Wait I wanna fucking get in on this” Ilya says, the three of them getting up... well Zane and Ilya could barely stand let alone fight Jeff, the most sober one here

The three of them start pushing each other, I’m a little too drunk to really understand what was going on. Before I know it Jeff had them both on the ground and was declared the winner

“Sageee... you gotta kiss Jeff” David teases, shoving the camera in my face as I chuckle

“Oh y’all know I wanna do more than kiss. Come here dumb bitch” I say, turning around on the couch as Jeff stabilizes me and plants a kiss right on my lips as our friends scream and jump around. I pull away and David turns his camera off for the moment.

“Can I pleasee have more shots.. Zane, Ilya get your dumbasses up we’re getting more drunk so David has content” I yell, the two of them immediately getting off the floor and walking with me to the kitchen

“David, come here I have a secret to tell you” I yell, stumbling over to meet him halfway

“Closer, closer..... I’m so fucked up”

#vlog sqaud #vlog squad imagine #jeff wittek #jeff wittek imagine

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the--social--anarchist · 5 years ago

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Study Tips for Chronically Ill Students

Most bloggers aren’t writing for the chronically ill audience. Typical tips, tricks and hacks on productivity, motivation and studying just don’t work for us. As a chronically ill student who’s in her last year of undergrad (yay!) I decided to share what I have learned over the (many) years.

1. Get comfortable. Seriously. Don’t force yourself to sit at your desk, or go out to a coffee shop to study. Most people will tell you not to lay in bed while you read your books but if you are anything like me, getting ready and driving to the library or Starbucks just takes too much energy. I recommend making yourself a nice set up with everything you need. If you can tolerate sitting at a desk don’t skimp out. Buy yourself a decent, ergonomic office or gaming chair. Make sure you have a drink, a snack, your medication, charges, books, and anything else you need within arms reach. The less you have to get up the more energy you are saving.

2. Take frequent breaks. Okay, this may sound contradictory to tip #1 but hear me out. Everyone person is different, every body is different, and every day is different. Some days your symptoms are just so bad you need to get comfortable and try not to move. But other days you might be fighting brain fog and mental exhaustion. So get up, or even just stop and sit for a minute to rest your mind. Some days I will stop every few sections and get up to do something small like apply a face mask, go back to studying, and then get up in 15 minutes to wash it off etc. Just find what works for you.

3. Write shit down. Write everything down. And write it in multiple places. Again, brain fog is such a bitch, but writing things down multiple times in multiple places will help you remember. I have a paper calendar that I write all my assignment due dates, doctors appointments, and other important things onto, but I also have an assignment check list with all of my upcoming assignments in my notebook. Also, I keep a huge running list titled Never Ending List of Shit To Do with boring chores and tasks that need to be done like doctors to call, bills to pay, letters to mail etc; and I use that list to pick and choose what I’m going to do each day and fill that out on a sticky note or another small insert that serves as my daily to do list.

4. Establish a routine. But don’t be discouraged if you can’t follow it to a T and don’t be afraid to change it up. My routine changes a lot because my symptoms and body are constantly changing too. Also, it’s important to note that a routine is not the same as a schedule. This is important for those of us with chronic illness because its just not feasible to assume we will be able to get up at the same time every day, eat lunch at the same time every day, and study for the same amount of time every day.

5. Stay (way) ahead of schedule. You never know what life is going to throw at you, especially when you are chronically ill. Unfortunately, we can’t plan our flares, but we can prepare for them. If you know you suffer from migraines that will knock you out of commission for 3 days then make sure you are always 3 days ahead of schedule. Something I highly recommend is doing a little bit every day, even if its only 20 minutes of reading. Of course, sometimes we need a break and that’s okay too! Self care is important!

6. Online classes are the best. So many people say online classes are hard because you have to be super disciplined, and that it’s easier to have the accountability to show up to class, but I highly disagree. Online classes give you the freedom to read when you want, listen to lectures when you want, sleep when you need to, and stay comfortable in bed when it would be impossible to get to class. I work solely online and if it weren’t for the option of online classes I would not be in college right now or anytime in the near future.

7. Audio is your friend. Honestly, this is a tip for everyone in high school or college out there. Sometimes we are too tired or in too much pain to stare at a book or screen, or sometimes we need to utilize our energy wisely and multitask by listening while we clean the house. And this isn’t limited to audio text books. There are so many YouTube videos, podcasts, documentaries and more that you can easily just pop on while you are resting or doing chores! I listen to my lectures while I do my nails every week.

8. Don’t rewrite your notes. Don’t write them at all if you can avoid it. Almost all of my professors supply chapter outlines or summaries that I can just print off and fill in extra notes on. If you do need to write your notes I suggest typing them, or only writing them out once, and only what is most important. Whatever you do, don’t rewrite them, and for the love of god do not waste your time trying to make them look like an Instagram photo. Ain’t nobody got spoons for that.

9. Try to balance your course load appropriately. If you are taking a full course load try to even out the number of upper division classes you take with some easy classes, as well as some boring and some interesting. Alternatively, don’t be afraid to drop classes and go down to part time, even if just for one semester. I have tried to stay full time all year round since I re-enrolled in school fall semester of 2017, but spring of 2019 my health took a drastic decline and I did drop down from 5 classes to 3. I also took summer of 2019 off to focus on my health and came back this semester (fall 2019) ready to rock and roll. Seriously, do not be afraid to drop classes. It felt like the end of the world when I did it, but it was absolutely the right choice for me. It saved my GPA and my sanity.

10. Talk to your professor. And your university, and your classmates, and your adviser, and anyone else around you who can offer resources and support. Every university and college has a Disability Services Coordinator Student Center available to request accommodations. The information to contact the center should be listed on your syllabus and the school website. They can help with everything and anything disability related. And if you feel comfortable you should really talk to your professor. Just give them a heads up and inform them of what’s going on. As for your classmates, its always good to connect and find a study buddy or someone you can borrow notes from whether you have a disability or not!

I really hope this list can help some fellow chronically ill students out there. This is what I have learned in my 5+ years of attending college with various chronic and mental illnesses. I truly live by everything I talked about in this post and I have been fairly successful in my academic career. Please re-blog this post to help a fellow student who may have a chronic illness or disability! Happy studying!

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tabloidtoc · 4 years ago

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OK, March 29

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Panic at the Palace -- Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Duchess Kate Middleton

Page 1: Big Pic -- Kevin Bacon and Juliette Lewis were among the many artists who put on a performance for Linda Perry's Rock 'N' Relief Live Stream Concert Series, benefitting Sean Penn's CORE Response organization

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Sparks are flying between Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt on the set of their new action movie Bullet Train and not just when the cameras are rolling -- their chemistry is through the roof and Sandra lights up whenever she's around Brad and some of the cast and crew could swear they've seen him blushing in her presence -- Brad and Sandra have been hanging out more than your typical costars and they have a lot in common and seem to really enjoy each other's company and they'll frequently spend their breaks socializing and they can often be heard laughing over each other's stories and topics of conversations range from mutual friends and house repairs to more personal stuff, like kids

Page 6: Bruce Willis turned 66 on March 19 and as he celebrates the occasion, he has been reflecting on his life and it's been quite the journey but Bruce looks back at it all with that classic smirk

Page 7: Producers of the Gossip Girl reboot have been begging Blake Lively to join the cast of the new show but she's turned up her nose at the idea -- she's not ungrateful, because the original show made her star, but she closed the book on that part of her life a long time ago -- she's blissfully content in her role as a mom to daughters James, Inez and Betty whom she shares with her husband Ryan Reynolds and being a stay-at-home parent and filming an occasional movie sounds way more appealing to her than returning to that hothouse Gossip Girl universe -- she says she had her show and wants the new team to have theirs, but to die-hard fans, it still feels like a major snub

* After calling it quits on her romance with Ben Affleck in January, Ana de Armas is ready to play the field and Hollywood's heartthrob du jour, Rege-Jean Page has caught her eye and she was over the moon when the Bridgerton hunk recently signed on to her new thriller The Gray, which also stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans -- of course, Rege is gorgeous, but Ana also likes that he isn't your typical Tinseltown success story and comes from a rich cultural background, just like she does and she's hoping to get to know him better once they start shooting in L.A. -- while Ana has been warned that won't sit well with Rege's live-in girlfriend, Emily Brown, that doesn't seem to bother Ana

* Janet Jackson's life story is set to get the full documentary treatment next year, and no stone will be left unturned when it comes to her famously dysfunctional family -- the family is freaking out, as well they should be -- Janet will be brutally honest about her late father Joe Jackson, who bullied her and made her feel like she was nothing with out him but her siblings say they had it much worse especially when it came to Michael Jackson, who suffered verbal and physical abuse from Joe throughout his childhood -- Janet, who became a mom at 50 with her businessman ex, Wissam Al Mana, is also ready to tell all about their divorce and custody battle -- doing this documentary has been incredibly cathartic for her and she can't wait to shed light on her family's deep, dark secrets

Page 8: Angelina Jolie has been legally single for two years, and now she's finally ready to mingle -- she's been laying low since her 2016 split from Brad Pitt and she's feels it's time to get out there and she's eager to meet some new and interesting men and the mom of six is open to being hooked up by Hollywood pals like Ellen Pompeo, whom she was seen dining with in Beverly Hills and Angie likes the idea of dating a fellow A-lister who can relate to her about living in the spotlight and Ellen's been helping out with suggestions -- Angie is even open to joining an elite dating service and now the hunt is on to find a suitable bunch of candidates -- she wants fun and adventure again and after months of just being Mom, dressing up, putting on some perfume and engaging in stimulating conversation sounds good to Angie

* It's only been six months since Drew Barrymore launched her chirpy daytime talk show, but behind the scenes, she's on the verge of a major meltdown -- the multitasking mom who shares daughters Olive and Frankie with ex-hubby Will Kopelman, has no idea that juggling work and family would be this hard and she's feeling pressure from every side -- she desperately wants to be there for the kids, but she's trying to make her show a hit, and with her production company, she has a million others things on her plate as well -- the stressed-out star has also been chowing down on junk food and drinking too much caffeine so she can't get more than a few hours of sleep a night -- Drew doesn't want to let anyone down, but if she doesn't dial it back, she's going to collapse from exhaustion

* Matthew Perry announced his engagement to his on-off girlfriend Molly Hurwitz in November, but he seems to be having second thoughts -- he's crazy in love, but he's scared of messing up a good thing by making things official and he also worries what kind of husband he'll make given his health woes and battles with addiction -- Molly has faith in Matthew, but she can see wedding planning is stressing him out, even more so now that the Friends reunion is set to start shooting and he's pushing himself to go through with it, but his doubts are gnawing away at him

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars show some skin in dramatic decolletage-baring frocks -- Nicole Richie, Aja Naomi King

Page 11: Kate Hudson, Becky G, Mindy Kaling

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Kat Graham vs. Nicole Kidman in Erdem, Oliva Wilde vs. Bella Hadid in Ralph Lauren

Page 13: Danielle Bradbery vs. Paula Abdul in Hamel

Page 14: News in Photos -- Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox stepped out for dinner in West Hollywood

Page 16: Ariel Winter brightened up her monochromatic look with a pink face mask during a trip to the hair salon in West Hollywood, Justin Theroux went for a walk with his beloved dog Kuma in NYC, Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted on his daily bike ride in L.A.

Page 17: Susan Sarandon stopped to get her caffeine fix while shopping solo in Soho

Page 18: Lea Michele proved to be quite the doting mother while walking with her son in a stroller in Brooklyn, Lucy Hale and her dog Elvis were inseparable during an outing in L.A., Krysten Ritter took her RadRover electric bicycle out for a spin in L.A.

Page 19: John Stamos and his wife Caitlin McHugh stopped by an antique shop where they purchased a bunch of old goodies in Santa Monica

Page 20: This year, instead of a traditional runway show, Moschino released a 12-minute film featuring Karen Elson, Shalom Harlow and Amber Vallera wearing new styles from the Fall/Winter 2021 line

Page 21: Alessandra Ambrosio caught up with a pal while walking dogs in L.A., David Harbour eating a treat while out and about in NYC, Daisy Ridley stopped by The Graham Norton Show in London

Page 22: Amelia Gray Hamlin and boyfriend Scott Disick caught some rays while vacationing in Miami, Katie Holmes and boyfriend Emilio Vitolo Jr. color-coordinated their gray-and-black outfits for a lunch date in NYC, Rebel Wilson taking a walk around the neighborhood in L.A.

Page 24: While on the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Rachel Brosnahan shielded herself with a see-through umbrella, a newly brunette Lady Gaga in a white suit as she left her hotel in Rome to film the upcoming Gucci biopic, The Masked Singer panelist Jenny McCarthy gave herself a last-minute touch-up before posing for some promo shots

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Chelsea Handler's sleek setup -- she is checking out of her longtime L.A. home

Page 28: In 2009, LeAnn Rimes made headlines when she was caught hooking up with her costar Eddie Cibrian while they were both married to other people and now, more than a decade later, she is opening up about that time in her life and spilling secrets that she's never shared before -- looking back, LeAnn thinks it's unfair that she got raked over the coals like that and the public shaming caused her to suffer panic attacks and all LeAnn did was fall in love -- of course, there are likely big regrets about the way everything happened, but she and Eddie never meant to hurt anyone and they just had this connection they couldn't walk away from and a few months after their romance was revealed LeAnn parted ways with then-husband Dean Sheremet and Eddie filed for divorce from Brandi Glanville and they wed in 2011 -- while LeAnn has been a great stepmom to Eddie's sons Mason and Jack, she'd love to have a child of her own someday and she and Eddie have tried and tried with no success and now that she's pushing 40, they know time is ticking and they could always go the surrogate route, and they just might do it if it doesn't happen naturally in the next few months

Page 29: Liam Hemsworth has been dating Gabriella Brooks for 15 months, and he's so smitten that he could put a ring on it any day now -- Liam's made it clear that he's ready to walk down the aisle again after calling it quits in longtime love Miley Cyrus in 2019 -- everyone is thrilled because Gabriella is so sweet and easygoing, which is just what Liam needs -- Gabriella has already gotten the stamp of approval from the Hemsworth clan, who had long been skeptical of Miley and when Liam brought Gabriella home, his parents thought, that's more like it -- now that Liam's settled in at his new $5 million spread on Byron Bay, all signs point to him popping the question because he's never been happier

* Shedding post-pregnancy weight is never easy but luckily Katy Perry has a secret weapon to help her get back in shape which is Orlando Bloom -- Katy had already dropped 35 pounds since giving birth to the couple's first child, Daisy Dove, thanks to her fitness-obsessed fiance and Orlando has her eating five small vegan meals a day and he follows the same diet to make it easier for her, and Orlando makes sure she hikes or swims at least five days a week and those are the type for fun activities where he can join her -- Orlando's also her biggest cheerleader: during their recent Hawaiian getaway, Katy was nervous because she felt she hadn't lost enough weight but Orlando told her she was one sexy momma and he really is her biggest supporter

* Despite the pandemic, Nicole Kidman's remained one of the busiest women in Hollywood, which is getting under her stuck-at-home husband's skin -- while Keith Urban was forced to cancel his concert tour last year, Nicole had a whirlwind 2020, shooting her miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers in Australia and her historical thriller The Northman in Northern Ireland back-to-back and it's been incredibly hard on Keith because it drives him crazy not being able to get out there on stage -- Nicole hates seeing him the dumps, but she's told him he's lucky to be able to spend so much time with their daughters Sunday and Faith -- with Nicole set to play comedy legend Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, which starts filming this spring, that can only put more stress on the marriage but Nicole has no plans to slow down, and she's not making any apologies

Page 30: Patrick Duffy and Linda Purl went from zero to 60 practically overnight, but their turbo-charged romance appears to be slowing down -- ever since Patrick and Linda reconnected last summer, the late-in-life lovebirds have been joined at the hip at Linda's Colorado home, where things have gotten too close for comfort because Patrick's a laid-back guy, but he hasn't had a moment to himself because Linda is always pushing him to get outdoors and do stuff with her and Patrick feels the need for more space and some along time -- spending every moment together and hanging on each other's every word was fun for a while, but they don't want to lose their independence and they realize they need to bring their relationship back down to earth if they actually want to go the distance

* After nearly five blissful years together, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are still going strong, and it looks like a baby could be in their near future -- Sam recently sent tongues wagging when he revealed that he wants to take their relationship to the next step and be a young dad and Britney is totally on board because she has always wanted another child and now with Sam raring to go, she figures it's the perfect time -- growing her family would be a welcome distraction from Britney's bitter battle with her father Jamie Spears over her controversial conservatorship

* Love Bites -- Jenni "JWoww" Farley and Zack Carpinello engaged, Morena Baccarin and husband Ben McKenzie welcomed a son named Arthur, Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata married

Page 32: Cover Story -- Palace in Crisis -- the Royal Family is in disarray following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell tell-all -- what really offended them was how much Harry and Meghan said they love Queen Elizabeth in one sentence and attacked the institution, everything she stands for and works for, in the next -- it's going to take a miracle for Harry to reconcile with his family after what he and Meghan revealed

Page 36: Celebrity Hall Passes -- stars reveal the Hollywood crushes their partners have granted as freebies -- Eric Decker gets Jessica Alba and his wife Jessie James Decker gets Post Malone

Page 37: Lisa Vanderpump gets George Clooney, Seth Rogen gets Charlize Theron while his wife Lauren Miller gets Brad Pitt, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa both get Cynthia Bailey

Page 38: Taron Egerton gets Rachel Weisz while his girlfriend Emily Thomas gets Daniel Craig, Kyle Richards wouldn't let her husband Mauricio Umansky near Eva Longoria or Demi Moore but he gets a hall pass for Betty White, Beau Clark gets Bethenny Frankel while wife Stassi Schroeder gets Joaquin Phoenix

Page 40: Interview -- Queen Latifah -- the entertainment icon is having a blast kicking butt in her new TV crime drama The Equalizer

Page 42: The Great Outdoors -- these stars know fresh air and fitness make a killer combo

Page 46: Style Week -- Hailey Bieber has been named global ambassador for Superga's Spring/Summer 2021 season

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- lifestyle brand Sporty & Rich just launched chic athleisure pieces to help you look effortlessly cool this season -- Amber Valletta

Page 49: Stylish Shades -- shop Ashley Graham's flattering frames the model's new collection with Quay

Page 50: Chic House Dresses -- trade knits for airy frocks that will make you feel beautiful all through spring -- Whitney Port

Page 52: Girls' Getaway -- planning a safe spring break with a few BFFs? Pack these stylish essentials to easily look fab on the fly -- Rita Ora

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Wayne Brady

Page 58: Buzz -- Lady Gaga sent the internet into a frenzy after sharing a behind-the-scenes photo of herself with Adam Driver from the set of their Ridley Scott movie, House of Gucci

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Cardi B on staying away from celebs, Mary Steenburgen on husband Ted Danson, Kate Hudson on her iconic yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Page 61: Paul Bettany on his stunt with Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code, Jada Pinkett Smith on not focusing on exterior beauty at age 49, Nikki Bella on being intimate with fiance Artem Chigvintsev, Charlize Theron on homeschooling, Julia Garner on her roles of choice

Page 62: Horoscope -- Aries Jessica Chastain turned 44 on March 24

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Paris Hilton

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zootvootskidoot · 5 years ago

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Bruce Banner is Autistic

(Note: these are just some of my personal headcanons. I might add more later, but I’m not sure.)

I personally don’t have any headcanons about how/when Bruce was diagnosed, but he probably went a long time without having a word to describe always feeling confused and out of place.

It cannot be stressed enough how much Bruce loved Star Trek when he was a kid. Seeing Mr. Spock, someone like him, being loved and accepted was like a religious experience for him. After Brian’s death, he largely left the crew of the Enterprise buried under unpleasant memories. It wasn’t until years later when he first saw The Next Generation that his enthusiasm for the franchise was reignited, specifically Data.

He stims mostly by rocking on his feet because it doesn’t tend to draw attention. Eye contact is already hard, and he hates the feeling of eyes on him.

He has a collection of different fidget pens.

No matter how warm it is, he sleeps with a weighted blanket. It’s purple.

He’ll use echolalia very sparingly and subtly. When he gets especially excited he’ll start repeating himself and gesturing with his hands.

Bruce has a number of special interests. Math is a big one, and by extension, physics. Human biology and anatomy are definitely up there. Biochemistry, electromagnetism, Disney, first aid, and more recently, Norse mythology.

Despite having a lot of sensitivities, he can’t eat anything that tastes bland. Spicy is good, so is sweet. He’ll eat sour foods but doesn’t like the way they make his tongue feel.

He sticks to his routine religiously. He’s awake at 5:30, out of bed by 5:45, and he’s finished his morning yoga by 6:15. Then it’s samefoods for breakfast, getting washed (showers on alternating days) and dressed, and going over his to-do list for the day. He’ll usually nap for two hours after lunch, then it’s back to whatever tasks he needs to complete with scheduled ten minute breaks. Dinner is at 6:40, then he washes up and puts away the dishes before changing for bed. From 7 to 8 is his evening yoga/meditation block, and the next hour is spent doing a relaxing activity before going to bed at 9:30.

Tony, or anyone else for that matter, pops in at almost any time, but Bruce’s sleeping hours are strictly off limits. Interrupting his sleep is setting the day up to be a disaster.

Of course, it can’t always be helped.

Bruce already isn’t too talkative. He’s semiverbal on Bad Days. When talking is too much, he’ll usually communicate via a tablet Tony made special for him, though he’s fluent in ASL.

Just because he can’t talk, doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be with the people he loves. Thor will talk to him, or sit and watch movies. Tony works and processes better when he talks things through, and is more than happy to fill both sides of the conversation. He’ll do it with his AI too, but Bruce understands he likes a physical presence once and a while.

Speaking of Tony, ADHD billionaire geniuses make pretty good friends. When he moves into the tower, he has a residential floor all to himself. Of course, he doesn’t need all the space, so Tony took the liberty of building Bruce a personal multipurpose lab. There’s also a Hulk-proof containment room in case The Big Guy takes the reigns.

Bruce is one of the very few people allowed in Tony’s workshop.

(I’ve been going back and forth on this one because I don’t want to perpetuate the “violent autistic” stereotype but) I really like the Hulk as a metaphor for meltdowns!!!

Hulk is 100% autistic too. He’s his own living, thinking, feeling creature.

He can’t talk a lot, and will often use the same words/phrases. He knows a lot more, but understimulation is a big barrier. A virtually nonexistent ability to multitask doesn’t help. When he can’t communicate what he needs to, Thor is one of the very few people who can understand him.

Very very very tactile stims. Lots of body stims too.

He’s incredibly protective of Bruce. Same goes for the people he feels safe with, and the people Bruce is friends with, though he does have a few reservations about some of them and doesn’t let his guard down when they’re around.

The two communicate fairly often. It’s not as much through words as impulse and emotion. The rush of happy/safe/warm Bruce gets when he sees Thor isn’t just his own.

Hulk feels when Bruce is afraid or anxious. He doesn’t like when Bruce feels that way. Bruce will tell him when he doesn’t have to take over, but sometimes scientists are stupid and don’t know when they need help.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Hope you enjoyed :)

#mcu #autistic headcanon #autistic bruce banner #wills headcanons #bruce banner #hulk #thorbruce #will rambles #will writes #long post #actually autistic

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thealphabetmurders · 6 years ago

Note

If you still want a prompt maybe human analogical coffee shop au?

Hello, @potater420, thank you so much for your prompt, I really appreciate you sending one in.

I want to preface this with everyday I want to fucking die, so incredibly badly. For multiple reasons, but one of them being I am bad at being a writer. Mainly, because of the fact that I cannot do anything short. Coffee Shop AU’s are a fairly simple prompt, so I thought to myself “easy, I have got this under control”. Nevertheless, I messed it up and now it is a 10k+ word monster. I am appalled with myself. So, once again, I am breaking up what was supposed to be a short one-shot into a multi chaptered fic. I hate myself.

Virgil is a barista who has been working at Humes’s Coffeehouse and also a regular smoker who has been doing so for 8 years. He meets Logan, an attractive (soon to be) Doctor of Addiction Psychiatry, who implores him to stop smoking in the most fanfiction way possible. Please enjoy.

(Read on AO3)

Everyone had their vices nowadays. Information and ideas are conveyed too fast and quickly for anyone to stay sane without a little outside help. There are healthier coping mechanisms than others, some more effective than not, and Virgil has tried pretty much them all, and he has more shit to deal with than most. So whilst many found solace in sex, Smirnoff, and santa marta, Virgil was still smoking in 2019.

It was not his fault. He began smoking when he was 14 when it was 2012 and still semi cool. If he could turn back time and refuse that first cigarette from someone who’s name escapes him now, he would, but for now he has to indulge to keep himself sane.

He used to smoke a lot more, at least a pack and a half a day. Now, on a bad day, he smokes 15 cigarettes; on a good day, he is down to 8; an average day has Virgil fall somewhere between 10 and 12.

It is never enjoyable to stand outside, by yourself, and just smoke, but without the nicotine, he get extremely jittery, anxious, and irritated. The weather doesn’t let up for anyone slowly destroying their body, but it does allow him to have extra breaks from work. Not that he particularly minds working at Hume’s Coffeehouse. The owner is good and his day manager, Roman, can be bothersome, but is good company. And it is just a short walk to his flat with his roommate Patton. Yet, there were still days when customers were just… So dumb. Such unbridled, unfiltered, idiocy.

So, that is why Virgil is standing out front for his second time that hour, slowly milking his Marlboro Lite outside the doors to the shop. Normally, he has to smoke out back on the patio, but there were guests outside and Roman did not want them to be disturbed. So, he told him to zip up his hoodie over his uniform (as to not give the company a ‘bad image’) and to go smoke out front.

It was a warm day in April, warmer than Virgil’s liking for having a hoodie on, the sun shining on his right arm, holding the lit cigarette in his left hand. Virgil kicked a few pieces of concrete across the wide, jagged sidewalk as he took a deep breath in the afternoon air. It was a few minutes past 4 o’clock, Virgil thankful that he gets to leave in less than an hour and go work on a graphic design project for school. The rush had died down exponentially, no one had come in the building for the past 10 minutes. A white car pulled up to the front spot in the parking lot, and Virgil internally groaned and took another drag of his cigarette, knowing that if someone was coming in, he would have to go back inside to help (seeing as it was just Virgil and Roman there).

The car door opened, and a young man who appeared to be a tad older than Virgil himself exited and slammed the door closed with his foot, carrying a laptop on his hip, a satchel under his arm, a binder in his left arm (that looked about 5 inches wide), whilst texting on his cellphone with his left hand. Virgil had seen all types of university kids come into their quaint little shop in his time working there, but he had never seen one try to multitask before even getting in the building. This one, in fact, seemed even less aware of his surroundings than most.

He walked a few paces across the pavement (never looking up from his phone) until he made his way to the sidewalk. The jagged, uneven sidewalk that one in every three people trip over because of a particularly nasty snag on the pavement.

“Dude, hey!” Virgil called out, trying to get the young man’s attention, “Watch out, you’re gonna-” The man looked at Virgil over his glasses, his eyes filled with hurry and confusion, until his black converse caught onto that crack in the sidewalk, and he came crashing down.

Virgil doesn’t think he has ever cringed more on behalf of another person before; but watching a cellphone with no case an a Macbook fly through the air as papers from the thickest binder any man has ever seen fluttered on top of the sidewalk, like sprinkles on the worst sundae ever, made for a spectacle like no other.

“Holy shit, man!” Virgil yelled, throwing his cigarette to the ground and quickly stomping it out before running to the aid of the other. “Are you okay?”

The other man groaned and picked himself back onto his knees. His once professional demeanor was quickly ruined by the his now disheveled black hair and the scrapes on his cheek.

“Oh, that is unfortunate,” The bespectacled spectacle looked down at the long sleeved sweater he was previously wearing, now sporting a hole in the elbow, which was bleed as well, clashing with the navy blue color he had on.

“You got fucked up,” Virgil said, tapping his fingers rapidly on his thigh. He moved down to his knees and began gathering the papers before they began to blow away, “Let me help you gather all this up. You seemed stressed enough,”

The man chuckled, running his hands through his hair, attempting to tame it once more, “I suppose I am more stressed than was I was previously aware of,” He leaned to his left to grab his phone and inspected it for a few moments, fiddling with the buttons before smirking, “No cracks,”

Virgil scoffed, “You are so jammy, my phone would be dust if that happened, and I have an Otterbox,”

He shrugged in response, “It is because I have an Android,”

The Macbook, however, did not fare so well. He opened it, adjusting his glasses, and cringed. Virgil moved behind him and couldn’t help but suck in a breath at seeing the laptop ink inside the machine spill and move around the cracked areas.

“Yea, that thing is toast,”

He just shook his head, “Nonsense. I just have to get the screen replaced. I have the 2 year warranty after all. I just will not be as productive when I start working,” He closed the laptop and put it in his messenger bag as Virgil ogled at him.

“After what just happened, you are still going to do work? I don’t think I would work for a week if that shit just happened to me. I would take that as a sign from the universe to take a break,”

The other just scoffed at that, pushing his glasses further on his face. “I have not taken a break in 24 years, one broken Macbook is not going to change that streak for me,” He smirked at the other, but then contorted his face up, wincing slightly and touched the wound still present on his cheek. “Do you think that you could help me and gather the rest of my papers? You do not have to of course, but since you are already helping. I would like to run to my car and get some medical supplies to treat my wounds.”

“Yes, yes, of course,”

The man smiled at him gratefully and slowly jogged back to his car. Virgil began gather the papers that were littered with chemistry and medical notations that he had no clue about. He picked up a page full or writing, presumably the center of an essay and looked at the corner which read ‘Arias 3’.

The man, Arias, came back with a small first aid bag slung over his shoulder just as Virgil finished putting all of the papers back in the binder. He picked up the binder and the satchel but did not hand them to Arias quite yet.

“I will bring these in for you, I do not want you tripping and falling again,” Virgil explained, and Arias groaned in feign vexation, a smile ghosting his lips, “Do you need any help with your wounds or anything?”

Arias shook his head as they made their way into the shop, Virgil holding the door for them, “I am in my second to last year of my medical school program, I believe I can handle a few cuts and bruises,” He set down his bag on a table and Virgil followed suit with the rest of his items, “But I sincerely appreciate the offer,”

Virgil bowed a little which made the other chuckle slightly. He looked behind him at the counter to see Roman standing there, staring at him with his hands on his hips. He shakes his head and taps his wrist and Virgil rolled his eyes, “I should get back to work, my manager is going to yell at me soon,”

Arias’ eyebrows raised slightly, “You work here? Did you just begin?”

“No, I have been here for about 7 months now,”

He frowned in response, “I frequent this location often, why have I never seen you,”

Virgil shrugged, “I normally leave at 5 o’clock, so what time-”

“Ah,” Arias pointed a finger at him, “That must be it. I come in here at around 6 o’clock most weekdays. I am familiar with some of the staff… Including Roman,” He gestured his hand a little past Virgil, who turned around to see his manager walking towards them, a grin plastered on his face.

“Hello again, Logan. I see you have become acquainted with Virgil now,” Roman grinned and placed an arm around Virgil shoulders, sighing a bit with relief to finally know the other man’s name.

Arias- Logan, must have had the same line of thinking, “We haven’t had a proper introduction, but, I suppose now his a good time.” He held out his hand to Virgil, “I am Logan Arias,”

Virgil took his hand, “Virgil Kosa,” The shook for a moment, Logan’s grip was professional and firm and then they parted.

Logan directed his attention to Roman, “Yes, Virgil here helped me after I tripped and fell over that dreaded sidewalk,”

Roman groaned, “That sidewalk is the bane of my existence. It is now evident that you lost that fight with the sidewalk,” Roman loosely pointed to the wounds on Logan’s face, which prompted him to pull out the bandages, rubbing alcohol, and cotton rounds from his bag.

“I also lost my Macbook in the process. It succumbed to the harsh concrete, but I have the warranty for it. Thankfully Virgil here was there to help me gather my items that were lost from my fall.” He smiled softly at the dark cladded man, “I am quite grateful,”

Roman gave a hearty laugh, “Well, it is good that I let you go on that smoking break then,”

Virgil smirked, “I guess today smoking is going to save lives,”

Logan’s face contorted, but before he could say anything the chime went off in the store and they saw two people standing at the counter. They bid their short farewell to Logan and made their way around the back of the counter.

They had a mini rush, an influx of students from their college town came in, ordering everything from black coffee to frivolous frappuccinos. Roman took orders while Virgil blended, shook, and spun the orders ‘round. He didn’t mind the work. It was mindless and it allowed his thoughts to drift a bit. He thought about Logan a bit more, his eyes trailing to the black haired man who was studying diligently, flipped through flashcards faster than Virgil could probably read them. Logan adjusted his glasses and Virgil smiled, taking in his sharp features and intelligent sense of dress. He noticed the blue bandage he had on his cheek and the medical bag was on the chair opposite to him. Virgil stared longer than he should have and Logan turned to him, catching his eye. He waved curtly at Virgil, grey eyes flashing with bemusement and he flushed in response, opting for a two fingered salute towards Logan, hoping he didn’t notice his blush.

The rush eventually died down and Virgil was wiping down the machines when Roman came up behind him, straws in hand. He grinned down at Virgil as he stocked the dry goods, the other attempting to ignore the chuckles and giggles coming from the taller man. Eventually, Virgil turned to raise an eyebrow at Roman, who was filling the creamer with a cheeky expression.

“Can I ask you a question, V?”

Virgil nodded, prompting the other to continue.

“So, you’re gay, cachai?” Roman purred, the rhyme flowing effortlessly off his tongue.

Virgil made a smacking noise with his mouth and shook his head, wiping down a counter area that was already clean, “You can’t ask me that, Roman,”

He rolled his eyes, “But I am correct, yes?”

Virgil groaned, “Yes, you are. Is this relevant?”

Roman danced in placed, spilling droplets of creamer on the ground, “I want to set you up with Logan,”

Virgil groaned, “No, I do not want to be set up with anyone. I barely know him,”

“You kept giving him eyes on the line, I was watching,”

“He is cute, yes, but that whole med student thing does not exactly appeal to me, seeing as I am the least healthy person I know,”

Roman decidedly ignored the last half of Virgil’s statement and made undignified, offended gasps at Virgil, “Cute? You have got to be kidding me, weon,” Roman ruffled his dark curls after discarding the gloves he was wearing, “He has that sexy librarian thing going on, how can you not be into that?”

If you’re so ‘into that’,” Virgil quoted “Then why don’t you date him?”

Roman protested, “You would think I would, but, I am still trying to take a bite of your adorably delicious roommate,”

“Ah, right,” Virgil remembered, “That’s a fun thing to hear from your boss,”

Roman groaned dramatically and Virgil just raised an eyebrow at him, “Just go ask him out, I promise you will not regret it,” He sung that last bit, and Virgil only rolled his eyes. He did a quick sweep of the line and made sure to diligently wipe down the blenders to avoid going out into the lobby to wipe down tables.

“I am leaving now, Roman,” Virgil’s eyes trailed to the front counter to where he heard Logan’s voice, seeing the med student talk to his manager, “I will see you tomorrow, most likely,”

“Ah, that you will, weon. I hope you get your laptop fixed, promptly,” Roman flailed his arms in standard dramatic fashion and Logan shook his head at him, exhausted.

“Virgil,” Logan called out to him, a ways away down the line. He beckoned Virgil forward and he rushed forward, standing next to Roman, the two were stark contrasts of each other, “I just wanted to let you know I left something for you written on one of the napkins on the table,” Logan motioned towards his table, and sure enough, Virgil spotted a napkin and a pen left there. Virgil said nothing in response and Logan took this as an opportunity to take his leave and bid the other two a quaint farewell.

As soon as Logan was out the door, Roman began squealing with delight as Virgil turned completely red to his roots.

“Looks like Logan had the hots for you too!” He followed Virgil out into the lobby where he went to Logan’s seat and snatched up the napkin with the pen. He looked at the napkin, expecting to find a phone number or an email.

“What is it?” Roman asked, and Virgil read the napkin over again, groaning.

Virgil frowned at Roman, and read the napkin out loud:

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease. Frequent smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers.

-(soon to be) Dr. Logan Arias, Addiction Psychiatrist”

Roman snatched the napkin away from Virgil’s grasp to read it for himself, and began laughing.

“Great, not only do I have my coworkers and housemates bother me about smoking, now I have random attractive men doing so?”

Roman continued laughing, “Si, po. Si,”

“This is why you don’t fuck with med students,” Virgil spat, bitterly.

Roman said nothing but snickered a bit more before following Virgil to the back where he pulled out his phone.

“It is not an incorrect fact, I just checked,”

“I didn’t think it would be, weon,” Roman pinned the napkin to their corkboard in the back, “Soon-to-be Dr. Logan Arias said so,” He quoted and giggled a bit more as Virgil made a grab for the napkin, but Roman deflected it.

“You suck, Roman, I want you to know that,” Virgil looked at the clock, “I was supposed to get off 45 minutes ago, can I leave?”

Roman nodded as Virgil unplugged his phone charger and grabbed his lighter (he always carries two) and inspected the note once more, “It is odd that he didn’t leave a number or anything, just a fact,”

Roman shrugged, “Maybe he will give one to you once you make an effort to stop smoking,”

Virgil barked laughing, “Fat chance,” He made a beeline for the door.

“No one wants to kiss an ashtray!” Roman called.

Virgil pushed open the door with he back as he yelled back at Roman, “I am not asking anyone to!”

He put in his earbuds and began walking with purpose back to his apartment. The walk was an easy 10 minutes where he could just block out the world and succumb to the lyrics of his Walking/Daydream Playlist.

He reached his apartment and threw his keys in the bowl at the front door. He greeted Patton and made his way to his room and looked at the time. It was only 6 o’clock, so he decided he had time for a nap before dinner. Virgil closed his eyes and fell asleep to visions of steel grey and cigarette smoke.

I made Roman Chilean in this fic (gee… I wonder why), so some of the italicized words are Chilean slang that I will define here:

santa marta - Not a Chilean slang word, but slang for marijuana in Latin America (according to the Internet).

cachai - Do you get me?/ Y’know? / Yea? At it’s core, it is essential just asking if they are on the same page.

po: Just used for emphasis when speaking.

weon: This is the most commonly used slang word in Chile. It’s meaning can range from ‘dude’ or ‘man’ to as a term of endearment, greeting to idiot or worse. The meaning all depends on context and emphasis. I am being serious when I say Chileans say this in every other sentence.

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #Virgil Sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #Analogical #royality #my writing #potater420 #ask prompt #why do I do this to myself

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northsidemarleyrose · 5 years ago

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Marley 2.0 Intro

01. BASICS

Full Name: Marley Alexandria Rose Nickname: Marls Sex/Gender: Cisfemale Birthday: June 24, 1994 Age: 25 Astrological Sign: Cancer Occupation: Pop’s Chocklit’ Shop, occasionally working at the bookstore. Spoken Languages: English Sexual Orientation: Demisexual/Panromantic Birthplace: Riverdale, Northside Relationship status: Single

02. PHYSICAL TRAITS

Hair Color/Style: Long, dark brown, often left down except when she’s working at Pop’s. Eye Color: Blue Face Claim: Melissa Benoist Height: 5′8 Weight: 130lbs Tattoos: N/A Piercings: Ears Unique Attributes: Scar above her left eyebrow. Defining Gestures/Movements: Fidgets with her fingers when she’s nervous/stressed/anxious. Posture: Good.

03. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Pet Peeves: Dishonesty, ignorance, rudeness, chewing sounds, cheating of any kind Hobbies/Interests: Singing, baking, dancing, writing Special Skills/Abilities: Singing Likes: Chocolate, Christmas, surprises, sunsets, music, Disney, Greys Anatomy, Supernatural. Dislikes: Silence, giving up, being wrong, mushrooms, alcoholism. Insecurities: The fact that she had family hidden from her for her whole life, her weight/eating disorder Quirks/Eccentricities: She’s easily stressed and nervous, it usually manifests in fidgeting, no longer meeting someones eyes, and possibly a major loss of appetite. Strengths: Smart, sweet, persistent, able to multitask Weaknesses: Naive, Overly Trusting, Low Self-esteem. Speaking Style: Quick. Temperament: Excitable

04. FAMILY & HOME

Immediate Family: Her mother, Millie Rose, father, Daniel Richardson, twin sister Charlie Richardson, and younger half-siblings, Christopher and Caroline Richardson. How do they feel about their family? Family used to be really simple for Marley. She’d grown up with her mom and they were as close as two people could be. Her mother had been her hero. She’d also known she had been a twin once upon a time but her mother had said the other little girl, the first one, had been a stillborn. She’d also been told her father had left town when she was a baby. When Marley was a teenager she’d discovered that hadn’t been true and that her father was a drunken Southsider and her sister had grown up on the Southside with him. She hadn’t been able to process the information well and this led to a huge blowout with her mother but they’ve since been working on mending the relationship. Marley has a hard time trusting anyone because of this. She resents her father for not reaching out as well but there’s something about him that she can’t entirely hate. She’d always wanted her dad growing up, wondering why he’d just left.

She loves her siblings a lot, all of them had no part in the lies and she could never hold Charlie, Christopher, or Caroline accountable for their parents’ choices. While she doesn’t entirely get her sister all the time, and has only known her since she was 18, she’d do anything for her and the same goes for Christopher and Caroline. Sometimes Marley feels like it’s them against the world. How does their family feel about them?: Her mother feels very guilty about the lies but she felt it was better. She is constantly working at repairing the damage.

Daniel, or Danny as she has now learned he prefers, is fairly indifferent towards Marley, that of course unless he needs anything from her.

Both Christopher and Caroline love Marley a lot, it’s really hard not to and Marley will bend over backwards for them and they would gladly do the same.

Charlie didn’t trust Marley in the beginning, there was a good amount of resentment and jealousy on top of the lack of trust. All that being said, it’s been a while and Marley has proven to Charlie she’s worthy and she’s family and Charlie is just as protective of Marley as she is of Christopher and Caroline. You can hardly tell they didn’t grow up as a unit. Pets: None. Where do they live?: Northside, with Bethany in the apartment above the bookstore. Description of their home: Apartment above the bookstore. 3 bedrooms. Not huge but spacious enough for her to share with Bethany. Description of their bedroom: Tidy, many knicknacks in their place. Lots of colour.

05. THIS OR THAT

Introvert or Extrovert? Optimist or Pessimist? Leader or Follower? Confident or Self-Conscious? Cautious or Careless? Religious or Secular? Passionate or Apathetic? Book Smarts or Street Smarts? Compliments or Insults? Pajamas or Lingerie?

06. FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Sky Blue/Purple Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: She loves sweaters and scarves, will dress in them the minute there is a chill. Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: A little bit of everything but she’s a pretty big TSwift fan. Along with anything from Broadway. She also can’t help but love P!nk. Favorite Movies: Always a sucker for something Disney or romantic. She also adores anything with Brie Larson ever since Captain Marvel, Harry Potter. Favorite Books: Harry Potter, A Little Princess, Handle With Care. Favorite Foods/Drinks: Chocolate, Pizza, Milkshakes Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: N/A Favorite Time of Day: Breakfast time. Favorite Weather/Season: She finds something she loves about every season but Fall has her heart. Favorite Animal: Dogs

07. MISCELLANEOUS

Fears/Superstitions: Heights. Political Views: Left. Addictions: Chocolate. Best School Subject: Drama, but academically, Maths. Worst School Subject: She did really well overall but science was a little difficult School Clubs/Sports: Glee club How does she get money? Working at Pop’s and the bookstore. How is she with technology? Fairly decent.

08. PAST & FUTURE

Fondest Memory: The first time Charlie really hugged her. A hug she knew wasn’t just an obligation and was free of the distrust Marley had been so used to picking up. Deepest, Darkest Secret: Developing an eating disorder in her senior year due to finding out that her entire life was a lie and never telling anyone about it. She hides it now with her love of food, but the idea of throwing it up, or not eating, arises in times of stress. Dream Vacation: New York City - Broadway Best thing that has ever happened to this character: Even if it took a while to get used to, finding Charlie, Christopher, and Caroline. They’re her family, no matter how long it took. Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Her eating disorder and the conflicts that caused it. What do they want to be when they grow up?: Secretly, a singer on the radio. Perfect Date: Something so romantic it could be in a movie.

09. HEADCANONS

Growing up on the Northside, Marley did grow up with some privilege but she definitely wasn’t as well off as other families who happened to live on this side of the tracks. Being the only child of a single parent made Marley stick out as opposed to a lot of her classmates growing up and Marley wouldn't have admitted it, but she always caught herself daydreaming about the dad that left and the sister she never had.

Because she works at Pop’s which is in a pretty neutral area, Marley has ended up befriending people from the North and South side alike. She sees past where people are from or what gang they happen to be in. Some may call her naive, but she sees herself as just a good person.

Marley used to be a person who’d take most of what anyone said as truthful, sarcasm aside of course, but when she found out her mother had lied to her her whole life she developed a plethora of trust issues. To her luck, she’s worked through a lot of them but generally isn’t as trusting as she used to be.

During her senior year of high school, Marley had a project about family history and instead of bothering her mom about that, something she’d given up on long ago, she decided to look into it herself and with that she found Danny and then Charlie, Christopher, and Caroline. She immediately confronted her mother and had it out with her, yelling and tears galore. The fight ended with Marley leaving, slamming the door like the dramatic person she is, and staying the next couple nights with her best friend.

During this time Marley was barely eating, something new to her, and when she did eat, she could often be found throwing it back up. She lost some weight but most people just complimented her, which she didn’t know how to feel about. She kept her secrets to herself, not telling a soul, and as things with Charlie and the younger twins settled out, Marley did her best to deal with her ED on her own, using her stubborness against herself. Because she never truly dealt with her disorder, it can pop up from time to time when she gets too overwhelmed.

Marley has a bit of an issue with people who are frequently drinking because of her father. Sure, she can be found with a bottle of wine every now and then but if there came a time, she could give it up if she wanted.

Marley isn’t quite never been kissed, she was a theatre kid, but she’s never had a relationship and has certainly never had sex. Marley has also known that she wasn’t straight from a young age, and told her mom when she was 15. Millie was completely fine with it, only caring that Marley find someone who loves her for all of who she is.

#gdhqintro #about marley #eating disorder tw

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oghoneytryst · 6 years ago

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missing piece.

request: a sweet encounter between harry and y/n, a foreign and artistic contemporary dancer

where harry is in search of a muse and is running out of time

a/n: the only experience I have with dance is doing spotlight for dance shows so I apologize if anything is off. the request included specific characteristics but I wanted to avoid that so that everyone could enjoy, but still made sure y/n was foreign. thanks for reading <3

x the song i used was Talk Me Down by Troye Sivan x

Harry adores the summertime. It is something in the way the insects wander cynically on the victims of fresh and delicate skin; something in the way the schoolchildren skip across the concrete sidewalks with a step in their toes; something in the way the two lovers resting amongst the protruded roots of a healthy tree begin to frolic through the busy streets, hand-in-hand, in spite of London’s scorching heat...

It excites him. It is around this time, surrounded by these elements, where the inspiration stuck inside of his soul is usually eager to spill out, taking on the form of his well-recognized art.

Harry ponders on the leather seats of his luxurious sports car, a teasing sweat trailing down his plain and pricey t-shirt. It has only been a month or so since his legendary world tour came to a close. His friends have been caring enough to remind him that 30 days is not nearly enough time to have completely rested up from the constant months of traveling.

Regardless, he has been incapable of sitting still in the aftermath of the tour.

There has been no progress in his songwriting. Harry fears that he lacks the inspiration that is necessary for his second album, though his caring friends have also mentioned to him that he is in no rush to release anything new. He should not consider himself to be in a frustrating slump, but does so anyway, playing the role of his own worst critic while his mind becomes a rambled mess.

And yet, from Modena to Toronto, there is not a single muse in sight until he watches her move across that stage.

The hours-long program has fascinated Harry thus far.

Toddlers in bright and spiffy tutus have opened the show with their precious prancing across the stage. Harry senses relief in the lighthearted ambience that showers over the audience. He feels happy.

Teenage boys clad in only their nude tights take over mid-show, portraying their own expression of contemporary dance. Harry feels a strange and overwhelming sense of pride take control of him. His green eyes glisten with tears

She appears during the closing piece of the show, and it is then he realizes that she is who captivates him entirely. She is who radiates brighter than the scorching sun and stands taller than the trunk of the lovers’ tree. It is her it is her it is her!

His pezzo mancante. His pieza perdida, manke moso, peça faltante — whichever language he chooses to express it in does not matter. It is her who has brought the light back in his eyes and curiosity burns alive in his soul because he needs to know her name.

“Right, well, I’ve got a cousin from me mum’s side, who’s got a friend, who owns a dance studio in London. She was lovely enough to send me an email about the summer show they’re putting on for today only and she insisted that I attend and bring along a friend.”

Harry leans forward in the driver’s seat to hide behind the steering wheel. This is not the first time that Nick has brought him somewhere without his knowledge of the destination. He only wishes that he could have been given a heads up before driving his car into the crowded parking lot and sticking out like a sore thumb.

“A dance show?” Harry questions, scanning over the creamy exterior of the auditorium.

“You’re going t’need these,” Grimmy advises, reaching into his tote to pull out an overused hat-and-sunglasses disguise. “Don’t want to steal away the attention from all the little girls, eh?”

In another life, Harry is not famous. Harry Styles is not a household name. He does not perform to sold out arenas, nor does he travel across the careless oceans. He does not have the privilege of crossing paths with incredible people and build connections with those who serve a great impact on his heavy heart and teach him many wisely lessons.

He does not do a great many things in another life that is far, far away.

Yet, it is in this one where he has discovered the world and all of its darling beauties. He has marveled at the runways of fashion shows; he has educated himself in abstract art galleries; he has cried during soul-gripping concerts that have taken place in venues he now has the honor of performing in himself.

So why it is that in all of his 24 years of life, he has never once been to a dance show?

‘I want to sleep next to you, but that’s all I wanna do right now...’

Harry recognizes the maturity of this final piece. Its dozen or so dancers are attentive to the cues of their music, long and whimsical skirts swaying with every synchronized movement. There is a range between them—tall to short, slim to plump, nervous to at ease—and he is impressed with how their distinctions complement each other and shape them into a single working entity.

A minute into the song is when the dancers break away from their collective choreography to perform their own individual dynamics. Harry is awestruck by the mix of arches, lunges, contractions, and so forth. There are no two dancers who replicate the same movements at the same time and yet everything still looks so wonderfully put together.

‘If you don’t mind, I’ll walk that line, stuck in the bridge between us...’

These dancers then disappear in the blink of an eye. There is a gracefulness in the way they storm off behind the curtains, out of sight from the audience, leaving one of their own in the spotlight.

She who remains is an illustrious fragment who portrays her emotions so elegantly through the flow of her dance. This is the first time that Harry sees her; he decides then that it is his favorite part of the show.

“Maybe from this you can get the gears in your brain turnin’ again,” Nick tells him from their seats in the back row, waiting patiently for the show to start. “Find your muse or somethin’. Get to creatin’.”

“And if I don’t?” Harry retaliates with a cheeky grin.

“It’s still a lovely show, Harold.”

Harry is so intrigued by this woman. He finds it impossible to tear his eyes away from the stage in fear that he might miss even a second of her poise. The applause that erupts at her frozen, heavy-breathing figure is what escapes him from his trance. The music softly fades away as the auditorium turns to a mystical darkness.

Harry thinks to himself: that was not long enough. He has not satisfied himself enough with her artistry.

The lights turn on. The audience are settling back into their seats and the stage reveals itself vacant of her presence. Harry begins to shortly panic. He skims through his glossy program to read over the limited information provided about that wonderful piece that he has experienced in this life only.

Talk Me Down – Contemporary Sunday Class, 2 pm with Ms. Y/n

“D’ya think I can meet her?” Harry asks Nick after the final bow with all of the teachers and students. His pale hands have gone red from the applause he has given in support of the lovely lady smiling off to the side. “That girl from the last dance, Ms. Y/n or somethin’ like that.”

Nick grins knowingly at his friend, settling back into his seat while the rest of the audience shuffles out into the lobby with their colorful bouquets. “I think she’s more of a woman, Harry, but yeah, I’m sure that can be arranged. We’ll just have to wait until it cools down in here.”

15 minutes have never gone by slower. Harry had to force himself to sit impatiently in the backrow, smiling at the people who gave him a nice wave on their way out. He even took pictures with those who were courteous enough to ask.

“Junie! What a lovely show that was,” Nick greets the woman backstage, his cousin’s friend, who quite simply is his friend as well.

“Thank you so much for coming, darling. I hope you two enjoyed yourselves.”

“Absolutely,” Harry says, stretching his arms out to her for a welcoming hug. His vision sneakily wanders around the area, catching sight of wide-eyed, star struck females, yet none of them are her. “I must say, that last piece was absolutely amazing.”

“Oh!” Junie exclaims, jolting out of Harry’s embrace. “Y/n’s class! D’you know what? I am so glad that she decided to move here. She’s proven to be such an important part of this journey.”

Harry repeats her name, “Y/n ... sounds lovely,” and nods to himself. He can already imagine his tongue getting used to those sweet syllables of hers, his lips giving the vibrations a little kiss on their way out.

“D’ya happen to know where she is?” Nick asks nonchalantly, throwing his arm around Junie’s shoulders. “I mean, Harry just adored that dance of hers. Absolutely adored. Perhaps even inspired him, or summat?”

“Thank you, Nicholas,” the younger man stops him, politely clasping his hands in front of him. He’s not one for violence, but he practically wants to slap that shit-eating grin off of his chiseled face.

Junie chuckles at their interaction. “Well, speak of the devil and she shall appear.”

The dance instructor nods her head in the direction behind Harry, and he can see the wiggle in her eyebrows before turning around with such quick desperation.

Speak of the angel and she shall appear. She shall walk through the double doors and crash upon your life without so much as a warning.

His heart drops down to his tummy, cradled by the ferns on his lower hips.

Y/n has taken it upon herself to change out of the costume that once hugged her body. She now suits a comfortable pair of sweats, the hem of a loose tank barely cascading over the thick waistband. There is a quickness in her mindless step, multitasking as she stuffs her belongings into the duffle bag draped over her shoulder.

Harry hums contentedly and turns back to the pair. “Thank you, Junie,” he says, ignoring their teasing smirks as he begins to walk backwards. “It was lovely talking to you, but if you don’t mind—shit!

Crash! The angel shall walk and crash upon your life, metaphorically and literally.

Harry covers his sinful lips, embarrassed that the mothers around him are probably scolding him for his foul language. He hears an item drop in the collision, and after he has balanced himself back on his own two feet, he turns around to apologize to the startled woman.

“Um...” Harry breathes out, shaking his head. Y/n looks even more alluring up close. “I’m ... ‘m sorry, y/n, I didn’t mean to—”

“No, no, it’s fine!”

“I shouldn’t have been walking—”

“It’s okay, I promise.”

“Jesus, ‘m so clumsy...”

Their sentences mix together, no single word being quite coherent to any pesky eavesdroppers. Harry has become exasperated with himself, spotting the frail book that has fallen from y/n’s hands. He does not hesitate to pick it up for her, a string of apologies continuously flowing from his lips.

Then he stops. He reads the title in blue.

BURNING IN WATER DROWNING IN FLAME. Charles Bukowski.

A poet from before his time that he has found himself infatuated in. A collection of written works that have inspired him since his discovery of them. These are some of the stanzas most precious to his heart, found in her possessions as well.

“Can I ... can I have it back please?”

Harry raises his head to look at her. He doesn’t think it is possible to be even more intrigued with her existence, but the thick accent she swiftly carries makes it obvious to him that she is not from London, but rather someplace alien that he now has the desire to explore.

Her voice is what he imagines the clouds to sound like; he suddenly grows envious of the angels she kisses.

“Right, ‘f course,” he mumbles, smitten by the kind smile that paints her face when he returns her book. “That’s a good read there. Interesting choice.”

Y/n tilts her head. She looks down at the beaten copy, skimming through it as the pages flip against her thumb. “Thank you,” she says genuinely, “it helps me with my ideas.”

“Your ideas?” Harry raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “For your dances?”

Y/n nods, biting the inside of her cheek. “Yes. It is something about the words that ... motivate me. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I know what y’mean,” Harry assures her. “Inspiration, right?”

“Right...” she agrees, the two sharing a quiet laugh. “Um, can I ask how you know my name?”

Her question suddenly throws him off. Harry closes his eyes and curses himself for muttering out her name in the midst of his rambling.

“Uh ... it’s in the program,” he answers, raising the glossy booklet as evidence for her to see. “And Junie, she’s, she said it was you. I was just really blown away by your performance. Wonderful song choice, such incredible taste. I’m Harry, by the way.”

Y/n laughs, her shoulders pushing forward as she looks to the ground. He cannot think of a more melodious gift than her laugh

“Thank you, Harry,” she says, dropping her poetry book into her duffle bag. She does not notice the way he swallows dryly when she says his name. “I love the song, too.”

There is a brief second in which a strange silence creeps up on the two. Harry doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like the awkward background noise of the dancers shuffling around them.

“Did you, um,” he starts, refusing to let the conversation die. “Did you choreograph that piece all by yourself? Junie said it was your class, so I was jus’ wonderin’.

“I had some help from the students. They were the ones who thought of the solo at the end.”

“Wow, yes, the solo. It was certainly, uh, fantastic. I really, really enjoyed—”

“Harry?” she abruptly interrupts him, causing his lips to seal in anticipation.

“Hmm?”

The squint in y/n’s eyes makes Harry nervous. He feels like a barcode by the way she scans him up and down. He takes the moment to observe his overall appearance with that of everyone else. The people around him are dressed head-to-toe in a loose-fitting, affordable clothing, whereas Harry has decided to sport a more expensive look: a white Saint Laurent t-shirt, yellow Adidas track pants, and creamy colored Gucci loafers.

This is the first time his clothes have ever made him feel self-conscious.

Y/n, however, does not comment on his designer clothing. She seems to not even notice it when mentioning to him, “You look familiar.” There is perplexity in the way her eyes scream why have I seen these features of his before? “Have I met you before, maybe somewhere else?”

Harry lets out a relieved chuckle and runs a hand through his bouncy curls. “Well, it’s funny that you ask...”

“Are you coming to the after party, y/n?”

Junie interrupts the innocent conversation that has been spread out for almost an hour. Most of the people that once filled the backstage area are now gone. Harry can’t recall when it had become just him and y/n, but he likes this idea of her. She makes his fear of time falter; she even makes him forget.

“It sounds fun,” y/n gushes, hugging her friend goodbye. “But I think I am just going to pass time at the studio, if that’s alright with you?”

“Boo!” Nick suddenly appears, earning a laugh from Junie as she gives the key to the dancer. “What about you?” he asks Harry, nudging him on the arm. “What are you goin’ to do?”

Harry shrugs, stuffing his hands warm inside his pockets. He doesn’t want to go to this so-called after party if y/n isn’t going, but he also doesn’t want to seem rude and reject their invitation.

“You can join me at the studio, Harry,” y/n speaks up, swinging the keychain around a single finger. “If you’re not doing anything else...”

“‘m so sorry, y/n,” Harry apologizes when they enter the studio. “Someone must’ve posted a picture or something,” he realizes, shaking his head at the paparazzi that swarmed them upon leaving the auditorium. “They’ve probably followed us all the way here.”

“Harry,” y/n murmurs with a grin. “It’s fine. They’ll go away eventually. Besides, it is a good way for the word to get out about the studio.”

Harry raises his head, playfully scoffing at the teasing smile she is giving him. “Oh, is that all I’m good for then?”

“Of course not! You’re also excellent company.”

“Sure, I had to see for myself where the magic happens.” Harry stretches his arms out to his side, circling around the area with the large mirror for a wall and breathing in the open space. “I bet it’s got really sick acoustics, huh?”

“A little.” Y/n shrugs. “I like it here, when no one else is around. It’s ... quiet. Gives me a space to think, to dance, sometimes both at the same time.”

“Sounds lovely,” Harry says, adoring the way she looks into the mirror and gives a little twirl after she speaks.

“Can I ask you something, Harry?” she says, changing the topic of conversation with the snap of her fingers. “What is your dream? Something that you desire, and it makes you happy?”

“My ... dream?” he questions, once again thrown off by her questions. She is inquisitive, which makes her all the more intriguing. “My dream, well ... ‘m livin’ it.”

Y/n scoffs, lowering her arms until they make a slap against her sides. “Besides that,” she says, little space left between them when she walks over to him. “Something else. You accomplished that dream at such a young age, you must have another, right?”

Harry blinks in a pensive manner. He’s trying to control his heartbeat, but at this close proximity, he can practically inhale her soft scent. “Um, I just want ... people to be kind to each other. I think that would be nice. Other than that, I don’t know. Maybe ‘m still trying t’figure it out.”

“You have plenty of time. Something will inspire that dream of yours soon, Harry.”

“Alright.” He laughs, nodding in agreement. “And yours? What’s your dream, y/n?”

The room seems to illuminate when he asks her that question. Perhaps it is because of the way she beams when she thinks of her dream, but Harry can’t recall when that grin of hers had ever left her face.

“I want to be like Junie,” she answers, but is quick to explain. “I want to open up a studio like this. Dance until I can’t dance anymore. It’s going to take a lot of work, but I think that’ll make me very happy. Don’t you think?”

Harry is so smitten. The dimples beside his smirk is enough of a hint, and he finds himself crossing his arms across his chest to keep from pulling this imaginative woman any closer.

“Yeah,” he whispers, though he doesn’t think he is in the right position to decide what will make y/n happy or not. Still, he has to agree with her. She’s clearly got a passion. “Um, about the cameras outside, you are aware that it may be hours before they leave?”

“Wow ... okay then.” Y/n exhales, the air flowing past her pursed lips which makes them flap against each other in a silly manner. She pensively tilts her head from side to side, but gasps as she suggests, “Maybe I can show you some techniques in the meantime? If you want to, you don’t have to.”

“Y/n.” Harry reaches down, enveloping her left hand in both of his. “I would love to.”

Harry doesn’t know how long it has been before he’s driving y/n home. He has been caught up in the dances she has performed for him, telling him to follow her movements because “it’s not hard, Harry!” He has even sung her a couple songs, the acoustics in the room proving to be more than exceptional. In a mix of their constant giggles, they’re unsure about when exactly the paparazzi have left them in their privacy.

In fact, the only certainty that Harry has when he drives himself back home is the powerful array of words storming in his mind. He’s practically aching to write them down.

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rolypolywl · 6 years ago

Video

youtube

And this is day one exercising! Watch the video for a bit of musing on getting to day one, suggestions for getting started, and to get in your 15 minutes of exercise with me!

Day One

Day one is the hardest day. Because yesterday, wasn’t day one. Yesterday you were your normal, roly-poly self, living your normal life.

And day one means that something changed today. It is so easy to say “Tomorrow I’m going to start working out. Tomorrow I’m going to start eating better. Tomorrow I’m going to lose weight.”

And then tomorrow, it's so easy not to do any of those things. Actually making that change. Actually saying yes, I am going to start exercising today, and in fact, this is me exercising, that’s HARD!

So, actually making day one happen is huge. That’s your first step. That’s where you say, “yes, I’m tired of being roly-poly, and today I’m going to do something about it.”

Picking the Right Equipment

And for me, one of the struggles I faced with day one is this exercising stuff. It takes “stuff” to exercise. One common suggestion if you have no exercise equipment or gym membership is to just take a walk. It doesn’t cost anything, it doesn’t need any equipment, just go do it. And if you can, awesome! Go do it! Walking is great!

But for me, I have joint problems, and I’ve had a lot of problems with my knees and my ankles. Exercises like walking, jogging, running, all are impact exercises, and those hurt my knees and ankles. If I am coming from zero, I have to work my way up to those kinds of exercises. Because if I’m in pain, I’m less likely to have a day one.

What I recommend is this wonderful device called a pedal exerciser:

I got it on amazon, and I got it for under $30, and it was the best purchase I made. Get it here!

And I originally got it because I broke my toe and could no longer doing the walking or elliptical exercising that I had been doing. If you’ve got mobility problems or injuries that make walking hard, this can be a great alternative.

As you can see, it’s basically just a bike’s pedals on a little stand. You can use it with any chair as long as the height is about right. With a higher chair you can go with an “l” shape like a standard bike, but with a low chair you can also get into a position kind of like a recumbent exercise bike. You can go slow, you can go fast, you can go at a moderate pace.

I love it. It is cheap, it is small and light and easy to tuck away for the day. It is wonderful. If you only buy one thing to start this process, I recommend a pedal exerciser.

A cool feature is that you can use this with your hands. So if you can’t pedal with your legs right now, you can also put it on a table and do it with your arms, to get some exercise that way. Or do both, one after the other! This is a lower and upper body workout.

And another great feature is that you can do this under a desk or table, if the clearance is high enough that you don’t hit your knees. Unlike some other machines, this one tends to isolate your body halves. So if you’re pedaling with your legs, your upper body is more stationary, and you can read, play on your phone, work on your computer, whatever. Now, eventually, we’ll be working towards full body workouts, but right now, when you’re trying to fit the extra time into the day, being able to multitask is a great help.

One thing you have to be aware of, though, is that if you are on a slick surface, like this laminate, then the pedals will inch forward over time. Every so often you’ll need to gently tug them back into place. And you need to be aware of your posture when using this. Be careful not to create more problems for your body!

Time

Okay, last thing on the checklist, is time. How much time should you exercise? How often? Well there are two answers to that. In an ideal world, and today. And those numbers are different. Today, we are focused on just getting to day one. And getting through day one. This is not the day to go for a two hour hike, or spend three hours on the pedal exerciser.

This is a time for starting a habit. The point of today is to have a day one, to get past that hurdle, and to make it painless enough that you are actually able to have a day two.

We are not here to lose all this weight in a month. That just isn’t reasonable. It took years to put on this weight, and it isn’t coming off in days. There is no reason to push that hard.

The most important thing on day one, and to some extent week one and month one is to form the habit. To carve out that chunk of day when you can actually exercise, and to form that habit of doing it, and to get past the hurdle of day one.

The most important thing is to be able to say, “This is day one!”

I will post videos on Monday, Wednesday, Friday to start, but you pick the three days that work best for you in the week.

Remember to post your #BeforeTogether photos and videos, and join me next time!

#BeforeTogether #RolyPoly #WeightLossJourney #WeightLoss #Fitness #Workout #Exercise #Day 1

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nexthecryptid · 6 years ago

Text

The Little Things Ch. 3

Summary: Lance thought he would be okay. It was a rough week, and he had to help his friends out a bit. No problem. He was fine. Everything was fine.But it wasn’t. It wasn’t fine.

Prefer to read it on A03? Here!

First - Previous - Next

Wednesday - 11:40 am

Lance rushed towards his classroom, checking the time on his phone before sighing in relief. He was about ten minutes late, but the warmth that seeped into his hand reminded him that it was totally worth it. He paused at the door to his class, catching his breath and fixing his clothes a bit before entering. He scanned the class, spotting his friends before quickly making his way over, grateful that the professor hadn’t started.

He sat down between his friends, carefully sitting his coffee on the table before pulling his books out, humming slightly. He turned to Hunk, greeting him with a large smile and a fist bump. Hunk smiled back, turning back to his bag to look for something. He then turned to Pidge, noting the small glare they directed towards him.

“Hey Pidge.” He greeted, keeping up his happy tone.

“You’re late.” They said, rolling their eyes and opening their laptop.

“It was only ten minutes.” Lance pointed out.

“Ten minutes we could have been using to work on our group project.” They growled, typing in their password with more force than necessary. Lance frowned and looked to Hunk, raising a brow. Hunk shrugged with an apologetic look, glancing to Pidge. He let the conversation drop in favor of drinking his coffee, grateful when the Professor then called for attention.

“As a reminder, your projects are due two weeks from now, and your second exam will be in three. If you haven’t already begun your projects, I suggest you kick it in gear now. Two weeks can go by faster than you think. I will be giving you time in class today, so use it wisely.” He said, looking around the class, lingering on some of the students. Pidge made a small noise, Lance looking over to see their jaw clenched, fingers digging into the desk. He rose a brow, a frown settling on his face.

Pidge… What’s wrong?

Probably annoyed they had to deal with you. You were late, probably thought you weren’t going to show up! You’re stressing them out!

Stress...

As the lesson begun, Lance couldn’t help but glance over to Pidge occasionally, as if they would explode if he looked away for too long. He took down the chapter corresponding to the lesson, adding the outline before shifting his focus a bit more onto his friend.

At a mere glance, Pidge looked fine. They were looking at the slides, watching the professor, and taking notes on their computer. But Lance knew differently. There was a look in Pidge’s eyes, one that looked slightly panicked. The corners of their mouth twitched, probably because they were biting the inside of their mouth and they messed with their nails when they weren’t typing. Lance leaned back a bit with a stretch, using the new angle to look at their laptop. There were two windows opened that he could see, divided onto the screen so Pidge could look at them both simultaneously. One was a word document, Pidge typing their notes from the lesson. The other was something Lance saw Pidge use for programing, lines of code being typed in as the Professor spoke. Pidge was multitasking, or at least trying to. After writing a line of code, they deleted it, Pidge’s fingers twitching slightly before clicking onto a different window. This time it was an article, probably something Pidge was researching for another class.

Pidge was clearly stressed, probably overwhelmed with all of the assignments that were piled onto them. Lance could relate… While it was normal to get jabs by Pidge when he was late, it was different today. Pidge was genuinely upset, and it was probably because they thought Lance would skip out, which meant they would lose another day of working on their group project, together. They worked separately last class, and they still had a good chunk to tackle. It would explain their short fuse of patience, because they probably felt like they were running out of time.

While it usually worked itself out after a few days, Lance could tell it wouldn’t this time with the way they were trying to work on everything right now. Pidge needed a break, and Lance was going to make them because no one else would. Hunk was probably thinking about his lunch date, completely unaware of what was happening right now, not that Lance could blame him considering he was probably a nervous wreck. Keith was out of town at the moment, so he wouldn’t be able to, and he hadn’t seen Allura or Shiro in some time. He knew if they were around, they would all do it. It would have been easier if he had them around, but hey, he could take care of it no problem.

Hopefully…

…

Wednesday - 1:15 pm

“Alright, now that we got all the basic information down, all we need to do is highlight some the key parts.” Hunk said, clapping his hands together and looking over his notes.

They had spent the last forty-five minutes working on their project, tackling some of the larger aspects of it. Lance smiled down at his notes, feeling a bit proud of himself since he was the once that came up with what they were doing. Pidge had seemed to relax a bit too, Lance making sure they only focused on the project instead of being sidetracked with jokes. While he loved to joke around, he knew it would only frustrate Pidge, so he eased up on the fooling around. Hunk closed his notebook, looking at his phone, his nerves clearly coming back. Pidge didn’t seem to notice.

“Okay but we still have to-”

“Easy Pidge. We got a lot done today, so let’s wrap it up for now. Plus, Hunk has a date to go to.” Lance reminded, placing a hand on their shoulder as an apology for cutting them off.

“But we need to-”

“-take a break. Come on. You and I have reservations at a nearby place.” He said, hoping it would persuade Pidge to settle down. He felt bad for cutting Pidge off again, but Hunk was already tyring to make his escape and he was getting worried.

“I owe you one.” Hunk whispered before rushing out. Pidge growled and pulled away from Lance, clicking their tongue in annoyance.

“Whatever.” They mumbled, reluctantly putting their belongings away. Lance had thought he won, but Pidge got up and was ready to leave without him.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going? We’re going for lunch remember?” He asked, raising a brow.

“I’m going home.” Pidge huffed, continuing their exit. Lance scrambled after them, quickly stepping in front of them.

“Come on Pidge.”

“I don’t have time for this Lance.” Their eyes narrowed a bit and they moved to walk around him. Lance stuck his arm out to stop them again.

“Then make time.” He reasoned.

“Go away Lance!” They snapped, shoving his arm away.

You’re going to regret this.

“Pidge.” He said gently, grabbing their arm and pulling them back. He braced himself, knowing full well he was pushing Pidge too far, but it was needed.

“I don’t have time for your bullshit Lance! What don’t you get!? Are you really that fucking stupid!? I’m not here to play your stupid games, I’m not here to fucking deal with your shit! I have too much work to do, so leave me the fuck alone already! God you’re so fucking annoying!” They yelled, slapping his arm away. The students around them stopped, looking over to see what was happening. But Lance didn’t pay them any mind, ignoring the sting in his arm as he looked down at Pidge. He tried not to take it to heart, tried not to feel hurt by Pidge’s words, but there was only so much Lance could ignore. Pidge was glaring at him, breathing heavily as the anger boiled in their eyes. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes if only to escape the look for a moment.

Can’t argue with something that’s a fact.

“This doesn’t concern any of you so move on!” He called to the students who were watching them, looking at them with a pointed look. Some flinched and quickly rushed away, some turned to their friends and whispered. He ignored them and looked back to Pidge, surprised by the reaction he got. They flinched, eyes widening as it seemed to really sink in what they had just done. Guilt washed over anger, tears forming at the corners of their eyes. It was then he decided that he rather have Pidge look angry at him then looking near tears.

“Lance I-”

“Follow me Pidge.” He said softly, giving them a small smile. They flinched at their name but nodded, walking next to Lance as they walked out the building.

While they could have easily gone to a nearby cafe, or even the dining halls, Lance picked a place that was about fifteen minutes away, just on the edge of campus. The Diner that Lance was taking Pidge was the group’s favorite place to hang out for several different reasons. The main one though, was because that’s where they had all met. While yeah it was a bit out of the way, it gave Pidge time to walk in peace. It also gave Lance time to clear his head.

When the Diner came into view, he noticed the way Pidge’s shoulders relax a little, walking a bit closer to him. He smiled a little and gently patted their head without a word. When they walked in, he called back to the waiters and waitresses, greeting them all. He knew every single one of them, which wasn’t surprising considering he also worked there. He walked up to the booth where they usually waited to be seated, but instead of waiting, he reached back and grabbed one of the notepads that sat there. He wrote down his own order, knowing exactly what he wanted before looking to Pidge.

“Want me to pick for you, or do you have a meal in mind?” He asked. Pidge shifted a bit before shaking their head.

“Surprise me.” They said, smiling a bit. Lance smirked and wrote down a meal that he knew Pidge would enjoy. He then went towards the back, hanging up their orders before calling back to the cooks, greeting them. After having a small chat, he found Pidge at their usual booth, sitting across from them.

“Feeling better?” He asked, placing his chin in his hand.

“Yeah… I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. I’ve just been…” They trailed off, wringing their hands together, glancing at their bag on occasion.

“Stressed? Frustrated? Tired of all the teachers secretly coming together to plan your demise through countless assignments and terrible, overwhelming projects?” Lance offered. Pidge snickered, rolling their eyes.

“All three. I feel like if I work on one thing, I’ll completely forget about the other. And every time I feel like I’m making progress, I take another look and see that I messed it up and have to re-do it. I can’t even do a simple line of code right now without messing up the compatible sequences!” They huffed, burying their face into their hands.

“Which is why you need a break.” He said. Pidge opened their mouth to argue but Lance continued. “Before you say you don’t have enough time, let me remind you that you do. Two weeks for our project, we’re already three quarters of the way done. We didn’t finish because we lost our motivation to continue. Hunk had to leave, and with that came with the much needed break from working forty-five minutes straight. Now when we go back, we’ll have a fresh look and will be forced to go over what we did. It’s the same with your lines of codes. You were pushing yourself so hard, you lost track of some of you numbers. But when you took a break and looked back at it, you spotted your mistakes and fixed it.” Pidge looked at him for a moment, nodding after a minute when they started to understand.

“Okay… I get it.” They said reluctantly. “I just… I don’t want to stop in the middle of it all.”

“You’re not stopping. You’re only taking a much needed pause my non-binary goblin.” Lance offered. Pidge laughed.

“Thanks Lance.”

Lance beamed.

…

“PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES!!” Pidge cheered, their lunch plates being taken away by the waitress who giggled.

“See, if you didn’t take a break, you wouldn’t be able to have your cookies.” Lance said, giving thanks to the waitress as she walked away.

“You’re totally right Lance. Rare as it is, but even you can be right.” Pidge teased and Lance felt his chest swell a bit. Pidge was back to their usual self, and Lance couldn’t be happier.

“Secretly, I’m a genius. I just make all of you think I’m not.” He joked, biting into the cake that he ordered.

“It’s not a secret if we all know. You’re just as smart as we are.” Pidge said, and Lance faltered slightly at the compliment. He smiled and looked down at his cake then, using it as an excuse to stay quiet. Pidge didn’t seem bothered as they dug into their desert, looking around the diner.

“Hey, where’s Keith been? Usually he’d be here helping you plot against me.” Pidge asked.

“His sister is having a baby.” He said, smiling at the mention of his boyfriend.

“Oh, congrats to her! Nobody told me I was going to have a niece/nephew. Rude.” They huffed, pouting, making Lance laugh.

“Course not. We didn’t want the gremlin to be a bad influence.” He teased.

“Whatever. I’m just glad I don’t have to see you two love birds doting on each other.” They rolled their eyes, finishing their cookie before humming contently.

“He’ll be back by the end of the week so I’ll make sure we’ll ‘dote’ on each other right in front of you.” He snickered, avoiding Pidge’s napkin when they chucked it at him.

“Now that we’re done, how about we work on our homework together?” He asked, clearing the table before pulling his notebook out. Pidge blinked in surprise before grinning.

“Yeah! I feel like I can tackle some of my other projects now. Well, I have a few ideas for it… but I’m not sure what I should do...” They said, pulling their laptop up. Lance hummed, placing his phone on the table, clicking on the recording app and starting it.

“Bounce your ideas off me, even if I won’t be able to understand. Sometimes, talking about your project can help.” He offered. Pidge hummed in thought.

“Well, there's this one program I was thinking about developing. The problem is…” Lance sat there and listened, smiling occasionally when Pidge seemed to get passionate on certain aspects. Occasionally they would pause to type something onto their computer before looking at him as if he just gave them the answer before continuing on their rant. Yeah, Lance didn’t really get any work done, but he was taking his own advice and taking a break. Plus, he liked watching his friends, not in a creepy way or anything, just the way they acted, the little quirks they did. It kept him occupied from his own thoughts as he focused on someone else. It was nice…

…

Wednesday - 5:27 pm

“-was making schematics for this one robot, but the design was too clunky for my liking so I tried to modify it so-oh! I could replace the thicker wires for thinner ones if I can find a way to place them specifically around the attachments to hold them in place.” Lance had no idea when they went from coding to robots, but he didn’t mind it. But he did notice the way the sun was lowering. He checked his phone, noticing the time before stretching his back and yawning. Pidge echoed him a minute after, looking at him and smiling.

“You look like you need some rest. Why not call it a day?” They asked, closing their laptop.

“Ah, someone learned from my lesson.” He snickered before nodding. He was heavily leaning against the table, eyes struggling to stay open at that point.

“Have you been sleeping well?” Pidge asked, throwing Lance off.

“Yeah.” He lied, sitting up and putting the notebook he hadn’t touched away, stopping the recording on his phone. He quickly sent the audio file to Pidge, giving them something to look back to if they forgot their ideas they didn't write down.

“You sure…? You ordered like three coffees while we were here.” They pointed out, looking concerned.

Don’t they have enough to worry about? Go ahead, make them worry about you too!

“I enjoy the coffee here. Besides, there isn’t a lot of caffeine in them to begin with.” He shrugged, sipping the last of said drink.

Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.

“Whatever you say Lance. Get some sleep tonight alright?” They said, probably their last ditch effort to get something out of Lance.

“You kidding? I’m going to be sleeping like a King!” He grinned and finally Pidge moved on, laughing and getting up. Lance followed them out of the diner, insisting on walking them to their dorm before walking to his own.

…

Wednesday - 11:58 pm

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sleep. He tried showering before bed, doing his nightly routine and completely relaxing himself. He opened his window, making his room nice and cool so he wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night too warm for comfort. When that didn’t work, he tried reading his textbooks, hoping that the boring content of the book would put him to sleep, but even then he was just numb, taking in the information and finding himself weirdly interested.

What made it worse… Is that his thoughts were starting to get to him. The frustration was filling him to the point where it was overflowing into tears. He tossed the textbook across the room before curling up, his body shaking before a sob broke out. He sobbed into his hands, moving them to grip his hair and pulling harshly.

Pathetic. Useless. Stupid. Annoying. Forgettable.

“It’s not true…” He cried weakly. He reached for his phone, scrolling down to Keith’s name, finger hovering the call icon. He bit his lip, ready to hit it, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bother Keith now, not when he’s with his family. He couldn’t… He tossed his phone away before sobbing harder.

Weak.

...

A/N: Let me know what you guys think!

#roy writes #roy writes a klance fic #klance #keith kogane #lance mcclain #keith x lance #vld #Voltron legendary defender #voltron #netflix voltron #langst #klangst #fic #fic: the little things #the little things

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mustaphaelhajj · 2 years ago

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I am going to share with you 10 habits that helped me be more productive at work.

I have been looking for ways to be more productive and efficient at my work for the past 15 years. During these years, I have researched and tried different things. Some have worked for me, and others showed to be ineffective. What works for me might be different than what works for you.

I have learned over the years that what worked best for me was the smallest behavioral adjustment. Do not underestimate the difficulty of introducing such adjustments in your life. It took me a lot of determination and hard conscious work to reach there.

As a disclaimer, I do not promise you that these new habits will work for you, but I am sharing what has worked for me. I can definitely say that I am way more productive and efficient today than a few years back, and I am continuously looking for new ways to be even more productive.

If you are an ambitious person like me and would like to achieve more in a shorter time, please read this article. I would also appreciate it if you share any good ideas or habits which have worked for you as a comment. I will make sure to give it a try in the coming months.

1. START YOUR DAY IN A POSITIVE WAY

You have probably heard it a thousand times before, here you hear it again. Starting your day with a healthy breakfast makes you productive and full of energy from the early morning onwards. Vary your diet and avoid eating the same thing for lunch every day. Taking care of yourself, your body, and your brain provides a lot of energy and focus throughout the day.

Start the day with a positive mindset. You can neither change the weather nor the traffic. You can only change your mood.

2. BE FRIENDLY AT WORK

Happy employees are good employees. Make friends with your colleagues. You already spend most of your day with them, and it makes working life more valuable and increases motivation.

Therefore, also spend time on small talk in the office. It is not a waste of time; it is an investment in well-being. See the positive and valuable in your colleagues, and they will respect you more.

Share your good experiences with your colleagues. It will not only strengthen your social bonds but will also force you to notice the positive moments. Smile and always be welcoming. It is contagious, and it will automatically bring your own mood up.

3. STOP MULTITASKING

Yes, you read it right! Do only one thing at a time. Multitasking three tasks at the same time mean that none of them are solved efficiently. Our brains have a natural limit to how many thoughts we can focus on at a time. Avoid mistakes and concentration failures by taking one thing at a time. At the same time, it will stimulate your creativity.

4. REMOVE TEMPTATIONS

Whether it’s social media, e-mail, working with more than one screen or device, noise from the surroundings, etc. Go if necessary for a short walk of five or ten minutes or try to work concentrated in intervals of five to fifteen minutes at a time with a few minutes break in between.

Avoid skipping actions by involving others in your own commitments. For example, your boss or your employee. Sometimes it can be a motivating factor to accompany your responsibilities with consequences or rewards.

5. MAKE A LIST

To-do lists help a lot against skipping actions. Make, for example, a list before you go home from work, listing five goals you would like to achieve the next day. In addition, have another list where you note down three personal goals you would like to achieve.

It could be, for example, buying a birthday present for your relative or booking a cinema ticket for the weekend. Remember to set only realistic goals and avoid letting the list cover the entire week. If you cover the entire week, you increase the risk of getting stressed.

Make each goal concrete, clear and simple. I will give you some examples below:

Call the boss regarding X

Send an e-mail to Y regarding a new customer

Talk to the sales team about Z

If the list becomes too inaccurate, it will work against you and cause you to stress rather than help you. Keep the list short and to the point, and do not spend more than five minutes making it.

6. ORGANIZE YOUR DESK

Organize your desk. There is no right way, but there are many small changes that can help you on your way to being more concentrated and motivated. In fact, your desk can be crucial to whether you get more energy or less energy at work.

Keep an eye out for paperwork. Are those the same sheets that have been lying there untouched for a month? If that is the case, having them on your desk is probably more overwhelming than helpful.

Keep the desk as empty as possible. Something that has worked well for me is keeping an inbox for all new tasks and an outbox for those I finished. You can take advantage of that by getting your desk ready for the next day by the end of the day. It provides more tranquility when you meet up at a well-structured desk in the morning.

7. KEEP CONTROL OF TECHNOLOGY

Technology can cost you as much time as it saves you. If there is something which you cannot get to work, ask for help. Otherwise, a lot of your valuable time is wasted.

Remember that your e-mail is a typical time waster. Avoid having your inbox skipping action, which takes your concentration away from more important tasks.

Turn off your e-mail notifications if you are working on an important task that requires your complete concentration.

With a simple and fast search on google, you can find several apps which block e-mail notifications and help you lower your stress levels throughout the day, and increase your concentration level.

Some e-mails evoke an automatic aversion in our brains, often because they require us to answer no or take a hard decision. Therefore, we easily avoid them. A good tip is to answer these e-mails with either a phone call or a physical meeting. Here you can better explain yourself without spending a lot of time formulating the perfect e-mail.

8. MOVE MORE AND TAKE BREAKS

When working on complex or hard tasks, it is often a good idea to go away from them for some time. Getting up or walking around pumps more oxygen into your brain and gives you additional energy and concentration. You can, for example, make it a routine to sit and work for twenty minutes, after which you get up and work for ten minutes, after which you move for a few minutes.

This cycle keeps the energy level high. Use, for example, a stopwatch or smartwatch to remind you to take small breaks when working.

Very few of our good ideas arise when working at our desks. Instead, we often get our best ideas when doing something completely different. Running, driving the car, taking a shower, eating lunch, etc.

Take breaks even when you are working on a large and important project. Without creativity and energy, the result is not going to be optimal. Breaks make you effective! Relaxing and even taking a small nap allow your brain to see things from a new perspective and in new contexts.

9. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR POSTURE AND BREATHING

Be relaxed and de-stressed. Try to be aware of your posture and breathing when working. It will reduce your stress level and increase your brain’s efficiency.

10. THE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

Based on research, Business Backer has made a list of tiny changes which you may not have anticipated that can improve your productivity. You can, for example:

Put a plant on your desk. It may sound banal, but the green color actually stimulates your brain and your productivity.

You can also use scents, such as peppermint oil to stimulate your brain’s ability to work effectively. Fragrances — and especially peppermint — enhance your cognitive performance (Disclaimer: I have never tried this one yet)

Your ability to concentrate is actually improved by chewing gum.

Use headphones with noise cancellation to eliminate the noise around you. Persistent noise can have serious consequences for your health and not least your concentration.

CONCLUSION

It can take really long time to build new work habits, but small changes can lead to great results. Try it for yourself and focus on the initiatives that work best for you. The most important thing is that you commit to the effort and define your own goal.

And remember that you are a human being just like everyone else; once in a while, you will forget the actions you define or not have the time to think about them. This is perfectly fine.

#productivity #self development #motivation #growth #influence #leadership

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calorieworkouts · 6 years ago

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Weight Training for Beginners

For many gym-goers, the goal isn't 20-inch biceps. It's most likely regarding entering fantastic form- and really feeling excellent along the road. While cardio's deadly for developing endurance and shedding pounds, there's a large situation for weights, from the classic pinheads and also weights to kettlebells as well as past. Studies recommend weight training at the very least three days a week not only constructs muscle mass, however could also help lower body fat, increase metabolism, and develop bone thickness better compared to cardio workout alone Influence of workout training on physical as well as efficiency adjustments with weight loss in men.Kraemer, W.J., Volek, J.S., Clark, K.L., et al. Division of Kinesiology, Noll Physiological Proving ground, The Pennsylvania State College, University Park, PA. Medicine and Science in Sports and also Exercise 1999 Sep, 31( 9): 1320-9. The impact of exercise and diet plan constraint on daily energy expenditure.Poehlman, E.T., Melby, C.L., Goran, M.I. College of Medication, Division of Medication, College of Vermont, Burlington, VT. Sports Medication 1991 Feb, 11( 2): 78-101. The results of modern resistance training on bone density: an evaluation. Layne, J.E., Nelson, M.E. Nutrition, Exercise Physiology as well as Sarcopenia Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Facility on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA. Medicine as well as Science in Sports and Workout 1999 Jan,31( 1):25 -30. . Lifting weights has also been connected to enhanced cardiovascular health and wellness Concurrent resistance and also cardiovascular training as defense versus cardiovascular disease. Shaw, I., Shaw B., Brown G., et al. Division of Advertising and marketing as well as Sporting activity Management, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa. Cardiovascular Journal of Africa July 2010. .

But when it concerns hitting the weights, starting is usually the most significant obstacle. With relatively countless training designs for a variety of goals, just recognizing where to begin can quickly shut off any weight area newbie. In order to help take the edge off pitching in, the Greatist team goinged over to Grind Physical fitness, where trainers Anja Koschak and also Damien Bourbeau took our testers with two fully-body, beginner-friendly resistance exercises. Continue reading to get their programs, suggestions, and also takeaways for a smoother introduction to striking the weights.

Program A With Anja Koschak

Emphasis: Overall toning/fat loss

Warm Up: 4-minute jog on the treadmill, complied with by a 5-minute heart rate-boosting series of strolling lunges, companion resistance band sprints, and conditioning ball throws.

1. Step-ups x 12 reps each leg 2. Dumbbell lunges x 12 reps each leg Repeat superset 3 times through minimal rest Rest 2-3 minutes

3. Sittinged machine shoulder press x 10 reps 4. Dumbbell burpee with overhead press x 10 reps Repeat superset 3 times through marginal rest Rest 2-3 minutes

5. Cord woodchoppers x 12 each side Adjust elevation from high, middle, to low for a total of 3 sets Rest 2-3 minutes

6. BOSU ball planks on forearms, 30 sec 7. BOSU ball slabs available, 30 sec 8. BOSU ball side planks, 30 sec

Full-body stretch

What our Greatist tester, Kate, needed to spoken: 'The relocations were simple and also self-explanatory, which I think could be an issue for newbies that wish to see to it they do not look like they're newbies.' While the burpee/shoulder press supersets were 'ruthless,' Kate liked the BOSU sphere planks as well as woodchoppers. 'Anja established the weight about 10 pounds larger compared to I would have myself and I did it with hardly any trouble, which was a super fulfilling sensation.'

What our Greatist tester, Max, needed to say: 'The most fulfilling part of the exercise was completing the burpees. The rate required to do the exercise was grueling, as well as was killer on the shoulders- however I could possibly inform it was doing a lot for my entire body.'

Program B With Damien Bourbeau

Emphasis: Practical toughness training

Warm-Up: 4-minute incline walk on treadmill, adhered to by a 6-minute heart rate-boosting series of jumping jacks, planks, cross jacks, side planks, reduced jacks, and also knee-to-elbow planks.

1. TRX (or bodyweight) jump crouches, max representatives in 30 sec 2. TRX row, max reps in 30 sec Repeat superset 3 times through marginal rest Rest 2-3 minutes

3. Kettlebell swings x 20 reps 4. Push-ups x 10 reps Repeat superset three times through very little rest * On the last collection of kettlebell swings try 5 representatives with two arms, into 10 reps (each arm) Rest 2-3 minutes

5. Single leg bridge x 15 reps (each leg) 6. Mountain climbers, 60 sec Repeat superset two times through

Full-body stretch

What our Greatist tester, Kate, needed to say: 'I enjoy that many of the exercises we did were body weight only. I assume that makes it a little much less terrifying for novices. I believe there is a misconception that if you aren't utilizing added weight you're not really striving- but I have found out rapidly in the last couple of weeks that you completely are! I believe Damien said it extremely well- 'you need to make the right to raise weight."

What our Greatist tester, Max, needed to state: 'One of the most fulfilling part of the workout was the back-to-back collections of the rows and jump squats. It excelled to feel the rotating burn in the top and reduced body.' As well as while Max admits that striking the gym isn't his favored to-do, he 'liked that the workout entailed no machines, so maybe done anywhere.'

Tips From Our Experts

Maintain these quick ideas on hand for a secure as well as efficient weightlifting session:

Warm it up. While it could be alluring to beat the gun, a warm-up is crucial to enhancing heart price and also blood circulation- and making certain a secure and injury-free workout. Attempt some light cardio followed by dynamic extending and/or vibrant exercises (as recommended above).

Mix n' Match. Lucky for us, there's no one-size-fits-all approach to stamina training. Varying exercises to include a mix of dumbbells, barbell movements, kettlebells, resistance bands, and body weight exercises is just one of the most reliable ways to stay tested and engaged.

Triple Up. Ready to skedaddle after the first set? Hesitate- or thrice, that is. Researches recommend finishing at least three sets of each exercise is the magic number to seeing toughness improvements and also raised muscle mass tone Three sets of weight training superior to 1 set with equal intensity for generating strength. Rhea, M.R., Alvar, B.A., Sphere, S.D., et al. Exercise as well as Wellness Lab, Division of Exercise Science as well as Athletics, Arizona State College, Tempe, AZ. Journal of Stamina and also Conditioning Research 2002 Nov, 16( 4): 525-9. .

Go Naturale. While machines have their place, compound movements (consisting of free weights and also body weight) work multiple joints and muscular tissues as well as are typically a lot more effective at involving the core.

Multitask. Now right here's a win-win. Supersets (read: back-to-back workouts with little to no remainder between) not just save time, they're shown to blast more calories The metabolic costs of reciprocatory supersets vs. typical resistance workout in young recreationally active adultsKelleher, A.R., Hackney, K.J., Fairchild, T.J., et al. Musculoskeletal and also Human Performance Laboratories, Department of Workout Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY. Journal of Stamina and also Conditioning Research study 2010 Apr, 24( 4): 1043-51. .

Add Aminos. Amongst the numerous pros to protein shakes? Studies show a post-workout down could aid reduce tiredness, maintain workout efficiency, as well as hasten the muscle mass recovery procedure Effects of an amino acid carb drink on exercise efficiency after consecutive-day exercise bouts. Skillen, RA., Testa, M., Applegate, EA., et al. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and also Exercise Metabolism 2008 Oct,18( 5):473 -92. .

Toss the Scale. While it can be an excellent incentive for some, not everyone will see that number budge promptly, despite their progress.

Find Balance. For a 5-day-a-week workout timetable, try making toughness training a concern for 2 to 3 of those days.

How did you get going on your stamina training journey? Share your preferred routines as well as ideas below!

#24 hr fitness #aerobic #aerobic exercise #exercise #fitness #gym #health #health and wellness #weight #wellness #workout

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its-julias-words-blog · 6 years ago

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Habits Experiment

I’ve always had issues with keeping to working out and eating healthily. I have a condition called PCOS, which has a lot of symptoms but the one that really matters in this case is the fact that its super duper hard for me to lose weight, and to do so it requires a really strict diet and exercise routine to maintain.

This summer when I had a lot less to focus on, I used to work out fairly regularly and focus a lot on how I ate, but now it’s the exact opposite. As school got busier I felt like the effort it took to go and workout increased from the summer, and I got more prone to eating unhealthy foods because of stress. I want to begin to get back on track with my working out, because I know it keeps me a lot less stressed and more focused.

Explain your procrastination or multitasking problem and explain why you want to fix it.

The busyness of my everyday life has gotten in the middle of my self-care- and in turn has shot me into a spiral of not working out and then getting even less focused leading me to not work out! Me not working out also worsens the symptoms of PCOS which includes acne and hair growth which isn’t super fun for me! So, I want to take on this challenge to hopefully keep me a bit more focused and a lot more healthy!

Explain how you will implement the strategy – be as specific as possible.

I want to be able to work out between one or two times a week to start, because it really matters to me that I first get into the habit of working out every once and a while before I fully jump back into exercise.

My first session working out will most likely be this weekend (I’m aiming for Saturday unless something comes up) and around 11am after I’ve woken up and digested my breakfast, I will go downstairs to my basement where we have a stationary bike and treadmill.

My first workout will be cardio, because I feel as though I have an easier time doing cardio than strength workouts. Cardio also gives me a much higher release of endorphins after I do it, and it seems to feel more effective for me.

My cardio workouts will be about 45 minutes, 15 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the stationary bike. This workout is fairly standard for me, and I like the way it makes me feel a lot. I do know that later on I will have to change the workout I do because I get bored easily, but I want to be able to start with something familiar.

After my workout I want to have a slow and mindful cooldown, doing some yoga would be a great way to do this, and since I did a yoga class in school last year I find it easy to pick back up.

I want to be able to work out around four times in the next two weeks- about twice a week give or take, once on the weekend and once on a school night. I think that workout schedule is very realistic and not completely time consuming. As well as that working out makes me a lot more focused so I think I’ll be a lot more motivated to work out after my first time working out.

What is your end goal? How will you know the strategy works for you?

My end goal as I stated before is to work out around four times in the next two weeks. I’m hoping to be motivated to work out and I’m hoping to become more motivated and focused as the experiment continues. PCOS has been a big challenge to deal with and has really derailed my mental health and motivation recently, and keeping it more under control means a better way for me to maintain my mental and physical health. If I become more motivated to work out within the next few weeks and see some results I will know that the strategy has worked.

What are your critical moves?

My most critical move is to actually get downstairs and work out that first time because it’s super easy to find a million excuses as to why its not a good idea to work out. I need to be able to be the rational guide in my mind rather than a crazy monkey that focuses on the short term please of doing nothing and doesn’t see the long term benefits of working out.

In the future, also making sure that I change up my workouts so I don’t get bored, or taking up classes would be a great way to keep me motivated when working out.

How will you shrink the change?

The most important part of my plan is making it achievable for me- and that means it needs to be realistic. I could plan an elaborate 14 day workout routine that consists of a 2 hour workout every single day but I know that I’ll absolutely never get around to it. For me, that challenge is so scary that in the end I’ll lose motivation instead of gaining it like I’d like to in this challenge.

So, to not spook me (or the elephant) I’m creating an achievable goal which is two workouts a week with one being on the weekend. This eliminates the stress of thinking working out will take up too much time, and doesn’t tire me out to the point that I don’t want to work out anymore. Resonable workout lengths also ensures that I get positive endorphines from working out, and feel more focused but also do not feel drained.

How will you tweak the environment?

I want to make sure working out is done in a place where I feel comfortable and that does not require a lot of effort to get to. For example, working out at a gym 20 minutes away would certainly discourage me from going there because of the 20 minute commute. At home, I have ample room for strength workouts on the floor and opportunities for cardio workouts on the workout machines I have. This makes workouts easy to get to and also not boring!

It’s also important to tweak my workout plans for how I’m feeling. For example, I used to take boxing classes downtown and the feeling of going outside and travelling on the TTC over the weekend was a great change of scenery to staying in my home for the entire morning. I might want to incorporate those boxing classes in these couple of weeks if I feel I have the time and want to go downtown! Working out in front of other people also gives me a type of accountability for working hard. I want to be able to complete the work out since I payed for the class and since other people are watching me!

In conclusion, I am very excited to begin working out again, and to be a stern leader in my mind to avoid procrastinating exercise! I know just a couple of workouts will put me on track to doing more workouts and then in turn getting fitter. I’m curious to see how the challenge pans out and I will make sure to communicate what happens at the end of the two weeks!

#habits #exersice #experiment #procrastination

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thezodiaczone · 7 years ago

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March Forecast for Libra

A busy month is in store for you, Libra! The Sun is marching through Pisces and your sixth house of health, fitness and organization until March 20. You’re inspired to get your life running like a well-oiled machine again. With spring right around the corner, these sunbeams will motivate you to get out into nature, eat fresh food and get active after a sedentary winter. The March 17 Pisces full moon could jumpstart any new habits or systems you hope to get in place.

If you’ve been reeling from the eclipses of January 31 and February 15, March could help you start to make sense of it all. This year has sent most of us off to the races—and with these eclipses igniting your houses of fame and group activity, there haven’t been a lot of quiet moments to work through all the energy that’s gotten stirred up. Some Libras have been too busy shaking hands and kissing babies to even set their feet on solid ground. Other Libras could be staggering from some early spring fever or a new romance. Whatever’s gotten stirred up, you haven’t had a chance to process it until now.

Not that March is a slow cycle by any stretch of the imagination! Just like in January, there will be TWO full moons bookending the month. Even better? The second one, on March 31, lands in Libra. And two planets, Mercury and Jupiter, will turn retrograde—a cosmic slowdown that you might actually welcome after all the hubbub.

Conserve your energy at the very beginning of the month, when March 1 delivers a full moon in Virgo and your twelfth house of healing, closure and endings. You could be busy wrapping up a project or working behind the scenes. What’s holding you back—and what are you still holding onto? If you’ve been clinging to a painful situation that’s past its prime, this full moon can help break the pattern. With this potent lunar light in your transitional twelfth house, it’s better not to try to control the outcome. The universe may reveal its plan—and a method to the seeming madness. Be still and watch for the big reveal, which will supply all the guidance you need. You’ve been swimming upstream long enough, Libra, and where has that gotten you? Leave struggle behind already!

Have you been unsure whether you should trust a certain person? Their true intentions could be revealed in the light of this full moon, which can spark an outpouring of pent-up emotions. And with open-hearted Jupiter forming a flowing trine to your ruler, romantic Venus, you could also attract someone who’s soulmate material. Swept away much, Libra?

Keeping your feet on solid ground could get a little slippery starting March 8, when expansive Jupiter turns retrograde for its annual four-month backspin. Jupiter will reverse until July 10 through Scorpio and your second house of work, money and security. Since October 10, the red-spotted planet has been zooming through this prosperous part of your chart, pushing you to take risks and grow. Your confidence has been on the rise, and this may have magnetized new opportunities for financial stability. Global Jupiter could even have brought in a long-distance work opportunity or client.

Exciting as it is, it’s been a lot to take in, and now you might welcome a pause to process and integrate. If bills and paperwork have piled up on your desk, or you’ve got one too many unfinished projects, use this time to catch up. Be discerning about what you take on—you could accidentally bite off more than you can chew.

Since retrogrades can bring back the past, an old client or employer could resurface. Or be proactive and reach out to former colleagues, mentors and alumni. These connections could lead to an unexpected opportunity. During Jupiter’s U-turn, one source of income could slow down or even end. Necessity is the mother of invention. You might take a “bridge job” or do a freelance gig to fill the gaps. Jupiter returns to direct (forward) motion on July 10 and remains in Scorpio until November 8, which will help you make up for lost time. Use this retrograde to tweak your plans, revamp your budget and streamline your systems. Then you’ll be ready for the exciting prospects that arrive this summer and fall.

On March 20, the Sun moves into Aries and your seventh house of partnerships. A dynamic duo could turn official, for either love or business. With el Sol in your opposite sign, the next four weeks are ideal for restoring balance to your closest ties. Save your best energy for the people who have your back through thick and thin. If an S.O. or close friend has been getting the scraps (you’ve been busy and time’s been tight), use Aries season to reconnect and get back on the same page.

Relationship repair work may become a priority when Mercury spins retrograde in Aries from March 22 to April 15. A key bond could also hit a rough patch. Mercury is the planet of communication, travel and technology—and when it turns retrograde, all of these areas can go haywire. Prepare for some crossed wires in an important relationship or possible breakdowns around a business negotiation. Most astrologers advise against signing contracts during a Mercury retrograde phase, and this applies doubly for you because of its placement. Hash out the terms and use this three-week period to conduct due diligence. if you’ve overlooked something, you’ll be glad you took the extra time to investigate. It could even be worth the investment to have a lawyer look over any binding agreements before you sign.

Mercury retrograde can notoriously dredge up the past, and this time, a former flame could resurface. Have you swept a conflict under the rug? For couples, this can be a fruitful phase to work through sticky issues with a therapist—or to try direct communication! Your peace-loving sign hates confrontation, but avoiding it doesn’t make it go away. Sometimes you’ve gotta deal to heal.

There’s a lot going on, Libra—and March is certainly NOT going out like a lamb. All your efforts will pay off at the end of the month, when a rare second full moon lands in YOUR sign. On March 31, the year’s only Libra full moon hosts a cosmic coming-out party. A solo venture or passion project you’ve been toiling away at for the past six months could come together with a flourish. La luna hands you the proverbial mic, so make sure you’re ready to bask in the moonlight! Practice that elevator pitch and be prepared to self-promote when you have the floor. This assertive full moon can help you speak up where you’ve been holding back. Take a deep breath and bravely raise your voice!

Love & Romance

Where to begin? There’s so much amorous activity simmering, you may seriously look into cloning yourself to take full advantage of it! Red-blooded Mars is blazing through fiery Sagittarius and your third house of friends and local activity. Chemistry could heat up with a platonic pal or someone you randomly meet during a night on the town. Attached? Stoke your own lusty libido by getting out and remembering how it feels to go on actual dates. Dress up and do something surprising—novelty is sexy!

The other half of the cosmic-lovebird duo, vixen Venus, is finishing her annual jog through dreamy Pisces until March 6. Before she moves on to impassioned Aries and your partnership zone, she’ll lock lips with expansive Jupiter in seductive Scorpio on March 1, inspiring you to leap before you look. If you can manage your expectations and just enjoy things as they’re unfolding, you’ll come away richer for the experience. But if there’s no way this thing is going to go the distance, don’t even kid yourself for one of those red-hot minutes.

Once Venus starts loping through Aries from March 6 to 31, you could meet a person with long-term potential, perhaps someone you feel an instant kinship with. Easy conversation and a sweetness between you are promising signs. Attached? If the state of your union leaves something to be desired, the “new leaf” energy of Venus in Aries can help you hit the reset button. It might not be as simple as declaring it reborn—you might need to work with a professional or hash out some sticky issues to get things back on track.

Your adventurous side sparks up on March 11, when Mars swings into a triggering trine with unpredictable Uranus in spontaneous fire signs. Interactions will simmer with electric chemistry, but just beneath the surface lurks the potential for some serious head-butting. What have you been holding in for too long, Libra? Uranus can inspire you to speak up and voice your opinions. But with these two hotheaded planets fanning each other’s flames, you could swing a bit too wildly in the outspoken direction. Remember, the goal is to build a bridge, not incinerate it!

On March 17, Mars will trot into Capricorn and your domestic fourth house until May 16. Strong emotions and desires can gust up, possibly prompting you to move forward with baby plans or moving in together. Make sure you’re ready before you take the plunge. Acts like these are hard to “control-X” delete. That said, if you’ve been dragging your feet on a commitment (as Libras are wont to do), Mars can motivate you to finally just go for it.

Key Dates

March 13: Venus-Saturn Square Love interrupted? Watch out for the unexpected resurfacing of some old fears or negative family patterns, which threaten to disturb the smooth flow of your love life. Even if your partner tries to bring you around, you might not be able to talk about what you’re experiencing. Take time to process the feelings, but don’t do anything rash or irrevocable.

Money & Career

“Multitasking Maven” may become your new moniker this month, Libra. With the Sun in Pisces and your orderly sixth house, you’ve got a lot of projects cooking at once. You’re ready to tackle them in a systematic and organized way. But as quickly as you knock items off your to-do list, new ones crop up. Prioritize so you don’t get overwhelmed.

With intensifier Mars in Sagittarius until March 17, your communication house is a hub of activity. Keep your devices charged and explore new ideas. You’ve got nothing to lose by going for coffee or hearing someone’s pitch. If you think there’s a possible synergy, explore it! On March 11, an opportune trine between Mars and innovator Uranus might bring a partnership offer or an exciting chance to join forces on a cutting-edge venture.

Explore thoroughly before jumping in, even if you’re excited. With enterprising Jupiter turning retrograde in Scorpio and your money house from March 8 to July 10, this is no time to rush or gamble. A couple of opportunities could turn out to be duds, but you’ll learn a LOT by going through the due diligence anyway. All is not lost—in fact, you’ll be happy you took the time to thoroughly research.

With Mercury, planet of technology, media and communication, also retrograde from March 22 to April 15, be painstaking with your negotiations. Leave no stone unturned! If you can hold off on sending or signing offers now, do so—at least until you’ve thoroughly read the fine print. If someone truly wants to work with you, they won’t make you feel hurried or hassled.

Key Dates

March 2: Mercury-Jupiter Trine Your imagination will be in fine form under this productive sync-up, so try to shuffle your workflow to allow you to engage in the more creative aspects of your work. Is there a writing project that you’ve been putting off, waiting for inspiration to strike? This might be the day you’re been expecting!

Love Days: 13, 19 Money Days: 25, 6 Luck Days: 23, 31 Off Days: 1, 20

#libra #monthly forecast #astrology #horoscope #zodiac #libra monthly

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laurkamkitchen · 4 years ago

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I promised my dad I would make him a chicken pot pie for Father’s Day yesterday, and then I had the idea of making a biscuit chicken pot pie, and then a parmesan biscuit chicken pot pie, and one quick Pinterest search later, and I was here.

I’m not gonna lie, this recipe was a ton of work, but I did it for him, and it turned out so delicious, and he was pleased with it, and that, my friends, is all that matters.

We don’t have a Dutch oven, so I went with a large skillet for most of the cooking here which still worked just as well. Unfortunately, however, my chicken did not get completely covered in broth, which I think was the intent here, when I went to to get it cooked first, so I added what was left of the liter I had, up to perhaps another cup. That still didn’t cover it, but it probably did go ahead and help it cook faster; I think in the end it probably took just over the 12 minutes. I had my mother check it with a meat thermometer, for, as is probably no surprise to you guys, I don’t have a lot of experience cooking chicken and didn’t want to risk accidentally poisoning us all. She had a good eye for it, though, and it turned out great, cooked all the way through, but also not too dry.

In the beginning here I was also trying to make my mashed potatoes at the same time, so there was perhaps a little too much multitasking going on, but I don’t think it really affected any ultimate outcome, so it was fine. This is a warning, though, that this recipe is involved enough to not really allow you to focus on other things throughout its process.

I was a bit concerned when I went to form my biscuits by how dry and crumbly my dough was, but I wasn’t really piecing together the whole ‘crumble topping’ idea at all, and my fears were ultimately unfounded. I ended up with about nine on my baking sheet, and, in the end, they turned out perfect; I think I had them in the oven about 13 or 14 minutes, but I’m sure I could have taken them out at the recommended 12 mark.

I totally forgot to add the thyme when I went to cook all my veggies, but considering we didn’t have fresh or dried anyways, just ground, it honestly probably didn’t make a huge difference, although I’m sure that infused thyme flavor really would be divine here.

This was genuinely my first time ever cooking mushrooms, as I actually despise them, one of the few foods I truly do. But my dad loves them, and so, again, I did it for him. I didn’t mind cooking them, but I can tell you now that I picked all of mine out at actual dinner.

This was also my first time making a roux, which was exciting; I was super pleased with how it turned out, as I thought for sure I’d have flour burnt and stuck to the bottom, but that did not happen! Mine was I think a little watery because of the excess broth I had added earlier; in retrospect, I had it in a measuring cup and could have easily portioned out the 3 cups, but that did not occur to me at the time.

I took this out right at 15 minutes and skipped the cooling process, since the herbs I added over top—rosemary and ground thyme—weren’t fresh and everyone else was ready to eat.

This was such a yummy comfort meal, and yet also somehow not too heavy, with the perfect mix of crumble topping, roux, chicken, and veggies. Like I said, this went over really well with my dad, and though it was a process I don’t think I’d go through again just for myself, I also thought it was super delicious.

#chicken #pot pie #biscuits #parmesan #occasion #dinner #family dinner

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mattkeepsrambling · 4 years ago

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2020 Year In Review

What a supremely dull year. I cannot believe how little happened this year. I got into this whole mask-wearing craze that many people seem to have gotten into (except for those who are REALLY against it.) I'm so happy that all the schools decided that teaching in the building was pointless and could just as easily be done online. Things are so much easier now. The election went off without a hitch or any controversy whatsoever, and I am glad that the outgoing President was gracious and we got another peaceful transition of power. I saw so many movies this year. I stopped going to the theater, though. It was just too dark, the screen was too big and the seats too comfortable. I love being at home and being surrounded by all those distractions. I don't know how 2021 could top 2020.

Best of 2020.

In all seriousness, this year was the worst. Once the world shut down in March, I decided to make the most of it and started cataloging my media consumption (minus video games). It is something I am going to keep doing. I stopped collecting movie tickets a few years ago, and this seems like the next step. I have really enjoyed seeing all that I have consumed. The final tally is 308 movies, 58 television shows/specials, 29 audiobooks, and 43 books/graphic novels since March 18, 2020. As December went on, I had to make sure that I was finished with books, tv shows, and audiobooks before Jan. 1-you will see why when I share my spreadsheet for 2021. Here are the best that I read/watched/listened to this year with all that media. And not all of these things are new for 2020 (most are, though).

Best Movie: Host

A lot of the movies I watched this year were horror movies. You can say that I have been trying to make up for lost time. I subscribed to Shudder recently. It is a streaming service that specializes in horror and thriller movies. I subscribed to the service initially for "Host."

This movie was made during the pandemic, over a Zoom meeting. It is about five friends who do a seance and the spirit they contact. The fact that it is Zoom figures heavily into the movie; it is 57 minutes long, about the length of the free Zoom meeting.

This movie is terrific and damn scary. I have watched very few movies that have genuinely scared me. I have realized what it is that makes a good horror movie: tension. It is all over this movie. This movie uses the general concept of the Zoom meeting so well to build up tension. It doesn't have the benefit of a huge budget and the best cameras. The scenes take place on a computer screen in average rooms. That elevates sudden sounds, slight movements and makes use of darkness.

Honorable Mentions: "Soul," "Promising Young Women," "It Follows," "Hereditary," "Midsommor," "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always."

Best TV Show: Ted Lasso

Whenever I talk to other people about AppleTV+, I always mention two things. One is that at $5 a month, you don't even notice the cost. The other is that "Ted Lasso" is worth the price of a subscription.

As I have previously mentioned, the show is about an American football coach being hired to coach English football. This show is based on a one-joke series commercial for NBC Sports. Ted Lasso knows nothing about coaching football.

The commercials boil down to "look how this guy doesn't know anything about England." This should not work as a show. Years ago, ABC aired a TV show based on the Geico commercials' cavemen, and it was terrible. I should know; I watched the pilot and reviewed it for the Buffalo State Record.

"Ted Lasso" works because it is more than the commercials. Yes, they do have a lot of "fish out of water" humor, and you laugh at Ted as he navigates a new sport in a new country, but it is more than that. "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawernce is one of the people behind this show, and it shows. This show can be hilarious and then take a somber turn in no time. "Scrubs" is well known for that.

The other thing that "Ted Lasso" has going for it is boundless optimism. It is baked into the character of Ted Lasso. When the show starts, the fans hate him, the players hate him, and management tries to sabotage him at every turn. Yet, he remains committed to his job and making this team successful. He and his wife go through one of the most amicable divorces ever put on screen. It can be a little much at times, but then that divorce happens. We see Lasso, played amazingly by Jason Sudikus, lose that relentlessly positive exterior.

Those cracks show, and he becomes a much more fleshed out and complicated character. The show has been renewed for two more seasons already, and Lawernce recently said that the creative team had planned three seasons. I love this show, but I think that only three seasons will be a good thing. It means that we will get fully fleshed out arcs, and there is only a certain amount of story that the creators have to tell.

Honorable Mentions: "Fleabag Season 2," "The Clone Wars Season 7," "Harley Quinn Season 2," A Teacher," "Doom Patrol Season 2," "The Flight Attendant Season 1," "The Mandalorian Season 2."

Best Audiobook: Sapiens

This book, published in 2011, has been on my to-read list for a while. Years ago, a friend of mine told me I would like it. In its most basic synopsis, "Sapiens" is a look at how humans evolved. It looks at how we developed societies, religions, governments, and other things that made us the dominant species on the planet.

This book is fascinating. It looks at various social constructs that humanity developed and how that shapes who we have become. Most of the time, I can multitask while listening to audiobooks. I will do the dishes, replay video games, write, lesson plan, clean, or do laundry when an audiobook is playing. This is one I had to give my full attention. There were so many tidbits of information that are just riveting. I was always blown away by what I heard. Despite the topic's denseness (it is 15 hours and 17 minutes long), the audiobook was easy to listen to. It is one that I will be revisiting in the future.

Honorable Mentions: "Ahsoka," "The Graveyard Book," "Crazy is my Superpower."

Best Book: Harleen

I have been a fan of "Batman The Animated Series" forever. One of the most famous things to come out of the series that debuted in 1992 was Harley Quinn character. She started as a sidekick of The Joker. Fans loved her so much that she was given a more prominent role and one of the best backstories of anyone in Batman's rogue's gallery.

Last year DC, under their Black Label brand, released "Harleen," which presented how she went from Dr. Harleen Quinzell, the brilliant psychologist, to Harley Quinn, psychotic on-again/off-again paramour of The Joker. DC Black Label is used for a more mature mini-series, and this is a story that benefits from the freedom allowed.

The basic plot is that Dr. Quinzell gets a job at Arkham Asylum to study the criminals there for her research into their minds and develop a possible cure. Through her interviews with The Joker, she starts to develop feelings for him. The telling focuses on her background and ends with her fully committing to Joker and a life of crime.

The art by Stjepan Sejic (who also wrote it) is gorgeous. On my second read-through, I took more time to appreciate the art. I bought the issues as they came out on Comixology and read them on my iPad and loved the story and how Sejic chose to tell it. I read them on the way to and from work. With only about 10 minutes on the train, the story was my focus. When I bought the hardcover collected edition, I took my time. It is a beautiful book, and I am glad to have it in my collection.

Honorable Mentions: "One Day," "The Amber Spyglass," "High Hopes," "The Deepest Well," I Wish My Teacher Knew," "Horrorstor."

**Authors Note: I wrote most of the above before I watched "Soul" on Christmas. I have a lot to say about it, and it might have taken the top spot from "Host" (I don't think I could have picked two more different movies to take that top spot). I will have a full review out after at least one more viewing.**

These are the links for my 202 Watch List and my 2021 Spreadsheet.

Media Consumed 2020

Media Consumed 2021

If you have been following my ramblings for the last few years, you know that I don't make New Year's resolutions. I heard the idea of picking a word and working toward that word all year.

This year that word is positivity.

It is really easy to dwell on negative thoughts. In the society we live in now, there is an emphasis put on negativity. It is everywhere, and I hate it. Stop reading right now and think about the best and worst thing that has happened to you. If you are like me, the worst thing comes to mind first. Even though my job is the best thing to happen to me, and it happened in the last two years, my firing from the JCC in September of 2015 hits harder and comes faster. It took me years to get over that and years more to let go of the anger I felt.

There are many reasons why negative thoughts come easier, and I have linked to a few articles I like on the topic below. This year particularly, I have been more prone to rumination on past pain and failures. 2021 is the year I actively try to change that. When I feel a negative thought coming on, I will stop and change my line of thinking.

One concrete example I can give involves my former place of employment. I live very close to the JCC. I walk by it all the time, and I can effortlessly start down the negativity rabbit hole. I am not doing that anymore. I will redirect to the good things that happened there. I am doing that with other places I have negative associations with as well. I want to focus on the positive, think positive thoughts, take positive actions, do things for myself and others that help perpetuate the positive.

I want to weed out negativity in my life whenever I can. Even something as simple as doing the dishes every night before bed (which I started six months ago) is a step in the positive direction. I know this is going to be tough. I despise teaching virtually, and it is what I will be doing for the rest of this school year. But, as much as I hate it, I need to focus on the good moments and less on the bad ones. I will have to stop calling everyone I see outside without a mask a "maskhole" in my head and assuming they are a right-wing MAGA hat-wearing idiot (as I said, it's going to be hard). There is too much negativity in the world right now, and I don't want to contribute to that.

Why Do Negative Thoughts Come to Mind

Is Dwelling on Negative Thoughts Hurting You?

Why Do We Dwell on The Past?

Why Do We Keep Dwelling on Our Mistakes?

The past few years, I have tried to have my word of the year relate to my writing. This year it was a little harder. It was not as straight forward as it has in the past. The choice of positivity was made because there have been so many awful things happening this year that I felt I needed to change my mindset. In regards to my writing, I am keeping it simple: Write something every single day. This heart doc I know motivated me to make this a goal.

I want to write more and find out where "Escape" will end up. I have an idea notebook I will bring with me to jot down inspiration whenever it hits. I am blocking out time every day to write, either something I will post here or just something for me.

Thanks for sticking with me 2,000 words. I hope you all had a great holiday season, and I wish you well in 2021.

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