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13uswntimagines · 4 years

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Fighting Fires - No Biggie (Lindsey x Reader)

Request: press or lindsey x reader where reader is a firefighter and she gets called to help with the fires in cali and press or lindsey is sad but they know it’s what she has to go do?

Special thanks to @literaryhedgehog for her amazing editing skills!!!

You loved moments like these. Moments where you were cuddled up close to the love of your life, buried under blankets. Moments where everything was still. Where everything just seemed to… pause. It was rare that You and Lindsey got moments like this, With her soccer career taking her all over the world and your insane schedule as a firefight. But moments like this always made it worth it.

The comfortable silence was shattered by your phone, ringing.

“Shit,” you sighed, taking an extra second to place a kiss on Lindsey’s neck before rolling over to reach for the offending device.

“Who the fuck is calling you at 2am?” Lindsey groaned, throwing the arm that had been wrapped around you over her eyes.

“The station,” you said, your voice rough with sleep. Lindsey hummed, her hand rubbing your back, as you placed the phone to your ear.“Hello?” you listened for a few seconds, your eyebrows furrowing in concentration, your lip caught between your teeth, the hand not holding the phone rubbing your eyes.

“Yes chief, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” You said, already standing from the bed. Lindsey sat up, the covers pooling around her waist as you scurried about the room, pulling on clothes and grabbing your go bag designed specifically for occasions like this.

You were a firefighter, and your ladder was one of the best in the country. Part of the job was always being available to help if you could.

“What’s happening,” Lindsey asked, her voice shaky, you sighed, pulling on your work sweatshirt. You would have to change when you got to the station anyway.

“I gotta go. There’s a massive fire and they need people to help,”

You made your way over to her side of the bed, cupping her cheek. She leaned into your hand, and you smiled sadly at her. It sucked when your time together got cut short.

“Be safe,” She whispered. You ran your thumb over her cheek, as you leaned in to connect your lips.

“Always my love. Play good,” You mumbled, your breath fanning against her lips as you pulled away. You sent her one last smile and wink before pulling your bag over your shoulder and heading towards the door.

****

“More than 30 departments have been called to help with the escalating fires, which have already caused more than 10 billion dollars worth of damage…”

“Would you turn that shit off please?” Lindsey groaned, glaring at the news man on the television. Knowing that you were out there, risking your life to save others, and seeing it on screen were two very different things. Christen smiled sadly at her, muting the television in the locker room.

“Yeah, sorry Linds,”

“It’s alright, it’s just difficult, you know? She’s doing what she loves and she’s helping people, but like it’s super dangerous,” Lindsey said, sitting heavily on the bench, unable to tear her eyes away from the flames on screen. She didn’t even want to think of you facing that wall of fire in person. You loved helping people, and she understood, but it still made her sad when you had to leave.

“We get it, trust me. Her mom had a heart attack when she found out that Y/N was actually going to go through with it,” Emily nodded, sitting beside the woman and running a comforting hand along her back. She had known you since the two of you were in diapers,/‘d she remembered the fight that had ensued after you told your parents of your career plans. Yes, it scared her too, but you had wanted to be a fireman for as long as she had known you.

Lindsey nodded, sniffing lightly. “I’m happy she’s following her dreams, but it doesn’t make those like that,” she pointed to the screen, displaying firefighters spraying what looked to be a 40 foot wall of flames with water.“any less terrifying,”

Tobin followed her hand, her eyes landing on the truck proudly displaying the Portland logo along with the ladder neither. She felt her breath leave her. There was no way right? “Hey, isn’t Y/n part of ladder 13?”

“Yeah, why?” Lindsey asked, her attention shifting to her fellow midfielder. Tobin Pointed in the direction of the television, and Lindsey. Mad Emily’s eyes widened in horror. The truck was surrounded by flames, the caption stating that they were trapped and unable to communicate with the rest of the group.

Lindsey’s heart stopped, it was as though all of her fears were being realized. She barely registered the breathless “Shit,” that sounded from beside her. You promised you would be safe, and now you were cut off from the rest of the group.

She loved you and now you were probably…- she couldn’t even think the word. The two of you didn’t have enough time together for that to even be a possibility. No. You had to be ok.

“Alright ladies, let’s hit the field,” Vlatko clapped entering the room, entirely oblivious to the crisis several of his star players were having. You might not be a national team member, but you were a large part of their family. Christen sent him a curt nod, turning to your girlfriend who looked like she was going to pass out if she didn’t breath.

“I’m sure she’s fine, they’d call you if she wasn’t,” Christen said comfortingly, carding her fingers through Lindsey’s hair and shushing her softly. Lindsey nodded, straightening up. You had to be ok. She wouldn’t give up on you until they were absolutely sure. Until they told her she had to. No news was good news at this point.

“Come on, let’s get your mind off this for a while and then we’ll figure out what’s going on,” Emily mumbled, hoisting your girl to her feet. Hopefully some time on the field would help them all clear their heads and prepare to help Lindsey through the worst, if that news came.

****

Lindsey sat at the airport, her knee bouncing with impatience. She had gotten the call just as practice ended, assuring her that you were fine and providing her with your ladders flight information. So here she was, with the seconds feeling like hours, waiting for you to make your way through the terminal and back to her.

She stood the second your limping form came into view, wrapping you into a hug the second you were within reach. She buried her face into your red sweatshirt, breathing in your scent that was slightly more smokey than usual.

“Hey babydoll,” You sighed, kissing her forehead and hugging her tight. You nosed her hair, smiling tiredly at the sweet smell you found there. It felt so good to have the woman you loved back in your arms.

“You scared the shit out of me,” She said, her voice muffled by the heavy fabric of your shirt. You brought your hand up to card it comfortingly though her hair, brushing her ear with each pass, your cheek still resting gently on her head.

“I know darling, I’m so sorry. We didn’t realize it had circled back, and we got caught for a little while, but I’m alright. I’m here,” You mumbled, pressing another kiss to her head and holding her impossibly tighter.

She didn’t need to know the gory details of your near death encounter. She didn’t need to know just how close of a call it had been. All she needed to know was that you were here, safe with her, and that you would be for a while. You took a little step back, and she looked up at you. You cupped her cheek, and gently brought your lips to hers. You needed to feel that she was here right now.

“I love you, even though you terrify me,” She mumbled against your lips, before gently probing your bottom lip with her tongue, asking for entrance. You smirked, pulling away just enough to huff out a, “Hey, I love you too even though you terrify me,” before reconnecting your mouths.

Your tongues entertained for a few seconds, before air became an issue. You connected your foreheads, your heavy breathing falling gently across her lips.

“I scare you?” She breathed out, and you felt your lips tick up at the question.

“Have you seen the size of some of the people coming after you?” You asked in return, pulling away as your girl nearly doubled over in laughter.

“I’m serious, people like Kelley are seriously scary,” You mumbled, warmth spreading across your cheeks. Emily and Lindsey insisted she was harmless, but that shovel talk she had given you had left you shaken.

“You fight giant walls of flames that can vaporize you for a living and you’re scared of squirrel?” Lindsey weazed.

“Hmm, not when I have you to protect me,” you smiled, pulling her back into your chest and flinging her over your shoulder, patting her but as you began walking towards the luggage carousel.

You were safe, and with her and that’s all that mattered.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #lindsey horan x reader #lindsey horan imagine #literalhedgehog

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askthealaskan · 2 years

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Brown “snow” in the Middle of Summer- a Wilderness Story?

It was a strange mountain less and treeless wilderness, but like the wilderness I had grown up in Alaska- there were no people. Signs and ample evidence they had been there existed, but not a human to be seen anywhere.

There are some lonely places still left in the USA. I had found one. And now I found my self in a predicament that I hadn’t foreseen. I realize now that the density at which most people choose to live is really astronomically high. The philosophy of creating more population density by stacking house upon house until they scrape the sky is sound. Engineers tell us that the physics do not confine us. Skyscrapers are thought to be at there design infancy according to those who build them. They will be easily twice the height in size of the world’s tallest building in the near future. Yet here in Montana I had driven for almost a full day now and had not seen another human.

I had finally began to head north with Morrison my camper van toward Alaska and home. I was in the middle of my trip of natural discovery across America. It was a trip I needed to make to complete my book about wilderness. I understood Alaska, having been born and raised there, but not the wilderness of the lower 48 states. I had started with Morrison in Vermont and had gone from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to Mexico and now on the way to my Alaskan home.

Covid had stalled the trip. But here in the ‘spring of 2022’ I’m poised in Haines Alaska and will head out soon as the weather allows to complete my prerequisites for writing my 5th book. It will gather all my best images and stories into one volume. I have written so much so far but that was all before I headed out with Van. At the end of my travels I hope to be the only person who has travelled to every congressionally mandated wilderness area in Alaska. I have 8 more to go out of 44.

It was June 2000 and the world had just been shutdown due to Covid. There was no cure or understanding of the disease yet. A month earlier I had been in the Seattle Airport on my way to Portland for brain surgery. I was to have stints drilled into my head to be controlled by ‘pace maker’ type devise implanted in my chest that stimulated the brain deeply. DBS as it was called by the Parkinson’s community. It was the first elective surgery done by the Portland hospital since getting admissions for Covid under control. I remember flying to Portland and walk ing through the airport and seeing no one. It was like an apocalypse movie where something wipes out the entire population of the world. It was eerie.

I had been spending the last week post surgery in Montana with a friend who took pity on me and took me under her wing until I healed. Now I was on my own camped in Morrison my Mercedes Benz camper van. I was in central Montana at the border crossing with Canada near Shelby Montana. I decide to take a Covid test to show and give confidence to the Canadian border station that I did not have Covid. The border was closed but I was trying to cross the border through one of the exceptions that was being granted to Alaskans trying to get home. Morrison had Alaskan plates so that part was easy. They didn’t require a Covid test at that time but I decided to get one and show them I had taken that extra preventive step hoping it would impress them. It did not but that is another story.

The test results were due in 3days. I needed to “self-isolate” until I would learn if I was clean in 3 days so I decided to go explore. I found a camp site listed on my map somewhere in the middle of the state so set it as a destination and took off. The drive was very flat with rolling hills as far as the eye could see. As I drove east , there were fewer and fewer houses.

The early evening I drove down into I little canyon and pulled into this campground and saw that I was the only one there. That wasn’t surprising as I had not seen another vehicle since leaving the pavement about 6 miles ago. I set up camp and had some food and put my self to sleep in the van named Morrison with Van Morrison playing.

In the morning when I woke up there still was nobody else This didnt’ alarm me, I had noticed that even though conditions had been optimal, there were very few campers on the road. But I had a choice to make. I noticed the the road to the camp ground continued but I did not have the reception bars to download a map of the area. But it seemed that if I continue down it, that I will run into the main road I came on. So I load up Morrison, and looking for adventurer where ever I might go, I headed out. That is the coolest thing about the nomad lifestyle is that you are never lost - you are where you are. And as long as you are not contained , you are always free.y

The first thing I notice is that the last bar on my cell connection drops off. My gps is trying to work but it makes no sense without the map. I have now entered a world that some kids these days have never left- it is world in which there is alway a way to connect. In this remote place in world there is neither the internet nor a Wi-Fi existence. Some kids I know have never been any where where these conditions exist. Maybe it should be some kind of characteristic of wilderness. Later on my trip through northern British Columbia I would be “off grid” for three consecutive days of driving. I betting it’s one of the longest stretches without connectivity left in the Western Hemisphere. It is a true measure of remoteness.

I still haven’t seen anyone but I head off down the gravel road, l mean it’s a road and I can camp anywhere for days. So after an hour or so of traveling down these fields I come to an intersection of two roads. One has some car tracks as if someone had driven here in the last couple of days. I have seen farm houses or ranch housed in the distance, but still no people I could stop and ask directions from. I see some big equipment on these ‘ranches” but no sign that anybody has been using them lately and still no cell service. So I decide to continue in the direction I’m headed because it seemed like the right direction when I left in this morning. But the road is getting worse and worse and it doesn’t seem like there has been any traffic headed this way. So I decide to go back where I started from this morning and head back the way I came. I drive back to the intersection and when I get there I see the tire tracks again. They are headed the wrong direction but the road looks like it gets used. I decide not to waste an hour of driving to this spot and take the right turn onto this new road.

The going is slow but steady and we start going through some darken sections of gravel. It’s nothing that slows us down at first and it is only visible as a darkening of the road. I go through a big patch of darkened gravel and my tires spin a little so after I clear it, I hop out to see what is up. It’s then that I see that it is mud and it is collecting on my wheel well. It’s a problem but there are no standing puddles of water so I’m not too concerned. The patches become longer and more frequent and I notice that I am slowing down more and more as I traverse through these longer stretches of darkened mud.

I have driven a good three hours now and still have not seen a human in two days. And I say to myself I’ve looked everywhere in wilderness for this kind of isolation and have found it here in eastern Montana. I have heard that there is no place in the lower 48 states that is farther than a day’s walk from a road. It is fact that I will have to verify. But even so you would have to know the directions or you would go in circles as most lost people do. Rolling hills and big skies were all I see now.. I’m hoping I’m not going in a circle.

The mud is getting deeper and deeper as I drive on an unknown road , with no cell coverage, and nobody to stop and ask directions from. I pause when I realize my situation. I decide to press on hoping it doesn’t get worse.

I realize as I am driving through this mud that driving Morrison in it feels and responds a lot like driving back home in Alaska when driving in snow. So I go all in on that idea and drive through these mud patches like I have learned to drive back home in the snow. I slide and Morrison slips a little sideways as I get through the longer patches of mud. Driving like it was 4 inches of snow seems to work but I have to stop after every mud run and use a stick to pry off the mud that gathers around the wheels and on the wheels themselves. This gets old pretty quickly and I have a real concern that I’m getting deeper into my ordeal. Maybe I should pull off when I can find a place to camp and wait it out. Just find a spot to let the mud dry out at least.

At one stop I hear something in the distance. It’s an automobile. I look ahead and see that at the end of this little valley there is small climb but you cannot see beyond the ridge. I can see that there is a big sized truck moving at a pretty good clip along the ridge. They would not be moving that fast on gravel road I say to myself. It must be a paved Highway. I say it aloud although it’s just me and Morrison. I let our a little whoop and startle myself. I guess I hadn’t realized that I was getting a little stressed about the situation. We are saved from perishing on the most horrible way for an Alaskan boy to go.

So after cleaning mud off the tires again I head off toward the Highway. As I approach the bottom of the road that will take me up I realize that I will have to negotiate the longest and deepest mud that I will face. I pause and try to pump up Morrison like it was a horse. We head off across the mud road at a pretty good clip. I know that if I slow down that I will sink in it like snow and nothing will get me out once I go down so I gun it. Morrison is bucking like a bronco and we begin slowing and sliding. I can see the end of the mud and it’s gonna be close. Do we make it or slowly sink until we are immobile like quicksand? Then in one last little sidewise slip one of the tires catches some solid ground and Morrison leaps out of the mud and we are free. I drive it back up to the top of the hill and yes there is a paved road at the next intersection. Before turning onto it I clear Morrison of the mud and give Him a “spit bath” until I can get it to a car wash.

Before heading back to town I take quick shower myself and I put on new clothes. That was quite an experience and I realized that I have learned something profound through the experience but I’m not able to put into words yet. But it resonates as part of what I am perceiving as my idea of wilderness.

I get my results back and I’m off to Canada . That is another story.

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bechloeislegit · 4 years

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25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2020

Day 20 - The Barden Christmas Eve Bake-Off

Author's Prompt: Bakeoff AU - Every year Barden has a Christmas Eve Bake-Off, and for four straight years, Chloe Beale has won it with her baking partner Beca Mitchell. The two had a misunderstanding, and it's time for the bake-off. Will they settle their differences and win again this year? Or will their chances crumble along with their cookies?

The day before Christmas Eve, Chloe Beale walked into the Barden Christmas Eve Bake-Off kitchen and found her baking station. She set the box she had been carrying on the table and checked out her station.

Chloe had won the Bake-Off for the past four years and hoped to make it number five this year. No other baker, except one, has ever won the title for more than four years in a row, and Chloe beat that record last year, and she was ready to win again. Unfortunately for her, as her partner, Beca Mitchell was the other baker who had four wins to her name.

"Fuck!"

"Must you always be cursing?" Chloe asked, glaring over at Beca trying to wheel their hand cart through the door.

"Must you always be riding my ass?" Beca snarked back.

Beca finally made it through the door and stopped in front of their baking station. Beca looked at Chloe and asked, "Where do you want these?"

"Just leave it there," Chloe said, nodding to indicate where Beca was currently standing.

Beca sighed and made her way around the counter, so she was facing Chloe. She took a deep breath and said, "Can we not fight during the competition, Chlo? Can we please talk instead?"

Chloe didn't say anything; she just stared at Beca.

"Chloe?" Beca said. Chloe stared down at the counter, causing Beca to emit a loud sigh. "If you want to talk, I'm not going anywhere."

Beca's jaw was clenched as she turned and went back to the boxes. She took one and set it on the counter, and started removing the contents, setting them on the table.

"Um, Beca?" Chloe said, causing Beca to look over at her expectantly. "You're not supposed to unbox anything until tomorrow."

"Oh, um," Beca said, replacing what she took out of the box. "Right."

"Beca!" Stacie called as she walked in carrying a box. "Looks like we're neighbors."

Stacie set the box down at the next baking station. She walked over to Beca and grabbed her in a hug, and kissed her on the lips. The kiss was just a quick peck, but it caused Chloe's jaw to drop.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Beca asked, pushing Stacie away from her.

"I heard you and Chloe were no longer a thing," Stacie said, looking over at Chloe. "So, I thought I'd stake my claim before someone else did."

"Sorry, Stacie," Beca said. "I'm not interested." Beca lowered her voice and added, "You know I want Chloe. Even if Chloe doesn't want anything to do with me right now."

"You should take her up on it, Beca," Chloe said, having heard Beca. "I don't have it in me to care about what or who you do."

Chloe turned and started walking towards the exit. "I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow."

Chloe hid her face so no one would see the tears in her eyes.

Beca's eyes were full of concern as she watched Chloe walk out the door. Beca ran out after her.

"Chloe?" Beca called out. "Wait. Please?"

"Leave me alone, Beca," Chloe said, wiping at her tears.

"Are you okay?" Beca asked. "You aren't looking so good right now."

"What do you care?" Chloe asked, glaring at Beca. "Isn't Stacie waiting for you?"

"I don't care about Stacie," Beca said. "I care about you because, even though you hate me for some reason, I lo-." Beca snapped her mouth shut when she realized what she was about to say. She swallowed and said, "I like having you as my friend."

"I guess I was right about you," Chloe said.

"What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Beca asked, scowling.

"It means you aren't mature enough to handle what happened between us," Chloe said, causing Beca's cheeks to redden.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Beca asked. "What did I do?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know," Chloe scoffed.

"I'm not pretending," Beca said. "We had a great night, and you were fine when I left you. Then you shut me out and won't even talk to me."

"Can you blame me after what you did?" Chloe asked.

"That's just it," Beca said. "I haven't got a clue as to what I've supposedly done to make you hate me."

"Is everything okay over here, Beca?" Stacie asked, walking over to stand next to Beca.

"I don't know," Beca said and pointed over at Chloe. "Ask her."

Stacie turned to Chloe with a raised brow. "Well, Chloe? What's going on?"

"You really don't know why I'm upset with you?" Chloe asked, looking at Beca.

"That's what I just said," Beca said, sighing heavily. "That's what I've been saying."

"I can't be sure if you're telling the truth or not," Chloe said.

"Why would she lie?" Stacie asked, coming to Beca's defense.

"Because it was a dirty thing to do," Chloe said. "And Beca could be lying to try and get back on my good side."

Beca scoffed, and Stacie stood speechless as they both stared at Chloe as she glared at the two of them.

"I should probably go," Beca said, looking around. "A lot more people are here now, and I don't want to get in the middle of something in front of them."

"Let's go to my place," Stacie said. "We can talk about the bake-off and discuss where I'll be taking you on our first date."

"Okay," Beca said.

Chloe stood gawking in disbelief as the two brunettes walked off together.

~~ Day 20 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmas - 2020 ~~

"So, you never told me what actually happened between you and Chloe," Stacie said as she and Beca sat on her sofa, sipping beers.

"Well," Beca said, holding her beer bottle and picking at the label. "We were on our fourth date, and she invited me back to her place. We were talking and then we were kissing. One thing leads to another, and she led me to her bedroom. We had sex for the first time, and it was amazing."

"So, what happened?"

"It was about four in the morning and my phone pinged with a text notification," Beca said. "It was from my dad telling me that my grandmother had been in an accident and things didn't look good for her, so they were heading to the airport to catch a flight to Portland. He also said he had reserved a ticket in my name."

"I'm so sorry, Beca," Stacie said. "Why didn't you tell her?"

"I left her a note," Beca said. "I mean, it all happened so fast, but I wasn't going to just leave her without saying something. I called my dad, and he said he was on his way to my place to pick me up. I told him I wasn't at home and I'd meet them at the airport because I still had to go home and pack. Chloe was sleeping so peacefully that I didn't have the heart to wake her. So, I wrote Chloe a note and left. I went home, packed, and went straight to the airport."

Beca pulled out her phone and opened her camera app. She found the picture she was looking for and said, "See? I took a picture of her because she looked so peaceful laying there."

Stacie took the phone and looked at the picture. She smiled and handed the phone back to Beca.

"And Chloe didn't accept your explanation?" Stacie said.

"I don't know what she accepted," Beca said. "I texted her when my grandma died, and she never responded. I even tried to call her, but she didn't answer. And, now, every time I try to talk to her, she walks away or avoids being in the same place she knows I'll be. I don't know what I did to make her ghost me like that unless she regretted that night but doesn't have the guts to tell me. I'm surprised she didn't kick me out when I showed up for the bake-off."

"That doesn't sound like Chloe," Stacie said. "Something else must have happened."

"Like what?" Beca said. "Things were going great until we had sex."

"Maybe this bake-off thing will be your chance to make her talk to you," Stacie said. "I've got your back whenever you're ready to try talking to Chloe."

"And no more flirting just to rile up Chloe, okay?" Beca asked. "I really don't want her any madder at me than she already is."

"You've got it bad for her, huh?" Stacie asked.

"I'm in love with her, Stacie," Beca said.

"That's huge, Beca," Stacie said, sitting up straight. "I thought you were just having a bit of fun with her. I promise to behave."

"Then I'm in," Beca said. "Thanks, Stacie."

"No worries," Stacie said. "We'll put a plan in play tomorrow at the bake-off. After we're done, she'll be talking to you again."

Beca held out her beer bottle, and Stacie tapped it with her own. "Let's do it!"

~~ Day 20 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmas - 2020 ~~

The next day, Beca stood nervously at her baking station, waiting for Chloe to show up. She was barely listening to the schedule of the competition. A cheer went up when they mentioned the afternoon's challenge of the gingerbread house decorating.

Beca knew if they made it through the first round, they'd be hard to beat on the gingerbread challenge. Chloe made the best gingerbread around, and Beca had a special design ready to not only wow the judges but hopefully wow Chloe even more.

The gingerbread houses were not judged on taste alone. They were also judged on the originality and execution of their design.

Beca had done the competition enough times that she knew the day was broken down into two parts. The morning was set aside for the original cookie recipe, and the afternoon was the gingerbread house competition. For the original cookie, each team had to make four dozen cookies and be judged based on the recipe's originality, taste, and presentation.

Chloe still had not arrived, and the competition was about to start. They had not discussed the original recipe they were going to use, but Beca had one she had planned out.

"Alright, bakers," the announcer said, causing Beca to panic slightly. "You've got three hours to make four dozen cookies, using an original cookie recipe of you and your partner's creation. Your time starts now!"

Beca and the rest of the competitors started hustling around their stations. Beca kept stealing glances over at the door, expecting Chloe to come through them. Her heart grew heavier every time she looked up and didn't see Chloe.

Beca had not noticed Stacie making her way over to her.

"Don't worry, Beca," Stacie said, causing Beca to jump. "I'm sure Chloe will be here. She's not the type to leave anyone hanging."

"I'm not worried yet," Beca said. "I have the original cookie recipe challenge handled. I just need her to show up in time for the gingerbread challenge."

"Feeling extra confident, are you?" Stacie teased, causing Beca to laugh.

"Rightfully, so," Beca replied. "We have won it four times in a row for a reason. Shouldn't you be helping your partner?"

"Jessica has it covered," Stacie said with a shrug. "She only needs me when it's time to dip the cookies in the chocolate."

"Is she trying her chocolate-covered mint cookie again?" Beca asked.

"Yep," Stacie said. "She's been tweaking it since last year. She thinks this is her year to take down Team BeChloe."

Beca laughed and shook her head. Stacie turned her head when she heard Jessica calling her.

"I gotta go," Stacie said and went back to her station.

~~ Day 20 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmas - 2020 ~~

Beca had pulled the last tray of peanut butter cookies out of the oven and set them on the counter. She checked her banana filling and got her piping bags ready. She laid out the two dozen that had been cooling and began piping the banana filling on a cookie; she then placed a second cookie on top.

"What did you make, Beca?" Stacie asked from her station.

"I call them Chloe's Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich Cookies," Beca said.

"How did you come up with that?" Jessica asked.

"From Chloe," Beca said. "She told me her mom used to make her peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch practically every day when she was in elementary school. I thought it would bring back some nice memories for her."

"They sound good, Beca," Jessica said.

"She's so whipped," Stacie mumbled to Jessica, causing Jessica to laugh.

Beca put two cookies together and walked over to Jessica and Stacie. She held the cookies out and said, "Would you two taste these? I need to know if I have enough banana flavor in the filling."

"Sure, Beca, we'll try them," Stacie said, taking both cookies and handing one to Jessica.

Jessica bit into her cookie and frowned.

"What's wrong, Jess?" Beca asked, looking worried. "Do they taste bad?"

"No," Jessica said. "They taste amazing. I kind of hate you right now."

"She's right, Beca," Stacie said, chewing on her cookie. "These are really good. And it has the perfect amount of banana flavor."

"Thanks," Beca said. "I was hoping Chloe would be the taste tester, but she's still not here."

~~ Day 20 of the 25 Days of BeChloe Christmas - 2020 ~~

Beca was standing at Stacie and Jessica's station while waiting for the judges to come back and announce the winners of the original cookie recipe challenge.

"There's Chloe," Stacie said, causing Beca to look over at the door.

"Seriously?" Beca said. "I texted her, and she didn't have the courtesy even to respond. And now she waltzes in here like she isn't over three hours late."

"Go talk to her before the judges come back," Stacie said.

"What if we talk and she tells me she actually hates me?" Beca asked.

"What if she tells you she loves you?" Stacie said. "Problem solved."

Beca chewed her lip and once again looked over at Chloe.

"Go ahead, Beca," Stacie said. "We have a few minutes before the judges come back."

Beca sighed and slowly made her way over to her baking station. Getting there just as Chloe did.

"Hey," Chloe said.

"Hey?" Beca snapped. "Seriously? You come in late, missing almost the entire first challenge, and all you can say is, hey? Unbelievable!"

"What do you want from me, Beca?" Chloe asked.

"What I want from you is for you to tell me why you've been ignoring me?" Beca whisper-yelled. "Do you really hate me that much?"

Chloe's mouth dropped open. She lowered her voice and said, "I don't hate you. And I didn't start ignoring you until you left me to wake up alone after we had sex. How do you think that made me feel?"

"I left you a note!" Beca whisper-yelled.

"No, you didn't," Chloe whisper-yelled back.

"Yes, I did," Beca said. "You were sleeping so peacefully I didn't have the heart to wake you up."

"Why did you leave then?"

"I explained it all in the note!"

"There wasn't a note!" Chloe repeated, her frustration with Beca even more evident. "Just tell me why you left."

"Because I had to go to Maine," Beca said, getting irritated. "My grandmother had an accident, and they didn't think she was going to make it, so my dad and I flew up to see her before she passed. We barely made it before she died."

"Your grandmother died?' Chloe asked, moving her arm to reach out to Beca, only to drop it back down to her side when Beca flinched away from Chloe.

"She did," Beca said. "And you would know this if you hadn't ignored my texts or my phone call. My grandmother died, and the one person I thought would be there for me didn't even acknowledge me. How do you think that made me feel?"

Beca wiped a tear from her eye. She turned and said over her shoulder, "I'm sorry I bothered you. It won't happen again."

Chloe stood, unmoving as Beca walked away. She didn't know what to say. She wiped a tear that fell down her cheek.

"Chloe?" Stacie said as she walked up to the redhead. "Are you okay?"

"No," Chloe said, wiping the tears from her face.

"Did Beca tell you about the note?" Stacie asked.

Chloe just nodded and said, "She mentioned it, but I swear there wasn't any note."

Stacie looked over at Beca, standing across the room with her back against the wall. She could see Beca was crying.

"Chloe," Stacie said. "Are you sure there wasn't a note? Could it have fallen under the bed or something?"

"I guess anything is possible," Chloe mumbled. "But, it's been over two weeks. I'm sure I would have found it by now if there was one."

"Wait here," Stacie said. "I just thought of something."

Stacie rushed over to Beca. Beca wiped her face when she saw Stacie coming toward her.

"Beca, can I see that picture again?" Stacie asked. "The one you took of Chloe before you left that morning?"

"Why?" Beca asked.

"Something's been bugging me about it since you first showed it to me," Stacie said. "Let me see it; maybe I can figure it out."

"I don't know what you expect to see," Beca said. "It's just Chloe sleeping."

Beca pulled out her phone and opened the camera app; she found Chloe's picture and held the phone out to Stacie. Stacie took the phone and looked at it. She squinted and then used two fingers to enlarge the photo.

"Aha!" Stacie cried out. "It's there!"

"What's there?" Beca asked, wiping her cheeks.

"Your note," Stacie said. "It's in the picture, see?"

Beca looked at her phone and smiled.

"And, you can clearly read most of what the note said," Stacie said. "You have to show this to Chloe."

"Ladies and gentleman, we ask that all bakers return to your stations," a voice called out, garnering everyone's attention. "We are ready to announce the winners of the first challenge."

"Take this," Stacie said, shoving the phone into Beca's hands. "And prove to Chloe you left a note."

Beca took the phone and hurried over to her baking station. She slowed down when she saw Chloe glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest.

Beca looked down at her phone and back up to Chloe. She turned her phone off and put it in her back pocket. She went to her station and stood close to Chloe but would not look at her. Beca kept her eyes to the front the whole time.

The announcer went through the winner's list, starting with the team in tenth place. They were down to the second-place team.

"And in second place," the announcer said. "With their chocolate-dipped mint cookies, Team Conrad/Smith!"

Stacie and Jessica squealed and ran up to the judge to get their 2nd place ribbon.

"And now, first place in the original recipe category," the announcer said. "With Chloe's Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich Cookies, Team Beale/Mitchell!"

Everyone started clapping. Jessica and Stacie were yelling, "Way to go, BeChloe!"

Chloe's mouth dropped open in shock; Beca went up to the judges and accepted their first-place ribbon. She came back and threw it on the table in front of Chloe.

"This belongs to you," Beca said.

"You named your cookie after me?" Chloe said. "What made you do that?"

"Because you're the one who gave me the idea for it," Beca said.

"I did?" Chloe said.

"Yeah, you did," Beca said. "You once told me how your mother always made you peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch when you were in elementary school."

"You remember that?" Chloe asked. "I told you that years ago."

"I remember a lot of things you told me, Chloe," Beca said, reaching to retrieve a cookie. "Here, try it."

Beca handed Chloe her namesake cookie, and Chloe bit into it.

"Oh, my God, Becs," Chloe said. "It tastes just like the peanut butter and banana sandwiches I remember."

Chloe sighed and looked down at the table. "Becs, I'm sorry I didn't believe you about the note. I should have known you wouldn't lie about something like that. I am truly sorry."

"If you need me to, I can prove I left you a note," Beca said, pulling out her phone.

Chloe put a hand over Beca's, stopping her. "That's not necessary," Chloe said. "I'm serious, I believe you. I really do."

"There was something else in that note that you need to know about," Beca said.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"I said, I, um," Beca stammered. "I said I love you. That night was really special to me, and I couldn't leave without telling you how I felt. Even if it was in a note."

Chloe's eyes widened, and before Beca knew it, Chloe pulled Beca to her and crashed their lips together. Stacie and Jessica could be heard yelling and cheering. Chloe started laughing and pulled back from the kiss.

"I love you, too, Becs," Chloe said just before reattaching her lips to Beca's.

Later that night, Beca and Chloe were lying on Chloe's sofa. Beca was on cloud nine; not only had she gotten the girl, but they had won the Barden Bake-off for an unprecedented fifth time.

"I can't believe you made up an original cookie recipe using one of my favorite sandwiches from when I was a kid," Chloe murmured as she laid snuggled up with Beca. "And I love that for the gingerbread challenge you designed a replica of a campsite because I told you how much I loved going camping with my family."

"I wanted you to know how I feel about you," Beca said. "I thought using some of your childhood memories would let you know I was paying attention all this time."

Beca looked at the time and noticed it was after Midnight. She smiled as she whispered, "Merry Christmas, Chloe," just before kissing Chloe again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I know, I know; Christmas has been over and it's now March. But life has a way of interrupting some things. And I've always said I will never abandon a story or leave it unfinished, so this is me keeping my promise. Days 20-22 are done and will be posted today. Days 23-25 are still being edited and revamped a bit and will be posted in a couple of days. And that will truly end Christmas 2020 for me. Thank you all for your patience and your kind words along the way.

#bechloe #bechloe fanfic #beca mitchell #chloe beale #Christmas 2020

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architectuul · 4 years

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FOMA 39: Olympic Infrastructure in Tallinn

Tallinn marks its 40th anniversary of the Pirita Sailing Regatta, one of the official events of 1980 Summer Olympics. Thanks to this significant sporting event, extraordinary developments took place in the city's urban planning and construction during 1976-1980.

TV Tower | Photo © Kaarel Susi

The political context of the Olympic facilities was undoubtedly amplified by the fact that in 1979 the USSR invaded Afghanistan, in protest of which 66 countries boycotted the Olympic Games. As a result, the maximum potential of many completed construction projects in receiving visitors was not used. There will be a talk about several buildings, among them the airport terminal, hotel Olümpia, Linnahall, Pirita Sailing Centre and the TV tower.

Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre (TOP) was opened in 1980 as a powerful late-modern complex, with its symmetrically composed main buildings for the functions required to host a sailing regatta. The original architectural idea was proposed by the young architects Avo-Himm Looveer, Kristin Looveer, Tiit Kaljundi, Leonhard Lapin and Harry Šein. The final design was performed by architects Henno Sepman, Peep Jänes, Ants Raid and Avo-Himm Looveer.

Pirita Olympic Yachting Center | Photo © Haapsalu Lääne Museum

The building materials of the load-bearing structures are brick, reinforced concrete and metal. It is a massive horizontal building with an interesting futuristic-looking middle part. It looks more like a machine than a building. Currently, the building is not in the best condition, but it is under protection as architectural heritage of Estonia.

Olympic Yachting Center | Photo © Eesti Rahva Muuseum

The floor, elevation plan and section of the TOP Complex (1978) | Photo via The National Archives of Estonia

Entrance at the TOP hotel. | Photo © V. Salmre (1982)

TOP hotel in 2020 | Photo © Kaarel Susi

The hotel Olümpia, located in Tallinn’s city centre, was opened on April 6th, 1980. The building with a reinforced concrete structure has 28 floors and it is 84 m high. Originally, the hotel had 405 rooms, a restaurant and bars.

Hotel Olümpia by Toivo Kallas, Rein Kersten | Photo © Kaarel Susi

The model of the Hotel Olümpia (1974) | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Corner view of the hotel. | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Restaurant lobby of the hotel | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Hotel Olümpia | Photo © Kaarel Susi

Between the sea and the old town stands a huge monumental building, originally called Lenin's Palace of Culture and Sports, nowadays known as Linnahall. The building was opened on July 19th 1980 and was initially not designed as an Olympic facility. However, it was decided that the building should be completed for hosting Olympic related events. With the limestone facade the building matches the architecture of the nearby old town.

The original model of Linnahall | Photo via © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Linnahall has won several architectural awards and is included in the list of national cultural heritage. The architectural feature of the building last gained international recognition in 2019, when director Cristopher Nolan used it for his film Tenet. Due to the poor technical condition, the Linnahall has been closed, and the future of the building is unclear.

Linnahall - combined plans and views | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Hall configurations of Linnahall | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Palace of Culture and Sports, a view from the ice rink side. | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Linnahall - view from the trestle. | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Linnahall - hall view. | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

Linnahall - ice hall. | Photo © Eesti Rahva Muuseum

Tallinn TV Tower is located a few kilometres away from the city centre in Pirita suburb. Designed by architects David Bassiladze, Juri Sinis and engineered by Jevgeni Ignatov, the 312 m high TV tower was opened on July 11th 1980, and it is still one of the highest structures in Estonia.

The construction of the TV Tower. | Photo © Eesti Rahva Muuseum

TV Tower in 1980s | Photo © TTÜ Muuseum

It has a 190 m of the reinforced concrete body which supports 124-metre metal antenna on top of it. The renovated building is opened for public since 2017 and hosts a viewing platform and a restaurant on the on 21st and 22nd floor (170 m).

Tallinn TV Tower was built using oil shale ash Portland cement developed at TPI Construction Materials Research Laboratory. | Photo © TTÜ Muuseum

The last FOMA is the Tallinn airport, located 4 km from the city centre near lake Ülemiste. The terminal building that is still used today was open in 1980 for visitors of Olympic games. It's designed by Mihhail Piskov who used traditional Estonian house barns as a source of inspiration.

Tallinn’s Airport by Mihhail Piskov | Photo © Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum

The building's original interior designer was Maile Grünberg. In 2008 the renovated and the enlarged terminal was fully re-opened to the public and named after President of Estonia Lennart Meri.

Airport’s Interior | Photo © Rahvusarhiivi filmiarhiiv

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#FOMA 39: Kaarel Susi

Kaarel Susi (1986) is a creative professional from Estonia. His work involves a wide range of different visual communication mediums and artistic practices, graphic and multimedia design, digital photography and contemporary art. On his journey to reach complete mental enlightenment and creative freedom, he is currently studying at TTK University of Applied Sciences in the Institute of architecture. | Instagram

#foma #forgotten masterpieces

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Monday, February 15, 2021

Warning to travellers: You have until Feb 22 to return or pay up to $2,000 for Canada’s COVID-19 hotel quarantine (Yahoo News) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers coming to Canada by air will come into effect on Feb. 22. Minister of Health Patty Hajdu confirmed that people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine are not exempt from these requirements at this time. Non-essential travellers to Canada by air are required to take a COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hour before departure. Proof of a negative test result must be with them during travel. They must submit their contact and quarantine information using the ArriveCAN app before boarding a plane. Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair, confirmed that 93 per cent of air travellers are non-essential travellers. Beginning Feb. 22, travellers need to take a COVID-19 test when the they arrive in Canada, at their own cost, before they leave the airport. Travellers will then go to a quarantine hotel until their test result is returned, up to three days. They need to reserve their stay prior to arriving in Canada. Hajdu indicated hotel booking information will be available online on Feb. 18. Travellers must stay in a hotel in the city in which they first arrive in Canada. When their test comes back negative, they can then take a connecting flight to their destination.

Impeachment proves imperfect amid US polarization (AP) Three Republican senators spent an hour talking strategy with lawyers for the accused. The entire Senate served as jurors even though they were also targets of the crime. No witnesses were called. And the outcome was never in doubt. The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump laid bare the deep imperfections in the Constitution’s only process for holding a president accountable, for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The proceedings packed an emotional punch and served as history’s first accounting of the Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol, but the inherently political process never amounted to a real and unbiased effort to determine how the insurrection unfolded and whether Trump was responsible. The results were ultimately unsurprising: a fast impeachment in the Democratic-led House followed by acquittal in the Senate, where 17 Republicans were needed to convict. Congress has rarely deployed its power to hold a president accountable for crimes and misdemeanors: impeaching Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in the 1999 and Trump twice over the past year. The House also launched impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon, but he resigned from office before a vote on charges. Each of the other instances ended with the president—or in this most recent instance, former president—acquitted, and few satisfied with the process.

Postmaster general’s new plan for USPS is said to include slower mail and higher prices (Washington Post) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is preparing to put all first-class mail onto a single delivery track, according to two people briefed on his strategic plan for the U.S. Postal Service, a move that would mean slower and more costly delivery for both consumers and commercial mailers. DeJoy, with the backing of the agency’s bipartisan but Trump-appointed governing board, has discussed plans to eliminate a tier of first-class mail—letters, bills and other envelope-sized correspondence sent to a local address—designated for delivery in two days. Instead, all first-class mail would be lumped into the same three- to five-day window, the current benchmark for nonlocal mail. That class of mail is already struggling; only 38 percent was delivered on time at the end of 2020, the Postal Service reported in federal court. Customers have reported bills being held up, and holiday cards and packages still in transit. Pharmacies and prescription benefits managers have told patients to request medication refills early to leave additional time for mail delays.

Hundreds of thousands without power in Northwest ice storm (AP) A winter storm blanketed the Pacific Northwest with ice and snow Saturday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and disrupting travel across the region. Freezing rain left roads, power lines and trees coated in ice in the Portland, Oregon, region, and by Saturday morning more than 270,000 people were without power. The extreme conditions, loss of power and transportation problems prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency Saturday afternoon. Winter storms and extreme cold affected much of the western U.S., particularly endangering homeless communities. Volunteers and shelter staffers were trying to ensure homeless residents in Casper, Wyoming, were indoors as the National Weather Service warned of wind chill reaching as much as 35 degrees below zero over the weekend.

With the Economy on the Ropes, Hungary Goes All In on Mass Vaccination (NYT) Hungary on Friday began injecting citizens with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, becoming the first country in the European Union to administer a coronavirus inoculation that has yet to be tested and approved by the bloc’s regulators. With Hungary’s economy suffering and a national election looming next year, embracing such vaccines is part of the government’s strategy to go all in on fighting the coronavirus after a series of missteps allowed it to spread in Hungary. The decision by Viktor Orban, Hungary’s far-right prime minister, to move forward with the ambitious vaccination plan comes after the European Union’s own response to vaccine distribution has lagged behind the United States, Israel, and Britain. Mr. Orban has few options for reviving the Hungarian economy, as he is opposed to handing out meaningful relief aid to citizens and businesses and appears to be betting big on getting the whole country vaccinated, with an eye on next year’s elections. While many E.U. members have expressed frustration with the bloc’s sluggish procurement procedures, Hungary is the only one so far to break from the collective strategy.

Even India’s Ex-Chief Justice Won’t Go to Nation’s Courts (Bloomberg) A former chief justice of India says he won’t go to the country’s top court with his grievances because he would have to wait endlessly for a verdict, a comment that lays bare the nation’s clogged legal system. “You want a 5 trillion dollar economy but you have a ramshackled judiciary,” said Ranjan Gogoi, who retired as the head of the country’s judiciary in November 2019 and is now a member of the upper house of the parliament. Gogoi was speaking at an event organized by the India Today Group, a news network. Gogoi’s remarks calling for an overhaul of the judiciary’s capacity and efficacy highlights India’s troubles with delayed verdicts and enforcing contracts. Court systems in Asia’s third-largest economy are clogged with over 43 million cases and a shortage of judges means that some cases can end up taking years, even decades, to find a resolution. Companies invested in India have a tough time once entangled in a legal dispute.

Hundreds of thousands protest in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike (Reuters) Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants only to be confronted by angry crowds. As evening fell, armoured vehicles were seen in the commercial capital of Yangon for the first time since the coup, witnesses said, and the U.S. embassy urged employees to be cautious. A civil disobedience movement to protest against the Feb. 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi started with doctors. It now affects a swathe of government departments. The junta ordered civil servants to go back to work, threatening action. The army has been carrying out nightly mass arrests and on Saturday gave itself sweeping powers to detain people and search private property. But hundreds of railway workers joined demonstrations in Yangon on Sunday, even as police went to their housing compound on the outskirts of the city to order them back to work. The police were forced to leave after angry crowds gathered, according to a live broadcast by Myanmar Now.

Japan’s Quake Evokes a Painful Memory (NYT) A large earthquake shook a broad area across eastern Japan late Saturday night, with its epicenter off the coast of Fukushima, near where three nuclear reactors melted down after a quake and tsunami nearly 10 years ago. As of Sunday morning, no deaths had been reported from the quake, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said. But more than 100 people were injured, according to the state broadcaster, NHK. The quake left nearly a million households without power across the Fukushima region and forced the closure of roads and suspension of train services. While rattled residents braced for aftershocks, a landslide cut off a chunk of a main artery through Fukushima Prefecture. Japan’s meteorological service reported the quake’s magnitude as 7.3, up from the initial assessment of 7.1. The quake was an unnerving reminder of the vastly more powerful 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011, killing more than 16,000 people. After the subsequent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, 164,000 people fled or were evacuated from around the plant.

New Zealand city going into 3-day lockdown after virus found (AP) New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland will go into a three-day lockdown beginning just before midnight Sunday following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they find out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections are of the more contagious variants. The lockdown is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a significant setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus. It will also force a delay in the America’s Cup sailing regatta.

Ancient mass production brewery uncovered in Egypt (Reuters) Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old brewery that could produce thousands of litres of beer in the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, Egypt’s tourism and antiquities ministry said. The site in Egypt’s Sohag Governorate likely dates back to the reign of King Narmer around 3,100 BC, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The brewery, which had a production capacity of 22,400 litres, was split into eight sections each containing 40 clay pots used to warm mixtures of grain and water.

#headlines #news

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anisanews · 3 years

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$9.4 Million Historic Estate Leaves Its Wake Along Sydney’s Colo River

Listed for about $9.36 million (AUD 12 million), the Sydney estate known as Venetiaville has been … [+] home to a host of notable owners including rowing great Peter Kemp.

Private Property Global

Generations of notable owners have shaped this Australian property.

It’s been an ideal place for a champion sculler turned boat builder to call home. And a landscape designer. And a publishing company executive.

The estate, where Sydney’s Colo River flows into the Hawkesbury River, dates to 1890 and was once owned by Peter Kemp. The self-taught rower had been born along the Hawkesbury and went on to become the World Sculling Championship titleholder many times over.

The Sydney estate property encompasses some 50 acres bordering the Colo River.

Private Property Global

When Kemp wasn’t winning competitions, building boats or testing the waters outside his front door, he coached other scullers onto victory. Two of his children would go on to be champion rowers.

Although Kemp’s original home burnt down in 1904 after he had moved on, it was rebuilt by the titleholder then as a single-story sandstone cottage. A much later owner, a landscape designer, added his vision with park-like grounds.

Former owners have each left their mark, including a landscape designer who added park-like grounds.

Private Property Global

The current residents had a modern addition designed by architect Timothy Moon in 2006, did renovation work, further upgraded the landscaping and restored the citrus orchard. The swimming pool, guesthouse and studio were built.

The approximately $9.36-million estate (AUD 12 million), known as Venetiaville, encompasses 50 acres with formal gardens, lawn and forest. Trees line the driveway.

The historic sandstone-style home, which dates to the 1890s, has a wide, column-lined veranda that … [+] surrounds a portion of the main house.

Private Property Global

The elevated site takes in river views from the residence and resort style infinity pool.

A wide, column-lined veranda surrounds one portion of the main house, which has three bedrooms. An open plan great room with a vaulted ceiling adjoins partially covered terrace space as does the entertainment pavilion. Details include high ceilings, exposed beams, walls of glass that frame the gardens, fireplaces and a library/office.

An open-plan great room lined with walls of glass sits at the heart of the home.

Private Property Global

The sky-lighted kitchen with white cabinets, stainless-steel appliances and an island adjoins a butler’s pantry and sandstone wine cellar.

A tranquil corner of the yard contains an outdoor shower.

Skylights top the chef’s kitchen, which adjoins the great room. The home was enhanced and expanded … [+] in 2006 by architect Timothy Moon.

Private Property Global

The guest cottage includes a study, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The wooden barn has a loft, bathroom and workshop. There’s a two-car carport and a pond.

Ken Jacobs of Private Property Global is the listing agent for the property, which is near boat ramps, hiking and riding trails and the amenities of the historic village of Windsor.

The office/library features built-ins and a fireplace.

Private Property Global

The Colo River is a popular stretch for fishing, canoeing, picnicking and bushwalking.

The international Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport is about 61 miles away.

Portions of the home open to a large terrace with a dining patio, swimming pool and raised spa.

Private Property Global

The elevated site takes in river views from the residence and pool.

Private Property Global

Although Kemp’s original home burnt down in 1904 after he had moved on, it was rebuilt by the … [+] titleholder then as a single-story sandstone cottage.

Private Property Global

Trees and a citrus orchard line the driveway leading to the house. The timber barn holds a loft, … [+] bathroom and workshop.

Private Property Global

An aerial view of the Venetiaville estate on West Portland Road in Sydney, Australia.

Private Property Global

Private Property Global is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties, a consumer marketplace and membership network of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes.

from Anisa News https://ift.tt/3y51Lkz

#breaking news today breaking news headlines breaking news headlines today chicago breaking news usa

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rivjudephoenix · 5 years

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Daniel Day-Lewis was rumored to be playing Bob Pigeon, but he never committed to the role. River wanted the part to be played by his friend William Richert, who had directed him in Jimmy Reardon, but when Richert read the screenplay, he balked, saying, “It’s a big fat pederast.” Richert called up River and asked, “Is this what you think of me? Is this what you think I should be playing? Because I haven’t been an actor before, so this is how people are going to see me.” “No no no, Bill, it’s the energy,” River assured him. “It doesn’t matter how big you are.” Richert turned down the part, his vanity wounded — he was dating a much younger woman and didn’t want her to think of him as even vaguely resembling Bob Pigeon. River, however, kept wooing Richert for the role and, while visiting his house one day, invited Van Sant over to join them.

When Van Sant arrived, he and River started reading the script out loud on Richert’s porch. Feeling coerced and insulted, Richert stayed inside and smoked a joint instead. But after sulking for a while, he joined them. “Do you want me to read it, River?” he asked. “Oh, would you, Bill? That would be so cool. Right, Gus?” Richert read the part, and noticed that River had memorized the entire script. Afterward, he reiterated that he still didn’t want to play the role — but privately, he had a grudging respect for River’s relentlessness. “It was a total operator move,” he said. The Bob Pigeon role was filled by eighty-two-year-old character actor Lionel Stander, best known for his work as Max the chauffeur on the TV show Hart to Hart. River flew up to Portland, Oregon, for filming, but then one night he called up Richert.

“Hey, Bill, I’m here with Keanu. We’re shooting scenes with Bob Pigeon tomorrow and we want you to come, because we fired the actor.” “You fired the actor? You and Keanu?” asked an astonished Richert. “No no no no no — Gus. But we all agreed that he just doesn’t have the energy. Maybe you can come up on Thursday?” River put Reeves on the line to persuade Richert. “Where are you?” Richert asked. “We’re in the hall at Gus’s house,” Reeves told him. “Why are you in the hall?” “He doesn’t have any furniture yet.” After receiving assurances that the move had Van Sant’s blessing, a worn-down Richert succumbed. Van Sant picked him up at the Portland airport in his Volvo. “I met the costume designer and she put me in a fat suit. [...] River would visit me every night — he became my second director”

— Excerpt from Last Night at the Viper Room (2013)

#river phoenix #william richert #keanu reeves #gus van sant #my own private idaho #behind the scenes

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creepingsharia · 5 years

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A Month of Islam in America: August 2019

Jihadis, sharia and Islamic scams in every state. And this is just what was found using public sources. What‘s happening in - and to - your state?

Click any link below for more details and link to original source.

Jihad in America in July

New York: Pakistani Muslim immigrant in Queens plotted jihad attacks at World’s Fair Marina and Flushing Bay Promenade

Awais Chudhary, 19, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, identified the pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway to the Flushing Bay Promenade (the Promenade) and the World’s Fair Marina (the Marina) as locations for the attack. On Aug. 23, 2019, Chudhary told an undercover agent that he intended to use a knife “because that’s what he knows,” but if the undercover agent could instruct him on how to build a bomb, he would consider using an explosive device at a “mini-bridge over a busy road with many cars.”

Florida: Muslim immigrant gets 20 years for distributing bomb instructions

Tayyab Tahir Ismail, 33, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, previously pled guilty to Count 2 of an Indictment that charged him with distributing information pertaining to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(p)(2) (Case No. 18-60352-CR-Moore). U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore sentenced Ismail to 240 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Arkansas: Muslim Immigrant Charged With Providing Material Support to Al Qa’ida While Overseas

Bilal Al-Rayanni, also known as Bilal Kassim Alawdi, 28, a Yemeni national and resident of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, was charged on August 8 in a two-count superseding indictment with providing and attempting to provide material support to Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, also known as Ansar al-Shari’a, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and making a false statement in a passport application.

Wisconsin: Second Milwaukee Muslim gets 5 1/2 years in plot to join Islamic State

Yosvany Padilla-Conde, a Cuban immigrant convicted of armed robbery at 17, converted to Islam and swore allegiance to ISIS.

Padilla-Conde made videos in which he swore allegiance to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, and said he planned to travel to the Middle East.

“In 2015 and 2016, ISIS perpetrated hellish levels of violence. To this, Padilla-Conde was drawn and sought to contribute,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

Missouri: Bosnian Muslim refugee who funded Islamic State gets 5 1/2 years prison

Armin Harcevic, 41, who supplied money to help a man who fought and died for the Islamic State in Syria was sentenced Friday to five and one-half years in prison.

Harcevic, who came to the U.S. in December 1999, will be deported after he is released from prison. He was one of six people originally from Bosnia who were indicted in 2015.

Connecticut: Muslim Immigrant Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

Azizjon Rakhmatov, 32, a citizen of Uzbekistan and resident of New Haven, Connecticut, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). New York: Two Muslim Women in Queens Plead Guilty in Plot to Wage Jihad in the U.S.

Queens, New York: Two Muslim Women Plead Guilty in Plot to Wage Jihad in the U.S.

Asia Siddiqui and Noelle Velentzas, both citizens of the United States and residents of Queens, pleaded guilty to teaching and distributing information pertaining to the making and use of an explosive, destructive device, and weapon of mass destruction, intending that it be used to commit a federal crime of violence.

Noelle Velentzas goes by the name Amtu Shahid and she worked on behalf of the notorious Muslim organization Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

Montana: Muslim Immigrant Pleads Guilty to Lying About Jihad

Fabjan Alameti, a New York City resident who was arrested at a Bozeman shooting range, today pleaded guilty to charges of making false statements involving international terrorism to the FBI, announced U.S. Attorney Kurte Alme for the District of Montana.

Alameti, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of false statements to a federal officer in a matter involving international terrorism. He faces a maximum eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Maryland: Muslim Immigrant Indicted for Attempting to Provide Material Support to Islamic State

A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment charging Rondell Henry, 28, of Germantown, Maryland, with federal charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, specifically, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.

Texas: Muslim Charged with Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

Omer Kuzu – a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Dallas, Texas – was detained overseas by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and recently transferred to FBI custody and returned to Texas. He made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Irma C. Ramirez in the Northern District of Texas today.

[No Photo Available]

Mexico arrests Muslim - a U.S. citizen - suspected of supporting violent jihad

Federal officials have arrested a United States citizen and suspected jihadist at a migrants’ center in Huehuetan, Chiapas, near the Guatemala border.

The suspect, identified only as Mohammed “A,” is being investigated in the U.S. for supporting jihadist groups and was sought by Interpol citizen” jihadist caught in Mexico.

More on the “U.S. citizen” jihadist caught in Mexico

The man, identified by Mexican media as “Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa”, was found and arrested at a migrant detention center in the town of Huehuetan...

I was told that Chhipa actually was outbound from the United States and on his way toward a foreign jihadist group to join them, at least initially to Egypt. The reason Chhipa was traveling southward away from the United States was because he was on the American “no-fly” list and couldn’t depart from an American airport.

More Jihad in America in August

Florida: Muslim tries to slash Walmart employee, yells threats in Arabic

NYC: Muslim shouting “Allah Akbar” shoves NYT illustrator onto subway tracks

Philadelphia: Man who shot six cops attended radical mosque

New York: Imam Active in Interfaith Work Disseminates Extremist Propaganda on the Side

Immigration Jihad

New Jersey: Former Afghan Interpreter Indicted in Scheme to Smuggle Illegals from Afghanistan to U.S.

Somali, Algerian and Iranian arrested for smuggling scores of illegals from Africa and Middle East into Brazil, and ultimately into the U.S.

Bangladeshi Muslim Pleads Guilty to Bringing Illegals to the U.S. from Mexico

Minnesota: Iranian national pleads guilty, stole restricted U.S. technology and exported to Iran

California: Muslim immigrant in LA gets 30 years for scheme to sell surface-to-air missiles to Libyan militants, Hizbollah

Missouri: Somali Immigrant Charged with Kidnapping Daughter of Girlfriend Found Dead, Stuffed in Suitcase

Sharia in Schools aka Education Jihad in America

Michigan: All the meat in Dearborn schools is now halal, i.e., sharia compliant... at taxpayer expense

Tax-Payer Funded Islamic Propaganda Forced on Teachers in Michigan, California, Georgia, Texas, Florida

Virginia: Methodist-Affiliated Shenandoah University Hires Muslim Chaplain

Submission to Sharia in America

CAIR Official Admits Women Don’t Have Equal Rights Under Sharia Law

Connecticut: Terror-linked CAIR tries to shakedown minor league baseball team owner, fails

Minnesota: Bloomington Mosque Blasting Neighborhood with Islamic Call to Prayer (VIDEO)

Pennsylvania: Minor league stadium, home to the Iron Pigs, to host Muslim “festival of sacrifice” event

New Jersey: Muslims take over Metlife (Giants) Stadium for (segregated) Islamic “festival of sacrifice” prayer

Previous monthly reports here.

Sexual Jihad in America

Texas: Muslim cleric ordered to pay $2.55M in sexual exploitation of teen girl

Philadelphia: Immigrant Uber Driver Convicted of Raping Unconscious Female Passenger

Fraud for Jihad

Missouri: Somali Immigrant Day Care Owner Gets 4 Years in $556,000 Fraud Scheme

Maine: Muslim pleads guilty in tax preparation scheme run out of Portland halal market

California: Egyptian Physician to Pay Back $5M in Medicare Fraud Scheme

Dhimmitude in Elected Office and Courts

FBI Report: Question the Islamberg Compound, You're a Potential “Domestic Extremist”

California: Judge vacates sentence of convicted terrorist, blames CAIR lawyer’s incompetence

Democrat Presidential Candidates Bernie Sanders, Julian Castro to Speak at Terror-linked Group’s Islamic Convention

Minnesota: City of Bloomington pays $28K for driveway that increases fair market value of terror-linked Dar Al Farooq Property

Texas: First Known Convicted Terrorist Asked For ‘First Step Act’ Early Prison Release

Saudi judges: American woman “too Western” to raise daughter she had with Saudi ex-husband

And if that wasn’t enough, Muslims who live by, and want everyone to live by the sharia, are going to try and make that a reality by getting elected.

Tennessee: Nigerian immigrant woman could become first Muslim voted to Nashville city government:

Ohio: Somali Muslim refugee seeks to become first in 25th House District

Please share this report on your social media sites before it’s too late.

Previous monthly reports here.

#Sharia #Islam #Legal #Immigration #Jihad #News #Politics #Law #monthly #Finance

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youngbradford · 5 years

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Xmas Message For 2019

And here we go, my 19th annual year-end love letter online …Georgi Balinov and I rang in the new year at a giant party in Bangkok, halfway around the world. That foreign location, its beauty and tastes, set the tone for my 2019, a year of seeing the world, while stabilizing my life. Though often in flux or movement, 2019 was a year many things normalized over the year.

In January, almost immediately after arriving stateside, I crossed the pond and saw Michelle Visage perform in the West End with Peter Wish. Afterward, I played with her wigs backstage and walked her towards the queer kids lining up for selfies and autographs. I am very lucky to have Peter and Michelle in my life, kindred spirits both. One reminding me that fame, fortune, ebb, and flow, but that being real is what matters most. The other, a reminder to stay forever young. I visited Berlin yet again and did the usual, working, and playing, hard.

February appeared and I traveled to Philadelphia with Sandra Hansel, Georgi, George Sapio, and Anthony DeFilippis. We toured Lisa Roberts’ house, saw a Dieter Rams exhibit, dined with George Alley. In Lambertville, that Sunday, I bought vinyl and vintage hats. Later that month, I got a swallow tattooed on my hand, a symbol of flight and travel, and Warhol’s knives, blackened into my shin. An Eames exhibit in Oakland was a sweet way to end the month.

In March with my crew, Georgi, Khadyon Reid, Luis Urribarri, Anthony, and George, descended upon Salvador for Carnival. It was insane! I watched Anitta live, and danced in a sea of pushing, fighting, kissing Brazilians for days upon days. I felt unsafe and alive, threatened and excited. It was intense. Back home I got my other hand tattooed, again honoring my love of seeing the world. I traveled to Portland, came back to NYC at the end of the month, finally moving into our apartment, the one we bought 1.5 years before, that I designed, and had renovated head to toe. Finally, we had our dream home. The weekend we moved in, the place was still not ready, but we were sick of living without our things and in other people’s beds. Peg Kendall and Georgi’s mom came, and we worked our asses off unpacking and starting to make the 2800 square foot loft on west 13th street a home. We’d lived in Airbnbs and friends’ places for 19 months and it was tiring not having a home, not having most of our things. My art! My toys! My shoes!. Those months taught me how important a home, a safe place, and the oasis of my collections is to my mental health. From March on I felt more on solid ground and dedicated more energy to my career and friendships as a result.

In April we went to Coachella, seeing Ian and Jose Seronni, JJ and Andrey Lunin, and dancing in the desert of California. Multiple trips to San Francisco, catching glimpse of old friends, scaling my team at work, as I took on more and more responsibility.

In May, George Sapio and I celebrated (me a little early) a shared, fun birthday weekend at Soho Farmhouse. Joined by Matthew Kelleher, Mark Silver, Jaime Tanner, Matt Lynch, and others, we went shooting and feasted on pheasant in the English countryside.June was really busy, insanely so.

For my 43rd in early June, I had a 30-person dinner party in our new place! We ended up at Club Cumming after, but before friends, new, and old, showered me with a vinyl record, the admission fee I’d set for my party. Lauren Foster, who has shared her home with us, was, appropriately, our first overnight guest. London, again, Berlin, too. Then home for Pride. Willam Ralphie hosted Bingo at eBay, Zach Augustine, David Mason Chlopecki, other loves attended. That weekend danced to both Madonna and Grace Jones on the pier and danced with 15K others at Javitz, where my favorite singer, Cyndi Lauper, belted “I Drove All Night,” her best song, at midnight. I stayed until the sun came up. NYC was electric that weekend. Parties, icons, friends from the world over … the city has an energy you could literally see and taste. I caught a few moments of the parade, overtaking lower Manhattan, and I smiled really big. God, it can feel good being gay! God, the world has improved for gay people (and yes, I know, we still have ways to go, especially for more marginalized LGBTQ groups). But I still took a moment to acknowledge the things that are better, that I have seen in my very gay lifetime. NYC that weekend was the ultimate place to reflect.

July 4th I went to Hamptons, with Ricardo, Brian, Felipe L. Mollica, others, guests of Anthony. Hosted Fab.com reunion, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and took my team to Korea (where I shared a traditional Korean meal with Jae Hah), China (where I ate bird’s nests, jellyfish, sea snails, saw a Yves Klein show with Adnan Abbasi, and danced to 90s pop in a packed gay club), and Moscow (where I was amazed at how clean the city was and where I went to a traditional sauna and was whipped, naked, with tree leaves in front of dozens of Russian dudes in the nude). While in Russia a protest erupted, literally below the rooftop bar I dined in. Russia seemed freer than I’d expected, way more Western, up until this moment. I ended the weekend at a club at 3 AM, Russian women in high, high heels, dancing on the bar, vodka flowing like water. 2020 saw me traveling to places I romanticized as a child. Russia, one such place. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendships formed in Moscow, the food, and history. I want to return.

August, I was back in San Jose and Portland for work, then off again to Europe for vacation. We started our trip in Croatia, where Georgi and I kayaked around Dbruvnik’s harbor. Croatia’s cliffs and turquoise water did not disappoint, as we boated to islands and swam in caves. Driving south into Montenegro, the architecture reminded me more of Polish, Bulgarian trips, the water, greener. At the Amman we laid out next to The Beckhams, watching David kick a soccer ball with workers of the hotel, and watching Victoria read a book. Georgi and I then ventured to Mykonos, sunning til sunset and dancing til sunrise. A weekend trip upstate with our besties (including a guest appearance by Eric Lee, riding rides at the Colombia County fair, cooking pies, and grilling meats, ended our summer.

In September I went to Berlin and did Folsom and a speaking gig in front of 1K eBay sellers. I went again to Tel Aviv, meeting gay Israeli technology workers and a bevy fo Israeli start-ups. In Jerusalem, I returned to the wonderful Machneyuda with Gilad Ayalon, where they remembered me from my birthday the year before.

October saw us hosting my mother and my niece for a visit. We fell in love with Company XVI, a dance/burlesque/performance art troupe in Brooklyn. I took my mother to see Madonna, a night I will cherish forever. And we saw Dear Evan Hanson. A weekend in Miami with Lauren Foster and K was needed warmth. I took Georgi to see both acts of The Inheritance (so good!). Then off to Berlin, again, and Paris, where I looked at art and went shopping for fall clothes. Halloween, in NYC, was brilliant and over the top; I went as white Pierrot clown. In Brooklyn, to Honey Dijon, we danced all night. Ralph Rucci, the American couturier reposted our photo on Instagram, calling it high-fashion, however, it was Georgi who won the night as Spock.

November I was in NYC early on, shopping with Thomas Cawson (who hooked me up with pink denim Helmut Lang), eating Christmas cookies, and being interviewed by Buzzfeed, a segment on 90s toys. I imitated a Furby. Then a week in Portland (I glow-in-the-dark-miniature-golfed), and off to Helsinki, catching up with former friends from Fab, One Nordic, Hem. Then to Lapland, with Georgi, George, and Anthony, lapping up wine, winter wonderlands, and dining on reindeer and elk. Dog sledding, snowmobiling, Northen lights! Another childhood desire checked from the list. Dinner with Michelle Case in London closed the month.

In December I went back to Berlin (my second home) and hosted a fundraiser for Single Step in our home. In one night Georgi and I helped raise $50K to help build Bulgaria’s first LGBTI center. It was also an impromptu holiday party: so many old friends together again in one room. And now Georgi and I sit in an airport lounge, awaiting our flight to Baltra, in the Galapagos. Once we land, we’ll board a 7-day cruise on a mega-yacht/small cruise ship. This, I feel, I have been waiting my entire life for.

I often write about how I was lonely as a kid. I was gay, I had a drug-addicted father, I grew up very poor. I oftentimes say music saved my life. But, I don’t write enough about the joy animals gave me too. I had so many pets: newts, turtles, tortoises, tree frogs, geckos, crabs, salamanders, etc. Caring for them, feeding them, gave me peace and allowed me to love. One turtle I had had a cracked shell. He lived in my room for many, many years. I always preferred him, with his defects, to the others. I think I feel the same about people.

As a child, I became obsessed with the Galapagos Islands, and mostly the tortoises. I would read about them in encyclopedias and race to see them at zoos. I always felt connected to turtles. They were my spirit animal. Later in life, I’d bloom, my feathers growing, my pride, alive. I’d no longer consider myself a turtle, my spirit animal changed. I told this story to my colleague Eben Sermon, who runs eBay’s German business: I always wanted to be a turtle. But I ended up a cockatoo. Eben brought this up last week in Berlin and it made me think a bit more about affinities for animals and how I have not had that connection as often as I probably should.

So this week, before we ring in New Years in Rio, I will honor the old me, the kid, the quieter Bradford, the sadder Bradford, by visiting those turtles, finally.

And I’ll marvel at the wonder of nature and evolution, both the evolution of animals and this world, and also the very real and dramatic evolution of my spirit and happiness.

Happy Holidays, Peace & Big Love

#writings

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megbox · 5 years

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2019 Year in Review

Previous Posts: (2018) (2017) (2016) (2015) (2014) (2013) (2012) (2011)

It’s actually kind of interesting how... less interesting these year-in-reviews get as I get older. Depending on how you look at it, 2019 was somewhat of an unremarkable year. I spent much of it tragically broke, I didn’t get the opportunity to do much traveling. But at the same time, not having these flashy, colourful experiences to write about all the time makes me value the easy, simple things more. It forces me to be a bit more reflective about how the day-to-day life I am carving out for myself teaches me things and about the person I am becoming.

Far and away, the most positive thing to come out of 2019 has been that I am real deals social worker now. I have the best job in the entire world. I have “RSW” in my email signature and on my business cards. I do work that is meaningful to me every single day. There is so much to learn but I’m in the right place to be learning it. And I am really proud of myself for getting here ❤️

January

Unlike the last few years, 2019 began on a high note. The millisecond that student loan hit my direct deposit, I took a little trip to Jasper to visit my friend Oliver who was teaching snowboarding at Marmot Basin for the season. I braved some very treacherous roads to make it to Jasper. It took me nearly eight hours. Highway 93 was closed so I had to take the long route and basically white-knuckled it the whole way. But it was so worth it. I found myself later that evening in a dorm room full of young Scandinavian people, downing American Vintage iced teas and feeling like I was at a frat party. We went to this club called Four Peaks and they played Rasputin by Boney M and everyone went crazy. I hooked up with this gorgeous Danish ski instructor named Rasmus. He was so beautiful. I am proud of that one, honestly. Oliver and I went skiing and hiking and we went to Earl’s and he tried a Caeser. By the end of the weekend, I think we maybe ran out of things to talk about. But it was really cool to see him and to hear about the last few years of his life and how excited he was to move to New Zealand to be with his girlfriend (whom he met on the same trip where he and I met, in Hawaii!)

On January 14, I started my second practicum. It was a sad transition. My time at CommunityWise had been so great that anything new was going to pale in comparison but my new placement was especially bad. It was so slow there. My computer hadn’t been updated in years and I didn’t have access to anything for weeks. My supervisor was barely around (not her fault, though. She was finishing her MSW, had two young children, was the team lead for both family centres in the city and had two practicum students to supervise. Girl was busy). I remember one morning while I was helping one of the caseworkers with some menial task like organizing the food pantry, and I was just so frustrated, I kind of asked her point-blank, “Is this practicum meant to be more self-directed?” and I just started crying as I asked it. I kind of… whimpered it. It was awkward but from that point on, they made way more of an effort to give me tasks and engage me in the work that was being done there. Lesson learned: you get what you ask for.

February The first weekend of February is what we would call a “power weekend.” Looking back on these actions now, I cringe. However, at the time, I was pretty stoked. I slept with a friend from podcast club after a house party. For ease, I will refer to him as W. W had asked me out twice prior to this happening. I actually said yes, and we had plans to get drinks, but his best friend ended up going through a breakup the night before and he cancelled last minute. So then we slept together. Drunkenly. And it wasn’t… good. I chalked it up to the drunkenness. We went out on a real date, I made sure to have like one glass of wine maximum. He was lovely and great company and he taught me how to play crib but… you know that feeling when you’re like god, I wish I was enjoying this but I am just not enjoying this. It was like that all night. And it felt heavy. If I am being completely honest, there was also this strange moment that night where I had the thought, “he kind of looks like my grandfather if he were younger” and there is truly no recovering from that kind of realization.

February was also a terrible month because I had no days off. I will go to my grave angry about being required to work for free in my practicums. I was doing 32+ unpaid hours at this boring practicum and then working evenings and weekends at Famoso whenever I could. And Famoso was dead, so I wasn’t even making good money. This was also where I began to start witnessing things in my practicum that started to fuck with me. At first, I thought I was just having trouble sleeping. But over time in seminar and debriefs with my social work friends who were going through the same thing I realized that it was the oh-so-pleasant combination of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

Over the reading week, I went to Fernie with Maddy and her friends for a ski/party weekend and that was truly awesome. One of those weekends where your ribs ache for days once you’re back because you laughed so hard. Some highlights:

It snowed 60cm the night before we skied. It was powder up to your waist.

• Maddy’s friend Melissa liked our bartender at the hostel. She took his phone and texted herself from it so he would have her number and vice versa. Then she got so drunk that later the same evening, she was looking at the text and forgot that she had sent it to herself so she texted back, “Who is this?” Also LOL #Bryna.

• I took nudes of Maddy in the hostel shower to send to the guy she was seeing at the time. LOL. What are friends for?

• Maddy and I met this set of twins who are the definition of gym bros. Identical twins. We ended up hooking up with them. At the same time. In our bunk bed at the hostel. We high fived. I later fell off the top bunk. We gave them a beer for the road when they left. All year long, we send one another their Instagram posts and stories whenever it’s them flexing in the gym mirror and just laugh about, “we really slept with those guys.”

March

In March, I got the flu. It was very annoying. I had to miss practicum (meaning I’d have to make up the hours somehow later). I stated binge watching Grey’s Anatomy.

I ended things with W. It was kind of harsh but it needed to be done. I need to stop breaking up with people in the weeks prior to my birthday because we had a total Dave-Simard-2.0 situation where W told me he had purchased a birthday present for me and he still wanted to give it to me.

I also ran the St. Patrick’s Day Road Race again!!! Good times as always.

Practicum got much better in March. I had many things to do. I got to design the curriculum for and facilitate a six-week girl’s group. I assisted with the planning and running of a series of community tax clinics which was cool. Except the guy from the agency whose project it was is a creep. He kept telling me all of these stories that were incredibly inappropriate given the fact that we knew each other only in a professional sense. He made many comments about women’s bodies and appearances that were gross. And I got left in some pretty unsafe situations all by myself. AND he made me pay out of pocket for snacks for one of the tax clinics and never reimbursed me for that. I kind of forgot about that until just now. Wow.

April

April was a big month!

I went to Portland for my birthday weekend with Matt and Connor. When I think back to this trip, it was lovely, but mostly what I remember is a lot of beer, a lot of rain, and being hungover. Portland is a really cool city. I wasn’t totally expecting to be confronted with as much homelessness and substance use as I was but, that’s my privilege talking. Some highlights from the trip include:

• The “Flower in the Kettle” IPA I had.

• The mascarpone, corn and lobster agnolotti I had for my birthday dinner at A Cena. Recommended to me by a trusted friend I worked with at Famoso. So rich. SO FUCKING GOOD.

• Meeting this really drunk real estate agent at a dive bar and convincing her that Matt and Connor were both my boyfriends. I still have her business card in my wallet. I am unsure why.

• The Weezer concert was honestly awesome.

• Matt actually trying out the guyliner.

• Meeting some random guy when I went to get gum at a corner store. His name was Dan. He was old. His girlfriend had kicked him out and he was just walking around. He’d been in prison for a lot of his life. We had a good chat. I got his phone number and now we have each other on Facebook.

• In the airport on the way home, Matt and I were so overtired that absolutely everything was hilarious. The gif game (the gif of Kevin from The Office dropping the bucket of chili. “Me in Thailand”), and the beginning of when I got let in to the “KEVIN!!!!” joke. I had tears in my eyes.

• Connor yelled at me in a pizza restauraunt LOL (sorry Connor. I know you Ctrl+F your name. But this was memorable to me.)

In the middle of April, I FINISHED MY PRACTICUM HOURS AND EFFECTIVELY GOT MY DEGREE. I cannot describe to you how good it felt to be driving home from one of those tax clinics after my third twelve-hour day (making up practicum hours is fun) knowing I never had to go back. Knowing that soon enough, I’d get to work on all the same cool projects but actually get paid for my time.

We visited Saskatoon for Easter, which would turn out to be the last time I got to see my Baba. She was very ill, and both of us knew that it would likely be the last time, so I did get to say my goodbyes. It was very difficult and I sobbed for a lot of the ride home. It’s a weird feeling, when someone you love has been so ill for so long, and you begin to see their condition really deteriorate. When the idea of life without that person starts to become a reality. There was almost an… acceptance? It sounds so callous to say and it’s way more complex than this but also somewhat of a relief in the finality of it. I don’t know. It was a lot.

April was also when I started interviewing for social work jobs. I had two interviews. The first one was at CCASA, essentially for what I thought was my dream job. I have never psyched myself out so hard for anything in my life. I thought about that interview and that interview alone for weeks. I studied harder than I have for any test ever. When the time came for the interview, I was so nervous. I became this meek and mild version of myself. It was honestly devastating. But of course, had I gotten that job, I would never have interviewed at the University of Calgary. My boss-to-be called me for a pre-interview while I was on shift at Famoso. It was busy, too. But I just said fuck it and ducked into the back and talked to her on the phone for twenty minutes. She invited me for an interview a week later where I had to give a five-minute presentation on managing stress as a student. Rock on.

May

On May 1, I got offered THE JOB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY! It was truly one of the happiest moments of my life. There is nothing more satisfying and exciting than actually attaining something you’ve been dreaming of for so long. It was for a one year contract on a maternity leave coverage, facilitating community trainings around suicide prevention, helping skills, all that good stuff. I was going to be on salary. I was going to have benefits. I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO WALK TO WORK AND HAVE A REAL CAREER THAT I WOULD BE PROUD OF AND EXCITED ABOUT.

I hung up the phone after accepting the job, texted all the requisite people about the good news, and then immediately drove to Famoso to quit. My boss at Famoso was angry with me because I did not give two weeks notice. I said I would work out the rest of my scheduled shifts. He was a jerk, he yelled at me in frustration saying, “You work here for five fucking years, we accommodate every trip, every vacation, every practicum and you don’t even have the courtesy to give me two weeks notice?!” It wasn’t a big deal though. He was just being an asshole. And hey, Steve, you’re still an asshole!

So my last day serving tables at Famoso Westhills was May 3, 2019. I’m usually not good with goodbyes but it was the easiest thing in the world to just walk out of there at the end of the night knowing I would never be back. I had ten days until I started my actual job at the University (a bit of an oversight on my part because I had ~no money~ so what the fuck was I going to do with ten days).

My grandmother passed away on May 19, 2019. Back to Saskatoon on May 28 for the funeral. It was really fucking sad and really fucking weird to see all of my cousins crying. My grandma also had a big Catholic funeral and none of us are particularly religious and as the direct relatives of the deceased we were at the front of the church and it was really obvious none of us had any idea when to kneel vs. stand and didn’t know any of the words or tunes to the songs.

On a happier note, my brother was accepted into medical school in May. Not that I ever doubted my brother would be a successful person, but this just really solidified it. Dr. MacKay.

June

June was rather uneventful. I was honestly so cripplingly broke at this point, and it was so long before I actually saw a full salaried paycheck. I had to borrow money from my parents just to like, function. And pay my bills. It was embarrassing. But I was working full time and learning so many cool things about the job that it made it alright.

I walked the stage on the first week of June and accepted my BSW degree. I didn’t want to go but it was actually a pretty awesome and happy occasion.

The other big thing that happened in June is that Maddy moved to Australia. It sucks that I only met Maddy in the summer of 2018. She is so awesome and we became so close so quickly. I genuinely love her so much and spending time with her is so easy and fun, it was really sad when she left knowing that it was highly possible she may never return or at least not for several YEARS.

July

By July, my new job was in full swing. I was facilitating trainings every other day (so much public speaking experience!), I was sitting on a committee, every day was new and challenging and exciting.

My dad had a giant party for his 60th birthday, with some friends even coming from Saskatoon. They rented a limousine that took us to the Black Diamond hotel because apparently my parents have some kind of significance there. I did a shot with my grandfather? We played pool and Big Buck hunter? None of my friends came but all of my brother’s friends came and I honestly think that it turned the tables in terms of who my parents’ favourites are in terms of friends.

I also had an awesome weekend at Folk Festival mostly with Kendal and Lachlan but also featuring guest appearances from Chad and Gillian. Podcast club pals. There is just nothing better than folk festival, honestly. Food trucks and music in the sun and drinking sangria from a flask and admiring everyone’s cool outfits and getting a tan and listening to concerts all day. I had a nap in the middle of the afternoon on Sunday and it was like the most glorious 45 minutes of my entire year.

August

Oh, no. August. I was still cripplingly broke (it takes a long time to catch up to a point where your entire paycheck is not just going to paying back things you’ve borrowed) and I made the utterly stupid decision to go to a music festival.

Big Valley Jamboree, baby. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best weekend that I am never ever doing again. Some highlights:

• Mere minutes after arriving, I watched a man vomit.

• The “Tony Keith” joke really took off. Lucas and I were so #inone on the Friday night we kept yelling and trying to start chants (“old man graphics!” is my personal favourite in response to Toby Keith’s random, pro-military Americana concert graphics).

• I gave my phone to somebody and then wandered off in search of this stupid boy’s campsite. I got very, very lost. The BVJ campground is a large place. I had no idea where I was going and was literally just stumbling through the dark and the mud. I ended up in the middle of some middle-aged Newfoundlanders’ campsite. They welcomed me. They offered me and sandwich and several beers. We chatted for like an hour. It was the best. I walked for SO LONG and finally found my own campsite. But we’re talking literally hours of walking around blind and disoriented. There were a few moments when I genuinely thought I was going to have to wait until the sun came up.

• A few less-than-classy moments in porta potties.

• The HANGOVERS. Jesus lord. I couldn’t survive.

• Airwaves guy was great and I also had a really good buffalo chicken poutine thing that I remember fondly.

In happier and much more professional news, I facilitated my first Community Helpers training in August. I was very nervous. Like, stay up all night the night before nervous. And we had some technical difficulties with setting up. But my coworker / work BFF Jeannie was there and she was a great support to me. She ran and got me a coffee and a banana bread because I hadn’t eaten and was so so stressed. And she encouraged me through the whole thing. It went really really well. I almost choked up at the end while thanking the participants for coming and explaining how it was my first training and they were such a great group to do it with.

The squad was all super broke so we turned to free activities. It was very wholesome. We spent many afternoons and evenings reading in Prince’s Island Park with snacks. We went to Shakespeare in the park. We went hiking.

A lot of my friends moved away in August. Such is life when your friends are all academics or have bright futures that are not confined to the Calgary city limits. Sydney moved to Victoria to start her PhD and we had a nice day at Elbow Falls eating berries and then having dinner with my family. Adam and Kendal both moved to Ottawa to start a fancy new government job and an MSW degree, respectively. I am really really proud of all of my friends but I miss them, too. Calgary is not the same without these people.

On the flip side – a new roommate moved in! Maddie left to move to Red Deer to be with Joel and so our new roommate was a French exchange student named Aurore. She arrived and was shocked to see that none of the advertised furniture was in her room except for one limp mattress. Karla and I hadn’t even known she was coming because my landlord sucks, but we helped her get her things together and then ordered her some Skip the Dishes. She was exhausted. And sweet. And was starting a block week MBA class the next day in her second language. I felt for her.

September

In September, the inklings of me moving into a different role at the university were planted. My boss called me in to her office one afternoon and shut the door. I was terrified but she said to me, “you’re not in trouble. Actually, just the opposite.” She brought up the recent vacancies in the job I now hold (lol: spoilers) and said, “Just think about it. I just want you to know that there would be no hard feelings if you chose to apply for the role.” I was flattered but also caught off guard. I did not think I was qualified for the job. I had virtually no client experience in either of my practicums. I wasn’t even registered with the ACSW at this point. And I loved my old job and my health promotion coworkers so so much. But also… I was on a twelve month contract. And the person away on leave was definitely coming back. I was “strongly encouraged” to get registered with the college.

It was honestly such a mess. They gently nudged me towards applying for the role, I was torn. Then they told me it probably wouldn’t work because I wasn’t yet registered with the ACSW, and even if I did register would still only be provisional. I felt an odd sense of relief at that, and had totally psyched myself out of being able to do the job at that point. At the last minute, I was told “just submit an application to keep our options open.” I did so. I got an interview. I interviewed (and it was SO fucking stressful…. Interviewing with people you already work with is 10x worse than interviewing with strangers. I tell ya.). And… I got the job!!! Not only did I get the job, I got a full-time, permanent contract (there were two positions, one full-time and one on a longer contract. I was told from the beginning I would just be applying for the longer contract but I ended up getting the FULL TIME ONE.) It was a HUGE boost to my confidence and again, one of the happiest days of the year.

September was also just absolutely insane for work. So many orientation presentations, students reaching out wanting to get involved, starting all of the volunteer programs, planning. I was so, so, so SO FREAKING TIRED. But we did lots of fun things. Like we took Aurore and her friend Cecile to Banff, had them try Caesers and Beaver Tails and all kinds of Canadian things.

October

On my last day in my old role, my coworkers decorated my desk with a homemade banner and got me desserts. We went to McDonald’s for a feast and sat in the Hub and made jokes. It felt really special and I was really touched.

On October 7, I started my new-but-also-kind-of-the-same job. I was very nervous and there was a lot to learn right from the get go. And it was so… strange. I HAD MY OWN OFFICE. WITH MY NAME ON THE DOOR AND EVERYTHING. The imposter syndrome hit me like a tsunami. I was extremely stressed, extremely overwhelmed. But my teammates and my boss are great. They understand I’m new not just to the role but to the field. They were (and are) so kind and patient with me and answer all of my questions.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Banff. We had beers and did a little bowling at High Rollers and then went to the Rimrock for dinner. It was very nice. A few weeks later, I hosted my own friendsgiving dinner and roasted a turkey! And spent all day decorating my parents’ house and the table to look fancy. Everything turned out really really well. I was super stoked. Note to self: throw more dinner parties.

November:

What I recall from November is just… stress. The case management / social worker life came at me real hard, real fast. I had to call CFS for the first time. My client did not want me to. It was hard. I did not cope well. My coping strategy was to fuck off to Lake Louise (?) for a weekend in a hostel and drink two bottles of wine with some random sorority girls from Chicago. And tears.

The cooking phase was in full swing at this point. Eggs benedict, soft pretzels, curry, French onion soup, gnocchi, prosciutto apple blue cheese chicken, apple and chai galettes.

The third week of November was also when I decided to start training for the half marathon. I found a plan online and set out to follow it and honestly, it’s been great. I usually don’t stick to exercise routines for longer than a month because I tend to go too hard, too fast and I overdo it and I let one hungover day derail me. But this plan wasn’t focused on distance but rather time spent running. So rather than, “I have to run 5km” today it’s, “I have to run for 45 minutes today.” I thought I’d hate that but I actually really like it. It encourages me to go a little slower and just run out the clock, at whatever pace. And the speed is building gradually, and naturally.

December:

Aaaand December!

December has been so much marathon training. Today, I am entering my seventh week of consistent running and exercise. That is a badass accomplishment for me. I am very pleased. I even managed to do my runs in Saskatoon on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Aurore left back to Paris. She had a birthday party at the house with all of her international friends and we went for sushi and looked at Christmas lights in the rich people neighborhoods before she returned home. She ended up being so wonderful. I will miss her.

I went to Radium for a weekend with Kennedy, Matt, Amanda, and their friend Katie. The takeaways from this experience are: I am excited to get to spend more time with Kennedy and Amanda and to become better friends with them, I think I like smoking weed now, and skiing is the best.

2020:

To be completely honest, my life is pretty good. I sometimes wish I had somebody to share it with, and that’s something I hope to be a little better about in 2020 is putting myself out there in more of a meaningful way.

I also am super excited to continue down this path with my career and to develop personally and professionally as a social worker. There is truly so much to learn and I’m really motivated and excited right now to do well at this which is an awesome feeling. I do need to work on not taking my work home with me so much, about separating the social work life from the personal life. Setting boundaries and all that good stuff.

I’m hopefully going to run my first half marathon in 2020. May 31. The countdown is on. Excited to cross that item off the bucket list and experience the rush of crossing the finish line! That endorphin high is going to be insane.

And I want to keep developing my cooking skills. Though they may be small, they are mighty. I want to try and learn how to make fresh pasta dough. LOL. Simple goals.

Anyways... thank you 2019 for all you have brought me and taught me. I am grateful for the life I get to the live and the experiences I get to have. And I’m super stoked to see where 2020 takes me.

#megbox #personal #year in review #2019

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kontextmaschine · 5 years

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Roseburg

Okay, Roseburg. It’s the capital of the southern Oregon timber industry, which fell hard with the end of harvesting on federal lands in the early ‘90s.

It’s got a population of 20,000, in a town center at a bend in the river and several residential neighborhoods, with more modern retail north of the city center around I-5. Several thousand more live in outlying areas, and Roseburg is seat of Douglas County stretching to the coast counting 110,000 population in total.

The airport offers no scheduled passenger service. Flights to major mountain west cities are available 83 miles to the north or 90 to the south; equivalent service is available 15 miles from Bend.

The only college in the area is a community college.

The town center, oriented around a “couplet” (parallel one-way streets) for a Main Street in Oregon tradition, has government buildings and a roughly five square block downtown. The downtown is early-20th century in character, solid frontages of storefronts with 1-2 stories of residential above, with churches, banks, and apartment buildings on the periphery.

The downtown is not pedestrianized, but has been designed for cars to park on the periphery. One block of storefronts is block-through, with entrances on each of two opposing sides. Many storefronts are empty. Several bars and restaurants are active, with a few (plus a co-working space) that look to have opened recently. Other stores remain looking a little out-of-time, and several storefronts have been occupied by nonprofits, street-level offices, or enterprises that look to create low returns while occupying high spatial volume. A gym occupies one sizeable space, two large markets stand empty. Despite this emptiness, only the markets look truly dilapidated; others have intact windows and clean interiors and reasonably fresh paint and facades. Scattered throughout are several civic monuments and monumental-looking fraternal lodges.

Sloping away from this downtown, the town center contains more stores, warehouses, restaurants, and bars. On the I-5 corridor, several hotels and travel-oriented businesses serve the freeway, mostly north of the town center.

- - -

So, in some ways this is kind of what I’d been expecting to like - a resource extraction town for a collapsed industry, leaving a fully built-out but intact infrastructure ripe for use. With poor flight connections to finance centers and a local economy still tapering off as the legacy population drifts away, an obvious hope is to market the small-town experience to internet workers or others who generate resources in a way that doesn’t require an existing resource base in physical proximity, while in the interim, the courthouse, the remaining private-lands timber industry, and the highway services support a basic level of services.

The maintained facades, the nonprofit offices occupying storefronts, and the general effort to keep downtown looking active suggest a level of coordination by local elites in support of the city’s viability.

- - -

And it’s… Cascadia. It’s green but at the same time younger than the east coast or rust belt - the wilderness hasn’t been carved into as much, the people not guarded, exhibit the good down-home parts of “country” without much “narrow-minded bumpkin”.

Many stores and bars have signs at the doors saying to take hoodies off, no backpacks, no tweekers, this site recorded on camera. There are at many points one to three people who are obviously homeless or on drugs in view. A Greyhound bus stopped in front of one dilapidated market and disgorged 7 vagrant-looking people. Every day the city police log lists like 6 arrests. On sites where these mugshots are compiled and shared around you see these are usually about heroin, meth, thefts to buy heroin or meth, or parole violations by people with convictions about heroin or meth. Even among apparently functional people working behind counters and bars, there are more facial scabs than you expect.

There is, frankly, an absurd level of pro-military sentiment. Signs in all sorts of windows, military discounts everywhere, banners from some past event benefiting some charity for military families. A veteranarian’s office is painted with the American flag, silhouettes of dogs and soldiers saluting or wearing helmets. I wondered if there had been a military base closed nearby because even after a week traveling through much more “red”-than-Portland country I had seen more of that stuff but nothing near that level. I never saw any murdered-out trucks or Punisher skulls or Black Rifle Coffee or 5.11 or any other military-adjacent aesthetic, though. Wearing Chinese-replica BDU pants, I was sporting more of a tactical look than anyone I saw.

Douglas County gave 64% of its vote to Trump in 2016.

- - -

The clear signs of people coming together to keep downtown appealing, all the monuments, the particular aesthetic of the places catering to a downtown crowd (and of that crowd itself), the legacy of what you’d expect from timber barons and their clerks… I was like “oh I get this, there’s a strong country-club Republican strain.”

Knowing that the region’s forest workers were pretty radical (that’s an important thing about Oregon, its normative rural experience isn’t of yeoman farmers but forest workers) I was wondering when I was going to get a sign of that, eventually I realized the yay-military stuff was the expression of class solidarity I was looking for.

Knowing both of those I turned to the addicts and fuckups and was like “ohh, you’re the third player in this drama, the unvirtuous poor that the virtuous poor and white collar types can bond over identifying against”.

A good deal of the nonprofits taking up space downtown seem to be the prison-industrial-complex type, the therapy or treatment you get sentenced to, designed to employ the first group turning the third into the second.

- - -

Seeing Roseburg makes some things about Portland make sense. That, say, when timber collapsed some of the “worker” types or their kids moved to, or stayed in Portland and brought the ethic to food service.

Traditional Oregon is weirdly exclusive, had an anti-Californian sentiment in particular but I’ve heard stores from Washingtonians about getting their cars pelted with rocks in the 80s, the state’s most famous statement of boosterism included a direct request not to move here.

There’s very much a sense that Portland has become swollen with non-Oregonians who seek to impose themselves on traditional, rural, Oregon, I could see a distaste towards any idea of making Roseburg more Portlandish.

When I walked in to look at the co-working space (it’s really just a period office building with individual offices) I overheard a guy saying that he could accept if they just made up a list of the guns it was okay to buy…

And the thing about a strong local elite invested in the future of your town is the town is under the control of a strong local elite with an interest in its future, presumably wanting to keep or develop it as its own playground.

At the same time, whoever owns all those buildings would very much like to see them filled at competitive rates I’m sure, and property owners are the backbone of any local elite. (I do not know the in-town landholders’ relationship to the woodland barons.)

- - -

So. Promising. It’s a charming Portland-in-miniature, houses are still available in the $100s and apartments at $500/br/mo. Between empty and underused space there’s maybe 10 years of solid expansion before all the slack has been taken up, and by all appearances the local system would love to see it happen and has no better pitch than quality-of-life-experience, being what Portland was in the 90s.

(Even the class system isn’t terribly off, a lot of the “Portlandia” years were about importing a middle class to fit between the old money in the West Hills and the retreating border of “Felony Flats” across the river to the east.)

That said it’s not abandoned just waiting for my guiding hand, there are preexisting power structures and culture to accommodate or challenge. And if undermining the local culture is the last thing I want - it’s what appeals to me, and the loss of which I’m mourning in Portland – I’m already thinking “okay that’s honestly too Republican, but that’s the only way to end up with a tolerable culture after it floods with creatives so hey”.

This is assuming it does take off, which I honestly think is a good assumption, as the big west coast cities fill up and cascade down (in the interim, look at Olympia, Visalia, Sacramento, Eugene, and Fresno) but isn’t inevitable. Oregon environmental laws and declining influence of Republican state legislators could further undermine the rural economy. Things could just keep declining past the point of being able to keep up appearances - the VA hospital just closed its emergency room, and there are two more in the area but the reasoning was the difficulty of recruiting and maintaining specialized staff, and that’s a bad sign.

Maybe I’m just psyched to see an authentically Cascadian town again and I should check out some others before getting swept away, in Oregon alone I’m still virgin on Albany, McMinnville, Forest Grove, and Coos Bay.

Still, I dunno. Might be a site for a good life.

#no I have like a lot to tell you

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travelairports-blog · 5 years

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Fly Through These Airports and You'll Never Hate Airports Again

Photo by Arnel Hasanovic / Unsplash

Whether you're traveling across the country or across the globe, there's no doubt that airports are where many travelers get their first impressions of their destinations. It's not just a place for airplanes to land and take off but also a place where tourists can get some idea of the local language, culture, and cuisine!

Here are RoadGoat's favorite airports in each region that will deliver amazing experiences.

Portland International Airport

Portland, Oregon

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There's a reason why PDX, located in - Portland, Oregon, USA - is named the best airport in the United States! Where else can you find an airport featuring a retro carpet that's adored by hipsters around the world? The carpet has its own instagram account with over 20,000 followers and its pattern has been used for Nike and Adidas shoes, among other things.

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PDX also has its own spa, a barbershop, and a mini-movie theater where you can actually watch some free flicks. Moreover, Deschutes and Hopworks breweries are located here, along with convenience stores that sell cold craft beer from local favorites such as Cascade Brewery. Go ahead and take one right to your gate.

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To further its artsy and quirky image, PDX also has volunteer musicians that play anything from classical, jazz, or contemporary music for travelers to enjoy.

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And has a branch of world-famous Powell's Books, the world's largest independent bookstore. Don't miss your flight while you lose hours in here!

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It's never a dull moment at PDX.

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Vancouver International Airport

Vancouver, Canada

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With each of its terminal buildings representing a specific geographic and cultural region, YVR - located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - houses the world's largest collection of Northwest Coast Native art. Each stunning piece of artwork and architecture reflects the diversity of British Columbia's flourishing landscape and people. One cannot miss these sculptures that are placed around the airport. Thus, YVR is it's own museum of a sort.

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YVR even has its own aquarium and hosts its own honey bees! How cool is that?

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In addition, this airport offers a pharmacy, dental and medical clinic if one happens to need some care. Other cool amenities include a spa, a 24 hour nursery, and ambassador dogs for you to cuddle with before your trip. This airport is like an adventure on its own, and one can never get bored of it!

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Princess Juliana International Airport

Sint Maarten

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The Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), the main airport for the island of Saint Martin (also spelled Sint Maarten in Dutch). The island is part Dutch and part French. What really makes SXM memorable is the amazing close-up views of plane landings at Maho Beach. Where else in the world can one watch a plane glide overhead just a few feet above? Grab a beer at Sunset Bar and Grill next door and watch out for the jet blasts!

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Singapore Changi International Airport

Singapore

Ranked the world's best airport a whopping seven consecutive years, the Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) is no doubt a luxury destination on its own. In 2019, SIN opened up the "Jewel" - a luxury mall that doubles as an indoor rainforest. How amazing is that?

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The Jewel hosts the world's largest indoor waterfall, which is seven stories tall and falls into a lagoon below. It's truly a wonder to behold. Travelers can walk through the forest trails or take the skytrain (which runs next the waterfall).

SIN also boasts a Canopy Park that has a 164 feet long glass bridge that's 75 feet off the ground, complete with mirror and hedge mazes.

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In addition, there's a free movie theater, butterfly garden, sunflower garden, cactus garden and more! There are always things to do and places to explore at this airport.

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Combining beautiful architecture, nature, and amenities, it's no wonder SIN is the best in the world.

Koh Samui International Airport

Koh Samui, Thailand

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Koh Samui International Airport (USM), located on the Thai island of Koh Samui, is named one of the most beautiful airports in the world. Surrounded by its famous luxury beach resorts, dense jungle, and coconut groves, the airport architecture and interior itself reflects the tropical nature of its surroundings. It has a persona of a tropical paradise, with most of its facilities being outdoors!

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USM also offers travelers a nice spa and stores where they can shop in. Unlike most airport malls, stores and restaurants are located outdoors, where they're surrounded by coconut trees on Samui Park Avenue. This airport is like a resort in itself, emulating the gorgeous nature of Koh Samui right when passengers step off the plane. Even the smoking area is beautiful!

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Haneda International Airport

Tokyo, Japan

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Haneda Airport (HND) - located in Tokyo, Japan - is Japan's largest and busiest airport for good reason! Perhaps more than any other airport in the world, Haneda captures the breadth of its country's local culture.

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There's a lot of amazing things one can do at this airport, which includes crossing a 25m replica bridge of the actual Nihonbashi ('Japan Bridge') in Tokyo. HND also has 'Edo Alley' (also known as Edo Koji), where it's like an actual mini-street of Edo-inspired architecture right inside the airport itself. Travelers can head there to grab udon, green tea, and yakitori while reveling in the ancient feeling of Edo design.

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If you're lucky enough to have access to the ANA Lounge, you can do a line of sake tastings between flights.

Additionally, tourists can rent a Robohon - a cute mini guide robot. This robot has a guide app, built-in phone, camera, and email that'll help tourists get around Tokyo.

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No Japanese experience would be complete without a dose of Japanese pop culture. Head to Tokyo Pop Town where you can get your favorite anime, manga, or choose from a wide selection of Hello Kitty plushes.

You can also enjoy the much-heralded Japanese fall foliage season, known as Koyo or Momijigari, right in the terminal.

To top it all off, HND has capsule hotels if one's in need of rest - a true Japanese experience!

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Incheon International Airport

Seoul, South Korea

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Incheon International Airport (ICN) - located in Seoul, South Korea - is the main hub of the country. This airport is one of the top airports in Asia for very good reasons. Blending modern and cultural styles, ICN has a cultural museum where people can try on traditional clothing, make handcrafts and watch performances.

In addition, there's a 72 hole golf course where golf-lovers can play and take golf lessons. It's perfect for those with long layovers! For movie-lovers, there are two movie theaters that show movies in seven different languages.

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Watch some Korean dramas there as well. ICN also hosts seven indoor gardens with different themes, along with an ice skating rink for around $5! It's great for those who want exercise while enjoying nature or show off those ice skating skills.

Indira Gandhi International Airport

New Delhi, India

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Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) - located in New Delhi, India - is a major hub and named after a former prime minister, and one of the few airports that has achieved carbon neutral status. This airport has many beautiful sculptures representing the country's culture and beliefs.

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Travelers can stay at one of their first class lounges, some which include showers. There are also baby care facilities and play area for children, plus a gaming area for family fun! DEL provides a medical clinic and a pharmacy to ensure the health of its travelers. For aspiring pilots, there's a flight simulator that offers more than 24,000 different airfields to choose from!

Zurich Airport

Zurich, Switzerland

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Sleek and well-designed, it's no wonder the Zurich Airport (ZRH) - located in Zurich, Switzerland - is named one of the top airports in the world. Although it's not a gigantic airport, ZRH offers a lot to its travelers.

The airport has a large nature preserve, which is highlighted at the environmental exhibition.

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Many people love the Swiss eateries here, from restaurants, cafes, and bars. Our favorite is the Sports Bar Terrace in the Airside Center. Where else can you drink a coffee this close to airplanes?

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Or enjoy one of the many Swiss dairy delights!

It's also the perfect opportunity to shop for some Swiss made chocolates, watches, and jewelry! In addition, this airport offers salons, showers, and a gym at the connecting Radisson Blue Hotel. One can also ride the quick SkyMetro for transportation and get tickets for a 75-min bus tour of the airport that offers an inside peek! For those who are looking to explore the majestic countryside, the airport offers equipment for avid explorers/travelers to rent (such as bikes, skates, walking poles).

Amsterdam Airport Schipol

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Amsterdam Airport Schipol (AMS) - located in Amsterdam, Netherlands - is not only the busiest and largest airport in the Netherlands, it's also the only airport in the world that's still located in the same spot after 90 years. One can also get married here!

In addition to the numerous shops and restaurants that offer authentic Dutch dishes, travelers can visit the Rijksmuseum annex within the airport. This art museum has both classical and contemporary art, and it's free admission! Get free hugs as well!

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AMS also houses the world's first permanent airport library, boasting over 1,000 books by Dutch writers, translated into several languages. It's a great place to learn about the Dutch culture and history!

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For those with long layovers, AMS has its own airport hotel and sleep cabins as an alternative option. And don't forget to indulge in some intense selection of dutch cheese!

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Munich International Airport

Munich, Germany

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Munich International Airport (MUC) - located in Munich, Germany - is called one of the best airports in the continent for several reasons. Munich is located in Bavaria, a state known for its beer culture. As a result, MUC was the first airport in the world to have its own brewery, Airbrau! Don't miss this chance to have an airport-made beer in their outdoor beer garden.

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Surfers love this airport because it houses the world's largest man-made standing wave where surfers can have fun; sometimes there is a pro judging contest here too. Take some time to watch those surfers! MUC also has Visitor's Park, which offers a golf course, playground, and historic aircrafts for plane-lovers. Additionally, travelers can get some rest at Napcab sleep cabins.

During the winter, the airport comes to life with a traditional German Christmas Market as well as an ice skating rink!

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Heydar Aliyev International Airport

Baku, Azerbaijan

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Branded as globally acclaimed when it comes to its architecture and interior design, Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD) - located in Baku, Azerbaijan - is one of the most beautiful airports to behold. The inside of the airport is full of sleek wooden structures, including giant wooden 'cocoons' that welcome its travelers. Each of the cocoons has cafes, stores, bars, kiosks, and other amenities. The contemporary approach to this airport truly reflects the modernity of airport designs.

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There are plenty of gorgeous lounges for travelers to admire the inside views. Free sleeping pods are offered on the first floor as well. Interestingly, GYD has duty-free shops in both the arrivals and departure area! For those which children, there is a baby care area as well as a play area for kids. Step in here and it'll feel more like an artistic masterpiece than an airport.

Hamad International Airport

Doha, Qatar

Cred: Flickr

The Hamad International Airport(DOH) - located in Doha, Qatar - is known for its luxurious and lavish atmosphere. The architecture is modern, sleek, and elegant - fascinating many travelers who come early to explore the airport. Interestingly, DOH has 20 art pieces, some of which are rather large. Tourists love taking selfies with the "Lamp Bear", a giant yellow teddy bear sitting under a black lamp.

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To add that luxury component, one can ride in a futuristic-looking indoor train to their gate! Not to mention, DOH has its own gym where passengers can take a swim at their 25m pool, get pampered at the spa, and play squash. As if the airport isn't posh enough, high-end boutiques, furniture, and restaurants are spread throughout the buildings. Be sure to make time for coffee and dates, a signature of authentic hospitality.

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Dubai International Airport

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Cred: Flickr

DXB - located in Dubai, UAE - is a posh airport that is loved by all passengers who've set foot here. In fact, Dubai International Airport has the world's fastest free (for 60 min) Wi-Fi, averaging a download speed of 39.50 mbps. With this, anyone within the airport can stream TV shows for free! If the Wi-Fi isn't convincing enough, DXB has its own zen garden and McGettigan - a well known Irish pub where travelers can grab a beer at. Additionally, the airport offers a swimming pool, spa, jacuzzi, and sauna! It's the perfect blend of exercise and relaxation. There are plenty of events at DXB, such as the annual Winter Wonderland!

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For those needing a place to stay while on a stopover, DXB has a 5-start hotel, complete with luxury amenities. Finally, for those with children, there's a climbing area and gaming zone where kids can also fully enjoy this airport! Staying true to its reputation as luxury and high-class, Dubai's airport is an adventure.

Brisbane International Airport

Brisbane, Australia

Cred: Wikipedia

Adored with sleek architecture and local artwork on its walls, Brisbane International Airport (BNE) - located Brisbane, Australia - is the third largest airport in the continent. The cool thing about this airport is that its Plaza Premium Lounge is open to everyone as per pay entry instead of needing a First Class plane ticket to get inside. Other ways to relax include a Wellness Spa, salons, and free showers. For those who love whisky, there's a 100 Whisky tasting bar where travelers can sample whisky from all over the world.

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BNE also has The Village Green, a large faux-lawn for those who want to stretch or do some yoga. There's the Kingsford Smith Memorial for those who love aviation history. Lastly, you can play some golf at Golf Central BNE.

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Wellington International Airport

Wellington, New Zealand

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A small, cozy, and quirky airport, Wellington International Airport (WLG) - located in Wellington, New Zealand - is known for its two gigantic eagle installations. These soaring bird sculptures were inspired by the second Hobbit trilogy and features the Wizard Gandalf the Grey atop of one of the eagles. Visitors may also find Gollum reaching for a trout above the food court!

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It's no wonder this is the airport to go for many Lord of the Rings fans. In addition, the airport has its own 4-star hotel - complete with a restaurant, bar, and meeting rooms for business travelers.

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That's all. Now go out and have some fun!

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Here are RoadGoat's favorite airports in each region that will deliver amazing experiences. For more information visit: https://www.roadgoat.com/blog/

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