#willie and his giraffes <3 !!

[balladofsallyrose]

Little House on the Prairie 1x07: Town Party, Country Party

[sunflowers4life]

Marauders - Moving In - Part 3

heres part 3! i hope you enjoy. warning, female reader. i will try and get the next part out soon!

pairing: marauders x reader, moments with all three in this one

part 1 part 2

 It had been roughly a month since you had moved into the apartment, and you had 0 regrets. Currently, it is Friday. AKA, ‘Designated movie night.’ Every Friday, the 4 of you would each bring some sort of snack, and you would watch a movie, as a roommate bonding activity. There was a roster, which James had decorated like a toddler would, filled with sparkles, glitter and stickers that hung on the wall. So this week, movie night was your choice. That Friday, the 3 boys were out of the house, Remus and James being at university, whilst Sirius had a rehearsal with his band. So then, what did you spend the day doing?

Creating the ultimate movie night experience. Alone, you created your own list, with three things to do. 1, create a pillow fort of kings. 2, hang up fairy lights. 3, the most important, create the most elaborate drinks anyone had ever seen. And what movie had you chosen for such a night? The ultimate movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. After setting up the fort, which filled the entire living room, the floor was covered in assorted blankets and pillows, including 4 stuffed animals. A deer, a black dog, a wolf, and finally, a giraffe. 

The deer was a gift from James. A little while ago, you both had the night free, and James had suggested travelling to a nearby fair! It was filled with a pirate ship, a roller coaster, assorted food trucks and carnival games, and in the middle - a large, glowing ferris wheel. With potato twisters in hand, and a few tickets under your sleeves, James dramatically stopped in front of a toss the ball game. Noticing he had stopped, you turned around, and you quickly noticed James' eyes were not on the game itself, but the large deer plushie hanging. It could only be won if all 4 balls successfully landed in the bucket without falling out. He quickly turned, and you swear to god, the man in front of you had turned into a puppy, the way his lip was just pushed out in a pout, the sparkle of his eyes, you could essentially see his tail wagging. 

30 minutes later, missing about 50 tickets, James finally got his hand on the deer. With a cheer, you were quickly swept up in a hug, before he turned to you, and placed the deer in your hand. Quickly, you shoved your head into the deer, trying to hide the red that was slowly incasing your face.

The black dog was from Sirius. After one of his concerts at the local pub, you had been the only one to make it that night, as James and Remus had assorted plans. Sirius did his usual address of appreciation, before stepping off stage, and pulling you along, grabbing your hand. He pulled you out of the pub quickly, eager to make his way before the crowd excited the pub. Truly, his reputation was growing, and the pub was becoming more and more packed as the weeks went on. Sirius had yet to let go of your hand, and you had realised the three were just very physically affectionate people. Sirius pulled you over to the park nearby, and the two of you sat on the swings in the park for nearly 2 hours. Sweet conversation ensued, with talks of dreams, life plans, and random questions made the night perfect. That was, until Sirius suddenly took his backpack off, pulling out a fluffy stuffed animal. He offered it to you, pushing it into your hands. “I found it at one of my shows. It was just left behind. I made sure to wait a week, in case someone had accidentally left it, but no one had come back for it. So, I thought you’d appreciate it.” As the stars twinkled through the night, the three of you made your way home. Snuggling into the covers, with a deer on one side and a wolf on another, you felt like the luckiest girl alive.

Finally, the wolf  was from Remus. It came after the book club Remus had got you to attend with him. Every Tuesday, at 5, you would meet at a bookshop, and right next door with a toy shop. You decided whilst Remus was purchasing a book, to enter the cute store. You saw it every time, and finally, you got to investigate it. Quickly, your eyes were attracted to the brown wolf, who was sitting alone on the shelf. The place was a second hand toy store, and you noticed the little wolf had small scratches across it, that had been hand stitched with love. You felt a presence behind you, and Remus, in his cosy sweater, and his sweet caramel eyes turned from you to the little wolf on the shelf. You went to leave the store, before Remus quickly told you to wait. Grabbing the wolf off the shelf, and approaching the register, he purchased the animal, before carrying it home, and setting it right in the middle of your bed, in between the deer and the dog. Remus had given you a light kiss to the head before exiting your room, and you couldn’t help but feel flattered.

But, where did the giraffe come from? The giraffe was a joint gift from the 3 of them, when it came to your ‘one month roommate anniversary!’ James had decorated the apartment in your favourite colour, with a cake decorated, a table set with 8 seats. 4 seats from you, James, Remus and Sirius, one for Prongs, the deer, one for Padfoot, the dog, and one for Moony, the wolf. In the last seat was a giraffe. Pastel yellow with brown spots, you immediately fell in love, before naming it Twinkle, a name the 3 had taken to calling you. The night was spent in a tea party, something you had expressed dreams of doing since your childhood, when you would set up a table with your stuffed animals and have fake tea parties.

Back to the present, the afternoon was then spent preparing snacks. You grabbed 4 Cadbury bars, resealing them in Wonka themed wrappers. Brownies, cookies, pretzels, chips, and finally, pizza’s ready to be placed in the oven, you were sure if it existed, you would win the trophy for the best movie night yet. The three entered at the same time, where you sat in the middle of the fort, with the snacks set up ready to be enjoyed. It was a great night, and at the end Remus was pressing his fingers to his lips, trying to shush James and Sirius antics, as you lightly snored in his arms. In your arms were the 4 stuffed animals, and your head rested just in the middle of his chest. Carrying you to bed, tucking you and your friends to sleep, the three shared a look, before retiring to their own.

[g0at0ad]

HOLLOW KNIGHT TIERLIST: NPC HUGGABILITY

remember 100 years ago when i made an npc huggability tierlist for hollow knight that i never finished? well here’s the final version! this time we’re starting from the bottom rather than the top.

#42. midwife

hornet can probably attest to how creepy midwife’s hugs are. she uses her many tiny skittering arms to pull you in, whether you like it or not. there’s a 50/50 chance that she’s just going to eat you. 0/10, would not recommend.

#41. leg eater

he’ll probably make you pay to hug him, and it won’t even be a good hug! his bony, sharp limbs will dig into your back, and his disgusting smelling breath will blow under your ear as he giggles ominously, making you shiver uncomfortably. all around a bad experience, but there’s little chance of him eating you so he goes ahead of midwife.

#40. snail shaman

i love you snail shaman, but slimy hugs are a NO GO. if he wasn’t slimy, the hug would be perfectly pleasant! but as it stands, a hug with the shaman would leave you covered in sticky snail slime. gross and uncomfortable. sorry dude. originally waffled on snail shaman and leg eater’s placement, but in the end decided that slime can be washed off, but nightmares can’t.

#39. godseeker

no arms to hug with, and will probably be very resistant to a hug.

#38. little fool

also no arms to hug with, but they’ll appreciate it!

#37. mister mushroom

mister mushroom

#36. steel soul jinn

unfortunately, jinn is covered in, well, steel. hugging her would be cold and very uncomfortable. she does not have much experience with hugs, and her metallic arms willy very rigidly wrap around you in an awkward way. she won’t know when to end the hug so you will have to tell her.

#35. tuk

tuk lives in the sewers and thus is very unsanitary, and also likely has bad breath due to all the rotten eggs she consumes. sanitary issues aside, she’s also pretty antisocial and reluctant to hugs. not a bad hugger though, taking into account the purely technical side. very big, so her hug will envelop you.

#34. fluke hermit

similar problems to tukk in that she lives in the sewers and likely isn’t very sanitary. also probably doesn’t have much experience in hugs, but hypothetically due to her squishiness would be very fun to squeeze.

#33. dung defender/ogrim

i am SO sorry ogrim, you’re one of my favourites, but i would not hug a man covered in shit. if you were not covered in shit, you would be near the top, but alas. you are covered in shit. hypothetically, a non shitty hug would have ogrim picking you up, swinging you around, and then squeezing you to his chest. he’s very enthusiastic about it. 3/10, take a shower dude.

#32. willoh

look, no one likes willoh, but if they don’t decide to eat you, their hugs aren’t actually that bad! imagine hugging a giraffe. doesn’t that sound nice?

#31. divine

a little less creepy than leg eater! also probably more sanitary! you might have to go on your tippy toes and wrap your arms around her neck and bury your face in her ruff. her claws might be a little uncomfortable around your back, but the hug wouldn’t be too terrible.

#30. confessor jiji

her breath’s very stinky, but if you don’t breathe in through your nose, it won’t be too bad! has very long arms that could probably double wrap around you. might rifle around in your pockets to see if you have a rotten egg.

#29. the hunter

extremely large and bony, but a surprisingly good hugger. long arms will wrap you in a hug, and you’ll be forced to shove your face in a bunch of leaves, but the hug is secure and makes you feel safe. then he follows it up by explaining how he uses a similar technique to strangle his victims, and you feel decidedly less safe.

#28. the hollow knight

it’s quick, you have to get in their mind to defeat the infection, but you spare a moment to wrap your hands around their neck as they struggle under hornet’s needle. you can’t tell, but they seem to relax a little. you’re hurt, and it’s hot, and they can’t hug you back, and it’s over too soon. but you will treasure this.

#27. tiso

very, very difficult to get him to hug you. he only way to get him to hug you is to challenge his ability to hug and mock him if he refuses, telling him that even elderbug is better at hugging than him. tiso will pick you up and squeeze you as tight as possible. you may lose a life from this. his armor is heavy and cold, but you appreciate his effort.

#26. zote

grumbles and complains about the offer, but ultimately needs the hug WAY more than you do, and might secretly cry a bit. hug lasts a little too long, but you won’t mention it because it looks like the guy really needed a moment. he pulls away discreetly wiping his eyes and stubbornly says that he won’t ever hug you again because you’re terrible at it.

#25. salubra

has a great big squishy hug, but it’s one of those hugs you might get from a grandparent or distant aunt that lasts just a bit too long and is just a bit too tight. she ends it by giving you a great big wet kiss that you didn’t ask her. still, it’s very enthusiastic and warm and loving.

#24. millibelle

i hate her. you hate her. we all hate her. that said, from a purely objective lense, she’s a pretty good hugger. it’s nothing too special, but she’s gentle and sweet about it, and it’s all around a good experience. there’s a non-zero chance of her pickpocketing you, though.

#23. eternal emilita

if you ignore her eternal laughter, it’s not a bad hug! doesn’t last too long, but it’s a perfectly fine, normal hug that you’d get from a friend. a friend who laughs about everyone being dead.

#22. grimm

chuckles ominously, but agrees to give you a hug. it’s pretty good, actually. very warm. a little too warm, actually. it has to be over sooner than you’d like because of how hot it is, but he pats you on the head and disappears.

#21. white lady

also does not have arms, but there’s something about sitting in your mother’s lap that makes you feel safe and loved, despite everything she’s done to you. later you will curse her for what she did to you and your siblings, but when you sit in her lap as she hums a lullaby, it’s very hard not to forgive her.

#20. mask maker

so many arms to hug you with!

#19. oro

you’ll have to pay him, and he’s very reluctant about it, but he’s actually a very good hugger, and you can tell he misses hugging someone. it ends too soon and he scoffs at you to leave. you know he liked it, though. you can tell by the flower he put in a vase.

18. grubfather

very short and stubby arms that can’t exactly hug you, but he’s very squishy and pleasant to squeeze.

#17. bardoon

it’s a little difficult to hug someone so big, but he appreciates the effort! his very big yet stubby arms will pull you in, and it’s like hugging an enormous pillow.

#16. relic seeker lemm

he’s reluctant and suspicious about it, probably worried that this is a ploy to steal his stuff. but once he agrees to it, it’s a pretty good hug! his beard is soft and lovely and he’ll give you an awkward pat on the back.

#15. hornet

part of what’s great about hugging hornet is that it’s an achievement. it’s very hard to hug hornet. she’s very fast and antisocial and will turn her nose up at any sign of casual affection. that said, if you earn her trust enough to get a hug from her, her muscles will relax in a way they haven’t for a very long time. the hug is quick, just a few moments, but long enough for you to catch how she sags with relief after not being hugged for many years.

#14. grey mourner

she’s wreathed in soft, flowing silks, and her hug is very gentle. maybe a little too gentle, but it’s very nice nonetheless. she might weep softly, and then you might weep too, and you’ll cry together, shrouded in silvery silks, and she appreciates this one bit of physical affection she hasn’t had since her fiance died.

#13. iselda

she laughs and easily agrees to give you a hug. she’s tall, and has to lean down so you can wrap your arms around her neck. it’s a gentle hug, and she ends it by giving you a pat on the head.

#12. sly

very small little grandpa. pick him up like a teddy bear!

#11. myla

also very small, but is much more enthusiastic about the hug. she has such a sweet giggle. you cry a little. maybe you can save her this time.

#10. cornifer

he’s a little distracted so he won’t see your request at first, but he’ll gladly give you a hug! it’s a perfect hug, not too tight, not too long.

#9. nymm

puts down his accordian and goes down on one knee to give you a warm, friendly hug. your face gets buried in his ruff. he’s happy, and you know that you did the right thing.

#8. bretta

she’s a little flustered and nervous about it, but the hug she gives you is warm and squishy and lovely. she blushes, and perhaps it lasts too long, but it’s such a nice hug that you don’t care.

#7. sheo

he squeezes you tightly, and it’s a lovely hug, but once he steps away you realize there you’re covered in paint stains! what a mess.

#6. old stag

also can’t hug you back, but he’s very grateful for the attempt. you reach up to wrap your arms around his neck, and he’s so fluffy you can’t help but stroke his fur.

#5. nailsmith

winner of the beard award! best beard! he’ll gladly give you a hug, thanking you for not killing him. he’s a lot happier than he used to be, and you’re happy for him.

#4. elderbug

a perfect old grandpa hug. he tears up a little at the offer, and squeezes you tightly. rubs circles into your back. you’re a little sad when it’s over.

#3. seer

a perfect old grandma hug. she’s soft and feathery, and smells like dust, but it’s such a lovely hug.

#2. quirrel

look, i just really like quirrel. he picks you up and squeezes you tightly, and it’s like seeing an old friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. he laughs joyfully. you don’t want to let him go. maybe you can make this moment last forever. maybe he won’t leave.

#1. mato

possibly the best hugger there has ever been. he enjoys it more than he enjoys nailfighting. he picks you up, swings you around one time, and squeezes you tightly, your face squishing against his cheek. he laughs like he hasn’t hugged you in years, but you saw him earlier today.

[danganronpaisbest]

Willy's Wonderland

in

Danganronpa

Protagonist: Liv Hawthorne

Support Character: Arty Alligator

Antagonist: Tex Macadoo

~Chapter 1~

Victim: Willy Weasle

Blackened: Kathy Bones (Wrongly Executed)

~Chapter 2~

Victim: Siren Sara

Blackened: Sheriff Eliose

~Chapter 3~

Victim 1: Tito Turtle

Victim 2: Dan Loraine

Blackened: Ozzie Ostrich

~Chapter 4~

Victim: Cammy Chameleon

Blackened: Bobby Mc Daniel

~Chapter 5~

Victim: Tex Macadoo

Blackened: Gus Gorrila (The Traitor)

~Chapter 6~

Rescuers: The Janitor/Evan

Mastermind: Chris Muley

Survivors: Liv Hawthorne, Arty Alligator, Gina Giraffe (Willys Wonderland OC), Aroan Powers, and Knighty Knight

~Ultimate Talents~

Liv Hawthorne: Ultimate Survivor

Chris Muley: Ultimate ???

Bobby McDaniel: Ultimate Skateboarder

Kathy Bones: Ultimate Runway Model

Dan Loraien: Ultimate Writer

Aaron Powers: Ultimate Vinetuber (If you know who is actor is you'll understand why)

Sheriff Eliose: Ultimate Police Officer

Tex Macadoo: Ultimate Dealer(Manipulator)

Willy Weasle: Ultimate Lead Singer

Siren Sara: Ultimate Magical Girl

Arty Alligator: Ultimate Artist

Cammy Chameleon: Ultimate Hair Stylist

Tito Turtle: Ultimate Soldier (has to do with his soul in my Fnaf AU)

Ozzie Ostrich: Ultimate Engineer

Knighty Knight: Ultimate Storyteller

Gina Giraffe: Ultimate Dancer

Gus Gorrila: Ultimate Comedian

[quotesfrommyreading]

Yet supertalls not only ascend; they also sway, flutter, vibrate, bend, and lean. Often a lot. Chicago’s Willis Tower—which is more than 50 feet taller than 432 Park—can move up to three feet in strong winds. If you were to look down at the spire of a tall building during a windstorm, you’d see that it careens left, right, and around, like an inebriated giraffe.

All of that motion can cause people to feel a little drunk themselves. Occupants of tall buildings have, in high winds, reported nausea, distractibility, difficulty working, and fatigue, though researchers report that skyscrapers “rarely, if ever, induce vomiting.” As winds howl, buildings can moan like creaky container ships, or clatter like subway cars. “No Realtor would ever give a potential tenant a handbook that explains how these buildings behave, because they wouldn’t buy them, probably,” says Peter Weismantle, the director of supertall-building technology for Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which designed Central Park Tower.

And yet some motion is safe and normal, and often goes unnoticed. In fact, evolving approaches to handling high winds are a big reason contemporary supertalls have gotten to be so numerous, and so thin.

Tall buildings get celebrated as gravity-defying, but it’s their defiance of the wind that should inspire awe. Imagine a strong wind blowing south over Central Park. The wind hits the supertall and pushes it backwards into a lean, then causes the structure to sway as the gust picks up and dies down. Wind can get stronger at higher altitudes and intensify as it whips off neighboring high-rises, so what registers as a gentle breeze on the fifth floor may give way to howling on the 45th. Wind barreling around the supertall creates turbulent eddies on the building’s exterior that cause the structure to wag from side to side. These are the accelerations that tenants are most likely to perceive, and slender supertalls are even more susceptible to them.

Developers know they cannot control the wind. What they can do—and this is an industry term—is confuse it. For this, they recruit a wind-whisperer like Derek Kelly. Kelly, an engineer with the consulting firm RWDI, is a garrulous Canadian who, when I asked about superslims, told me the company has worked on “almost every building you see out your window.”

Take 432 Park. Once the developer had an early design for the new tower, Kelly began by making the proposed supertall—a solid, skinny, square column—super small. Kelly and his colleagues 3-D-printed a knee-high model of the building, and stuck it into a miniature Midtown Manhattan, complete with dozens of neighboring high-rises that can affect the windscape at 432 Park’s site. They put the model buildings on a turntable inside a wind tunnel, then subjected them to smoke and powerful fans. RWDI adjusted the wind tunnel’s settings to mimic Manhattan’s gusts and rotated the tiny neighborhood in 10-degree increments to get a baseline measurement of how the proposed supertall would sway, absorb winds careening off other structures, and shift the wind around it—all of which remains too complex to accurately predict with algorithms, Kelly said.

Even a 10-story building will move, and most of us can handle our homes wiggling about five milli gs (a measure of acceleration) in any direction. Early tests on 432 Park’s prototype revealed poor aerodynamic performance. Rafael Viñoly, 432 Park’s architect, said in a 2014 lecture at the Skyscraper Museum that tests on one version of the building revealed the supertall would dance 30 milli-gs—just shy of the threshold found to “cause some occupants to lose balance,” according to research published in the International Journal of High-Rise Buildings. “If you’re standing here, your cup of tea moves,” Viñoly said at the lecture, rocking his lectern back and forth to demonstrate. He called the experience of 30 milli gs “absolutely frightening.”

When problems like these arise, Kelly brings the developer and the design team to RWDI’s wind tunnel for a “shaping workshop.” Architects and engineers tweak the shape of their supertall, 3-D-print new versions, then put each one in the wind tunnel to see how much it moves. “For some of these buildings in New York,” Kelly said, “we’ve done 12, 16 versions in an afternoon.”

The decorative flourishes on a supertall that seem ornamental can be key to diffusing the suction-filled whirlpools that sway a building as wind whips around its sides. You could notch the corners, like on Taipei 101, which resembles a towering stack of gifts. You could twist the building, like the Twizzler-esque Shanghai Tower. You could taper it to look like the tip of a paintbrush, like the Lakhta Center, or cut out sections to let wind blow through it, like the Shanghai World Financial Center, which is nicknamed “The Bottle Opener.” 432 Park’s designers decided to make it more porous: Every 12 stories, there are two “blow through” floors with cutouts for windows, but no glass.

But can you comfortably host a dinner party on a blustery evening? To try to experience for themselves how hospitable 432 Park would be, Viñoly and his colleagues traveled to the Marine Institute in Newfoundland to be jostled around inside its simulator—a 20-ton steel ship’s bridge mounted on hydraulic pistons and surrounded by screens. Typically, ships’ crews use the simulator to practice for encounters with icebergs and roiling seas, but for the past 15 years, the institute has hosted supertall designers who want to double-check their work before they build. On these occasions, the institute covers up the nautical instruments, projects a city skyline on the screens, lugs in a forest-green sofa, puts water-filled glasses on a wooden kitchen table, and hangs a glass chandelier. Once the supertall’s team of designers settles in, the room starts rocking and rolling to mimic what tenants will feel on a windy day, during a strong gale, or during a once-a-century hurricane. At 432 Park, the blow-through floors alone wouldn’t settle the building, so the developers ultimately installed two tuned mass dampers—a pair of 600-ton counterweights between the 86th and 89th floors that can move 11 feet, to offset the supertall’s sway.

That’s the goal, anyway. New cars and planes go through rigorous testing before hitting the assembly line, but each supertall is essentially a prototype. “We’re going into production on one-offs every single time with the hopes that we get it right,” the structural engineer Stephen DeSimone told me. If you could crawl out over the side of 432 Park and look down at the facade during a windstorm, “you’d have not one but two heart attacks. Because the thing does move,” Viñoly said in his 2014 lecture. “Don’t tell the tenants that.”

  —  The Marvels—And Mistakes—Of Supertall Skyscrapers

[attackjester]

I posted 325 times in 2022

That's 325 more posts than 2021!

113 posts created (35%)

212 posts reblogged (65%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@wings-of-angels

@shadowsofstories

@ramenwithbroccoli

@attackjester

@andi-o-geyser

I tagged 142 of my posts in 2022

#our flag means death - 17 posts

#ofmd - 17 posts

#john doe telltale - 9 posts

#steam powered giraffe - 8 posts

#the glass scientists - 7 posts

#spg - 7 posts

#sonic movie - 6 posts

#telltale batman - 6 posts

#izzy hands - 5 posts

#neverafter - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#i love that the artists were like “yeah we need to show that he’s joker without making him joker how do we do that” “mismatched shoes?”

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

izzy hands is the kid in group projects who does all the work because if he doesn't do it it's not getting done

122 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

#4

i think the reason i love stone sm is because he's basically the quiet kid* who teachers have sit with the loud kid that distracts everyone and you'd think they'd hate each other but turns out the quiet kid has some fucked up interest and they become best friends

*me i am the quiet kid

129 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

#3

before he got episode 4’d pib just looked like a regular cat but now he looks like bigfootjinx

See the full post

132 notes - Posted December 26, 2022

#2

every time i watch a mechs performance and jonny looks like he's about to eat the microphone

y'know how he does

every time he does that i think about the scene in willy wonka and the chocolate factory where augustus is being interviewed and they ask his dad something and he just straight up eats the microphone

See the full post

149 notes - Posted June 26, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

am i funny yet

1,995 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[the-final-sentence]

Top Final Sentences of 2021

15. Tell them that you appreciate them so, so fucking much, ‘cause they’re your chosen family. - Michelle Buteau, from “Friendship”

14. And I think I can survive anything, even you. - Eliza Jane Brazier, from If I Disappear

13. I challenge us to change, because as Charles Darwin once observed, “It is not the strongest species that will survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” - Harriet A. Washington, from Medical Apartheid

12. But maybe I don’t have to figure it all out right now.  - Nita Tyndall, from Who I Was with Her

11. Not today.  - Connie Willis, from Passage

10. Something new was thundering in her soul - it felt like hope.  - Anne Schraff, from Lost and Found

9. When he looked at her again his face was filled with such an extraordinary gladness, and the third time she kissed him it was for love.  - Silvia Moreno-Garcia, from Mexican Gothic

8. I am a person figuring out how to be the best version of myself, one step at a time.  - Kelly Jensen, from “The Light Bulb, the Broom, and the Work They Don’t Tell You About”

7. That’s the witch I have to learn to be. - Sarah Hollowell, from A Dark and Starless Forest

6. And if you were of the lucky sort, sometimes that life chose you back. - TJ Klune, from The House in the Cerulean Sea

5. ‘I hope so,’ she said. - Alexander McCall Smith, from Tears of the Giraffe

4. ‘I think we’ve both waited long enough to turn the page in this story, don’t you?’ - Dahlia Adler, from Cool for the Summer

3. My mother was wrong and not wrong, like the calf who approached the monster and licked the blood from its fingers. - Traci Brimhall, from “The Last Known Sighting of the Mapinguari”

2. When you notice a cat in profound meditation,    The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation    Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:         His ineffable effable         Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular name. - T. S. Eliot, from “The Naming of Cats”

1. The key is to keep asking yourself the same question, again and again and again: this is your life - what do you want to pay attention to?  - Catherine Price, from How to Break Up with Your Phone

[youcouldmakealife]

YCMAL Superlatives Write-ins (Rd 2)

Everyone continues to be hilarious.

Best Chirper:

Robbie - he maybe, might have made David smile once

Ulf or Liam, either way there’s innuendo involved

Kiro (if he can get to Oleg, I’m convinced he can get to anyone)

Liam, I am sure he is as annoying in the ice as off it

Kiro and he knows it

Stephen? in a cutting way, Dmitry in a silly way

Julius (but its in Finnish so no one knows)

Julius, if he ever opened his mouth

Devon Crane (feel like everyone is so terrified of him that deadpan chirps would go over *so* well)

Worst Chirper:

Money - I don’t know why, it just feels true

Ben is far too nice a young man for effective chirping

Bergen (“Hey Vinny, still doing that whole virgin shit to turn into a super goalie?”)

Shithead but he thinks hes great at it

Bryce because he is bad at being sarcastic and mean or David just because he is truly terrible at chirping

And...

David (anyone else is objectively wrong)

David. Poor thing.

David (but only when he’s intentionally chirping, he’s very effective at being hurtful when he’s not)

David! He tries the darling

David Chapman (I would die for him but even Max seems to be a better chirper)

david would never even try

Most likely to use a dozen hair and skin products:

I’m so caught between my dumb sons Seb and Bryce

whoever it is, they probably only do so because their [sister] told them to

Bryce - and maybe Jared after he steals all of Bryce’s products or at least his fancy shampoo

Bryce, as part of Recovering from Toxic Masculinity

Bryce the boy is so vain (rightly)

Most likely to use 2 in 1 shampoo and a bar of soap:

ScratchMoney, they are a 2 in 1 couple

Literally everyone but Bryce

Mike Fucking Brouwer. I know you’re not ashamed but I’m ashamed of you.

.... like 2/3s of the league

Mike (except he probably uses a 3 in 1)

Jared because of pettiness alone

Jared Matheson is judging his vain fashion pot husband

i hate to say it but. Andy.

Adam, out of sheer melancholia and frugality

The rest of them???

Benson (derogatory)

Most likely to win an Olympic medal in another sport:

Evan. In the summer olympics. And never tell anyone about it.

Seb for sailing. Based only on him having a boat and how hilarious Jake and David’s reactions would be to him winning medals for multiple sports

Kiro and Gally want to know if pranking is an Olympic sport

Playoff Willy (based on sheer determination alone)

Bryce, works so hard and dedicates himself to what he loves, hockey, Jared, it'd be the same any sport

Is it just me or could Oleg become a curler or something hilarious like that?

idk i feel like julius would do it out of sheer talent and pettiness, but don't ask me which sport

David (hardworking little weirdo)

I dunno why, but Willy. He just has that multiple-gold-medal vibe

Marc Lapointe (the man was born to be a champion)

And:

Marc (diving)

another write in for Marc (in diving)

Can we make the Marc diving joke or is that just for Dan?

And (100 points for making me cackle like a hyena):

.....................Aaron

Most uncoordinated off the ice:

So are ScratchMoney a single unit throughout? Because them.

Evan (he's not used to how big he is after bulking up so his spatial awareness is all off)

I don’t know why the answer is Andy, but it is

I really feel like it's Andy. Maybe Evan. Definitely one of the gentle giants.

evan immediately post growth spurt is like a teenaged dog

Sweet Baby Connie, he's like a newborn giraffe

Cody Gallagher (no clue, just vibes)

Joey if he’s drunk or feeling shy

Julius Halla (look idk if he's uncoordinated off the ice i just think it'd be funny if he were)

Most ‘ums’ in a single media availability:

Mike. Self censoring himself with all the swearing

Julius. This is not his language, he does not want this, someone please help.

ALL OF THEM except Stephen and Gabe

Charisma black hole Jared Matheson, and nobody will care because they’re all too busy staring at his gorgeous face

In my heart I know it’s Bryce

I’d say Julius but that implies that he speaks to them at all

Jared Matheson (with likes)

Liam but it was a bet

Evan Connelly (too anxious)

Most likely to get through an interview without a single filler word:

Marc. Mostly because he's ranting

David in full Hockey Canada robot mode

Dave (LISTEN I know he's not a player, but if he was he wouldn't use filler words)

Oleg has never said ‘um’ in his life

Marc when he gets going about the current dismal state of politics

Marc has his media planned out three weeks in advance

Willy, most charming man alive

Gabe. He has The Singular YCMAL Braincell

if there was any competition Marc would have taken them out already

David Chapman, if he deigns to answer interview questions

Marc and that's not even a question

David Chapman (thinks about everything before he speaks...usually)

Ref’s Favourite:

Any of the small number of people at the centre of the ‘sensible’ ‘competent’ ‘personable’ ‘plays hockey’ Venn diagram. So Gabe or Jordan

the caps as a team except robbie

Oleg Kurmazov (a no bullshit man)

And numerous (fair) iterations of:

Jordan Davies ;)

Refs' worst nightmare:

Dmitry Kurmazov (a yes bullshit man)

Jake Lourdes (every hit *right* on the edge of too hard)

Luke for fighting, Liam for mischief

Jake “i’m the captain it’s my job to argue with you while standing on top of the guy i just slewfooted in plain sight” lourdes

Have you met Seb?????????????

Holden Chase and Shithead when their first line privilege protects them from getting anything more than a 2 minute minor

Holden Chase (I don't know why this one needed the full name)

Liam. He'd 100% brat at them all the time and I love that for him

Willy (probably not but I love the juxtaposition of Willy and Playoff Willy)

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Mae Catt’s Cyberverse Q&A

Here’s a neater version of some key Q&A responses from Mae Catt’s Cyberverse stream. 

Please note: not everything is verbatim, and also note that Mae Catt said “Don’t take things I say as the end-all be-all.” She’s a big supporter of fanfic writers!

This Q&A session contains spoilers for Season 3 of Cyberverse. For a (somewhat) more comprehensive transcript, please refer to this post.

Q: Megop rights?

“Oh absolutely, duh.”

Q: What does Optimus do when he’s not giving speeches / being a leader when they were all hanging out on the ARK?

I think he reads, he seems like a heavy reader. It’d be cute if he read really bad Earth romance novels. He seems like a guy who needs a break from everything.

Q: Does Optimus have hobbies?

Not to borrow from Rung, but doesn’t it seem like Optimus would make model ships? Very quiet, very focused detail-oriented hobby. *pauses* Oh duh, he also plays basketball.

Q: How did the Decepticons learn to stream? 

Because they’re deceptive! Megatron knew he should dedicate some time to winning the hearts and minds of humans. Starscreams’ funeral was not the first time they streamed. Optimus would use the official media channels (like the news), not a streaming service. Megatron would try to speak more directly to the people.

Q: Is Optimus the type of streamer who would take 10 minutes to figure out how to un-mute his microphone?

Optimus is a dad. He has no idea what’s going on with streaming. Optimus would say embarrassing things while Bee and Hot Rod were in the middle of streaming something.

Q: Is Megatron dead?

In discussions we wanted to kill him. We wanted to do a reverse Optimus death. However, in the final product, I kinda enjoy the ambiguity rather than the final decision. Can’t remember if we were decisive about that in the script.

Q: Did the Titan mind Decepticons living in them?

The Titans want to be cities. They want citizens. They want to be lived in, that brings them joy.

Q: Does Megatron do anything for fun or is he too angry?

I want to say he’s too angry, he has fun beating people down but I don’t think he’s had fun for a long time.

Q: How would you feel about a female Optimus Prime? 

[GAY LAUGHTER] 

The question is: do you turn Optimus Prime into a woman, or do you take characters like Elita One and uplift her? I would want to lean more into giving Elita One more oomph, I do love how Optimus doubts himself and if he’s worthy of being a Prime.

(Mae Catt talked a lot about representation and later mentioned how there's more pressure to write the girl characters well, especially because of the need for better representation. They wanted more girls in the show, and they planned to have Jazz be a girl).

Q: Elita prime when?

All the time, in my heart!

Q: Did you plan to have ___ character in the show?

Almost every character was discussed at least once. 

She really regrets that they didn’t get to have Beast Machine Obsidian or Rumble and Frenzy in the show, and says she would’ve loved a MTMTE-style Ultra Magnus / Minimus and Transmutate. She didn’t know what Obsidian’s personality would be, it was just a “Look how cool he is!” sort of thing.

(Note: We have Mae Catt to thank for Whirl getting into Cyberverse)

Q: What was your favorite episode?

“I Am the AllSpark” because of the Megatron and Starscream dialogue (which she wrote). Also S2 04 Soundwave and Shockwave.

I enjoyed writing Starscream most, Clobber and Hot Rod became a joy, S2 E4 was my first episode, and it was fun getting into Hot Rod’s voice. It was hard doing Optimus’ voice, I’d always pass it off to someone to look at it.

Q: Did you ever plan to have Hot Rod become Rodimus?

Rodimus was never considered for the show because Optimus dying has been covered to death, but we were adamant about portraying Hot Rod as someone who wanted to be a leader. Hot Rod is someone who is learning to be a leader.

(On that note, when someone asked if she thought Bee would ever become Prime, Mae Catt said:)

I don’t think Bee would be a Prime. Windblade and Hot Rod would be a better Prime. He wouldn’t want to be a Prime. He’s the #2 to Primes!

Q: Did Megatron always plan to return to Cybertron?

Megatron’s priorities changed when he saw his doppelganger. Realizing he was a horrible tyrant, that scared him enough to return and not kill Optimus and make peace no matter what.

Q: Which death hurt you the most?

Starscream. (Slipstream’s hurt too).

We didn’t want to kill people off willy-nilly for shock value, but in certain instances it made sense. Like, the audience will fall in love with Slipstream because she’s becoming good, so she has to die. (She apologized for that sounding harsh). We killed Prowl because it was Shadow Striker doing the killing and he’s a self-sacrificing lieutenant. I almost wanted Starscream to emerge from the Judge’s head untouched, but I’m ultimately glad that idea got shot down.

(She circles back to this comment later, so I’m making note of that here since it wasn’t a direct response to a question)

When I was desperately trying to save Starscream’s life even though I brutally murdered Slipstream, I wanted Starscream to have amnesia and have a redeption arc. I wanted him to have a Windblade shard and have it be kind of like Castaway, where the only person he talked to was that (and the shard only had 5 phrases it could say). Eventually Bee would befriend him and he’d wind up with the Autobots.

I wanted to write Starscream kind of like an abuse victim who expects the worst of the Autobots, but I wanted him to warm up slowly to them. I wanted to have a Starscream and Optimus episode where Starscream messes up on something and Optimus is like “you did your best and that’s what counts”, a response which is totally new to Starscream. But obviously we didn’t have time for that.

Regarding redemption arcs (a continuation from the previous question, and a huge highlight from the stream):

Re: the potential for Starscream’s redemption arc “A redemption arc needs to be facilitated by a character acknowledging that what they did was wrong. He would have had a laundry list of excuses for it, even if there was all that evidence to the contrary, but the character needs to acknowledge that reasons don’t matter because people got hurt [by their actions]. [The character] needs to intend to do better. Let them try and let them fail, they don’t need to do a 180, it’s hard work to be a better person.”

NOTE: Mae Catt also made a few more comments re: the idea of a Starscream redemption arc on her Tumblr page.

Q: Did Megatron really kill Starscream?

The Starscream beatdown was super severe and they were like “holy frick they’re really going for it” when they saw the storyboards. According to Maecatt, Megatron didn’t kill Starscream when he slammed him down (which is a bit confusing since the show definitely made it seem like Starscream died). 

Q: Did Drift die? Why was he a double-agent?

According to us, Drift did not make it, but I fully endorse whatever you want. We needed a double-agent, someone who would (seemingly) kill Hot Rod. (She says they went with Drift because of his history in the comics).

(Later on in the stream)

Maybe Drift is alive, maybe he’s rethinking his decision and he’ll come back later. Drift would’ve been helpful in S3 for sure, maybe he’d come back with Repugnis or something.

Q: Why are you so mean to Percy? 

He's so mature and pragmatic that he can take it, and is willing to take one for the team bc he understands that it's what he needs to do. (In response to someone’s comment about his personality) Yes, he’s calmly feral.

Q: Is Skullcruncher Percy's bouncer now that he's running Maccadam's? 

Oh totally.

(She later mentions that Percy has permanently taken over Maccadam’s. Also: Skullcruncher is a lady! She misses Mac, but Percy takes good care of her).

Q: If Tarn is the perfect Decepticon who's the perfect Autobot? 

A firetruck alt mode, and an Autobot insignia as a face. Nat (her fiance) and I talked about it a lot. Optimus SHOULD be a fire truck, it makes the relationship between him and Ratchet a little more fun since Ratchet is an ambulance, and Optimus has an ax. It just makes sense! 

(She agreed that the perfect Autobot would be Thunderclash after the chat said that).

On that note, Mae Catt said they used Tarn for the show because: “OBVIOUSLY (the perfect decepticon) should look like this guy. A faceless mindless Decepticon that only serves Megatron”.

Q:  What sort of documents DID Optimus work on in the archives? 

Probably historical archives and working on stuff about all the Primes. Something like the French / American revolution equivalent, which informed his speech writing for Megatron and his own ethics.

Q: Did you always plan to make Optimus socially awkward? 

We “found” the social awkwardness for Optimus. Optimus was depicted as a father figure in S1 (implying it’s because S1 is from Bee’s perspective), S2 / S3 we were able to explore more and found the limits [writing him] and found it was hard to maintain that level of heroic dialogue. Optimus would feel awkward about it too. Randolph did an impression of Optimus’ speech for the Party Down episode. “[Optimus] can’t not be in war-mode.”

Q: Were Optimus and Megatron ever friends, or did they just work together on the speech stuff? 

Oh hell yes, I think [the story] is always enhanced when they’re friends and when Optimus really believes in what Megatron was working on. Optimus’ rejection of Megatron is what pushes him over the edge, his best friend rejecting him pushes him into a place where he becomes a tyrannical person.

Q: Does Maccadam know we love him? 

Mae Catt: *puts hand over hear heart and looks off into the distance dramatically* Yes.

Q:  What’s the best selfie Arcee’s ever taken? 

I like the one with the giraffe. Or maybe a selfie with some humans. I like the idea of Arcee having a bunch of human friends. 

Q: What do the Transformers think of the Florida Man? 

They can’t really tell the difference between humans, they don’t really get it. It just sorta looks like all the normal stuff they see on Earth (or something). 

Q: Who’s the Florida Man of the Transformers? 

Rack ‘n Ruin. But he’s too nice. Hmmm.

Q: What was most important to you personally to put out in each episode? Like humor/characterization/arcs 

I wanted to make sure I didn’t write dialogue that was condescending to kids, wanted to be true about the character. Dialogue needs to be true to the characters, and gay. (Laughs)

Q: Do Transformers know what memes are?

They know what they ARE, but they don’t get it. We wanted Hot Rod to be super into Earth culture (winning races and driving off before humans could realize no one was in the car), but we never had time to really get into that.

Q: What music does Soundwave like?

We had a cut joke from S2 E5 [where Megatron and Optimus are popping through portals all around the world trying to find the All Spark] . Soundwave pops into Brazil where there’s a music festival and he crashes the concert and hang out. He likes EDM the most? 

His favorite song is Despacito. He thinks its so sad.

Q: Were you surprised that Jake Tillman was in his 20s listening to his Optimus voice the first time?

She apparently listened to his vines a lot when he was in his teens so meeting up again like that was a cool coincidence. 

Q: What other dimensions or places did you want to be in the show?

I would’ve liked to have the other Transformers series show up (TFP, TFA, G1, Shattered Glass) but we don’t have those assets or budget. 

“This will quickly become unclear to audiences who aren’t (you people).” They couldn’t have all these references when some of their audience wouldn’t get it. 

Q: What about ____ ship?

Mae Catt says she doesn’t want to yuck anybody’s yums. For example, someone asked about Arcee/Grimlock, and while she said she sees them more as friends, she didn’t say they can’t be in a relationship. (Mae Catt also said she doesn’t ship Bee with anyone because she sees him as a little brother).

As she said several times in the stream, “Don’t take things I say as the end-all be-all”!

That being said, she did say she likes Dead End / Perceptor and Windblade / Slipstream.

Q: Why are there no humans in the show?

From the show’s conception, there were no plans to include any humans. They didn’t want humans distracting from the Transformers.

Q: Why did the Scientist collect Soundwaves?

He collects Soundwave because Soundwave is COOL! Wouldn’t you collect a single father of 5 who carries them around in his chest?

Why does anyone collect what they collect? “That’s a really angry dad who’s got five children he carries around in him and he plays music. Gotta have that!”

(Later on, she circles back to this question)

All the Other Universe Soundwaves the Scientist collected also had their own Laserbeaks. I wonder if the scientist would’ve taken them out. He might’ve just gotten rid of them.

(And of course, here are the boyfriend questions from the stream:)

Q: Is Dead End a good boyfriend?

Dead End is a work in progress, but maybe Percy is patient enough to get him there

(Mae Catt says she really loves the Deadceptor ship. She knew people would ship it, but she didn’t ship it herself until she saw the fanart for it).

Q: Is Astrotrain a good boyfriend?

No, no...he’s not a good person, really.

Q: Is Percy a good boyfriend?

Absolutely--WAIT HOLD ON. He’s very blunt, he doesn’t mince words, if you can handle his bluntness then you’re good. He is what he is and you have to deal with him.

Q: Is Soundwave a good boyfriend?

Soundwave is not a good boyfriend. He’s a good casual romance but he’s not a good boyfriend. Soundwave would be a terrible listener. He hears a lot but he’d tune you out.

Other information tidbits:

- If Thunderclash was in the show he and Jetfire would HATE each other. Thunderclash would be a rival reality star (maybe) to Media Fire.

- Mae Catt said “A lot of intelligent life is inherently mechanical” in space, explaining why so much of the non-Cybertronian life we saw in the show were robots.

- Knock Out was considered for the show, but every Transformer under the sun was discussed at some point in the writer’s room. (Ex: “Rumble and Frenzy are always considered in my heart, but there wasn’t enough time or space or assets to do so”).

- “The brand team had grown up on the toys as we had grown up on the ‘toons, so we just wanted to make the best thing imaginable.”

- They decided Optimus would be in the Other Universe’s Matrix and have a plinth because they wanted to show he was dead. “Logical backflips because he needed to be among the 13 to talk to Windblade.” 

- Dead End’s eyes are white.

- The team wanted Jazz to be a lady (!!!!!!!)  

- These characters have their own lives that we don’t see. Lots of stuff happening between episodes that we don’t always necessarily see.

- Developing Sky-Byte’s character was simultaneous with Jetfire’s character. “We knew we wanted Sky-Byte to be a poet, and we wanted him and Megatron to be chummy”.

- Percy did permanently take over Mac’s bar.  

- Her favorite VA is Jeremy Levy, he’s a really cool guy.

- She thinks Starscream and Cheetor could become (not necessarily friends, but connected?) because of their connection to the All Spark. Mentions how Starscream acknowledge Cheetor as the “Guardian of the Allspark”.

- Mae Catt describes Starscream as an “Awful gremlin” several times.

- Astrotrain and the Insecticons are from Megatron X’s universe.

- She thinks Cliffjumper and Bee wouldn’t get along, solely because of the IDW2 comic stuff. (They had a cut joke about someone telling Bee he should paint himself red and Bee saying, “But then everyone will think I’m Cliffjumper!”).

- Cyberverse got 26 episodes for season 3 because they had the 4-part episode movies.

- Megatron cares about his troops, but not in a way that we would notice that care. 

- AcidStorm is genderfluid. 

-  Cold Construction doesn’t exist in this show. When asked why all the Seekers look the same then, Mae Catt says “Maybe there’s one jet mode all the seekers really like”.

- She loves the idea of Wild Wheel robbing Astrotrain in train-mode, totally Wild West-style.

- One of the things she’s proudest of was turning Lugnut into a gal (and having so much body diversity and gender-neutral designs for a lot of characters). They wanted to include many more girls in Cyberverse (Nickel and Lightbright among them). She also mentioned that  Shadow Striker is taller than Optimus or is his height.

- She describes Cosmos as “R2D2, but a Transformer!”

- Maccadam looking like a buff Rung was just a strange coincidence.

- Blurr really was the fastest.

- Mae Catt says we absolutely SHOULD write fanfic. Fanfiction made her into the writer she is today. She wrote non-stop Matrix fanfic from the age of 12-20 years old. It helped her learn a lot about writing.

- She uses “They” pronouns for Rack ‘n Ruin when referring to both of them, but says that individually they both use “he”.

- She’s really sad that Skywarp didn’t get a speaking line.

- Mae Catt won’t say whether Ratchet finished medical school or not. (She laughed when someone commented "I don’t believe that man has ever been to medical school”). She also says she wants “I choose to believe Ratchet has never been to medical school” on a T-shirt.

- When asked why Rack ‘n Ruin were captains of the Ark in one universe, she says they’re probably the Prime in that one weird universe (lmao).

- She loves the idea that Transformers have siblings / families.

- In a world where they had an unlimited budget, it’d be fun if Cybertronians were constantly shape-shifting and changing their forms. Example: she’d like having Transformers who “grew a beard” and decided to “shave it”.

- She doesn’t understand cycles or astrocycles, she doesn’t understand the weird Transformers time stuff. (mood)

- She loved Beast Wars Inferno, she loved that Inferno called Megatron a Queen. It was played as a joke because the 90s weren’t very socially conscious, but she liked that Megatron never corrected him or beat him down.

- Shockwave altered his spark to have maximum bad vibes to destroy the All Spark.

- She said it’s hard talking about writing a show because you’re designing the experience and you have to make sometimes what sounds like cold and pragmatic decisions (eg: "we need a cold and spunky female”) which sucks, but they need to balance out the show. She says she’d never do that just for the sake of doing it, but it’s part of something that they do need to be aware of while working on a show. “It starts from a weirdly cold pragmatic place, but we try and put truth in it”.

- They didn’t want to have Unicron in the show since he’s the default “big bad”, but if he was in the show, Mae Catt says “If you put the proverbial budget-gun to my head, I’d keep Unicron in planet-mode because it’s more mysterious, but I want both alt modes”.

- Her favorite Megatron is Beast Wars Megatron.

- She doesn’t like Sky Lnxy’s design, it’s creepy. “He talks in the G1 episodes and the voice makes it worse.” She can’t get over his face.

- “I’d love to see more jets [who aren’t our usual gang] and find out all jets are kinda snobby, which explains why Starscream’s the way he is”.

- Everyone on the Autobot side are friends with each other.

Thanks for your time Mae Catt! We’re lucky to have you. Thank you for all your hard work on this amazing show.

[nightkitchentarot]

Word Play

ANNUAL NEOLOGISM CONTEST Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words. The winners are: 1. Coffee (N.), the person upon whom one coughs. 2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. 3. Abdicate (V.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 4. Esplanade (V.), to attempt an explanation while drunk. 5. Willy-nilly (Adj.), impotent. 6. Negligent (Adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown. 7. Lymph (V.), to walk with a lisp. 8. Gargoyle (N.), olive-flavored mouthwash. 9. Flatulence (N.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller. 10. Balderdash (N.), a rapidly receding hairline. 11. Testicle (N.), a humorous question on an exam. 12. Rectitude (N.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists. 13. Pokemon 👎, a Rastafarian proctologist. 14. Oyster (N.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. 15. Frisbeetarianism (N.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. 16. Circumvent (N.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men. The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners:

1. Bozone (N.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. 2. Foreploy (V): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. 3. Cashtration (N.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period. 4. Giraffiti (N): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high. 5. Sarchasm (N): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. 6. Inoculatte (V): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. 7. Hipatitis (N): Terminal coolness. 8. Osteopornosis (N): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) 9. Karmageddon (N): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. 10. Decafalon (N.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. 11. Glibido (V): All talk and no action. 12. Dopeler effect (N): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. 13. Arachnoleptic fit (N.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web. 14. Beelzebug (N.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out. 15. Caterpallor (N.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating. And the pick of the literature: 16. Ignoranus (N): A person who's both stupid and an asshole

[lovemesomesurveys]

Nickname; Just Steph, really. Oh, and “Sis” by my family. How many piercings do you have, and where? 2: 1 in each earlobe. What color are your eyes? Brown. And hair? Naturally dark brown, but I dye it red. Does orange look good on you? Can you pull it off? I don’t think any color looks good on me, but anyway I do have a couple orange shirts.

What do you do when it storms and the power’s out all night? That’s never happened, but I imagine I would just read on my phone or listen to Spotify until I fell asleep. What do you do with yourself when you’re at the beach? My mom, brother, and I like to go and just relax and chill. We don’t even really talk a whole lot, we just kinda zone out. She and my brother usually are lying down with headphones in or taking a nap while tanning, and I just get lost watching the ocean crash in and out and listening to the sound it makes. I just soak it all in. I love it. Are you shy, or no? Very. Have you ever been to St. Augustine? Nope. Have you ever been to Ocala? Nope. Have you ever just been to Florida? Nope. What about Indiana? Nope. Are you nosey? I mean, sometimes I want the “tea” as the kids say about certain things lol. I’ll see a vague status or tweet or something and want to know what it’s in reference to. I’m more nosey when it comes to celebrity gossip stuff, though. Do you “pry”? Well, like with my family I might ask about something in a general way and see what they offer up themselves. If I can tell they don’t want to talk about something then I don’t push it. If it’s someone I don’t know well then no, I don’t ask about it. I am guilty of trying to piece it together myself based on other tweets/statuses when possible, though... :x Why does everyone hate Justin Bieber so much? He did some stupid, douchey things in the past, but it seems he’s grown up now and living the married life. What’s your favorite commercial? I don’t care much for commercials. Do you find me annoying, yet? No. Who has the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen? Alexander Skarsgard. I’m also quite envious of Paris Jackson’s eyes.  When’s the last time you pulled an all-nighter? I don’t recall. I don’t think I have at all this year thus far. They used to be pretty common for me, but now I can barely stay up until like 2.  What were you doing? During my all nighters? Just watching TV and on Tumblr and/or doing surveys, mostly. Sometimes I played The Sims or colored. Purple on guys; Yes, or no? I don’t care. Do you like Boys Like Girls? I was really into them at one point. Hero/Heroine was my favorite of theirs.  Do you actually try everything on before you buy it? I never do that. I rarely have an issue with something not fitting right anyway. Do you ever actually check the price? Always. I’m not rollin’ in the deep where I can just spend willy nilly.  What’s your favorite candle scent? I really love autumnal scented ones like Bath & Body Works has. Have you ever known anyone with a dog blind in one eye? My dog, Brandie, became blind during the last 3 years of her life due to diabetes.  You do, now. Sortof. Ah. Have you ever been friends with a forgein exchanged student? I don’t think I knew any. Was it sad when they went back to… wherever they came from? Have you ever been given any sort of ring? Yes, as gifts from my parents. The last one I received was a college class ring.  Do you know anyone that works at a tattoo shop? Nope. If you HAD to get a tattoo, what would it be, and where? I’ve wanted ‘free bird’ tattooed on my inner wrist for several years.  Do you own any lockets or charm bracelets? Yeah. The last dress you were in; What’d it look like? It’s white and teal. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? I never got into it. What’s your favorite nickname of yours? Like I said, I only have 2. What’s one of yours that you HATE? I don’t hate any of them. Maple or hazelnut flavoring? I like both. What’s your favorite Coke product? Coke. What’s the brand of your cell-phone, and the color? A coral Apple iPhone XR. What’s your favorite body-part on the opposite sex? I find that hands can be pretty attractive.  Are you now, or have you ever been, a cheerleader? Nope. Have you heard any of Eminem’s new Recovery songs? They’re not new now, but yeah. Favorite song lyrics; In general? I have too many. Watergun or water-balloon war? Water gun, I guess. I never enjoyed being hit with a water balloon. Have you ever watched Ugly Betty? I think I saw bits here and there. Would running into your ex right now be painful? It’d just be painfully awkward.  What’s the most annoying sound, ever? * Anything loud and beeping and repetitive. I also get rlly aggravated when the television is turned up too loud <<< Same! And eating sounds, like smacking, sucking, slurping.... aljfklsflsdfljks Are you typo-proned? No, but it happens sometimes. How do you feel about Lady GaGa? I like some of her songs. Are the rumors about her true? What rumors? Are you friends with any “trolls”? No. What would you get a boyfriend for his 17th birthday? I’m 30 years old, I wouldn’t be dating a 17 year old or have any idea what to suggest as a gift for one for someone else. Does your hair have a mind of it’s own? It does seem that way. It’s very annoying. Is Dane Cook really all that funny? I don’t think he is. I’m not that familiar with his comedy. Do you watch Glee? Nope. Do you ever shop at Fredflare.com? Nope. I’ve never even heard of it. Do you happen to know anyone named Matty? (Matthew or Matt will suffice) No. What’s he like? Are you always hyper? I’m never hyper. Do you know anyone that’s afraid of elevators? Not severely, but I kind of am, which sucks because I have to use them. Do you like country music? Yeah, some. Y'know. Like, “my mule left me for my sheepdog”; that sorta thing Har har. Do you know any scenesters?!?? Is that still a thing? I wouldn’t know, I’m old and out of the loop. Has any guy ever forgotten your name so often and exclusively that he just started calling you “girl”? Wow, no. Did you have to have braces for awhile, too? :[ Yes, but not for my teeth. Kisses on your cheek, or forehead? I think forehead kisses are cute if they’re from a guy I’m interested in. When’s the last time you wore facepaint? What’d it look like? I don’t recall. Do you still have a teddy-bear lying around somewhere? Not a teddy bear, but several giraffe stuffed animals all around my room. Are you a good-speller? I think so. Do you over-analyze everything, like me? Yeppp. Have you ever rode on the back of a moped? No. Do like Frank Sinatra? I like a couple of his songs. What about Cap'n Jazz? I’m not familiar with them. Is there anything in your room that belongs to a boyfriend, or a friend of the opposite sex? Nope. What’s the brand of the computer or laptop that you’re on? Apple. Are you sitting on your bed? Or a spinny chair?? I’m on my bed. Anyone you can’t get off your mind? No. Have a “bone to pick” with anyone? Nah. What does love feel like? Warm and fuzzy. haha. Who’s your favorite Beatle? I don’t have one. I’m not a big Beatles fan. Like, I like some of their songs, but eh. Does it annoy the hell out of you when people smoke around you? Ugh, yes. Do you like guys with long-ish hair? I personally like short hair on guys. How do you talk when you’re drunk? I usually became quite chatty. Have you ever texted an ex whilst drunk? How’d that go? Yeah. I don’t really remember how the conversation went, that was several years ago now. What do you order at Starbucks? Usually a venti white chocolate mocha with soy, sometimes a caramel macchiato with soy. During the fall and winter I like to get some of the seasonal drinks. Except for pumpkin spice. I know, I know. Shocking, right? Penn Station or Subway? I’ve never been to Penn Station, so I’ll go with Subway. People with addictions are weak. Brutal truth, or “falsies”? I wouldn’t say that at all. Do you have a “gunkle”, like me? [: No. The underwear you’re wearing right now; Describe it. They’re blue. When’s the last time you were on a swing? Not since I was a kid sometime. Whose hand did you last squeeze? My doggo’s. Have you ever actually tied string around a finger? Yes. Wouldn’t that be difficult? It wasn’t that hard. Have you ever been in a cornfield with a boylyfriend? (: “Boylyfriend”... And no. Does baby talk annoy you? No. What’s the last thing you wrote (or drew) on yourself? *shrug* That would have been a long time ago. Can you walk straight in heels? I can’t do that at all. Do you like Eskimo kisses? Sure. When’s the last time you sat (or did anything, I guess) on a rooftop? Never. I’d be way too scared to ever do that. Have you ever heard anyone call kissing “swappin’ spit”? Yeah. Do you have to stand on your tip-toes to kiss your boyfriend? No boyfriend. If I had one, they’d have to bend down to kiss me. Or, have you had to before? Think about your ex. Just do it. How do you feel? I don’t really feel anything regarding them. When’s the last time you lied in bed with the opposite sex. Who was it? I’ve never done that, actually. Have you ever been tackle-hugged? (: Yeah. Have you ever been tackle-hugged into a pool with all your clothes on? Omg, no. That would be very shitty thing to do since I can’t swim and I’m in a wheelchair. Do you own any heart-shaped glasses? Nope. Do you have any photographs on your walls? Yes. Do you own an Ugly Doll? [: No. I’ve never heard of those... Do you overuse :)s, like me? Nah. I don’t go emoji crazy. Do you overuse the word “like”, or “amazing”? Probably “like.” Do you have any crowns? No. Brunette dudes with bleach blonde hair are utterly unattractive. Yes? They can be. Is there anyone that you “see yourself in”, so to speak? No. What’d you last use scissors for? I don’t remember. Have you ever rejected someone’s kiss before? Yes. How well’d that go over with him? (Or her, I’m not judging) They just kept asking for one. Are you really over him, or are you just a great liar? I’m over any guy I’ve had feelings for the past. Whose grave did you last visit? My family members who have passed away have been cremated.  Do you have any polaroids? (pictures) Yeah, several. How many photo-albums do you have? A few. Do you scrapbook? Yes. Have you ever made a PostSecret book? Nope. Have you ever seen The Upside Down Show? No. Is it something children should really watch? I don’t know what it is. What about The Wiggles? I’ve seen parts of it before when my brother was little and yeah I recall it being fine for kids to watch. 

“Fruit salad, yummy, yummy.” Name a song that gives you goosebumps. Hmm. Is it wrong to call things “gay”? I think it’s insulting. What’s the most terrifying thing you’ve ever been through? Almost dying. Is there really such thing as a “chemical imbalance”? Uh, yes. Is love really just a chemical reaction? Sure.

[thegoods]

THE FRENCH QUARTER

I can literally drink anywhere except for church. *In my finest nawlins accent* “I’m home bebb-beh” Lol The trip I took to New Orleans, Louisiana was everything I knew I needed. From my first plane ride, the bomb ass Airbnb, the company, the street art, the hospitality and Jesus the food-- I felt so alive! Yes I lost my airplane virginity to New Orleans and I’ll keep going back for more! I loved every bit of the flight experience. The take off startled me but I fell in love with the clouds. Flying makes me feel so appreciative and blessed. Oh and those biscoff cookies were bomb! A few hours and a layover later Me & 2 good friends were ready for all that NOLA had to offer us.  All thanks to our “planner committee” we hit up all the local spots to make sure we got the full taste of the Bayou. My favorite, my diet breaker... MORROWS! Y’all a huge shout out to Larry Morrow. He knew what the fuck was up with this one! The attention to detail, the menu, the customer service, the location, and when I tell you EVERY staff member was attractive! (blew my mind) Our modern, minimalistic loft was right above his restaurant and every morning we were awaken by his staff prepping for the day while simultaneously blasting Anita Baker (which was no bother to us) it was our Vacation alarm clock. #morrowofthestory is... WHEN you visit NOLA Morrows is a MUST STOP. Ask any celebrity! Oh and order the strawberry mimosa(S) and the chicken Alfredo good lord! Next stop... Cafe Du Monde for BENGINETS. There’s literally like 4 things on the Menu: Water, Tea, Chalk coffee (best coffee I’ve ever had) and Benginets. Relatively cheap for Nola but it’s always packed night or day! For good reason, yet another well worth it diet breaker. Another honorable mention is Willie Mae's Scotch House-- make sure you get the mac and cheese and yams. Depending on when you go, there can be a line outside of the small restaurant and the wait can be up to 2 hours! The 3 of us opted to take an uber everywhere and split the costs however. Of course depending on where you decide to store your luggage that may or may not be necessary but ubers were relative cheap as well even late night trips to bourbon street. THAT LITERALLY NEVER SLEEPS. Heads up! — LADIES DO NOT WEAR HEELS, Hell some sandals should be off limits too. Bourbon street is NOT the place for heels or uncomfortable shoes. Between the police horse shit, the for sure vomit, potential piss and spilled.. I mean wasted alcohol lol your shoes just won’t make it and neither will you. However if you wanna be a baby giraffe who am I to stop ya? I literally wore Vans the entire trip and had the time of my life. We spent every night of our 4 day trip on Bourbon street and each night was better that the night before. Thousands of people from all walks of life happily bonding over alcohol just warmed my heart. Did I mention we went during decadence? Which is basically pride for men only. We had no idea it was the same weekend we went but it was so much fun. The drags, the harnesses, the energy, the butt naked confidence again warmed my heart. All the clubs on Bourbon St were diverse and played top 40. Oh and before I forget— when you’ve had too many hurricanes from Fat Tuesday or one too many Grenades (trust me you will) the ultimate 3 am un-fuck yourself pre-hangover cure is Willie’s Chicken-- Also found on Bourbon Street. We didn’t take the trolley like we planned because we were so busy getting day drunk in our Airbnb that we always missed the pickups but we heard good things about it lol. We did make it to the French Market which is full of vendors selling clothes, trinkets, food, ALCOHOL, touristy things, you name it. Make sure you bring cash money though— a lot of the vendors don’t accept debit/credit. Do yourself a favor and get roasted street corn and a pina colada from Organic Banana to wash it down because who drinks water in NOLA!?! Did I mention that there are full blown liquor stores inside of WALMART? Besides shopping you can literally just walk around, mingle with the locals, and sight see for the free. Just about every corner is photo worthy. The Street performers are mad talented so make sure you tip them! I'm sure I’m leaving things out but no matter what I say it won’t do New Orleans any justice. It’s a place you have to visit and experience for yourself. There was not one place I went that I felt uncomfortable or stuck out like a sore thumb. When I tell you Nola’s vibe is so welcoming I mean it. You’re only doing yourself a disservice by not adding it to your vacation bucket list. I bet you can’t go just once.

[pod-together]

Day 3 Reveals 2018

A Nervous Wreck Most of the Time (Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types) written by lady_ragnell, performed by knight_tracer Summary: Han finds fatherhood and family a little terrifying, but it turns out Lando is happy to help out. To Infinity...And Beyond [2] (Check Please! (Webcomic)) written by ereshai, performed by Khashana Summary: Nursey and Dex got Lardo's dibs, but there's something they need to know before they move in. 10 Stops on the Way to Forever (Check Please! (Webcomic)) written by ereshai, performed by Khashana Summary: Dex doesn't believe in soulmates, and even if he did, his soulmate probably wouldn't be the person he wanted. Ouroboros (Marvel Cinematic Universe) written by eustaciavye, performed by asterroc Summary: Loki had always been different from the others on Asgard, and had kept the secret to himself. Fate had other plans for him, and would give him an opportunity to actually become his truest self. And Now These Three Remain (Oxford Time Travel Universe - Connie Willis) written by lirin, performed by frecklebomb, idellaphod, jjjat3am, knight_tracer Summary: A triptych for Kivrin. Why does this Always Happen to me (Supernatural RPF) written by WinchestersShorty1980FL, performed by storyspinner70 Summary: J2 High school AU. Jared has pined for Jensen since Sophomore year and with prom, then graduation coming up he wishes something would happen between them but Jensen is straight but things start happening that makes Jared wonder otherwise. Seems every time he turns around Jensen is there or staring at him. When Jared starts dating Tom, and they go to prom together things start unraveling. This is possibly a modified giraffe (Bandom, My Chemical Romance) written by ermengarde, performed by dapatty Summary: Camping is not a magical experience, but Mikey kinda is.

[funnynewsheadlines]

Artist Turns Lebron James Into Giraffe In His 30 Illustrations

Basketball isn’t the most popular sport in the world—that title belongs to football (soccer)—but it is definitely up there with the major sports. Even if you aren’t a basketball fan, it is quite likely that you’ve heard about legendary basketball players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal. This alone shows what a big deal basketball is in much of the world. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it also has its own extremely dedicated fandom.

One such fan has started drawing up cartoonified recreations of LeBron James’ Instagram photos... with a little twist. LeBron James himself, as well as basketball players, family members, and other people featured in his photos, are depicted as various animals. As the artist’s Instagram tag @leraffejames suggests, LeBron himself is a giraffe. As for the others, LeBron’s wife Savannah is depicted as a lioness, son LeBron Jr. and daughter Zhuri are giraffe and lioness appropriately, Willie McGee is an alpaca, Anthony Davis is a kangaroo, Sian Cotton is a bulldog, among many others. Check out the pictures below and vote on your favorites!

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[childrenbooks]

Best Children’s Book Author

Who is the best children’s book author?

Children’s book authors write for diverse ages and genres.

There are 233,045,000 children’s books sold every year. There are almost 50,000 new children’s books written every year. To determine the best children’s book author, we will start with the youngest age which is called picture books for children 0 to 8 years old.

The formula to determine “best” children’s book author is compiled by books sold, number one bestseller, awards, and children’s response. Getting the “Read It Again Award” is the highest indicator to determine best children’s book authors.

Because an author has a publisher that spends thousands of dollars on advertising and promotion does not necessarily make that author one of the best children’s book authors. Parents are looking for an author who can entertain, teach, stir the imagination, and create a desire to read without preaching.

The following children’s book authors have met the criteria to be included in the list of best children’s book authors starting with picture books. Picture books engage the child to have a word picture association which is proven to be one of the greatest teaching tools the child can have when learning to read. Picture books are normally assigned to ages 0 to 3. However, children stay engaged, read more, learn more if pictures are added to the story more to help with the text tell the story up until age 12. This list of best children’s book authors are not listed in order of popularity, but instead in order of parent-teacher approval, child approval, but most of all child engagement in the story.

  Margaret Wise Brown was an American writer, is best known for her books Good Night Moon, and The Runaway Bunny. These books are known for their ability to lull the child to sleep, cognizant things and sounds in a story that cause children to ask, “read it again”.

    Judy Blume is an American children’s book author that most readers would assign to children over eight. Judy Blume is included in this best children’s book author list because of her truthful honest stories about families, school, friendship, puberty, racism, death, sex, and, of course, freckles. Although she has written dozens of books, the ones that appeal to first readers 0 to 3 are The One in the Middle Is The Green Kangaroo and Freckle Juice.

                                     Dr. Qooz

is an international best-selling children’s book author, who grew up in the Everglades of Florida. He promotes common sense, honesty and good citizenship in every book, clothed in a story about animal children with everyday issues of life. The illustrations in Dr. Qooz’ books set the standard of best children’s picture books with vibrant colors, realistic characters and believable word associations. Dr. Qooz introduces an imaginary land of Fargone, that has a twist of reality recognized by the reader as history, present and future. Who Are you and Sight to See are award winning examples of his writings.

  Eric Carle’s books about animals fascinate children. The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the illustrated Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? are two books that Eric Carle’s art is instantly and is distinctively recognizable. His artwork is created in collage technique, using hand-painted papers, which he cuts and layers to form bright and cheerful images. This author’s stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature giving a young child a way to learn about the world around them.

    Roald Dahl was a British novelist who wrote his stories set in richly imagined worlds, sprinkled with made-up words and laced with sly humor. Roald Dahl created a fabulous story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, from which we garnered Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Although this was not an early children’s picture book, he made up for this genre when he wrote Fantastic Mr. Fox.

  Maurice Sendak wrote Where the Wild things Are. Even though labeled slightly frightening, his imaginatively illustrated children’s books never forget their audience. Maurice Sendak’s books were gleefully silly, but always inventive, intelligent, and colorful but children respond with enthusiasm to both its honesty as well as to his wonderfully zany artwork. In the Night Kitchen is Sendak’s second most popular book. It is also a book that was banned by the American Library Association because of its nudity of a small boy. Because this book is for very young children it is not generally viewed as a book that should be banned.

  Andrea Davis Pinkney writes award winning picture books, emphasizing black culture, where the illustrations clearly depict families of color as in Sleeping Cutie and I Smell Honey. Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times best-selling author of several books for young readers, including the novel Bird in a Box. She has teamed up with her husband, Brian Pinkney, that illustrates her books.

    Adam Rubin is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of ten critically-acclaimed picture books including Dragons Love Tacos and the Those Darn Squirrels. Energy, rhythm and rhymes best describes his books. The author invents puzzles, games, and creates brain teasers. Adam currently lives in Barcelona, Spain.

      Enid Mary Blyton Pollock, this English author wrote the “Famous Five Series” and The Secret Seven. Enid Blyton wrote 186 novels/novelettes, 285 character books, 997 short story series books, 273 education books, 365 recreation books, 237 continuation books, 297 Enid Blyton contributions. Enid’s style is simple with appropriate humor and desired by children all over the world.

      Shel Silverstein was a cartoonist, songwriter and later a children’s book author. He is famous for his book, the Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends followed by Uncle Shelby’s ABZ, A Giraffe and a Half, and Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back.

      Alice Schertle is a former teacher, award-winning poet and children’s book author. Her Little Blue Truck Series, and All You Need for a Snowman books have made her a household name as a children’s book author.

    Sherri Duskey Rinker, a #1 bestselling children’s book author, writes books about smiles, and encouraging kids to dig deep and dream big. Two of her successes are Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and Steam Train, Dream Train both are bedtime whimsical, dreamlike cartoonish imagery, nighttime books for preschoolers.

    Stan and Jan Berenstain were cartoonists turned children’s book authors. Their motivation was to help new parents. They were inspired by some of the difficulties parents faced, as well as some childhood tribulations when they were kids themselves. Their cartoon signature bear family incorporated humor and reminded parents not to take every situation too seriously. At the time Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), was working as an editor in the children’s division of Random House Publishing and approved of the Berenstain Bears series and created a lasting franchise. The Berenstain Bears were extremely popular and instigated more books, television series, toys, and stage productions.

  Dr. Seuss, was an American children’s author, political cartoonist, illustrator, poet, animator, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His first book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, was rejected 27 times before he ran into an old school mate, who was the juvenile editor of Vanguard Press and declared the book, “the cleverest book I have met with for many years.” A contract was signed on the spot. Although Theodor Seuss Geisel illustrated more than 60 books under the pen name of Dr. Seuss, his books are known for ridiculous silliness, fantasy creatures with fanciful names while writing in rhyme. Most of his books are for lighthearted entertainment. Little known is his children’s philosophy quotes that will long out live Green Eggs and Ham, and the Cat and the Hat:

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

“Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”

“Sometimes you will never know the value of something, until it becomes a memory.”

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

“You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?”

The post Best Children’s Book Author appeared first on Children's Books by Dr. Qooz.

[wikitopx]

At Independence Hall on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and in September 1787, the Constitution was drafted.

A century earlier, William Penn, a prominent Quaker and namesake of Pennsylvania, was a catalyst for the changes that transformed these British colonies into an independent nation. Today, modern office towers exist side-by-side with the narrow cobblestone streets of Independence Historic National Park, which is home to historic buildings and sights, including the Liberty Bell, Franklin Court, and Independence Hall. Many of these eighteenth-century buildings have been handsomely restored. First inhabited by Germans and the Dutch. To the west, along Schuylkill River, lies Fairmount Park, a vast belt of green containing numerous Federal-style mansions, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum. Just south of that lies the museum district, including the Franklin Institute of Science Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences.

1. Liberty Bell Pavilion

The liberty bell has long been a symbol of freedom and independence in the United States. It went on tour around the country in the late 19th century in an effort to inspire a sense of freedom and conquer divisions left by the Civil War. . Today, the bell is open to free public viewing in a pavilion that houses exhibits and videos about its history.

2. Independence Hall

Independence Hall originally served as the State House of the Colony of Pennsylvania and is best known as the place where the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It was also where the Continental Congress met again 11 years later and wrote the United States Constitution. The highlight is Assembly Hall, where the Second Continental Congress met behind closed doors to discuss their desire for independence from the British. This is where the Declaration of Independence was signed and where George Washington was chosen as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Independence Hall sits across from the Liberty Bell Pavilion in the Independence National Historical Park. There is no entrance fee, but tickets are timed and limited, and all visitors should be prepared for security screening. Free ESL services are available with advance request.

3. Independence National Historical Park

Independence National Historical Park is quite possibly America's most historic square mile. In addition to housing famous sites, such as Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, many other important attractions line the cobbled streets of this old area. It stood witness to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 and the creation of the United States Constitution in 1787. It is flanked by Congress Hall, where the first Congress of the United States met from 1790 to 1800 and George Washington and John Adams were elected President, and Old City Hall, which was never in fact the town hall but was the seat of the Supreme Court from 1791 to 1800.

On its east side, at 55 North 5th Street, is the National Museum of American Jewish History.

4. Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art contains one of the United States' largest collections of art. It is housed in a Neoclassical building fronted by a broad set of stairs, which became famous after they were featured in the classic American Rocky films. Among the finest sections of the museum are the medieval galleries, which include pictures by Rogier van der Weyden and the van Eyck brothers. In other rooms are Renaissance and Baroque works and art of the 18th and 19th centuries, including pictures by Van Gogh, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Cézanne, Monet, and Degas. A collection of 20th-century European art is represented by Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Miró, Paul Klee, and other artists. There is also American art by the Philadelphia artists Thomas Eakins, Charles Wilson Peale ("The Staircase Group", 1795), and many others. In addition, there are fine collections of Asian art, with porcelain, jade, and Oriental carpets.

5. Reading Terminal Market

The Market at Reading Terminal has been a National Historic Landmark since 1995, and is a deeply rooted Philadelphia institution. It has been in operation since 1893, when the Reading Railroad Company built this space beneath their new station to accommodate the farmers and butchers who had been using the area for their open-air markets for decades prior. The old market has undergone renovations, but it has retained its unique ambience and many of the structure's original features. Today, you will find more than 80 merchants, 75 of whom are small independent businesses. Both locals and tourists come to buy local produce; free-range meats; canned goods; fresh-baked Amish breads; and handmade crafts, including clothing, jewelry, and gifts.

6. Eastern State Penitentiary

The Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829 with the aim of rehabilitating criminals through solitary confinement. At the time of its opening, it was considered the world's most expensive and high-tech prison. Willie Sutton and Al Capone were some of the prison's notable "guests," and visitors can see Capone's lavish cell as it was during his stay. The prison closed in 1971, and today it is open to the public as a museum. Tours of the facility show many sections that remain much the same as they were during its operational years. Exhibits include an in-depth look at incarceration in the United States, how it compares to other countries, and the ever-increasing disproportionate imprisonment of minorities.

7. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum

This Fine Arts Museum features a collection of American Art from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including works by early American artists right through to Andy Warhol. It is housed in a National Historic Landmark building designed by American architects Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt. The museum is part of the Fine Arts Academy, and its exhibits and archives are an important resource for the school. In addition to contemporary and historical art exhibitions, the museum features exhibits of work by the academy's students. The academy is also known for being the oldest of its kind in the United States.

8. The Barnes Foundation

Established by Dr. Albert Barnes, this museum is an integral part of Philadelphia's Parkway museum district. It houses some of the world's biggest collections of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including the world's largest Renoir collection and more of Cézanne's works than there are in all of France. There are just short of 60 Matisse paintings, as well as numerous works by Degas, Manet, and Titian. A large collection of African sculpture. The museum welcomes guests free of charge on the first Sunday of the month for gallery viewings, activities, and family friendly entertainment, while monthly on the first Friday, adults are invited to spend the evening exploring collections, attending lectures, and mingling with like-minded aficionados while enjoying live music and refreshments.

9. Please Touch Museum

The Please Touch Museum is every kid's dream - a place where they can "look with their hands" instead of just their eyes. This completely interactive museum encourages kids of all ages to learn through play, giving them the chance to explore history, fantasy worlds, space, and the big wide world around them. Exhibits like the kid-size city include costumes they can use to play the part while experimenting with different professions. As educational as it is fun, the River Adventures exhibit encourages children to learn about science and physics by using dams, waterwheels, levers, locks, and other water-manipulating equipment. Kids even have an opportunity to explore the garden, where the museum's café grows its produce. Outdoors, you will also find a Dentzel Carousel that is more than a century old, originally operated at the nearby Woodside Park and now fully restored to its former glory.

10. Philadelphia Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo is home to a wide range of animals from around the world and is active in wildlife conservation and rehabilitation efforts, focusing on educating visitors about the ways humans impact the earth's other residents. One of its most remarkable habitats is Big Cat Falls, a spacious area where the world's largest cats can roam among plants and flowing waterfalls, as well as explore the entire park through a system of tunnels that wind above other habitats - including the human visitors. Another favorite with both kids and adults is the African Plains habitat, where you can meet some of the zoo's most impressive residents, including giraffes, hippos, and a white rhinoceros.

Outback Outpost is home to some of Australia's most fascinating wildlife, including red kangaroos and emus. Other habitats include Bear Country, which is home to species from Asia, South America, and North America, and Carnivore Kingdom, where you can meet dwarf mongooses and even the (vegetarian) red panda. There is also a reptile and amphibian house; an aviary; and Monkey Junction, which is home to two pairs of spider monkeys. At the small mammal house, visitors can see the nocturnal residents as they go about their day, thanks to clever lighting that inverts their sleep cycle. The zoo also operates a primate reserve and a rare animal conservation center, where you can see some of the earth's most endangered animals, learn about issues affecting them, and find out how to help.

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