#wish I could do 3 day poll these are so limited… I usually play on the weekend l

[sealer-of-wenkamui]

I’ve done Arcueid, Hisui, and Kohaku true ends so far, I figured I’d finish the main routes before doing the alternate versions and the rest of the bad ends I missed

[justimagineitblog]

“You Used To Love Me” Michael Gray Fan Fiction - Chapter 4

A/N:  Hi loves! Chapter 4 is a longggggg one so strap in and get some rum, whiskey, tea, coffee, water, hot chocolate, whatever works and settle in for this one x 

When I walk into the pub, Tommy freezes in his spot.

He hasn’t seen me yet since Michael’s gracious return this morning. And I guess he assumed I wouldn’t be coming in for this shift.

He feel him watching me nervously as I begin my usual work routine, setting up the bar, straightening out all the chairs, wiping down all the tables. I can’t even bring myself to look at him.

“Izzy I-“

He stops immediately when I shake my head. With tears in my eyes threatening to spill already.

“I can’t, Tommy” I breathe

He nods sullenly, walking over to place a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“We had no idea about Gina… he’s just shown up after 6 fucking months and-“

“Tommy, please” I cut him off “I can’t talk about it-”

“Okay” he steps back, giving me some space “But just listen to me, just for a moment yeah? You’re still our girl. Our family. We’re all on your side, eh. Me, Poll, Arthur”

I nod, closing my eyes.

Of course they are. They’re just as shocked as I am. Up until this morning we were all in the dark about Michael. Where he was. What he was doing. I guess in a way, we all still are.

“I know” I sigh. Hearing him say those words stings, when I know that in 6 hours time I’ll closing up the bar for the last time and handing him my apron.

“Poll got a call this morning, from Michael, saying he was arriving to Birmingham in an hour, with someone for her to meet. First time she’d heard from him since he left. She’s been crying, I saw her. Says she can’t believe her own son would do something like this. Say’s she keeps seeing your face when you first saw him again-“

“Did he say why?” I question, un able to help myself from asking. It’s not like I haven’t been wondering that all day anyway.

Tommy shakes his head “Poll lost her shit. We all did. Told Gina all about you. About you and Michael. But he just fucking stood there… like a fucking ghost”

“Yeah, I know the look” I reply, flashing back to the cold, dead stare in Michael’s eyes.

“You know you don’t have to work tonight you can go home eh, try and rest, I’ll see you tomorrow night”

I clench my jaw, wishing he’d never said that. I can’t avoid it now.

“I won’t be in tomorrow, Tom” I begin, looking up at the ceiling and hoping that some God might just finally strike me down once and for all.

How am I supposed to do this.

I thought I had reached my limits of what I can bare this morning, but life seems to have decided that today is my ultimate test. If my sanity is still remotely in tact tomorrow, it will be a fucking miracle.

“If you need to take a few days Izzy it’s fine, Finn can cover for you. It’s about time he start leaning how to pour beer anyway-“ Tommy replies sympathetically, not understanding what I’m trying to say.

“No, Tom, I won’t be back tomorrow because I’m not coming back” I hold my breath “Today is my last shift”

Every word was harder than the next, as I forced myself to drag them up and out of my mouth.

Part of me wants this. Part of me want’s to run away from any place where I might see Michael. Jesus, I can’t believe I’m even thinking this but maybe this was the silver lining in him having the audacity to ask me to quit to stay out of his and Gina’s way. Because I won’t have to face seeing them together either. But actually say it, doing it, and breaking it to Tommy like this is incredibly painful.

“Oh” he breathes slowly.

Slowly, I begin to undo my apron. I can’t do this. I need to get out of here. I need to go home. Let my bed and whatever alcohol I have swallow me up. I don’t know how long for. And I don’t care.

“I’m sorry” I say in a harsh exhale as I hand him the apron.

He shakes his head, looking down at the floor almost like he’s to ashamed of how his cousin has broken my heart to look at me. He reaches for my hand to squeeze “No, I’m sorry”

Unable to hold back the tears that have been biting at my already red and glassy eyes, I quickly rush past him, my hand slipping out of his grip.

~ 3 DAYS LATER ~

The next 3 days are a drunken stupor. Coming in and out of consciousness. In and out of sleep, to eat a mouthful of something before washing it down with another mouthful of something strong.

It’s not until the 4th day when I’m woken at 7am by the sound of kids laughing and shouting as they play a game of cricket below my window. I try to muffle it by smothering myself with my pillow, but irritation and anger when it doesn’t go away draws me out of bed. I shuffle over to my window and slam it shut, earning looks from the children, before they forget seconds later and go back to playing.

From there I head straight to the kitchen. An Irish coffee constitutes as a nutritional breakfast, right?

As I let the kettle boil, I open my cupboard for my tried and true whiskey. And I find it… but I find it empty. Luckily that is, knowing in the back of my mind that I’m one more drink away from a hospital visit. But in that moment, I could have smashed the bottle over my kitchen counter in a tired, hangover fuelled rage.

Don’t they always say the cure for a hangover is more alcohol? Or have I just been around drunks at the pub too long?

I sigh. The pub. Over the past few days I have racked up a decent amount of memories that I wish to never remember. One of them, was seeing Michael… shortly followed by seeing his new wife Gina… then coming up at a close third is having to tell Tommy that I was quitting without any explanation why. That’s what the alcohol was for. To forget all that.

Now that I don’t have any alcohol left to immediately distract myself, I’m forced to really take in my surroundings. I look at my kitchen painfully as I count the bottles on my counter. Five. Empty. Bottles. I drank all that.

Jesus Christ, maybe I really am a Shelby.

God Michael would die if he saw this. Part of the reason he cherished me was because I wasn’t like his family. I loved them. I fit in with them. But I still had ‘a humanness to me’, as he called it one day. ‘A kindness.’ He said I kept him soft in a world lacking it. He’d only seen me truly drunk once. I was never a big drinker. I guess I’m not that girl anymore. Just like he’s not the Michael I knew anymore. I guess the only commonality we have anymore is our… dissimilarity.

The irony.

Unable to drink now, and sure as hell not leaving my apartment in this state, I spent the rest of the day moving slowly. Picking up whatever pieces of myself that I can. Showering. Changing clothes. Cleaning up what looks like a bomb site.

When night falls, and I realise I haven’t been shopping days and don’t have enough food to make anything decent, I decide it’s time to leave the house. Beside’s, everyone is going to be inside eating with their families and loved ones, and it’s dark enough anyway to hide myself in the shadows to avoid being seen.

With my biggest coat wrapped around me tightly, and an over the phone take away order placed at a restaurant down town, I head out into night. The cool, night air feels nice, like a splash of cold water on my face, and I’m so sure that I won’t have to face anyone that I begin to relax.

But of course I couldn’t really relax, could I. Because sitting inside the restaurant with a friend, is Polly Gray.

I pause in my tracks, almost tripping over from stopping so suddenly. I want to turn around and run the other way, immediately. And nothing is stopping me, besides the fact that I have nothing to goddamn eat.

“Fuck” I hiss to myself as I keep my head down, angling it away from her as I quickly slip into the restaurant doors.

“An order for Isabelle” I say urgently in a hushed voice at the counter as the worker greets me.

“Good evening ma’am” he grins eagerly as I hand him the money.

“I’ll just get your change” he nods joyfully and I grab my food. Daring to turn around, I peak over my shoulder to find that Polly is already looking at me. Once we make eye contact her eyes widen in shock and begins to stand up, making her way to me.

“Shit, shit, shit” I hiss, grabbing the food from the man quickly and beginning to walk out of the restaurant.

“Ma’am your change!” He calls after me

“Keep it!” I call back as I pick up the pace, jogging out the doors and into the street. I hear Polly’s voice call after me, and I hold my food close to me as I keep jogging, praying she will give up.

“Isabelle stop!” She shouts, and I slow to a stop. My head falls back as I sigh in defeat.

She finally catches up to me and I turn around to face her, but avoid eye contact.

“Izzy it’s me, what are you doing?” She asks as she catches her breath, staring at me in bewilderment.

God I can’t do this. I can’t. I’ve missed Polly so much. I’ve missed Tommy. I’ve missed the pub. Arthur. Finn. Michael. But I can’t be around them. Michael asked me to stay out of his and Gina’s way. I can’t do that if I’m still seeing everyone in the family. And it’s breaking my own heart.

“I just can’t talk right now Polly” I shake my head, praying for this to be over. For her to just accept that and go back to her dinner.

“Isabelle I’m worried about you, no one has seen you for day’s. Tommy said you quit the pub… Isabelle did Michael put you up to this-“

“No” I cut her off immediately. I’m lying. I know I am. But what difference does it make if I tell her Michael told me to keep out of everyones way. That will only make her and everyone hate him even more. And I can’t stand to see them all lose Michael the same way I did. I would never wish that upon them.

“Just talk to me darling-“

“No Polly,” I snap. Not out of anger, but out of sadness. Pain. I know what I have to do. What I have to say to make her stay away from me and fulfil Michael’s wish. But it’s going to kill me to do it. I take a deep breath as she waits for me to speak nervously. What’s that saying. Be cruel to be kind? I have to be cruel, I have to pushing them away. It’s easier to push them away. It’s better for everyone. Then Michael can live with Gina, the Shelby’s can be at peace without me around.

“I don’t want anything to do with your son, or your family. Have I not made that clear enough. I am not your family. I am not a Shelby. Now please leave me alone”

Polly stares at me, mouth open but no words following. I fight to keep her eye contact. To not falter. So that she think’s I’m serious about this. But it hurts. Never did I think I would have to be breaking her heart like this. I can see it breaking, I can see it in her eyes.

Is this what I looked like? Is this what Michael saw when he broke mine?

“I have to go” I manage to say before turning on my heels swiftly, leaving her standing in the street alone.

TAGLIST

@shadow-of-wonder

@marvelismylifffe​ 

@saintfootball​

@haphazardhufflepuff​ 

@peaky-things​

@burnitup​

@swweett-insanityyy​

@ganjeolhiddaeng​

@thoughtfulfreakalpaca​ 

[multisfabulis]

The Road to Forgiveness Be Damned

Ripples of the Past (Chapter 2/7)

Word Count: 3793

As per a poll I ran on Twitter to see if anyone wanted chapter 2 sooner or later, I’m posting this now rather than after finishing chapter 3!

Not gonna lie, this will probably be the most lighthearted chapter of this story and, to me, that’s saying something. This won’t have the dark stuff I mentioned last chapter nor is it going to be an emotional rollercoaster like the next couple chapters will be. Enjoy it while you can.

As always, I hope you enjoy reading this and I look forward to any and all criticism you have!

Read on AO3 | Read on DA

     Dim morning light peeked through the vines as Ferreth waited up for Ven. Were it not for the noise outside, he’d have no idea how early it was. He needed to get better at waking up earlier. If they wanted to accomplish their task within the four day time limit, he couldn’t be sleeping in like this. It’d help if he knew how far they’d have to go to the swamp but nothing in life was that easy.

     He found it weird how Filaurel didn’t tell them of anything to look out for. Nothing of its appearance, its behavior. If he didn’t know better, it was almost as if she was setting them up for failure. By not telling them jack, they’d waste away the four days wondering what they were hunting for till they eventually gave in. It’d be par for the course for that sadistic bitch.

     The way she treated Ven yesterday infuriated him. Barely letting her get a word in, twisting her words around to seem as if she were at fault… She probably would’ve done way worse had he not stepped in. He already resented her for being the core of Ven’s issues but her actions yesterday cemented his hate for her. If only he could make Ven realize she wasn’t to be trusted at her word…

     Ven came out at that moment, struggling to tie her hair up. She seemed to be the same as ever, though that didn’t mean much to him today. With her tendency to hide how she really felt at times, she may be feeling worse than she let on. She proved herself to be a better actress than he gave her credit for sometimes.

     Despite his concern, he mustered up a smile and asked, “Hey, how’d you sleep last night?”

     “The usual,” she replied, becoming increasingly frustrated over tying her hair up without the help of a mirror.

     “Any nightmares?”

     “No more than usual. Hey, can you help me with this? I can’t seem to get it right…” She held out a brush and hair tie to him.

     Although she said that nonchalantly, he was worried. She may be used to the nightmares but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to. Seeing how she acted when they arrived, he hoped being here wouldn’t exacerbate those bad dreams at some point. The only thing he could do was lend an ear, though he wished it wasn’t so.

     Brushing through her hair, he asked, “Ven, you’d tell me if the nightmares got worse, right?”

     “Would that be okay with you?” she asked, the tone of uncertainty he’s heard times before present in her voice. “I don’t want to be more of a burden to you than I already am…”

     “Yeah!” He gathered all of her hair and tied it up into a ponytail. “I know I can’t do more for you than just listen but… I’ll always be there for you, you know?”

     She barely responded to his words. He couldn’t tell if she believed him or wanted to, in any case. His mind flashed back to the time they had to wait out rain in a cave nearby during one of their missions. He promised her she could rely on him in times like this and no way in hell would he back out on that now. Not when she might need him to help her through this.

     Putting an arm around her shoulders, he bumped his forehead against hers and said, “Remember, you can lean on me whenever you want to. I can’t offer much but I’ll be there for you. I promised you that and I’m sticking by it.”

     The smallest glimpses of a smile rose up on her face. Smiles were rare to see from her, making this moment mean more than it usually did. He loved her smiles just as much as he loved her and wanted to make her as happy as she deserved to be. No matter how long it may take him, he was determined to see her smile without anything holding her down.

     Upon leaving, they made their way over to the outskirts. It was considerably busier today, with carts going in and out at the gate and several guards checking the insides of each one. If they were worried about someone bringing in contraband, that person would be pretty stupid to do it in plain sight.

     He felt hands grab onto his arm, knowing them to be Ven’s. This was something she did whenever she felt there were too many people around and needed to ease her anxiety. She was like Eric in that they absolutely hated being in or around crowds because it’d overwhelm them to the point of panic attacks. Unlike him, she still hadn’t gotten a handle on it yet. Being in this place probably didn’t help.

     He also felt as if there were eyes on them. Someone watching them from a place he couldn’t see, no matter how many times he looked. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was Filaurel making good on her threat through one of her lackeys. Nice to know the bitch didn’t trust them to carry out her “assignment” without any supervision.

     Getting through the gates was surprisingly easy. He thought, for sure, they would be stopped and he’d have to waste time convincing the guards to let them go. Instead, they just saw them off without a word. Whatever the reason was, he wasn’t complaining and went on his way. Once they were far enough away from the village, she let go of his arm and walked alongside him.

     Making their way westward, he hoped to find a high place to scout from. It wasn’t necessarily a requirement but it’d be nice to have one all the same. At least it’d prevent him from going into his Dradnach form and waiting a while to turn back once he was done. If he were an Air Dradnach, none of this would matter and he’d just be able to fly up. Just another thing to add to the ever-growing list of “why being an Earth Dradnach sucks”.

     “Ferret, could you… not help me so much with this?” she asked out of the blue as they trekked up a steep hill.

     Taken aback by her question, he stopped walking and replied, “W-what do you mean? I can’t just not help you.”

     “I know, it’s just that…” She stopped at the peak. “I feel like if I depend on you for anything I could do on my own, it won’t feel as if I’ve truly earned my forgiveness. It’s hard for me to explain and I know it doesn’t make any sense but… I’m only asking that you not help me a lot with this task. Not until I feel as if I’ve put in the work. Can you do that for me, please?”

     How could he just not help her with this? It wasn’t that he doubted she could carry this out on her own or saw her as a damsel in need. He knew better than anyone how strong she was and how extraordinary her abilities were. It seemed like she was only asking this because she believed it’d get her into Filaurel’s good graces. Knowing her, it still wouldn’t be enough.

     Even so, he begrudgingly gave in and said, “All right but I’m not promising anything.”

     “It wouldn’t be right of me to ask you to promise something like that.”

     They continued on till they reached a field. A couple dead trees were over to their left while their right had nothing but tall grass blowing in the breeze. Despite the sun bearing down on them, it was a nice day today. The perfect day to do some reconnaissance, he thought.

     Unfortunately, this would be where they’d stop. He didn’t know how much further the swamp was and they needed a good view of it to proceed onwards. No way could they risk stumbling in there blind only to get ambushed. Too bad it meant turning into his Dradnach form but it couldn’t be helped.

     “Hey, Ven,” he called out to her, “I think I know how we can do recon.”

     Tilting her head in confusion, she asked, “We’re not moving ahead?”

     “Nah. We don’t know how close or far we are from the swamp and I’d rather play it safe than risk falling into a trap.”

     “Okay, so what’s your plan?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

     “Well, since I’m about 20 and a half feet tall as a Dradnach, I could just turn, have you on my head as lookout, and turn back in the span of… 10, 15 minutes.”

     “We’re really desperate, aren’t we?”

     “It’s better than nothing. Besides, I know you’ve gotta be dying to see what I really look like. It is a pretty rare occasion, you know.”

     A snort and roll of her eyes gave way to a small smile. He liked making her smile, whether it be through cracking jokes or playful teasing. Her laughs were even rarer than her smiles and he managed to do that twice this trip. Even if their mission came out as a bust, today wouldn’t all be in vain.

     “All right, I’m gonna go change,” he said, heading into the field on his right side, “Don’t freak out if you see a big, fat, brown lizard in a few minutes!”

     The grass was about chest-high as he pushed past the golden blades. He needed to be a good distance away for this. His transformations always took quite a bit of space and there was no telling how much room he had in this field. He wandered down a straight line for some time before stopping.

     This spot was as good as any. He did some warm-up exercises, such as stretching his arms and legs out and cracking his bones, to prepare himself. The last time he did this was in Thornewind several months ago, back before he met Eric. At least the reason for it was different this time around. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of any and all distractions, and underwent the transformation process.

     He grew to thrice his size, flattening the grass around him. His skin hardened, causing scales that felt rough and rigid to grow over. Steely claws made to dig through the toughest of rock replaced his thin fingers. A stubby tail sprouted out from his backside, resembling that of a docked animal. Despite his grand stature, he was smaller than others of his kin, due to not being a pure-blooded Earth Dradnach. His brother loved to lord that over him when he could.

     Bringing his head down for Ven, he asked, “So what do you think? Pretty cool, right?”

     “If I can be honest, you seem more like a dog than a dragon.” She placed a hand on his snout. “A very scaly dog.”

     “How do I look in any way like a dog?”

     “Well, aside from the both of you being cute, kind, funny, lovable, and protective, you’re very huggable in this form, like a dog. If you just had fur, you’d be even cuter!”

     She let out a laugh as he nuzzled her. Only she could get away with comparing him to a dog and making it sound good. He wished this kind of thing happened more often, though without the “being compared to a dog” part.

     “I’m still cool, though, right?”

     “Very.”

     She climbed up and sat atop his head, waiting. He slowly stood up on his hind legs, carefully raising his head so as to not let her fall. Without any horns or spikes for her to grab on to in case she did, this was especially important. Once he was in an upright position, he could breathe out a sigh of relief. She was still perched on his head, meaning the hardest part of the job was done.

     With that out of the way, they saw what laid beyond the field. A dark forest still miles away from their current location sat before a marshy region. Tall willow trees were scattered across black water, decorated with green lilypads and algae. He hoped to see their quarry roaming about but luck wasn’t on his side. Well, they had the lay of the land now, which was all that mattered.

     Despite knowing all this, he let her relay the information back to him. He stayed silent, remembering what she asked of him earlier. Things of this nature, such as giving her a boost without taking away her instrumentality, had to be fine by her. Although he couldn’t show it, he was beaming with pride.

     Half a day’s travel was his best estimate for the swamp. If he were right, it’d mean they could be out by noon, finish the mission, and be back before dusk. They wouldn’t even need the fourth day if everything went to plan. The deed would be done, they’d report it to Filaurel, and head home the next day.

     Soon as he put her down, he turned back to being human. His body shrunk and became more compact, a far cry from his Dradnach form. The scales that grew over him receded, his skin once more smooth to the touch. His claws straightened, thinning out to human fingers again. The stubby tail he had only in this form vanished, as if it never existed in the first place. Now he was back to regular, human-like Ferreth, with the exception of one last thing---

     Excruciating pain erupted from his arms, as if someone was jamming several knives into them all at once. He muttered an expletive through gritted teeth under his breath as the pain ebbed. That was the one thing he hated about shifting in-between the two forms. Every time he turned from one to the other, he had to endure the pain that occurred in his arms. No matter how much time had passed from his accident, it still hurt like it happened yesterday.

     A hand on his shoulder, Ven was crouched down next to him and asking, “Are you okay? Do you need to rest?”

     “I’m all right, I just need a minute and we’ll go, okay?” he replied, giving her an assuring smile.

     He looked down to see if blood was beginning to seep into his wrappings. While his arms dully ached, the cloth was still a pristine white. Thank god for that, because he’d have a hard time trying to explain why he was suddenly bleeding. She didn’t need to know the reason why he kept his arms bandaged up. It was an unrelated matter, nothing she needed to be worried about.

     Once his small break was done, they began walking back. Cool wind blew in from behind them, ruffling their hair and clothes. It was somewhat reminiscent of Thesriden, a place he didn’t think too fondly of. The times of him being tormented by his brother far outweighed any of the good memories he had of that place. He doubted he’d ever go back there, now that he had an actual home.

     “Has anyone else seen you as a Dradnach yet back home?” she asked.

     “Nope. I prefer staying in this form--” he gestured to himself-- “since it’s just easier doing stuff than it’d be if I stayed as a dragon.”

     “I must be pretty special, then,” she said almost jokingly.

     “I’d say being the girl I’m in love with counts as being pretty special.”

     A roll of her eyes and a warm smile were all she gave in response. This wasn’t the first time he professed his love to her and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. He didn’t need her to reciprocate his feelings because he just liked being her friend. Not like she’d want to be with someone like him, anyway…

     “Oh, I just realized, would your powers be able to work in swamps?” she asked.

     “Maybe?” While he did work best in the kind of environment they were in now, swamps were like gray areas. “I mean, if there’s earth around, I can work with it. With swamps, though, everything’s practically mud so it may be tricky…”

     “You never tried?”

     “My mother died before she could teach me. Trust me, if she were still alive, she’d conquer that swamp for sure.”

     Memories of his mother flashed through his mind. He remembered how strong and confident she was, the way she used the water and earth around her so effortlessly as if they were tools for her to create with. She was a woman he was proud of being a son to and he loved her so, so much. Then she died, leaving him alone with his father and brother to deal with. Years have passed since her death yet the scar it left on him still festered to this day.

     “I wonder if she would’ve been like her…” He heard her mutter under her breath. It was easy to forget she didn’t have such a thing growing up. She had it so much worse than him and he needed to keep remembering that.

     The sun was beginning to set when they made it back. People were either closing up shop or returning home, a scene carried over from yesterday. Quick glances at Ven revealed a face full of melancholic nostalgia. He’ll never understand why she’d want to remember every bad thing that happened in the past when he’d rather just forget it all. Maybe it was just a difference of opinion on how they wanted to cope with the effects of what their crappy childhoods burdened them with.

     Having to stay in her childhood home for the duration of their time here made him apprehensive. Despite her assurances of its security, he felt inclined to say otherwise. How the hell was this rickety old house in any way safe, he wondered. Still, he kept his mouth shut so as to not upset her. This was once her home, even if he didn’t have a good thing to say about it.

     “Oh yeah,” he said suddenly, remembering what he discovered last night, “did you know anyone named Thessalia?"

     Her eyes widened in shock and she replied with, “…That was my mother’s name.”

     “I’m only asking because, after you went to bed last night, I got bored and decided to explore a bit. I found this old journal in a drawer and when I opened it, the first page had the name Thessalia on it.”

     “Could I see it, please?”

     He went over to a dusty cabinet and pulled out the drawer. An old leather book full of yellowed pages sat inside. If this really was her mother’s journal, then it’s been laying in that drawer for about twenty years. The fact she hadn’t known of its existence meant this would be the first time she’d see this.

     As he handed the book over to her, she said, “I’ve wanted to know about my mother and who she was for so long and the answers were here the whole time.”

     Several different emotions flickered across her face as she held the book in her hands. She took off a glove to feel the crinkled leather from underneath her bare fingers. Then she opened the cover to touch the first page, only to quickly flip through the rest of the musty pages. This was easily the most excited he’s ever seen her and, considering how she was normally, it’s become a big highlight of the trip so far.

     Still holding the journal, she hugged him and said, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

     The sudden hug rendered him speechless. Not noticing his lack of a response, she bid him a good night and walked to her room with a bounce in her step. He patted his cheeks to get rid of the blush, flabbergasted at what just happened.

     Despite how dazed he was, seeing just how happy she was right now put him in such high spirits. That journal was a goldmine of answers for her, who had been wondering just hours ago what her mother was like back then. No doubt she’d be reading through that book all night tonight.

     Even if it ran the risk of her being tired for tomorrow, she deserved this. Hopefully, they didn’t die tomorrow and she could be forgiven for her crime. So long as they kept their wits about them and protected each other, it’ll be smooth sailing. Then, when the four day time limit was up, they could go back home.

[eldritchsurveys]

176.

part 6 of that weird long bzoink survey

Have you ever mowed the lawn? >> A couple of times long ago.

Do you get an allowence? >> No, I get an income.

Where do your parents work? >> ---

Did you ever know your great grandparents? >> No.

What does family mean to you? >> It doesn’t really mean anything to me. For all intents and purposes, Sparrow is the only person that counts as “family” because once we’re married that’s literally what we’ll be, legally. I have no connections to the people I’m blood-related to, and I’m not even interested in having “family” at this point because it’s been such a source of bullshit for me. I don’t even want “in-laws” lmao because her mother is always like “you’re part of the faaaaamily” meehehfhhhhhhh fuck that.

What does friendship mean to you? >> I don’t know. I’ve always had a hard time really understanding what a friend is supposed to be for me, which is partly how I ended up in so many bad friendships. I would like to be in a mutually beneficial friendship, but I’m really not sure how they work, and no one I’ve asked about it seems to have had any insight except, you know, “don’t be a dick”-type advice, which is largely general.

What does true love mean to you? >> Love is just behaviour, for me. A way of treating people that shows compassion, appreciation, and interest. I don’t really know any other way to think of it than that.

What's your favorite band/group/singer? >> I don’t know, man, I have a million.

What's your favorite movie? >> The Fountain. Also, Interstellar. Also, Sunshine.

TV show? >> I like a lot of tv shows, I don’t really have any stand-out ones.

What radio station do you listen to most often? >> I don’t listen to radio.

Do you get snow days often where you live? >> Yes, unfortunately.

Do you try to run from things that are bothering you? Does it work? >> I try to distract myself from things that I can’t do anything about, or feelings that aren’t productive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Can you smell fear? >> I’m guessing not.

Would you ever pet a lion? >> If I had an opportunity and could guarantee not getting eaten, sure.

What's your favorite perfume? What's your favorite cologne? >> I like oils. Like from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab.

What's your favorite overall smell? >> I don’t have one.

What's your favorite sign? (star, heart, rainbow, skull) >> I’m not sure.

Do you know how to play marbles? >> I didn’t know there was a specific game related to them.

Do you know how to play jacks? >> I do now, but when I had them as a child no one taught me that there was a game you’re supposed to play, so I kinda just fiddled around with them.

Do you know how to play poker? >> I’ve forgotten by now.

Tape or tacks? >> Depends.

Plastic, wood, or wire clothes hangers? >> I prefer wood, but they’re more expensive.

Do you have a light in your closet? >> There’s a light in the main bedroom’s closet.

Do you collect spare change lying around the house? >> No.

Do you like the taste of Tums? >> Not particularly, but it’s not terrible.

How about Pepto Bismol? >> I’ve never tasted it.

Do you have a fast or slow metabolism? >> I don’t know. I’m guessing it’s average.

Do you drink coffee? >> No.

Is the room you are in right now a mess? >> Not really.

When you slip and fall do you laugh it off or freak out? >> I definitely laugh. Especially if it seemed like it probably looked comical to an observer (which a lot of falls really do).

What is your definition of feaking out? >> I don’t know, there’s a lot of ways to freak out.

Have you ever played in a refridgerator box? >> Nope.

Do you still draw with chalk? >> Nah.

Have you ever finger painted? >> I don’t recall having done so, but who knows.

Have you ever had a pie in your face? >> No, thank god.

Ever bobbed for apples? >> No.

Ever hit a piniata? >> No.

Played pin the tail on the donkey? >> No.

Have you ever been on tv/the radio? >> I’ve been on television.

What's your favorite number? >> 9, or 19.

What's your favorite letter? >> V.

What's your favorite color?  >> Gold.

(>0.0)><(0.0<) <- Is that cute to you? >> Sure. Looks like two Kirbys.

What's your favorite onomatopoeia? (Crash, bang, zoom, meow) >> Hmm... zoom is fun.

Have you ever been fishing? Is it really all that much fun? >> I’ve never been. I figure it’s probably more relaxing than fun, but I wouldn’t actually know.

Ever been minurature golfing? >> Yeah.

Are you a tennis geek? >> No.

Computer geek? >> I don’t really consider myself any kind of ‘geek’.

Video game geek? >> ---

Anime geek? >> ---

D&D geek? >> ---

Are you one of those people who watch Naruto? >> “One of those people”, lol. Okay. Anyway, no, I don’t watch it.

Do you agree that even Pokemon is better than naruto? >> I really don’t have an opinion.

Ninjas or dinosaurs? >> Hm.

Do you watch stand up comedy? >> Sometimes.

What's your favorite tv network? >> I don’t know. I don’t usually watch regular television.

Do you have one night that you could play on repeat forever and ever? >> Nah, I’m good.

Is there one dream you wish you could just live through once? >> Any of the ones I’ve had about Idris Elba, lmfao.

Do you think people with a British accent are hot? How about Australian? Irish? >> I’m really attracted to the cadence of some Irish accents. A person still has to be otherwise attractive to me for me to be attracted to them, though; the accent isn’t going to override everything else.

What is your ethnic background? >> As far as I know, Black American, Native American, and Haitian.

Do you eat ramen? >> Sure.

How about microwavable pot pies? >> Not so much anymore, but I do like them.

What's your favorite topping on popcorn? >> I like kettle corn.

Sweet or regular pickles? >> Regular. Every time I think I want a sweet pickle, just one slice is enough.

Have you ever tried pickled eggs? >> No.

What's the grossest thing you've ever tasted? >> Whatever it is, I don’t remember it now.

Have you ever lied about your age? >> No.

Do you look your age? >> Apparently not.

What age do you look? >> According to people I’ve polled in random places over the past few years, I seem to look somewhere between 21 and 27 to most.

What kind of dreams do you have most often? >> I don’t know, anymore.

Do you even dream a lot at all? >> I’m not sure. I don’t remember upon awakening. I guess this is the tradeoff -- I haven’t had sleep paralysis in months, but I also feel really distant from my dreamself now.

What is the name of your favorite teacher of all time? >> ---

What is your mom's name? Dad's? >> ---

Do you have any siblings? If so what are their names?  >> ---

When was the last time you threw up? >> I don’t remember. Probably at Gardella’s like 6 months ago or whenever it was.

What's the worst part about throwing up? >> The anticipation, I guess.

What do you do for personal growth? >> *shrug*

Do you wear jewlery a lot? >> I’m usually wearing it.

Would you rather die burning or die freezing to death? >> I don’t know how either feels, so how could I really choose?

In other words do you prefer the hot or the cold? >> At this point in my life I prefer the heat, even with my sensitivity to it.

Do you really believe that in 2012 we're all gonna die? >> Oh, so that’s how old the survey is.

Where do you think the Mayans went? >> I’m sure there are anthropologists and paleontologists that have some idea about this.

Who do you think built the pyramids? >> The people that lived there at the time...? Is there evidence someone else did? Or just conspiracy theories, as always?

If you could read anyone's mind who would be the first person you'd read? >> No, thanks.

Who's your number one on your friends list? >> ---

Do you know what the word Mollycoddle means? >> Yeah.

Do you think it's cheating to put questions on here that aren't real Qs? >> No, I just delete them.

Have you ever been dizzy without spinning? >> Yeah.

Do you like to make yourself dizzy? >> No.

Do you agree that milk cold is the equivilent of butt warmth? >> What.

Do you believe that if you want something enough you'll get it? >> No, because there still needs to be some effort put in, not just really hard wishing. But I do think that desire can be motivation to put in that effort, so in that sense, sure, yeah.

Have you ever wished on a star? Did it ever come true? >> No.

Have you ever thrown a penny in a wishing well? >> No.

What was your favorite mall ride? (mini carousel, pony, helicopter) >> Hmm.

Do you take care of your cuticles? >> No, I just leave them alone (which is better than young!me, who used to pick at them constantly).

Do you even know what a cuticle is? >> Yeah.

Do you believe that everyone has a soul mate? >> No.

If you could keep any person in the world as your pet who would it be? >> LOL nah, I like my inworld pets best.

How would you treat them? >> How I’d treat a pet would be determined by both their desires and their limits, and my energy level lol.

Would you put them on a leash when you went out? >> No, because I think that’s kind of... uncouth. Doing that sort of thing in public, I mean. There are plenty of discreet ways to be kinky without having to like... advertise it like that.

How would you punish them when they were naughty? >> That depends on what was agreed upon.

Are these inappropriote questions? >> For many people, they certainly would be. I just happen to not care.

I'm sorry. Have you ever seen Scary Movie? >> I’ve seen #3, but that’s it.

Which is bigger? The Godfather or Star Wars? >> Er...

What are your views on the second Godfather movie? >> ---

It sucked I think. Anyway are you inbred? >> Well, no.

What's your favorite text word? (lol, wtf, brb, g2g) >> I don’t know.

PC or Mac? >> I use PC.

[dickbaggins]

my fave everything @marrieddorks tagged me ♥♥

Nicknames: Jan, snorts

Gender: Female

Star Sign: capricorn on the cusp of aquarius

Height: 5′7′’

Time: 4:10 PM

Birthday: January 20

Favorite Bands: Rasputina, the Smiths, chvrches, BTS, NCT127, the Tragically Hip, Loona, Modest Mouse, the Cure, oh just stop me here ok

Favorite Solo Artists: Amanda Palmer, Ben Nichols

Song stuck in my head: Up the Wolves - Mountain Goats

Last movie I watched: I just watched the Tom Hardy Wuthering Heights which was a mini series but it counts, right? I just DVR’d it from a late night PBS airing and omg Andrew Lincoln was so lovely I had no idea! Otherwise it was pretty lacking, idk.

Last show I watched: I am watching season 3 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt

When did I create my blog: a long fucking time ago? Like 2010 or something even longer ago.

What do I post?: Mostly Supernatural crap, side of porn and lesbians and other attractive human beings.

Last thing I googled?: How to cure hiccups bc I had terrible hiccups last night

Do you have other blogs?: I have a personal blog ( @turtlemushroombicep ) and a porn blog ( @peachbottompie ) and I used to have an RP blog but no one wanted to do it haha.

Do you get asks?: Occasionally. I have a few unanswered in my box but I don’t get that many, really. Like once or twice a week now. I was very popular a few months ago until everyone realized how lame I actually am.

Why did you choose your URL?: I had a poll and this won over a few other wet Sam based URLs. I really want to change it to ‘sammysbutthole’ one day.

Favorite colors?: All of them?

Average hours of sleep?: About seven or eight hours, depending. 

Lucky numbers: I have none?

Instruments: Mediocre piano skills, very long ago clarinet skills, and I can play the guitar and mandolin. 

What am I wearing?: Grey tweed aerie harem lounge pants, a t-shirt from woot that says ‘living on the edge, scissor run 5k’ and my favourite gross oversized green cardigan.

How many blankets I sleep with?: Winter is upon us, so there is a sheet, a fleece Rick Grimes blanket that my husband got when someone donated it to his work (this is how we get most blankets and honestly that thing is like $20 at Target, I saw it) and then a larger faux fur blanket on top of that. And there is also usually a cat on me. 

Dream Job: I would like to get paid for writing professional and also own a yarn store and run knitting and crochet classes.

Dream Trip: Rhode Island, going to Lovecraftian places.

Ethnicity: White Canadian with obligatory indigenous mixed in somewhere, as per an old diary my grandmother found. Further back, we were polish jews on one side, and the generic white UK mix otherwise.

Favorite song right now: I honestly have no idea, I’m really kpop trash right now, we don’t need to talk about it.

Put your music library on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs that popped up?:

Flipside - Lana Del Rey

Don’t U Wait No More - Red Velvet

Neverending Circles - Chvrches

Satisfied - Hamilton soundtrack obv

U-Turn - Tegan & Sara

All the Pretty Girls - Kaleo

Grab a book nearest to you and turn to page 23. What is line 17?: Oh my god I’m so fucking lazy rn, you’re making me get up? The only thing I have nearby is the IKEA catalog. 

Who is your celebrity crush?: I just rewatched the beginning of Fear the Walking Dead, so I’m real back into Alycia Debnam-Carey. Punisher got me going on Ben Barnes, the little shitfuck. Otherwise, the usual suspects.

Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?: I do not know how to drive, I am far too gay, but I am required to learn to get around at all in suburban New Jersey, where public transport is terribly limited. So we’re working on it. 

The last book you read?: I re-read Annemor Sundbo’s book about traditional Norwegian mittens. That’s right.

Worst injury you’ve had?: I am sooo lucky that as clumsy as I am, I haven’t had any terrible injuries. I’ve broken both little toes so many times, and a few fingers. Otherwise that’s it, somehow.

Do you have any obsessions right now?: As always with this time of year, I’m frantically knitting and crocheting so I don’t have to be alone with my thoughts. I’ve made a lot of stuff. Really into Korean cooking too, which is time consuming but delicious and healthy.

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?: I wish I could say that I don’t but I’m a pretty black and white person when it comes to people doing me wrong or treating me poorly or anything like that. I wouldn’t say I hold grudges but I do cut people out of my life when I have to.

aaah who to tag, just everyone do it

[amandaj718]

Emmerdale and the Social Media Mystery

Social Media and Soaps

We use social media for everything.  Every type of brand and every kind of media uses social media to talk to their fans.  As a fan, I enjoy having that open channel to talk to others about my favorite products, television shows, and books.  It has its ups and downs, but it isn’t going away anytime soon.  Obviously.

Soaps use social media to get fans talking about what they like, what they don’t like and everything in-between.  As an American, I know how the American soaps run their twitter accounts.  It is a completely different experience than how British soaps run their social media.  For instance, ITV and Emmerdale.  After taking a long time looking at their main social media, I noticed while the network knows how to use certain social media channels it struggles with some others.

I look at how ITV’s Emmerdale uses social media and what works and what doesn’t.

Read on if you want to hear more!

How Emmerdale Uses Social Media

Emmerdale has a Twitter, Instagram and Facebook page.  They use twitter to talk to viewers, Instagram to show off behind the scenes or spoiler pictures and the Facebook is the original place for discussion of the episodes.

Twitter seems to be their newest venture.  They seem to mostly use it during live episodes and on the weekends to ask questions about characters and where we stand on certain storylines (that either ends up being interesting to read through or a firestorm).

Instagram is used to show behind the scenes photos, future and past character profiles and different parts of the village to start conversations.

Facebook is their original social media page.  They have focused episode recaps, polls, questions and spoilers for the week ahead.

If there is a big event coming (such as SSW), all the account start to work together to promote it.

My Opinion?

  Oh, look! It’s Robert and Aaron! *cries in a corner* 

  Seeing as I must infer a lot about corporate strategy and how ITV structures their corporation, I must say that Twitter seems to be the shows weak spot for me.

I assume there is a small group of people (possibly floating interns named LEON) that runs the Emmerdale and Coronation Street accounts.  I assume this because I haven’t seen a press release where ITV announcing they are using an agency to run the social media. For soaps, it seems to be in-house and through the marketing department.  Like most organizations, ITV farmed out their social media work to an advertising agency, Something’ Else. I assume this because in the Social Media Compliance Manual (it will be linked below) all content and all consent for fourth wall breaking must go through the marketing department head before posting.

With that said and inferred, Twitter seems to be the hardest to keep up with for the small team.  Which is understandable.  Twitter is a rough social media channel to use.  Not only do you have to keep the account updated, keep a consistent tone, one has to answer angry/happy/questioning fans, and start a dialogue about the different issues being addressed on the show.  This can be rough with a soap this popular and this wide-reaching.  The fans are dedicated and excitable which can lead to unwanted conversations and angry responses. I’m assuming different people are running the account day to day, the conversations can go different ways.  That ends up confusing people and causing unneeded anger.

This is because of tone issues and lack of consistency.

I think if they kept up one tone on twitter people could connect better to the account.  I find it uneven especially when it’s time for the episode to air. You can tell they set up the content cards in advance to match the episode.  It becomes cold and emotionless. You can tell a program such as Hootsuite is being used.  Sometimes after the episode is over someone comes on to talk to the fans.  Sometimes it can be fun or can be a disaster. Something to note, I can sometimes pick out when it is different people. This might be in my head, but I see it.  There is someone on the team that is full of puns, one likes to use slang words, and there is one that likes to use gifs as reactions. I can pin point each person’s voice. That’s not good unless it’s been established that there are multiple people on the account. They would usually notate who it is talking when that happens. This account doesn’t.

This leads me to the other problem with their twitter account.

Consistency.  Social media needs consistency, especially in tone and content.  This is where a social media calendar comes into play (which I think they don’t have set up for Twitter content).  Fans enjoy a good surprise or two, or usually, they thrive on social media when there is consistency. One expects to see a new episode of their favorite television show at its scheduled time, right? Well, that applies to social media as well.  People come to expect certain features or content to appear at its scheduled time.  The Emmerdale Twitter account is muddled, and it throws anything up whenever they feel like it.  The only time the account shows consistency is when the show is on, and that is scheduled.  The content cards come up when they should be trying to start a conversation that the channel never replies too.  That happens for the 30 or 60 minutes the show is on, but after that, the account goes back into chaos.

Same applies to the “Wish Wednesdays” and “Unlock Content” series.  The joke online when “Wish Wednesdays” show up is it must be award season! The “Unlock Content” series can randomly appear and disappear depending on what is happening on the show.  Either do it every day or pick one day and make it “Quick Spoilers” day.  People would be more excited about it if they knew it was appearing.  Also, “Wish Wednesdays” can only show up around awards season, that is fine, but the show needs to stop randomly bringing it up when fans are upset.  It doesn’t seem to work.

Twitter is a rough social media channel to run.  It takes a lot of trial and error and creative thinking to keep fans interested.  That might be too much for the small group of floating social media managers to accomplish.  That isn’t their fault.  A lot of networks, like ITV, still don’t understand the power of social media and how fans today are savvy enough to know when something isn’t working.

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  I enjoy their Facebook and Instagram account (for the sake of this writing I’m leaving out the YouTube page because that is another entry altogether).

The Facebook page is run well. It is clean. I see consistency, and something fans can count on to talk about the show.  Their Facebook page is easier to monitor or use their “Take Down Policy” (another policy that applies to all their social media but only put into full practice by the Facebook account). When I go there, I expect to see the episode round up and the comments from the general audience.  It isn’t exciting, but it is clean and isn’t muddled in its messages.

The Instagram page gives fans a fun inside look into the show and the actors that bring our favorite characters to life.  You can see the break between weeks easily because the show uses a piece of the village to signal a new week.  Which is smart.  I noticed it likes to use its “Unlock Content” series here, but it isn’t overused.  I enjoy it for its simplicity, and the fans are generally quieter there. I believe people are there for the cute pictures rather than to argue about storylines or characters.  It is easier to create content for that social media channel than the others.

Conclusion

Why did I actually look at Emmerdale’s social media? I am someone who uses social media to keep up with this wonderful, maddening, crazy show.  As an American, I’m usually left behind on a lot of information, so I rely on social media to keep me informed.  This includes all the official Emmerdale accounts.  I have noticed their shortcomings when it gets harder to keep up.  I am also a big fat nerd about social media and how a dated form of storytelling (soap operas) keeps up with the times.  I can see Emmerdale is beloved and I think their social media should reflect that.  They will get the Twitter account right. It will just take some time.

UPDATE (11/18/2017)

Recently, the storyliners did a Q&A on Instagram.  Here is what they did wrong this time:

1) Wrong platform. What they should have done was ask for questions on Instagram and then filmed a video of the storyliners answering them. If they wanted it to be purely text, they should have done it on twitter or even set up a reddit for this type of Q&A.  (The reddit choice might not be for them though)

2) They should have put stipulations on the questions. As someone who writes I would have loved to see more about story structure, how the process works and if they ever had to do any quick rewrites and how does that work? While that is in there, the Q&A is muddled with plot questions or angry, crazy Robron fans that make us all look so bad. *eek*

3) I wrote about their social media management and how it feels all wrong. I see it again, and I am dying to see how they plan this out and if there is a team. If its one person like I’ve been told, oh it shows. Social media for this type of medium needs a team. b

After all these months the social media is still messy. There seems to be no strategy involved.  I think, looking in from the outside knowing very limited information, the person running the social media/digital is overwhelmed. This is why people need teams. At least three other people to figure out strategy, building the schedule and making sure execution is flawless. I know most companies refuse or don’t understand how social works or its importance in this type of industry. ITV is trying, but they are doing it all wrong.

Links

http://www.itv.com/competitions/sites/competitions/files/Documents/ITV_Social_Media_Guidelines_June2017.pdf

http://www.somethinelse.com/projects/social-media-itvs-biggest-shows/

  #Emmerdale and the Social Media Mystery (UPDATED) #socialmedia #review #Robron Social Media and Soaps We use social media for everything.  Every type of brand and every kind of media uses social media to talk to their fans. 

[kmacsalazarba-blog]

7 michigan clean up mistakes You can kind of see

7 michigan clean up mistakes You can kind of see the maturation process of the last two years of what all he been through to get to the point he was. Had the right to know everything he was doing. (CNOOC) and an unnamed Japanese utility company for offtake agreements for the remaining two thirds of the project LNG production.. Always prepared for poor ground conditions by its nature with high water levels. Just as you shouldn ruin Arkansas with more alcohol, gambling, and marijuana, you shouldn allow your country to be destroyed.. What more, it hot on the heels of a similar initiative in Italy, backed by the UN World Food Program, and a government programme in Germany, where numerous restaurants were handed 100 residue boxes for customers to take home.. That, too, was more than the entire McDonald's meal.The lunches that came from home tended to be relatively decent. More than a metre in length, and with a silver mouthpiece, it was unearthed with a seal showing early straws in action, as two men drank beer from a jar.. With the president promise to sign it, McConnell could put the reforms on the Senate floor for an up or down vote. Throughout the relevant times until the trial, the locus consisted of two adjoining parcels that had been known by assessors numbers as parcel 28 2 (2,733 square feet) and parcel 28 4 (3,627 square feet). We couldn't be more grateful.". Rinehimer has sued the district, a case that is pending. While there was change at the bottom of the poll, the top eight teams stayed virtually the same with Notre Dame leading the way. The opening night crowd was addressed by Marie Yovanovitch, the American Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. It was a huge success. And Cardoso, J. Then, she began kicking the woman, who defended herself.Passengers intervened, trying to restrain Lushchinskaya, and told her to stop. Leila offers neither chit chat nor commiseration. We wish to thank the Cub Scouts coach outlet online Pack 68 who guarded the trees overnight, and the Kamehameha Schools Maui National Honor Society for helping residents pick out the right tree.. "The youth were being screened as gang involved individuals. That was 20 years ago, that just gets better and better and better. See Harvey. Corcoran, the brother of Tank TV star Barbara Corcoran, died at the end of April in his hotel room in the Dominican Republic, according to a statement from his sister. Bluegill are hitting on wax worms or red worms. We are happily stuffed.. I was not panicking, but was eager to reach the hospital.. We partnered with Chatter Hair Salon to create this long layered hair cut with a side sweeping fringe, to soften her hairline. It was a decent reaction in the second half, even though it was too little, too late. A Windsor man is facing an array of charges after leading OPP on a chase involving two stolen vehicles and an intentional collision with a police cruiser. And Calabrese, E. This neighborhood has had the highest foreclosure rate of any in the city. His assault created an international reaction. Everyone approached for the survey was asked if they were willing to participate. Prizes are awarded "as is" with no warranty or guarantee, expressed or implied, being provided by Sponsor. Nothing serious. He works hard and he competes. The lack of surgical abortion facilities in far north Queensland has seen women fly interstate for abortions or even perform self administered abortion.. Pictures and a quick article soon to come.. Usually are easier to manage. For Gagnon, Siftr users like Olson are helping to validate the platform as a nimble, malleable educational resource. Instead, government should set fair rules and allow industries to compete. Enough to warrant a drive. The two designated wings set up immediately near the elbow areas, so that they both can fan the dribbler down their particular sideline.The "Tight Wing" (TW3) influences anyone with the ball on his side of the court, while the "Wide Wing" (WW2) also allows nothing but ball handlers down his particular sideline.The "Tight Trapper" (TT4) positions himself near the 10 second timeline and close to his sideline, as does the "Wide Trapper" (WT5), on the "wide side" of the court.The "Safety" (S1) should have retreated back to defend his/her basket when the actual shot was taken. The Lions pushed across another three runs against reliever Cameron Clayton in the fifth, getting an Anderson walk and an RBI double to center field by Vannaman. Spicy, crispy XXL Crispy Chicken from Shihline Taiwan Street Snacks in Berkeley. So it's really nice to have.". Debbie last post on Instagram was in celebration of 2019 MLB Draft day on June 3, 2019. Another year has come and gone and what a year 2018 was! It sure has seen some awesome captures from all types of waterways and it sure did finish on a high in the south west. Then from the 17 September Chooseday Chill will start up again! Open to all, Chooseday Chill is a great event to relax and unwind meet new people, play board games and enjoy some free tea and toast. Off ball movement should be employed; that is, any time the midfielders are exchanging positions after a pass, the two attackmen can be exchanging as well.. We ended our detour in Fort Bragg, at the Glass Beach. In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar, applesauce, buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla until frothy, about 1 1/2 minutes.. Such was the strength of Devonport squad that they could afford to limit Daniel Syson to a substitute role after the former City playmaker had already scored coach outlet clearance in the Northern Championship curtain raiser.

[rebeccahpedersen]

Shouldn’t We Talk About Rent Control?

TorontoRealtyBlog

“A Plan For The People”

I know many of you cringe when you read this.

I hate government rhetoric, and I hate catchy slogans that are designed to solicit votes from the least-informed, who are least-likely to look beyond the surface.  It’s like those who get their news from headlines, but don’t spend the additional sixty seconds to read the story itself.

While many blog readers have told me I’m far too political for what is supposed to be a real estate blog, I have always maintained that “Toronto Realty Blog” covers one topic per word; all things Toronto, all things real estate, and all things that I want to talk about, on any subject, in the blog format.

I have made no secret about my disdain for the Ontario Liberal government, who were mercilessly ousted from power earlier this year.  But I will also admit that one of the last people in the world I want running the province is Doug Ford.

Nevertheless, the PC’s policies are more in line with my wishes for the province, as the fiscal conservative that I am.

C’est la vie.

I monitor the PC’s moves very closely, as I had with the Liberals.  And while I get acid reflux when I see “A Plan For The People,” because it’s just so damn cliché, I have to admit that I’m pleased thus far.

A Plan For The People is a girthy 174-pages long, and I read the whole thing over the course of a couple of weeks.  As with any government manifesto, this one is ripe with self-congratulations, aloof references to would-be policies to be implemented at a later date, and a whole lot of hyperbole!

As a real estate agent, the one aspect of the plan that I find the most interesting is with respect to housing, more specifically, rent control.

Don’t get me wrong – ending “discovery math” puts a smile on my face that could stretch from coast-to-coast.  But I think today, we’ll stick to real estate.

While the “Housing Supply Action Plan” section of the document is devoid of any actual plan, and merely specifies that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs & Housing will launch a plan in the spring of 2019, it does reference the following:

“Since 1992, rental unit construction has not matched household formation. Approximately 20 per cent of Ontario households live in purpose‐built rental housing. In 2017, the level of new rental construction would accommodate only 10 per cent of new Ontario households. If construction of rental units had kept pace with underlying demand, construction would have started on an additional 6,100 units in 2017. 

This undersupply of purpose‐built rental units contributed to historically low vacancy rates in the rental market. Rent control policies that weaken investment incentives and construction activity have played a role in limiting supply growth in purpose‐built rental housing. Strong increases in the supply of condominiums, which until recently were not subject to rent‐control guidelines, have helped keep the market better balanced.

To address these challenges, the government will enact policies to increase the supply of housing across Ontario. Part of this initiative will be the reintroduction of the rent control exemption that will apply to new rental units first occupied after today. This will help create market‐based incentives for supply growth that will encourage an increase in housing supply to meet the needs of the people of Ontario. As well, the government will cancel the Development Charges Rebate Program. This program is an expensive and ineffective method to incentivize new housing supply and cancelling it will result in savings of approximately $100 million over four years. The Province will follow through on its commitment to preserve rent control for existing tenants. This balanced approach will protect existing renters while creating the right conditions to increase the supply of rental units.”

I don’t disagree with any of this, nor do I disagree with the government’s decision to end a rent control policy that was destined to have the opposite effect of what was intended.

However, many people in Toronto are up in arms about the decision, and in my humble opinion, that’s because many of them are grandstanding, and/or don’t understand rent control.

Let’s not forget that Jennifer Keesmat didn’t even know how rent control worked.  And I spoke to people who were present at this meeting, who reenacted her dear-in-the-headlinghts, dropped-jaw demeanour when told that what she was asking for, was already in place.

If you’re like many of us in the city, you read BlogTo and Toronto Life on the regular.  I am no different.

Three weeks ago, when the changes to rent control legislation were announced, Blog TO published this:

“Ontario Government Scraps Rent Control And Toronto Doesn’t Like It”

Again, read the headline, then read the article.

In my opinion, I would suggest the headline should Read “….And Toronto City Councilors Don’t Like It.”

You could specifically add that the left-leaning (I know many of you hate that term, but how would you describe it?) councilors don’t like it.

Here are a few Tweets in response to the announcement:

  This is grandstanding, by very definition.  But what else should we expect?  Left, right, centre – every politician is going to act accordingly, at every opportunity.

The BlogTO article contains this little nugget:

“Experts say otherwise, arguing that scrapping any form of rent control will effectively serve to drive people out of their homes.”

This, I believe, is where the conversation should be.

Not around politicians grandstanding, not around sexy headlines, not around hyperbolic and catastrophic predictions like, “This will drive millennials out of the city,” without supporting evidence, but rather around the economic arguments for and against rent control.

From my perspective, and why I struggle with this topic, is that economists universally agree that rent controls have an adverse affect on the market.  And all the while, politicians use it as an opportunity to fight “for the people,” whether they want to acknowledge the economists’ findings or not.

I have read countless articles and papers on rent control, many are long, and many are complex.  But there’s one I like from the Library of Economics & Liberty, which is a bit dated, but contains a solid economic explanation of why rent controls fail, and I can’t help but enjoy being brought back to the days of examining supply and demand curves.

I’m sure many of you can provide links, essays, et al, and I encourage you to do so.  But this one is short enough to share on this blog, concise enough to drive home the point, and I believe, above all else, fair.

    The Effects of Rent Control

Rent control, like all other government-mandated price controls, is a law placing a maximum price, or a “rent ceiling,” on what landlords may charge tenants. If it is to have any effect, the rent level must be set at a rate below that which would otherwise have prevailed. (An enactment prohibiting apartment rents from exceeding, say, $100,000 per month would have no effect since no one would pay that amount in any case.) But if rents are established at less than their equilibrium levels, the quantity demanded will necessarily exceed the amount supplied, and rent control will lead to a shortage of dwelling spaces. In a competitive market and absent controls on prices, if the amount of a commodity or service demanded is larger than the amount supplied, prices rise to eliminate the shortage (by both bringing forth new supply and by reducing the amount demanded). But controls prevent rents from attaining market-clearing levels and shortages result.

With shortages in the controlled sector, this excess demand spills over onto the non-controlled sector (typically, new upper-bracket rental units or condominiums). But this non-controlled segment of the market is likely to be smaller than it would be without controls because property owners fear that controls may one day be placed on them. The high demand in the non-controlled segment along with the small quantity supplied, both caused by rent control, boost prices in that segment. Paradoxically, then, even though rents may be lower in the controlled sector, they rise greatly for uncontrolled units and may be higher for rental housing as a whole.

As in the case of other price ceilings, rent control causes shortages, diminution in the quality of the product, and queues. But rent control differs from other such schemes. With price controls on gasoline, the waiting lines worked on a first-come-first-served basis. With rent control, because the law places sitting tenants first in the queue, many of them benefit.

Economists are virtually unanimous in concluding that rent controls are destructive. In a 1990 poll of 464 economists published in the May 1992 issue of the American Economic Review, 93 percent of U.S. respondents agreed, either completely or with provisos, that “a ceiling on rents reduces the quantity and quality of housing available.”1 Similarly, another study reported that more than 95 percent of the Canadian economists polled agreed with the statement.2 The agreement cuts across the usual political spectrum, ranging all the way from Nobel Prize winners milton friedman and friedrich hayek on the “right” to their fellow Nobel laureate gunnar myrdal, an important architect of the Swedish Labor Party’s welfare state, on the “left.” Myrdal stated, “Rent control has in certain Western countries constituted, maybe, the worst example of poor planning by governments lacking courage and vision.”3 His fellow Swedish economist (and socialist) Assar Lindbeck asserted, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.”4 That cities like New York have clearly not been destroyed by rent control is due to the fact that rent control has been relaxed over the years.5 Rent stabilization, for example, which took the place of rent control for newer buildings, is less restrictive than the old rent control. Also, the decades-long boom in the New York City housing market is not in rent-controlled or rent-stabilized units, but in condominiums and cooperative housing. But these two forms of housing ownership grew important as a way of getting around rent control.

Economists have shown that rent control diverts new investment, which would otherwise have gone to rental housing, toward greener pastures—greener in terms of consumer need. They have demonstrated that it leads to housing deterioration, fewer repairs, and less maintenance. For example, Paul Niebanck found that 29 percent of rent-controlled housing in the United States was deteriorated, but only 8 percent of the uncontrolled units were in such a state of disrepair. Joel Brenner and Herbert Franklin cited similar statistics for England and France.

The economic reasons are straightforward. One effect of government oversight is to retard investment in residential rental units. Imagine that you have five million dollars to invest and can place the funds in any industry you wish. In most businesses, governments will place only limited controls and taxes on your enterprise. But if you entrust your money to rental housing, you must pass one additional hurdle: the rent-control authority, with its hearings, red tape, and rent ceilings. Under these conditions is it any wonder that you are less likely to build or purchase rental housing?

This line of reasoning holds not just for you, but for everyone else as well. As a result, the quantity of apartments for rent will be far smaller than otherwise. And not so amazingly, the preceding analysis holds true not only for the case where rent controls are in place, but even where they are only threatened. The mere anticipation of controls is enough to have a chilling effect on such investment. Instead, everything else under the sun in the real estate market has been built: condominiums, office towers, hotels, warehouses, commercial space. Why? Because such investments have never been subject to rent controls, and no one fears that they ever will be. It is no accident that these facilities boast healthy vacancy rates and relatively slowly increasing rental rates, while residential space suffers from a virtual zero vacancy rate in the controlled sector and skyrocketing prices in the uncontrolled sector.

Although many rent-control ordinances specifically exempt new rental units from coverage, investors are too cautious (perhaps too smart) to put their faith in rental housing. In numerous cases housing units supposedly exempt forever from controls were nevertheless brought under the provisions of this law due to some “emergency” or other. New York City’s government, for example, has three times broken its promise to exempt new or vacant units from control. So prevalent is this practice of rent-control authorities that a new term has been invented to describe it: “recapture.”

Rent control has destroyed entire sections of sound housing in New York’s South Bronx and has led to decay and abandonment throughout the entire five boroughs of the city. Although hard statistics on abandonments are not available, William Tucker estimates that about 30,000 New York apartments were abandoned annually from 1972 to 1982, a loss of almost a third of a million units in this eleven-year period. Thanks to rent control, and to potential investors’ all-too-rational fear that rent control will become even more stringent, no sensible investor will build rental housing unsubsidized by government.

    Is the piece dated?  Yes.

If you want something more current, there’s no shortage of options.

January 18th, 2018, Bloomberg: “Yup, Rent Control Does More Harm Than Good”

From a policy perspective, even frequent critic of Doug Ford and the PC’s, the Globe & Mail’s Marcus Gee, suggested that rent control wasn’t the best option to deal with the housing crisis, and this was back in April of 2017: “Rent Control Isn’t The Solution To Ontario’s Housing Problem.”

Toronto Realty Blog readers represent the perfect blend of conservative and liberal voices on all things social, fiscal, and economic, so I’m interested to know what you have to say.

The comments on last Friday’s blog were epic; folks like Chris, a blog-regular, going out of his way to provide evidence to counter my thoughts and opinions, and of course where would we be without Kyle, the voice of reason in my chaotic world?

To everybody that posted on Friday – thank you!  Agree or disagree, I loved the commentary, and I respect the efforts.

When it comes to the topic of rent control, I think there are arguments to be made on both sides.  As an economics major in business school, and now a Realtor, I have ample reasons to have landed on the side that I am on.

What do the rest of you think?

The post Shouldn’t We Talk About Rent Control? appeared first on Toronto Realty Blog.

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[jayhawksofficial]

Golden Smog debut album to be reissued on deluxe vinyl

Run Out Groove Vinyl just announced that they are reissuing the classic Golden Smog debut album, Down By The Old Mainstream, in a limited, numbered, 180g 2LP edition on colored vinyl.

More details and to pre-order: http://runoutgroovevinyl.com/down-by-the-old-mainstream-2lp.html

IMPORTANT: Down By The Old Mainstream is available to order exclusively via the RUN OUT GROOVE website until 3/8/18 and will be limited and numbered based on total orders taken at the end of the pre-order period. After the pre-order closes, the only way to purchase a copy will be via participating music retailers while supplies last.

Gary Louris: "The Golden Smog....A good excuse for hanging out with friends that turned into some beautiful music, and lessons about making it that I carry with me to this day."

Pre-order opens: 2/7/18 Pre-order closes: 3/8/18

• 2-LP, 180-gram, color vinyl pressed at Record Industry. Fans get the opportunity to vote on the colorway of the vinyl through our Facebook poll starting at 5pm EST Feb 7th through Feb 28th: http://bit.ly/2EuM6Cx • Tip on gatefold aqueous gloss Stoughton jacket with printed inner sleeves • Individually numbered and limited to one pressing. • First repress since 2010, when it was first issued on vinyl • A lost classic from the 1990s that includes Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Dan Murphy of Soul Asylum & Gary Louris, Marc Perlman & Kraig Johnson of the Jayhawks.

Run Out Groove Vinyl website: www.runoutgroovevinyl.com

                                                                               (photo: Bonnie Butler Murphy)

Track Listing: Side A 1. V 2. Ill Fated 3. Pecan Pie 4. Yesterday Cried Side B 1. Glad & Sorry 2. Won’t Be Coming Home 3. He’s A Dick Side C 1. Walk Where He Walked 2. Nowhere Bound 3. Friend Side D 1. She Don’t Have To See You 2. Red Headed Stepchild 3. Williamton Angel 4. Radio King

Biography: Golden Smog is a Minneapolis-based, loosely connected inter-changeable group of musicians from notable bands comprising members of Wilco, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, Big Star and the Honeydogs. Since their inception in 1989, many members have come and gone, with the following musicians having appeared on all recordings: Kraig Johnson (Run Westy Run), Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum), Gary Louris (Jayhawks) and bassist Marc Perlman (Jayhawks). The group originally played in and around Minneapolis doing mainly cover song sets as a country-rock reaction to the punk and hardcore music that dominated the region. In 1995 they released their debut album, “Down By the Old Mainstream,” recorded at Pachyderm Recording Studio that was made up of mainly original material with a few covers. Drummer Chris Mars of the Replacements was gone by now and the line-up consisted of Johnson, Murphy, Louris, Perlman and two new members: Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and Honeydogs drummer Noah Levy. All members were credited under pseudonyms to avoid contractual issues with their other record companies.

Golden Smog article from the St. Paul Pioneer Press

by Jim Walsh (January 1996)

It happened three days into Golden Smog's five-day recording session for their debut album, ``Down by the Old Mainstream,'' last summer at Pachyderm studios in Cannon Falls. Drummer Noah Levy of local roots-rockers the Honeydogs had already laid down his tracks, which left the five other players - Soul Asylum's Danny Murphy, the Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Marc Perlman, Run Westy Run's Kraig Johnson and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy - sitting in a circle, conducting an old-fashioned late-night jam. A Smog mission statement emerged from that circle session in the form of ``Radio King,'' an off-the-cuff homage to musical heroes - both in and outside the Smog - sung by Tweedy: ``Your music fills my car/ Your voice breaks every time/ I'm still wonderin'/ If I know who you are/ I hang on every line.'' ``To me, that song is totally about being a music fan,'' says Murphy. ``And that's kind of the vibe of the band. I'm obviously a big fan of all these guys' work. It was pretty exciting to play with guys whose records you'd probably buy, even if you weren't on it.'' The first incarnation of Golden Smog, which included former Replacements' drummer Chris Mars, released an EP, ``On Golden Smog,'' in 1992. But as the players' careers cranked up, Golden Smog (the moniker comes from a Mel Torme-inspired character on ``The Flintstones'') was put on the back burner. In the summer of 1994, Murphy, who had been an admirer of Tweedy's old band, Uncle Tupelo, contacted Tweedy to see if he wanted to collaborate. The two got together and wrote, and Murphy booked a show at the Uptown Bar, with the Smog billed as Circle the Drain. For Tweedy, who had just experienced a stormy breakup with Uncle Tupelo, the gig was healing. ``Doing that show really made me feel like I could play live again,'' he admits. The other members of Circle the Drain/Golden Smog also were at various crossroads when they entered the studio. The Jayhawks had just finished recording ``Tomorrow the Green Grass'' and were scheduled to tour Australia and Japan with Counting Crows. Soul Asylum was preparing to record ``Let Your Dim Light Shine,'' and Wilco had just finished ``A.M.'' ``We were all in our band modes,'' says Perlman. ``And when we got together, it was `Wow. This was meant to be.''' In essence, Golden Smog served as a musical vacation from the players' high-pressure careers. And when Johnson, who isn't the primary songwriter in Run Westy Run, presented his friends with some of his original material, it was received with no-holds-barred enthusiasm. Suddenly, Golden Smog had evolved from a jokey cover band into a creative cocoon. ``Nobody would ever say, `Well, you should do this' or `You should do that,''' says Johnson, of the Smog's creative process. ``Everybody would just kind of go, `Hey! That's a good idea, let's try it.' And sometimes when that happens, you think it's great, and then the next day, you have a hard time listening to it. But that wasn't the case. Even though it was recorded more than a year ago, I listen to it, and I don't say, `I wish I would have done this or that.''' ``When you feel like you're doing it for the pure joy of it, without any expectations, somehow things get easier,'' says Louris. ``It was a lot of work, but there wasn't that cloud hanging over your head, saying, `This is your next record, and this is what your career's based on, and this is your shot for this year.' Because of that, it turned out much cooler.'' For Perlman, the experience provided a creative outlet, which he had explored on ``Promises Broken,'' the latest Soul Asylum single co-penned by him and Murphy. ``It's so much easier to collaborate with your friends,'' says Perlman. ``It looked like a retreat in there: Everybody was just pairing off into corners, writing lyrics and stuff. It was just a really good vibe.'' ``Everybody was just sitting in little circles, finishing stuff,'' says Murphy of the session, which includes vocal cameos from Son Volt's Jim Boquist and Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner. ``It was actually pretty fun. I don't even think we knew we were making a record. We just thought we recording some stuff to see what would happen. But when we got the tapes back, I was pretty devastated.'' That can be attributed to the top-notch material, much of which was discarded by the musicians' first-string bands, including Tweedy's ``Pecan Pie''; ``Won't Be Coming Home,'' by Louris and his former Jayhawks partner, Mark Olson; Louris and Johnson's ``V,'' about their mutual friend Victoria Norvelle; and Murphy's ``Ill-Fated.'' ```V' is definitely a different lyrical direction than Olson usually likes to go,'' says Louris. ``And it might not have happened without the Smog, because everybody knew her, or had dated her or been friends with her. So everybody was into the song - because it was about Victoria, also.'' ``I remember the first time I heard `Won't Be Coming Home,' the Jayhawks were opening for us in the mainroom,'' says Murphy. ``And I said, `Christ, what is that song, Gary?' And he said, `Oh, it's this thing I'm working on.' I was just stunned. And it didn't get used on their record, because someone said it sounded too much like R.E.M. or something. That's completely ridiculous.'' For Murphy, whose songwriting in Soul Asylum usually takes a back seat to Pirner's, Golden Smog functions as equal parts buddy club and essential artistic outlet. ``I decided awhile ago that the only thing more pathetic than a guy in a band is a frustrated guy in a band,'' he says. ``Columbia [Soul Asylum's record label] has certain ideas for Soul Asylum, and it includes me to an extent. But if something doesn't get used, I'm not real political. I'll just say to the guys, `I think you're missing the boat; I think this is a good song.' And nine times out of 10, they'll agree. But if I have something that I've finished, I prefer it to be on a record. So that's what really motivated me to do the Smog.'' As for the future, the Smog will mount a two-week tour that visits First Avenue Feb. 29 and March 1, and ends up at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, in mid-March. Other than that, there are no concrete plans. Anything more would smack too much of - yikes! - a full-time band. ``It reminds us what it's like to have fun making music, for the sheer enjoyment of it,'' concludes Perlman. ``Because we didn't go into it with the idea of selling a bunch of records. If it sells, it sells. And if not, it's still a great record, and we had a great time doing it. And I think we all needed to make a record like that.''

[rocknutsvibe]

Revolver: Song by Song (part 1 of 2)

Welcome to a new feature here on the site in which we take a classic album and dissect exactly what makes it tick. We’ll go song by song, deconstructing the magic in such excruciating detail that you may never actually enjoy any of these songs again. Doesn’t that sound fun? Does it matter?

I thought I’d pick Revolver for the first time around, simply because it (and Pepper) are usually the albums that show up at the top of “Best Album” lists. I’m not under any misapprehension: I know that the Beatles have been exhaustively discussed for half a century. Paul McCartney has been dead since 1966 for God’s sake!

What I’m trying to do, ultimately, is examine a much-hyped album as a simple collection of songs. What works? What doesn’t? The Beatles were young and cute and foreign (at least, in the U.S.), and it’s not as if they were trying not to cultivate an image, but the songs are ultimately the reason anyone still knows who they are. So, I will present a short burst of thoughts on each song, trying to examine each well-worn pop chestnut as though I’m hearing it for the first time. Because someone is hearing the Beatles right now for the first time. And hopefully, that sort of thing happens every day from here on out.

1. Taxman 

Let’s start this off right: I don’t really like “Taxman.” Don’t get me wrong, The lyrics are a scathing indictment of various British policies/specific politicians of the time (though his situation is admittedly ultra-specific. Really only three other people can relate to it and they were all in the recording studio at the time). I also recognize what a huge achievement it is for George Harrison to get a Side One Track One on a Beatles album. That must have been huge for his confidence and, for all we know, gave him the boost needed to write “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Something.” I just don’t like it all that much.

2. Eleanor Rigby 

Hey, it’s that song that invented the Moody Blues and Procol Harem and Electric Light Orchestra! It’s not often that you meet a song that carries the burden of chamber-pop and orchestral rock on its shoulders. “Rigby” is a classic rock Atlas, holding up enormous genres for years on end. It’s a deeply sad, deeply perfect pop song. These Beatles, they don’t fuck around.

3. I’m Only Sleeping

Do we really need a song explaining exactly how lazy John Lennon was during the mid-60’s?  As it turns out, we totally do. I took an informal poll among my friends of their favorite Beatles songs, and this song made multiple appearances, (along with “Don’t Let Me Down” and “Something.”) It’s easy to see why. The jangly stomp and jaunty bass line are appealingly ramshackle, much as Lennon describes himself. If you buy the whole dichotomy of McCartney as the perfectionist craftsman and Lennon as the effortless, accidental genius, this song works pretty well to reinforce that whole business. Lennon’s voice is something extraordinary here; it’s thick, languid and almost syrupy in its reluctance. You can almost envision him wasting the day away in bed. He’ll write a song after this dream plays out, and it will be better than anything you can possibly imagine.

4. Love You To

Not a huge fan. This seems to be a case of experimentation over coherence. I like the impeccably recorded sitar, but I feel like this is more of a goof between the bandmates, a sort of “look what we can do,” than an actual song. It seems to reference “Love Me Do,” but only very obliquely. Unless I’m in the mood to listen to the whole album, this one is usually a “skip.”

5. Here, There And Everywhere

Speaking of perfect songs, this is the best song on Revolver, which puts it on a pretty short list for best Beatles song overall. I know that declaring a “best Beatles song” is patently absurd (it’s “Glass Onion”), but Paul McCartney has been known to list this as perhaps the best song he’s ever written. He’s certainly responsible for some of the best pop songs of the last 55 years, but this may rank at the top.

6. Yellow Submarine

Try not to smile during this song. It’s slight and a bit silly, but still better produced than 99% of other music at the time. If someone says this is their favorite Beatles song you should still probably head at a steady pace in the opposite direction, but I get the limited appeal. “Yellow Submarine” seems like a great entry point for children, and the sooner I can get my (hypothetical) children onto a steady diet of Beatles and other classic rock and away from Top 40 radio, the better.

7. She Said She Said

As legend has it, this song was inspired by an interaction between John Lennon and the actor Peter Fonda at some sort of party in the mid-60’s. This is sort of a thought that one could only come up with while tripping on LSD, but is the best human approximation of death the feeling of extreme sadness? The unknown narrator of the song (probably Lennon) says “she’s making me feel like I was never born”, which is something decidedly worse than death. Never being born is never existing at all, which is a far cry from existing and then expiring naturally. As the story goes, Fonda was the one making Lennon feel as though he’d never been born, showing off his bullet wound and just generally doing uncool things, especially if you’re tripping balls and have to associate with him. This song captures the feeling of a party that’s just about to go off the rails extremely well, and though I know it was scary for everyone involved, I still kind of wish I was there.

  See you next time for part two!

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[livthelifeblog-blog]

Our Passions

Our Passions.

Date: April 18, 2017 Tuesday, 4:13pm break, end 8:50pm

Notes:

Location + setting: I’m sitting outside, at Margot’s house (or as many of you will learn, my adopted little sister’s house) I’m waiting for them to get back from Washington. They’ve been gone for almost a week and (I almost said kinda but no) I really really miss them!

It’s super nice out, I’m listening to my alt-j and my spotify “new hits” playlist times are good.

Update, I am now inside. After spending around 3 hours on this piece, I feel very proud. I hit the mark stylistically and had a few concise statements. I hope this makes sense and now I’m going to work on some homework enjoy…

Our Passions.

So what inspired me to write today? Well, starting off, I actually have time and second I have energy. Now what really inspired me to write Today? Obviously if I’m asking this question nothing from above. Those reasons just happen to make the experience more enjoyable. I was inspired today in my car and in school during Advanced Placement Government.

I was sitting in my AP government class today. It was 3rd hour so about halfway through the day. As usual, I was listening to my teacher, one of my favorites by a mile long shot explain how political polling works. As he talked and talked his speech became monotonous.  Regardless of the fact I thought his class is especially interesting.

I started looking around at his room, which is, let me just explain to you right now, a palace compared to the average classroom. It includes a wall filled to the brim with a myriad of colorful license plates from all corners of the globe, political memorabilia, and even some movie posters carefully pinned down like a family portrait. Only as I shifted my eyes over to the window framing a overcast cloudy sky, did my thoughts begin to diverge from how many people it took to conduct a valid political poll, (it’s only 1500 I paid my teacher some attention).

As I started looking out of the window, as I usually start to do when I’m tired or lacking caffeine, I slipped into a daydream. Today was not the typical; the dream was not centered on after school plans or a cute boy i’d seen the day before. As turned side to side softly in my vibrant red yellow and blue rolling chair, my mind stepped from my seat. It began looking upon the classroom as if no one there knew anything different, the teachers, the lessons and the furious note taking became foreign. I became an outsider. Similar to a young boy from Africa, never knowing anything about higher education but looking into the classroom on this gloomy, overcast day, I wasn’t a student anymore. I was a non biased third party, transcended into the future. In that instance I thought of college. How everyone in my class would sit through so many more lectures and so many more hours of the black and white. The white paper page outlined with black ink or the white screen illuminated with black text. They’ll see it over and over again. This world I was taken to felt so eerily familiar and dangerously comforting.  

As I realized my current place and time, I snapped back to reality. I had an upcoming quiz in the next few minutes so I shifted my head back to the board. Clearing the memory from my mind. I wrote down on my notes, “out of body experience, not in classroom”.

Throughout the day I pushed my thoughts about that college and the perpetual classroom from my head and as I cruised to my friends house, blasting rap music and skipping my track meet. As I confidently edged closer and closer to my friend’s house, with Beyonce’s Diva playing from my back speakers. The sun and blue sky lit my way and as i tend to do I started my deep thinking about passion, drive, what motivates us.

How come I used to be so motivated to run track and now it was like a chore or work? You can brag and feel good about working hard at a job cleaning dishes by citing your work ethic. You could brag about taking your dog out to a sibling citing you helped your parents. Even though these things are not particularly enjoyable by themselves, we do them to impress other people. Just like I do in track. Sure I like looking good on the track. Sure I like feeling refreshed after a run and scoring a new personal best time. Sure I like the occasional laugh with my friends and the “job well done” from the coach. Sure I do it majorly to impress others.

Sports correlate in impressions and so might school, impressing parents with great grades in challenging classes. The need to impress becomes a sphere, surrounding you like a hamster running on it’s wheel there is seemingly no end in sight.

Think of your life as a walk in the amazon rainforest, not a circle reminiscent of a hamster wheel but a series of overlapping paths and lines. At one point, yes the odyssey through the vivacious but mystical jungle will end. Yet, yes the choice to go anywhere you want on the path always rests with you.

So many people fall victim to the cobra of comfort that coils itself around its victim and swallows it into a deep tomb of ignorance. Basically comfort with something in school or in sports as I have been reflecting to is like the cobra in your path. Cobras can be camofaluged with the most innocent of objects such as a tree. Seemingly harmless unless you fail to look closer. A cobra, a trap, pulling down a veil over opportunity.

What keeps you truly alive is in my mind being able to spot the benefits and disadvantages of a situation and not be afraid to change, or follow your passion.

My father always wished he had the guts to follow his passion in music, reminiscing, “I wish I would have stuck with music”. This starkly contrasts to his reality, working at an auto factory.

If you want to try writing like me, start writing what you feel passionate about, even if the words that flow onto your paper end up sounding like a kindergartener's first written story, it’s a start. No matter how long you’ve been diverging from your path to dreams, hobbies or ambitions, it’s never too late to turn around. Starting can be as simple as picking up a paintbrush. Whether the excuse was money, time or resources, there are more opportunities than ever to animate a passion into a tangible, sustainable way of living. You only know if you try.

Now moving more into depth on passions. My definition of a passion is something that you wake up every morning, looking forward to or wake up thinking about. Honestly some may think of a passion as carefree; an activity only stress inducing in the slightest. This isn’t always true. Take running for example, some people have a passion for it because they genuinely enjoy the steady rhythm of the soles of their feet beating beneath them. Yet, taking that passion to the next level requires diligent training and strong dedication.

Living a life that has purpose is a skill. It’s a fine trade such as a master artisan of architecture or a world class surfer, riding the twisting current of a wave that splashes salt water on sunburnt toes. This skill takes effort to develop and even more effort to develop around modern life. Old age is the most common catalyst.

The catalyst to a passion filled life is old age and mostly the security that allows heads filled with grey hair to live off their hard earned taxpayer money. This increases security and therefore allows this generation to step out of their comfort zone.

The system of a developed nation is the most advanced society has ever embraced. Go to school, and do well, and get into a good college, and get a good degree and get a job to pay off those years of college, and then have enough money to support a family. The system embraces one thing and one thing only. I don’t even need to type it, we all know the green eyed monster is almost as common as the green grass in a suburban neighborhood. Money seems to be the driving factor controlling many lives in a century of glitz, glamour and technology.

Although this system is easily open to the most dazzling spectrum of opportunities, it also holds the heaviest weight of responsibility. This weight is often too cumbersome, limiting those opportunities to the people brave enough to see them. They see them by stepping from their path and observing the jungle; a variety of trees, flowers and animals otherwise hidden in peripheral vision.  The cumbersome weight holding many back in everyday life is the pride of millions of Americans today, equality.

Taxes and housing and electric and water and car insurance and gas and grocery costs and utilities and rent and phone bills and student loans and homeowner loans… the list is almost endless. These responsibilities, some promoting equality flow through the jungle as a everlasting river; gently supplying life but just as abruptly drowning you in rushing rapids.

It’s getting late, it’s only a tuesday and I need to snap back to reality and start my homework.

In a nutshell, a synopsis of my idea here is to never be complacent. Never take the journey of life for granted. Having a passion and having the guts to follow it is one of the most challenging things life can offer. Only, surprise surprise, life is that way. Afterall it is a jungle, oozing with temptations, mysteries and hardship.

In my life, I’m starting to realize, my journey is not going to be repeated. It’s only going to happen once. Not in my 30s or not in my 60s. This moment and it’s opportunities are never going to be presented again. School and sports are important to me, not just to impress everyone but to also better myself as an individual. Yet, even though these things are important, they’re general and nothing exquisit.

I feel like I’m trying to mold myself into a diamond with the pressure of a normal 10 pound weight. I believe Schools and Sports do present incredible opportunities only, the real opportunities lie outside of it, in the real world that’s  mixed with a healthy dose of passion. You just need to learn to turn over the next branch and look.

Btw: this is just a draft of my thoughts on paper & a hobby that I want to grow with and learn more about (aka my writing is not mechanically perfect)

Have an amazing day everyone & Peace out butter scout!

Love liv

[osumaremarketingsolution-blog]

100 Killer Ideas For Your Social Media Content

 Never run out of social media content ideas again! the subsequent list covers with reference to everything you'll presumably post on social media. From personal, to business-related, to promotional posts, this list of one hundredideas can keep you impressed for an extended time.

1. Quotes: comical, exalting or psychological feature quotes invariably perform well. 2. Fill-in-the-blank posts (e.g. “If I had $1 million i might _________”) 3. Polls: whereas Facebook offers intrinsic polls, I notice running them manually works best for enhancing engagement (e.g. “Which of those books is your favorite?”) 4. covert photos: Take candid shots of yourself, your workers, or snap an attempt of your workplace or space. 5. Statistics or data: Share new, relevant business statistics (these perform nice in terms of retweets and shares) 6. Post a link to AN previous journal post: There’s nothing wrong with exercise, and previous posts can gain new engagement, extending their life. 7. Questions: create easy, basic queries that your followers will answer quickly. 8. Link to a guest post: Share (or re-share) a link to a post you contributed to a different web site. If you’re fascinated by learning however and why guest blogging ought to be a part of your on-line strategy, see my article, the last word Guide to putting together Your Business by Guest Blogging. 9. Post a branded image: Post a funny or sacred image along with your emblem or web site address thereon. 10. Infographics: notice AN infographic your followers would appreciate. look into Daily Infographic for ideas, or higher nonetheless, produce your own. Recommended by Forbes MOST POPULAR Photos: 2017 thirty underneath 30: The Standouts +183,933 VIEWS Meet The 2017 category Of thirty underneath thirty 11. Product photos: Work best on sites like Pinterest or Instagram. rely on however you'll be able to add a singular angle to the shots (e.g. AN worker really exploitation the merchandise, a customer-submitted picture, etc.). 12. Photos that don't have anything to try to to along with your merchandise or business: Instead, they convey the sensation behind your complete. for example, however Starbucks shares photos on Instagram to associate their complete with sunshine, warmth, and smart friends (not simply coffee). 13. covert product shots: Photos of your merchandise being factory-made or sourced. 14. Link to a contentious journal post: There’s nothing higher for eliciting engagement than somewhatdisputation.

16. Let Pinterest inspire you: Pinterest could be a goldmine in terms of finding stunning pictures you'll share (particularly pictures with quotes). simply make sure to offer correct credit. 17. Share a useful resource: If you’re actually involved concerning sharing the foremost helpful informationalong with your followers, don’t be afraid to direct them to different people’s valuable content (not simply your own). 18. Post a Slideshare presentation: If you would like to seek out one that’s already proved itself to be well-liked, visit the ‘Trending in Social Media’ section at the lowest of the Slideshare homepage. 19. Link to a case study: Case studies ar nice for delivering helpful information in an exceedingly manner that’s usually additional comestible and unjust than a typical web log post. 20. Link to associate industry-related IFTTT recipe: Haven’t detected of IFTTT (short for If This Then That)? you would like to ascertain it out. Then share a link to a formula your followers would notice helpful. 21. fire reviews or testimonials: Eliciting reviews from fans or followers is one amongst the most effective ways thatto urge testimonials you'll use as social proof on your web site. 22. Fan photos: rummage around for hashtags associated with your business or product, and share a clientpicture on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. 23. advocate a tool: Share a (preferably free) tool or resource you're thinking that your followers would noticehelpful. 24. Share a favourite book: almost like #23, share a book recommendation your fans or followers would appreciate.

25. each day within the life post: provides a recap of a typical day within the lifetime of a graphic designer, author, CEO, etc. 26. advocate your favorite products: If you’re AN e-commerce web site, share an inventory of your high sellers or highest-rated product. If you’re a service supplier, share an inventory of the product that assist you reach your business. 27. Share random tips: sporadically post a random tip or trick your followers would realize helpful. Hint: mistreatment random tip numbers adds interest to your post (e.g. Tip #256: __________) 28. Link to your hottest web log post: provides a transient intro to the post and make a case for why it’s your most scan and shared post. 29. offer a recommendation: Share the love by recommending a business you’ve worked with with success within the past. 30. Share a work/life balance tip: Your social media followers wish to understand you’re a true person with an equivalent struggles as them. Share a tip you’ve learned for equalization work, life and family.

32. Take a visit down memory lane: Share photos of recent logos, websites or your terribly initial product. 33. Random posts that show you’re a true person: as an example, what you had for dinner last night or what you’re doing this weekend. 34. Share widespread Reddit topic: Visit Reddit’s Trending Subreddit page to seek out widespread and trending topics to post concerning. 35. advocate somebody else to follow on social media: Share a link to somebody else’s social media profile and encourage your fans to ‘like’ or follow them. 36. Share a Pinterest board: If your customers ar on Pinterest (hint: if your demographic is educated, high-income females, they in all probability are), share a Pinterest board via Facebook or Twitter. 37. Share a comic book or meme: obtaining your customers to laugh with you may be a good way to start out building relationships. 38. Post a video testimonial: Share a video review; or higher however, raise your social media followers to submit their own video testimonials. 39. advocate a colleague on LinkedIn: Encourage your connections to achieve dead set somebody UN agency acts as a valuable resource for your business. 40. Hold ikon|a photograph} contest: fire photo submissions so get your fans to vote. Share the winning photos, too! 41. Share a trending Twitter topic: Use Topsy to seek out content that’s widespread and trending on Twitter. 42. Hold a discussion on social media: this could intensify pretty quickly, therefore make certain to remain on high of it!

43. ‘Caption this’: Post a photograph and raise your fans to come back up with artistic or funny captions. 44. YouTube video: notice a cute or sacred video and persuade you to buy to your fans or followers. 45. Tag another Facebook page: Generate some sensible destiny by serving to to push another business. 46. Share breaking business news: be stop of what’s happening in your business or niche by victimization Google Alerts. 47. Share country-specific holidays: want your followers from round the world happy holidays (a full list of worldwide holidays are often found

48. Share (and raise for) predictions: as an example, “I predict that Germany can win the planet Cup. who does one assume can win?”. 49. supply a free e-book: Build your email list whereas generating some goodwill along with your fans. 50. raise questions: Let your fans raise you something. 51. Post a disputed view: Play devil’s advocate, however tread fastidiously. 52. Use Facebook Interest lists for content ideas: See what topics square measure trending and share them along with your fans or use them to come up with your own content. 53. Profile an employee: Let your followers understand they’re coping with real folks. 54. Post product recall notices: Keep your ear to the bottom therefore you'll be able to be the primary to share necessary safety info along with your followers. 55. Post a ‘truth or fiction’ question: Let your fans guess whether or not it’s the reality or a story. 56. Share a trending Google search: Visit Google’s high Charts to search out out what folks square measurepresently looking for; provide your own spin on one in all these topics. 57. Fan of the month: Acknowledge your complete ambassadors and allow them to understand they’re appreciated. 58. Share trade analysis: Post a link to and summary of research your fans would notice helpful.

59. Hold a flash sale: Use Snapchat 

to supply

 a limited-time coup

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