#School of Ferrara

[didoofcarthage]

Allegory of Fortune by Giovanni di Niccolò de Lutero, called Dosso Dossi

Italian, c. 1530

oil on canvas

J. Paul Getty Museum

[maniculum]

For anyone who's enjoyed the recent posts about Tarot-as-a-game, in a surprising bit of kismet, our newest episode covers that topic as well as other matters of playing-card history.

We all like TTRPGs, but what about integrating other games into your tabletop play? This week, we're exploring the history of playing cards, their many variations and occult practices, and how you can utilize their unique history for your worldbuilding and campaigns.

Images and list of suits here.

Join our discord community! Check out our Tumblr for even more! Support us on patreon!

Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system here!

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Citations & References:

Berry, John. “Chinese Money-Suited Cards.” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 5, 2003, pp. 230-6.

Caldwell, Ross Sinclair. “The Devil and the Two of Hearts.” The Playing-Card, vol. 37, no. 2, 2008, pp. 126-41.

Caldwell, Ross Sinclair. “The Proto-Historiography of Playing Cards: Early Hypotheses and Beliefs about the Origins of Cards and Card Games in Europe.” The Playing-Card, vol. 38, no. 2, 2009, pp. 92-118.

Chatto, William Andrew. Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards. London, 1848.

Culin, Stewart. Korean Games; with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan. Philadelphia, 1895.

Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, & Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: the Origins of the Occult Tarot. St. Martin’s Press, 1996.

Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot: from Ferrara to Salt Lake City. Duckworth, 1980.

Dummett, Michael. “The History of Card Games.” European Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 1993, pp. 125-35.

Hargrave, Catherine Perry. A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. Houghton Mifflin, 1980.

Janssen, Han. “The 14th Century and the Introduction of Playing Cards into Europe.” The Playing-Card, vol. 34, no. 3, 2006, pp. 173-80.

Lo, Andrew. “China’s Passion for Pai: Playing Cards, Dominoes, and Mahjong.” Asian Games: the Art of Contest, edited by Irving L. Finkel et al., Asia Society, 2004, 217-32.

Lo, Andrew. “The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 63, no. 3, 2000, pp. 389–406.

Lo, Andrew. “The ‘Yezi Pu' (Manual of Leaves): A Card Manual for Games of the Late Ming Period [1368-1644].” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 2, 2002, pp. 86-96.

Maggio, Emilia. “Early Dragons.” The Playing-Card, vol. 45, no. 3, 2017, pp. 131-41.

Pollett, Andrea. “Tȗmȃn, or the Ten Thousand Cups of the Mamluk Cards.” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, pp. 34-41.

Singer, Samuel Weller. Researches into the History of Playing Cards; with Illustrations of the Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. London, 1816.

Taylor, Edward Samuel. The History of Playing Cards, with Anecdotes of Their Use in Conjuring, Fortune-Telling, and Card-Sharping. London, 1865.

van Rensselaer, Mrs. John King. The Devil’s Picture-Books: a History of Playing Cards. New York, 1893.

Wilkinson, W. H. “Chinese Origin of Playing Cards.” The American Anthropologist, vol. 8, no. 1, 1895, pp. 61-78.

[vestaignis]

Застывшие во времени люди и боги итальянского скульптора Арриго Минерби Феррары.

People and gods frozen in time by Italian sculptor Arrigo Minerbi Ferrara.

Арриго Минерби ( 10 февраля 1881 , Феррара — 9 мая 1960 , Падуя ) — итальянский скульптор . Родился 10 февраля 1881 года в еврейской семье в Ферраре , под руководством скульптора Луиджи Леньяни посещал курсы декоративно-прикладного искусства в Ферраре в школе Доссо Досси . Он работал керамистом, декоратором, тренером и штукатуром в Ферраре, во Флоренции (где он совершенствовал свое мастерство в Академии изящных искусств ) и в Генуе (из этого периода следует помнить гигантского Нептуна из железа и бетона 1910 года в Монтероссо ).

В возрасте 35 лет он переехал в Милан , где в 1919 году устроил для критиков и публики выставку своих работ в галерее Пезаро. Эта выставка также успешно гастролировала до 1920 года. Regionale di Ferrara, возвращение в Милан в 1922 году перед поездкой на Primaverile Fiorentina, и, наконец, его пригласили на Венецианскую биеннале , где он выставил свою серебряную группу «Тайная вечеря» (сейчас в Соборе Осло ). 14 июня 1925 года в Парко делле Римембранзе на Бондено он представил свой «Мадре» как памятник погибшим в Первой мировой войне. Он стал почетным гражданином Бондено, хотя это было отменено из-за фашистских расовых законов и повторно присвоено только в 2004 году. После Второй мировой войны Минерби работал в основном для католических церквей и кладбищ (в Милане, Риме, Рапалло , Пьяченце , Падуе , Коппаро).

Arrigo Minerbi (February 10, 1881, Ferrara - May 9, 1960, Padua) was an Italian sculptor. Born on 10 February 1881 into a Jewish family in Ferrara, under the guidance of the sculptor Luigi Legnani he attended arts and crafts courses in Ferrara at the Dosso Dossi school. He worked as a ceramist, decorator, trainer and plasterer in Ferrara, in Florence (where he perfected his skills at the Academy of Fine Arts) and in Genoa (from this period the giant iron and concrete Neptune of 1910 in Monterosso should be remembered).

At the age of 35, he moved to Milan, where in 1919 he staged an exhibition of his work for critics and the public at the Pesaro Gallery. This exhibition also toured successfully until 1920. Regionale di Ferrara, returning to Milan in 1922 before traveling to the Primaverile Fiorentina, and finally being invited to the Venice Biennale, where he exhibited his silver group The Last Supper (now in Oslo Cathedral). On 14 June 1925, in the Parco delle Rimembranze in Bondeno, he presented his Madre as a monument to those killed in the First World War. He became an honorary citizen of Bondeno, although this was revoked due to fascist racial laws and was only re-granted in 2004. After World War II, Minerbi worked mainly for Catholic churches and cemeteries (in Milan, Rome, Rapallo, Piacenza, Padua, Copparo).

Источник: :wiki5.ru,https://www.artearti.net/mostre/arrigo-minerbi-ritorno-alla-gloria, /it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrigo_Minerbi, /vk.com/@bmpage-gigantskaya-statuya-neptuna-v-nebolshom-italyanskom-gorode, //www.artearti.net/mostre/arrigo-minerbi-ritorno-alla-gloria, /www.flickr.com/photos/pivari/21549242499, /www.finestresullarte.info/en/exhibition-reviews/arrigo-minerbi-sculptor-between-ferrara-and-the-italian-culture-of-the-early-twentieth-century.

[maaarine]

Too many men lack close friendships. What’s holding them back? (Angelica Puzio Ferrara, Psyche, Feb 25 2025)

"Navid, 44, a Persian American business coach, spoke about being mocked as a teenager by his friends for expressing affection toward other boys.

For a look that lingered too long or a pat on the back that seemed more a stroke than a thwack, ‘they called me a faggot,’ he said, recalling the all-purpose signifier for any behaviour deemed ‘too feminine’.

Later, when someone in his circle made similar attempts at physical or emotional affection, Navid caught himself flinging the same word at them.

‘If I’m calling you that, there’s no way I can be it,’ he explained.

It’s a hallmark of how men surveil each other’s behaviour: the punished becomes the punisher.

In the pub, at school, in the office or on the sports field, men in most Western societies (though growing research suggests these dynamics are not geographically confined) are asked to perform a masculinity that values self-sufficiency and disdains emotional ‘oversharing’, especially with other men.

This process is learned.

For every commentator who suggests that boys are simply less community-minded and relationally intelligent than girls, there is a study that shows how boys are incentivised, through subtle and overt cues, to hide their sensitivity until – like any muscle that is not used – it atrophies.

The US psychologists Christopher Reigeluth and Michael Addis spotlight such cues in their research on the policing of masculinity.

One 17-year-old white boy in their study put it this way: 'I was just, like, depressed all the time. And my friend called me ‘a depressed little bitch’. And it really got to me because I had just lost my grandfather … When he said that to me, I learned to hide how I was feeling.'

In my own work, Navid demonstrates the protracted consequences of this social learning process.

Taught to retract his bids for connection, or risk mockery, he said: ‘I didn’t know how to have intimacy with anyone I’m not sexually attracted to,’ alluding to the one place – or person – many men turn to for softness and intimacy.

Over and again, men expressed a chronic sense of lack within their male friendships.

When I asked Eagle, 44, a mixed-race school administrator from Arizona, if he had close friendships, he replied: ‘Do you mean outside of my wife?’ looking confused.

Eagle sought male friends but, like many other men, he found that ‘friendship with men is a lot of activity and discussion about what is happening, and never really exploring your inner world.’ Jared, 40, felt similarly: ‘I wish it was easier to make friends and keep friends as a guy, but I think it’s easier to self-disclose with women.’

Women, he added, ask better questions and remember to follow up. As Kenneth, a white 28-year-old in Canada, put it: ‘Women offer me actual relationships, whereas men just offer me experiences.’

Many men in my work rely centrally on the women in their lives, even when these women do not centrally rely on them.

George, 24, a mixed race engineer in the UK, said: ‘My only social outlet apart from work is being with my girlfriend, and maybe mixing with her friends as well.’

Ed, 82, said: ‘I wouldn’t know what to do socially if my wife died.’

The idea that only women can provide nurturing companionship creates a fraught context for reciprocal relationships between men and women.

Few interviewees ever question whether they are, in one man’s words, a ‘leech’ on women’s time.

One group was an exception: queer and trans men – who often sit furthest from the top of the masculinity hierarchy.

This group was often acutely aware of how women in their lives – not just romantic partners, but friends, family members and colleagues, too – were heavily relied upon for a type of emotional support that my colleague and I call ‘mankeeping’.

Paul, 28, a Latino American gay man, finds himself caring for women friends who are burnt out by supporting their straight male romantic partners.

‘When straight men fail, we have to pick up the pieces,’ he said. He recommends that straight men ‘diversify who [they] communicate to. You can’t just rely on your wife or girlfriend to be your emotional labourer.’

Alao, 33, a Nigerian gay man, put it more bluntly: ‘Straight men have a lot to learn from us.’"

[whencyclopedia]

Leon Battista Alberti

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472 CE) was an Italian scholar, architect, mathematician, and advocate of Renaissance humanism. Alberti famously wrote the treatise On Architecture where he outlines the key elements of classical architecture and how these might be reused in contemporary buildings. Even more influential were his writings on painting and sculpture, which transformed the theoretical practices of Renaissance artists. Alberti put his ideas into practice and designed many churches in various Italian cities, perhaps the most influential being the San Andrea of Mantua (1470 CE), the first monumental classicizing building of the Renaissance.

Early Life

Alberti was born in Genoa on 14 February 1404 CE. He was an illegitimate member of a wealthy merchant-banker family, which had been exiled from Florence in 1387 CE. The family moved from Genoa to Venice and, thanks to his father Lorenzo, Alberti enjoyed a school and university education in Padua followed by a stint at the University of Bologna. Alberti's education included mathematics, Greek, Latin, classical literature, and, finally, a doctorate in canon law from Bologna in 1428 CE.

Alberti moved to Rome where he worked as a papal secretary from 1432 CE. One task at the Papal Chancery was to write a new version of the lives of the saints and martyrs. The young scholar took holy orders and this brought with it several benefices that improved his income significantly. However, his position in the church seems not to have had any influence at all on his humanist writings or his treatises on art and architecture. When the Medici family took power in the early 1430s CE, Alberti was finally able to return to his ancestral home. Florence was then the capital of Renaissance art and architecture where men like Donatello (c. 1386-1466 CE) and Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446 CE) were reviving the ideals of classical antiquity. Alberti would later write that his contacts in Florence inspired him to participate in this revival himself.

Alberti continued in his role as a papal secretary but also acted as a sort of artistic consultant to rulers in various Italian cities such as Florence, Ferrara, Mantua, Urbino, and Rimini. Moving around Italy gave Alberti a great insight into the many Greco-Roman remains still visible and perhaps inspired him to make plans for a survey of ancient Roman buildings in Rome. Alberti's study of ancient architecture resulted in him noting that there were actually five and not four classical orders as previously thought. This fifth one, subsequently called the Composite order, was a mix of elements from the Ionic and Corinthian orders. Also interested in architectural theory, Alberti was a keen student of On Architecture by the Roman architect Vitruvius (c. 90 - c. 20 BCE). Accordingly, when Alberti moved into this new field in more practical terms, he wanted his buildings to both imitate the austere grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome's finest buildings and reproduce their classical ratios of height and length. Another important consideration was that buildings should display a harmonious balance between function and decoration.

Continue reading...

[jrooc]

✨Weekly Tag Wednesday✨

Thanks @energievie for the amazing and random questions (and tag) this week. And thanks @suzy-queued @mybrainismelted for the tags!

Name: Jess

Age: A Nosho and a half

Location: Toronto, 🇨🇦

And now...

What is your DJ name? Having had no idea wtf to answer here I turned to the always faithful internet quiz. So I present: DJ BoomKitty 😅 yikes...

If you were a genre of music, what would it be? Folk/alternative with the occasional pop indie jam

What would you title your biography? "Good Fucking Grief, Why?"

What are the first three things you'd do if you were invisible? Maybe sneak on a plane to somewhere tropical and live out my days on a beach switching between empty hotel rooms and lounging by a pool

What subject do you wish was taught in every school? Useful math like taxes. Social relationships. Dealing with anxiety.

When was the last time you tried something for the first time and what was it? Ummmm.... I've had to start gardening for the first time this spring and it takes a forever and I'm afraid to kill everything. Also weeds are horrible.

What is the most underrated city you have ever visited? Ferrara, Italy. So cute. When I was there (a decade ago) all the residents went into the square on Friday night and shop and have drinks.

What day in your life would you like to relive? A day cycling with my Dad

If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be and why? Cleaning the house. Blech.

How long would you last in a zombie apocalypse? 91 days. Exactly. 'Cause I'm blind as a motherfucka and I'd have that 90 day contact pack and then I'd be totally fucked. You know those glasses are gonna get stepped on immediately. Yes ... I have thought about this a lot. Almost legally blind problems.

What would be the most surprising scientific discovery imaginable? So many. Other habitable planets? Regenerable healthy food that doesn't taste bad. Easy space flight. Brain broken... too many things.. 🫠

If you could have any view out your office window, what would you choose? I want to say the ocean maybe? But also a garden with a bunch of cats in it would be pretty cool

tagging or just waving hi to:

@roryonic @spookygingerr @gallapiech @creepkinginc @ian-galagher

@blue-disco-lights @heymacy @deedala @michellemisfit @transmickey

@stocious @transmurderbug @transsexual-dandelions @mickittotheman @astaraels

@crestfallercanyon @solitarycreaturesthey @mickeysgaymom @gallavichsuperfan @palepinkgoat

@ms-moonlight-inn @rayrayor @guinguin1984 @sgtmickeyslaughter @bellezabelize

@look-i-love-u @callivich @lee-ow @vintagelacerosette @rereadanon @ardent-fox

@krysmiss @wehangout @iandarling @iansw0rld @sandrashaine

@especially-fuk-u @doshiart @i-think-you-mean-reduction @tv-obssessions

@mickeym4ndy @darlingian and anyone else seeing this! Yes, you!

[maplewhims]

introducing beverly ferrara 🦪

having just moved back home to brindleton bay after living in the city for so long is weird, beverly’s dad has been begging her to settle down back in her hometown since she graduated college so he decided to purchase her a home in the same neighborhood! she couldn’t resist this beautiful house located right next to an equestrian park where she can take lessons on her newly found hobby!

beverly is hoping to reconnect with some old high school friends, fall into new routines and; maybe even adopt a dog! 🤍

[cadmium-free]

Day 3 of 26 with @neopetsdotcom

THE ADDICTION (1995)

Lauren's Review (from letterboxd)

I’m obviously a fan of pretentious movies, etc. I am no stranger to watching a slow paced or convoluted or ostentatious film in order to see what it has to offer and working out what it is trying to say, and how well it accomplishes saying it, and I often really enjoy that process. But this movie is fucking. Insufferable. Every time the main character opens her mouth all I can think is shuutt the fuck uppppp 

And it’s unfortunate! Because it’s a very stylish movie, and I do enjoy a lot of its elements! On paper, a movie about vampirism as an addiction metaphor interweaving with an exploration of philosophy sounds great. But instead of something great. this movie is an exhaustingly and indefensibly bleak slog

Awl's Review (from letterboxd)

I wish I liked this more. As it is, this is a very stylish film. The black and white film looks stunning and its a very captivating portrait of nineties New York. The voice over has a compelling cadence, though Christopher Walken steals the show when he monologues for his single scene. Abel Ferrara is just such a great director for Walken.

This movie just felt like being trapped in the worst conversations I had during graduate school. While it's clear the film is about grappling with an inadequacy of philosophy to address reality, it still is subjecting the viewer to an hour and a half of philosophical debate. Which is fine, and I think it would have played better if I cared about this particular debate and hadn't spent the week griping about how poorly some people apply theory to life and critique.

Though maybe I should have liked it more for just that reason! I don't know! It's sort of charmingly on the nose, at least. The vampire as both addict and addiction. Control and succumb. I think some of my friends would really enjoy it, at least.

This is my second Abel Ferrara film, and despite not having a great time with this one, it hasn't put me off him as a director. If anything, I'm more curious now. Desperate to know if the audio mixing makes it so ridiculously hard to hear in all his films, because it's two for two now, with New Rose Hotel being the first.

[fabiansteinhauer]

History and Theory of inconstant and polar law

(The) Law, that can be a readable object or an object that lets read (and is thus formed from the marks/ 'mauls' and clammy missives/ trajecories that are called letters because they are objects that let).

There is a phrase by Walter Benjamin that is also used in reference to Aby Warburg, precisely because of the impulses that drove Walter Benjamin in the mid-twenties (once again unsuccessfully) to connect with the Warburg library. These impulses lie in what Walter Benjamin calls the magical and mantic practices in censored passages (passages he himself cancelled) of the pile of fluttering notes or sheets of paper called his historical-philosophical theses. Censoring is also a magical and mantic practice, especially before the ' expropriation of the diviner and fortune-teller'.

Benjamin shared with Warburg an interest in that part of Roman law which is so subliminal that some deny that it was Roman law at all (even Marie Theres-Fögen, who originated the history and theory expropriation of the diviner and fortune-teller, denied that the magical and mantic practices, the juridical cultural techniques of the Roman censors, were law).

What jurisprudence needed of it was declared an auxiliary science as a precautionary measure; today we also speak (and believe it to be generous) of neighboring sciences. Warburg became famous for his knowledge of this part of Roman law: this applies to his work on the measurement and administration of time, his knowledge of calendar history. He gave a famous and legendary lecture on Rome (not only Lacan) in 1912 in the library that today belongs to the Max Planck Society and bears the venerable title of Hertziana. Thanks to his knowledge of the measurement and management of time and his knowledge of the history of the calendar, he succeeded in deciphering the iconographic program in the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara. This knowledge goes hand in hand with a knowledge of astronomy and astrology, furthermore with a knowledge of the history of alchemy and hermeticism - and always with a knowledge of magical and mantic practice. It was from an encounter with magical and mantic practice, the 'Reigen' or dance that became known as the snake ritual, that Warburg first began to develop his history and theory of Roman law, or of a law in which antiquity 'survives'. Neither Warburg nor Benjamin would come up with the idea of therefore committing art and irrationality to one another and 'outdifferentiating' law and art in this respect. But neither of them belong to the Critical Theory, Frankfurt School, non-Benjamin department. Benjamin is even the founder of the Critical Theory/ Frankfurt School/ Department Benjamin.

So there is a sentence that comes from Walter Benjamin and that Georges Didi-Huberman related to Aby Warburg in his book on the atlas or anxious, gay science. Reading what has never been written: this is something that Benjamin and Warburg would develop as a routine, technique or procedure. Writing that does not stand: even stretched this far into e realm of polemos, is how I want to interpret it. The magical and mantic practices have to do with a reading beyond the concepts of scripture, beyond writing and beyond standing. Other graphics and other choreographies also become legible here, those that are not 'understood' on their own and thus do not merge into the concept, that are not writing and that also do something other than stand, stay and be constant in it.

The knowledge of such magical and mantic practices is archived in Roman law, among others, in a material that is subliminal or minor. According to Cornelia Vismann: The material is not written and by that constituted and authorized, is not a constitution of Roman law and offers Roman law no constitution, only versions, only versions and thus twists and turns, only traffic. This material only administers and is only administered, constantly sorted without ever being in/the order. It is in the form of a file (i.e. also recorded, lamented, accused and desired/filed), is sometimes confused with what a book is supposed to be, but is and remains file material, full of lists, tables and images. The material is so unstable that from the 19th century onwards, with its national and university efforts at homogenization, systematization, authentication and appropriation, it is considered too dubious to seriously share in the pride of the essence of Roman law. This may even be why Mommsen left the editing of the unstable and therefore dubious material to his student Otto Seeck. In this respect, it is questionable whether this material, which cannot be committed to either heterogeneity or homogeneity, is text. Fabrication it is. The most famous material is the notitia dignitatum (the material that can also be read as an atlas and shows piles of tables on tables).

For a history and theory of inconstant and polar law, I suggest exploring the affinities between what Aby Warburg calls Gestellschieberei, what Lévi-Strauss calls bricolage, and what Jesper Svenbro calls ant trails in his history and theory of cultural technique 'reading'. South America comes to mind, because it is a place where the ants are constantly running and chipping away at the leaves (presumably because here a flat-rate summeriness still occupies the other three seasons). In Germany,we do "Stoßlüften" on planned dates, in Brazil the ants leave with the leaves, the wohle year throught: these are sequences, sequences, because everything that occurs here also occurs there, only in different sequences.

Such ant trails are service routes of bricolage, 'Gestelle werden geschoben' along them - and these are also to be counted among the thorough, founding, bargaing, tricky but advancing lines: That would be a working thesis. Ants that take off with the leaves also allow something, but they also defoliate. Ants also sort, even if they sort the leaves in the way that is not only described on the leaves of Benjamin's theses, but also in the way that happened to Benjamin's leaves, i.e. even if they contain tilts, turns and twists that are accompanied by catastrophic and apocalyptic whirls.

[what-gs-watching]

“Speaking of not being able to move. I too have had trouble moving. Lately. Past the poverty line.”

Maybe I’m predictable but I’m still settling into this new job and it’s hard to focus on other new things when everything during my day is new so the other night I decided to restart Superstore. 

Which is another one of my ‘this show deserves more love’ shows. Maybe one of the last sitcoms I picked up from NBC before I went full on feral for streaming services. It’s charming and stupid and I’m weirdly a sucker for the guy who plays Jonah.

Wherein, we follow the lives of associates of Cloud 9, a big box store, while they deal with working in retail and all of the absolute ridiculousness that goes along with that (COVID, included). 

Amy (America Ferrara, who is perfectly utilized here honestly) is a 30-something shift manager at the store with a daughter she had at 19 and a lazy husband. She’s obviously disillusioned with her monotonous life until Jonah (Ben Feldman, who I JUST realized I recognized from ‘Drop Dead Diva’ like whoooa) shows up, a dude who washed out of business school and is annoyingly pretentious but also adorably fun. Hijinks ensue. 

I really do love the entire supporting cast of this show. Dina is the psychotic assistant manager who owns a ton of birds, is brutally honest and kind of a bully but ends up being a really good friend. Cheyenne starts out as a ditzy pregnant teen mom but her storyline with her ridiculous wanna-be gangster boyfriend turned husband with a mustache is hilarious and weirdly endearing. And her friendship with Mateo (who is fussy, snarky, undocumented, and has a terrible romance with district manager, Jeff) is life goals. 

Y’all know I’m all about the relationships in shows, and I do enjoy the Amy/Jonah slowburn because, like, obvi any slowburn is always gonna get me, but the friendships are really just chef’s kiss. Garrett, the chill dude who does the in-store announcements, loves videos games and doesn’t generally give a fuck, ends up as Jonah’s reluctant best friend. Dina ends up finding the perfect frenemy in Sandra, who is everyone’s punching bag but also creepily FIERCE at times. I also love Cheyenne and Garrett - there’s an episode where the store has amnesty to admit roles they’ve broken and neither one of them have so they dig into the employee handbook to find one, but end up focusing on ‘no hats’ even though Garrett insists “we’re not hatting this!”

The dynamics are perfect. 

Basically, I feel this show deeply in my heart. I worked retail for years, it was my first job in high school and I worked at a Burlington Coat Factory entirely through college. The appeal of the show is that they’re a bunch of random ass people that bond over the fact that the store is terrible and minimum wage jobs are demeaning but they make it fun and I’ve totally lived that.

I had two work moms. And I met one of my absolute best friends there. We had adventures following shoplifters,  dancing at the registers singing made up songs, throwing parties for holidays, waking up too fucking early to work black friday shifts or doing inventory.  We bitched about unfair corporate policies and I saw a few of my friends have babies and have to scramble on how to support themselves. I saw all of the hidden talents my coworkers had and the dreams they wanted to achieve. We suffered through customers treating us like shit, and we lifted each other up. 

Working retail is a brutal undertaking but it can also be an oddly beautiful tapestry and that’s what I love about Superstore. 

I also appreciate that they talk about the real shit. There’s a walkout/strike after Glenn, the high-pitched, god-fearing, somewhat buffoon of a store manager gets fired for sneakily trying to give Cheyenne paid leave after she gives birth in the store. The associates band together eventually to try and unionize. There’s a bit about Amy asking for a raise, which results in the whole store sitting through a lecture on proper “budgeting” which includes a section about how “Uncle Sam has your food, now go get it!” At one point, there’s an ICE sweep in retaliation to unionization whispers. They follow Amy’s struggles in trying to climb the ladder and make something of herself. It’s real but also exaggerated, and sad and funny. 

It’s absolutely a snapshot in time and it lets me romanticize a period of my life that I spent desperately trying to escape. You know that dream people have about sitting for an exam in a class they didn’t know they were taking? I never have that dream. I have a dream where I show up to Burlington as I am now, a thirty-something with a ‘career’, and I know I haven’t worked there in years, but I’m panicked because I can’t figure out what my schedule is and everyone is annoyed I haven’t been coming in for my shifts. 

Working a job like that shapes you and stays with you. I managed to escape, I’m the asshole who just spent nine months on the couch pouting about my cushy job being taken away and doing nothing other than trying to force myself into another one, but maybe that’s okay because I lived that retail struggle for a good bit. I understand it, and I am never one of those asshole customers. 

All that to say, Superstore depicts that struggle flawlessly. And it makes me miss that unique camaraderie that you’ll never truly get working a tech job. It honestly cannot be duplicated. And if you’ve never experienced it for yourself, at least you can through the absolute ridiculousness that is the gang at Cloud 9.

[tomorrowusa]

House Republicans may be relieved that they finally have a Speaker after 22 days of infighting. But the rest of the country should worry that there's a far right extremist second in line to the presidency. "MAGA Mike" Johnson is even more extreme than Trump on some issues.

Election denier, climate skeptic, anti-abortion: seven beliefs of new US House speaker Mike Johnson

He tried to overturn the 2020 election In the modern Republican party, supporting Donald Trump’s lie about voter fraud in his defeat by Joe Biden is hardly an outlandish position. But Johnson took it further. After the election, he voiced support for Trump’s conspiracy theory that voting machines were rigged. Later, he was one of 147 Republicans to object to results in key states, even after a pro-Trump mob attacked Congress on January 6, a riot now linked to nine deaths and hundreds of convictions. [ ... ] He was a spokesperson for a ‘hate group’ Before entering politics, Johnson worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom – designated a hate group by the Southern Law Poverty Center, which tracks US extremists. According to the SPLC, the ADF has “supported the recriminalisation of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ+ adults in the US and criminalisation abroad; defended state-sanctioned sterilisation of trans people abroad; contended that LGBTQ+ people are more likely to engage in paedophilia; and claimed that a ‘homosexual agenda’ will destroy Christianity and society”. [ ... ] He opposes LGBTQ+ rights In state politics and at the national level, Johnson has worked to claw back gains made by LGBTQ+ Americans in their fight for equality. In 2016, as he ran for Congress, he told the Louisiana Baptist Message he had “been out on the front lines of the ‘culture war’ defending religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and biblical values, including the defense of traditional marriage, and other ideals like these when they’ve been under assault”. He has since led efforts for a national “don’t say gay” bill, regarding the teaching of LGBTQ+ issues in schools, and is also opposed to gender-affirming care for children. On Wednesday, Rev Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, said: “Johnson has made a career out of attacking the LGBTQ+ community at every turn." His positions are out of touch with the clear majority support for LGBTQ+ equality in our country. His new leadership role is just further proof of the dangerous priorities of the GOP and the critical stakes for our democracy – and for LGBTQ+ Americans – in 2024.” [ ... ] He is stringently anti-abortion Johnson has maintained a relatively low profile in Congress but when last year the supreme court removed the right to abortion, Johnson celebrated “a historic and joyful day”. Though Dobbs v Jackson returned abortion rights to the states, Johnson has co-sponsored bills for a nationwide ban. And as he neared his position of power, footage spread of striking remarks in a House hearing. “Roe v Wade did constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children in America, period,” Johnson said. [ ... ] He wants to cut social security and Medicare As those comments indicate, Johnson wants to cut programs on which millions rely. Such cuts are widely regarded as a political third-rail – Trump has used the issue to attack Republican presidential rivals, saying only he will defend such benefits – but Johnson is far from alone in wanting to swing the axe. He is an advocate for ‘covenant marriage’ When he married his wife, Kelly, in 1999, the couple agreed to a “covenant” marriage: a conservative Christian idea that makes it harder to divorce. The Johnsons promoted the idea on ABC’s Good Morning America. [ ... ] He is a climate skeptic In 2017, Johnson told voters in his oil-rich home state: “The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.”

You'd really have to try hard to find somebody worse than MAGA Mike. But we're not without the power of the vote; we need to use that power every chance we get.

November 7th is Election Day in many parts of the US. Most notably...

Ohio's statewide ballot measure to restore reproductive freedom by placing a woman's right to choose in the Ohio Constitution. A YES vote on Issue 1 takes abortion out of the hands of the gerrymandered GOP legislature.

Kentucky's Democratic governor is up for re-election.

The Virginia legislature is up for election. If Republicans gain control of both chambers they will try to ban abortion; reproductive tyranny is part of the GOP agenda whenever they hold a trifecta in a state. There's also a special election to fill a vacancy for a US House seat in VA-04.

The state legislature in New Jersey is up for election.

There are judicial elections in Pennsylvania including for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There's also a special election to fill a vacancy in the Penn House of Representatives which is currently tied 101 Democrats – 101 Republicans.

All state offices in Mississippi including governor and legislature are up for election. Surprisingly, polls show the GOP incumbent governor ahead by just 1% with 10% undecided.

Like Mississippi, all state offices in Louisiana are up for election.

Rhode Island has a special election to fill a vacancy for a US House seat in RI-01.

^^^ Those are just the highlights. There are elections of some sort in most states on November 7th.

Republicans may grumble at times, but they always turn out for elections. They have a disproportionate amount of power in the US because they vote while many of their liberal neighbors stay home or become too ideologically persnickety.

Allegedly "moderate" GOP House members ultimately fell in line and unanimously backed a far right Speaker.

Elections at all levels count. Speaker "MAGA Mike" Johnson got his start in politics in the Louisiana legislature. He is now the highest ranking GOP elected official in the US.

There's no such thing as an unimportant election. Vote in the November 7th election and actively encourage like-minded friends, family, and neighbors to do so as well.

Be A Voter - Vote Save America

[psworld00]

Born: June 6, 1990

Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia

Age: 34

Sign: Gemini

Savannah Bond is an Australian adult film actress who debuted alongside Manuel Ferrara, the 2019 AVN Male Performer of the Year. She has over 2 million followers on Instagram.

Trivia

She dropped out of high school after three years.

Associated With

She has worked with Manuel Ferrara, who shares a daughter with adult actress Kayden Kross.

[maniculum]

I think I forgot to post a link to this one when it came out, so here it is now.

We're back with part two of the history of cards! As we delve into the sheer variety of cards that blossomed throughout Europe, we begin to see the ripple effects that they had -- both impacting and reflecting world cultures. Why not use cards similarly in your TTRPGs? We'll show you how!

Images and list of suits here.

Join our discord community! Check out our Tumblr for even more! Support us on patreon!

Get your copy of Marginal Worlds, a deck of 50 magic items pulled directly from medieval manuscripts, built for any TTRPG system here!

Socials: Tumblr Website Threads Instagram Facebook

Citations & References: Berry, John. “Chinese Money-Suited Cards.” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 5, 2003, pp. 230-6. Caldwell, Ross Sinclair. “The Devil and the Two of Hearts.” The Playing-Card, vol. 37, no. 2, 2008, pp. 126-41. Caldwell, Ross Sinclair. “The Proto-Historiography of Playing Cards: Early Hypotheses and Beliefs about the Origins of Cards and Card Games in Europe.” The Playing-Card, vol. 38, no. 2, 2009, pp. 92-118. Chatto, William Andrew. Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards. London, 1848. Culin, Stewart. Korean Games; with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan. Philadelphia, 1895. Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, & Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: the Origins of the Occult Tarot. St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot: from Ferrara to Salt Lake City. Duckworth, 1980. Dummett, Michael. “The History of Card Games.” European Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 1993, pp. 125-35. Hargrave, Catherine Perry. A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. Houghton Mifflin, 1980. Janssen, Han. “The 14th Century and the Introduction of Playing Cards into Europe.” The Playing-Card, vol. 34, no. 3, 2006, pp. 173-80. Lo, Andrew. “China’s Passion for Pai: Playing Cards, Dominoes, and Mahjong.” Asian Games: the Art of Contest, edited by Irving L. Finkel et al., Asia Society, 2004, 217-32. Lo, Andrew. “The Game of Leaves: An Inquiry into the Origin of Chinese Playing Cards.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. 63, no. 3, 2000, pp. 389–406. Lo, Andrew. “The ‘Yezi Pu' (Manual of Leaves): A Card Manual for Games of the Late Ming Period [1368-1644].” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 2, 2002, pp. 86-96. Maggio, Emilia. “Early Dragons.” The Playing-Card, vol. 45, no. 3, 2017, pp. 131-41. Pollett, Andrea. “Tȗmȃn, or the Ten Thousand Cups of the Mamluk Cards.” The Playing-Card, vol. 31, no. 1, 2002, pp. 34-41. Singer, Samuel Weller. Researches into the History of Playing Cards; with Illustrations of the Origin of Printing and Engraving on Wood. London, 1816. Taylor, Edward Samuel. The History of Playing Cards, with Anecdotes of Their Use in Conjuring, Fortune-Telling, and Card-Sharping. London, 1865. van Rensselaer, Mrs. John King. The Devil’s Picture-Books: a History of Playing Cards. New York, 1893. Wilkinson, W. H. “Chinese Origin of Playing Cards.” The American Anthropologist, vol. 8, no. 1, 1895, pp. 61-78.

[annabelle--cane]

niche ask, but since this is the obscure horror and piracy website, does anyone have a way to watch the addiction dir. abel ferrara? the only legit ways I can find to watch it are all subscription services with no way to just rent/buy one movie, there are a few youtube uploads but they've all been cut down considerably, and the dvd from my school library is region locked.

[mama-ivy]

The Other Ex

This is for both @monthlywritingchallenges Finding February Day Seven and @the-slumberparty Year of the Snake 2025.

Please read this first.

Now that you've seen Craig, meet Tina.

Tina sat all by herself on the far right of the large study that her father had used for decades. It still smelled like him - patchouli and tobacco. The combination continued to make her nervous. Fine leathers and deep mahogany covered the room. Her father didn’t like a lot of fabrics.  It took away from his commanding echo, he said. Chairs had been brought in and placed in a half circle three deep surrounding the large desk behind which stood Carlo Rossi, her father’s trusted advisor, right-hand man, and long-time friend. He was also the executer of the estate.

Every chair had been filled by large and burly men, all dressed to the nines. Tina knew most of them by face and last name only. Santoro ran the Southern sector, Ferrara, the Northern one. Their second in commands, Leone and Martini, were as always, at their sides. The army of accountants, the two surgeons, the four policemen and their chief, and the judge along with their assistants, all of which Tina had only recently found out were on the payroll, filled the rest of the seats. A sea of men all wanting a slice of her father.

No one noticed Tina sat on a small stool in the corner willing herself to sit tall and proud despite still smelling of the stuffy plane that had brought her back from school.  She had missed the funeral last month, according to her father’s wishes, to finish her finals and receive her Bachelor’s Degree in business. Now that she was home, the Last Will and Testament could be read.

Everyone wanted the big prize, of course, but most of the men in the room were expecting either Santoro or Ferrara to be named successor. A couple of the men suggested Carlo take over the business. Only Carlo knew the truth. Only Carlo had spoken to the boss in great length about the future of the family business.

“Along with my personal effects which have been aforementioned and previously allotted to her, I leave all business affairs of the Tomanelli name, including titles, responsibilities, respects and financial records encompassing all eleven businesses to which I have held ownership, to the only living Tomanelli – my daughter, Tina Marie.” Carlo paused to allow the murmurs and gasps that he knew would take place.

“What the fuck?” Martini stood and was immediately pulled back down by Ferrara with a look that everyone in the room knew to mean ‘Shut up now, or I will make you later’.

“Tell me this is a joke, Carlo.” Ferrara spoke up without standing.

“Mr. Tomanelli and I discussed this in great length for many years.” Carlo’s voice never faltered. “Tina has been groomed and taught since she was small for this moment – even if you didn’t know it.” Carlo smiled and nodded in Tina’s direction. “Business will remain exactly the same for a period of one year while The Mistress Tomanelli learns the inner workings.  We will meet back here at that time and she will announce her plans for the future of the business to include, if desired, naming a different successor.”

Murmurs rose and fell among the men. No one was happy. Tina rose quietly and walked around the swarm to take her place at Carlo’s side. She remained unnoticed. “Can I say something?”

The men continued to speak amongst themselves. “Excuse me, gentlemen!”

The noises of disagreement remained. Carlo took a pistol out of the side drawer of the large desk and handed it to Tina. He then walked around the desk and took his place at the back of the room in front of the door.

Tina watched him carefully and then emptied the chamber and laid the bullets in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the pistol by the barrel and brought the heavy grip down onto the desk causing a loud thump and consequent tinkling as the bullets bounced up and fell back down.  The entire room jumped and turned to look at her.

“I said, Excuse me, gentlemen, but apparently you are too wrapped up in your own selves to listen to your boss. This will not happen again.”

The Chief of Police, Johnson, chuckled. “You coulda killed one of us or yourself, girlie.”

“I couldn’t have. This pistol is empty, but never you worry, I have another that is loaded, if you’d like to test me again.” Tina paused and then looked around the room. “Carlo has made it clear my name is not girlie. I will not be referred to as such in the future. As was previously stated by my father through Carlo, business will remain the same until one year from today. If you want out, you have that amount of time to decide how you will leave the company without pissing me off or causing mistrust. If you remain, I expect the same amount of respect and loyalty that you showed my father. Do not test me. You will not like the results. I am my father’s daughter, and whether you were aware of me or not, my position was decided and made clear to me at a young age. I know the size of the shoes I am filling and I intend to do so in heels.”

Tina sat down in her father’s oversized leather seat and calmly put away the pistol and bullets. Without looking up, she addressed the men again. “I am done talking which means you are done being in my presence.”

The men rose and left without a word.

Carlo entered the office with Tina’s breakfast as usual on a silver tray. An English muffin with butter and jam, half of a grapefruit, and a cup of coffee with milk. “I wish you would move into your father’s bedroom suite.” He set the tray down in front of her while she moved the documents that had been splayed across the desk. “It will make it so much easier on the staff.”

“I have six weeks left in my year, Carlo. Once I make the final decision, I will be happy to move. After a deep renovation, of course. Black and forest green are not my colors.”

“Let’s not kid ourselves, Mistress. The decision was made on the day the announcement was read.”

“Yes, but they don’t know that.” Tina motioned for Carlo to sit in one of the empty chairs facing her. He did. “Have a muffin. I never eat both halves.”

“You are always playing that game with them. Eventually, you will have to convince yourself that they don’t matter and have faith in your decisions.”

“I will feel better after my final announcement and I can start implementing changes.” Tina took a muffin half and bit into it. “I found your personnel file, by the way.”

“Oh?”

“I couldn’t figure out why yours was the only one missing. Until I found it. Daddy had put it in the safe with the other family members.” Tina smiled at the older man. “Honestly, I should have looked there first. It’s safer there anyway.”

“Any news from Mr. Smith?”

Tina set her muffin down and pulled a file from a desk drawer to hand to Carlo. “He’s been found. Safe and far away.”

Carlo took the file and quickly skimmed it. “Teaching mathematics.”

“Of course, he is.” Tina chuckled. “Did you honestly think he would be doing anything else?” After a pause, she continued. “Have Mr. Smith check in on him periodically. I need to know if he makes any moves that might put him too close to all this danger.”

Carlo nodded, stood, and handed the file back to Tina. “Yes, Mistress.”

“And call Jessica. I’m going to need a blow out and a manicure before tonight’s meeting.”

Carlo nodded again and left Tina to her breakfast.

“And that policy, gentlemen, will be implemented immediately.” Tina crossed the room in front of the large group of men once again sitting in the semi-circle surrounding what had officially become her desk. “You have twenty-four hours to make the necessary arrangements, after which, penalties for not conforming to my new policies will be swift and severe. Any questions?”

She had honestly been surprised that not a single man had used the given year to back out. Carlo warned her it was because they were all hoping that she had come to her supposed senses and decided to name one of them as successor. Tina didn’t care. She had been preparing for this day since starting school, and while business was not her first choice as major, she took to it like it was her destiny. And maybe it was.

Ferrara raised his hand like a scared school boy eliciting a few titters from the back of the room.

Tina smiled warmly at him and nodded.

“I don’t understand the no-hit list. Everyone was fair game to your father. Family came first.”

“The business will be coming first, but how can I properly run it without the necessary manpower?” Tina paced once more in front of the group, her stilettos clicking on the wood floor. “All of you are on the no-hit. This means that you can not go after anyone on this list – in this room – without my written and explicit permission. Only I will order the punishments of those on the list.”

“All of us, yes, but who is Craig Finch?” Ferrara glanced back down at the paper in his hand.

Tina paused, desperately trying to maintain her poker face. “A member of my family. You are to leave him be no matter the cost. He is not your concern.”

Tina waited a few moments studying the faces of the men sat before her. “Gentlemen, my father ran a family. I intend to run a business. While there are many gray areas that overlap, our relationships will boil down to business associates. Nothing more. I will protect you as such so that my business can thrive. If you are no longer valuable to the company, you will be disposed of.”

Murmurs ran through the seats. Tina continued. “Over the next few weeks, I will be meeting with each of you individually to discuss personal goals and reset pay rates. My father severely underpaid most of you. I will be correcting that. If there are no further questions, this meeting is adjourned. You are dismissed.”

Carlo waited until all of the men had left the office, most flashing excited smiles at the prospect of a pay raise, before approaching Tina as she collapsed into the overly large leather chair behind the desk. “The men look happy.”

“I know daddy liked to rule through fear, and while I do enjoy the exhilaration of fear-based loyalty, I need the men to stay out of respect. Flies and honey.”

Carlo nodded solemnly. “Can I get you anything?”

“An interior designer that specializes in minimalism. This wood has got to go. I want marble. I’ll be using daddy’s bedroom suite as an interim office space while they are gutting this horrid room, and then they can rip out that disgusting velvet in the suite.” Tina sighed.  “Also, a tailor. I need some new suits.”

“I can have both of those by tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Carlo. I’m going for a spa day. That meeting was stressful.”

“Mistress?” Carlo crept into the office.  He had been told no disturbances, but this was definitely important enough to ignore the request.  Still, she hated distractions, so he was cautious.

“Carlo?” Tina spun around in the overly extravagant chair that sat behind an enormous desk made of glass to face poor Carlo.  “Are you serious right now?”

“I’m so sorry, Mistress.”  Carlo bowed low.  “Jake Winslow is here.  He says it’s important.”

Tina’s dark eyes flashed.  She slowly stood behind the desk and ran her hands down her thighs to straighten the wrinkles in her tailor-made Italian skirt suit.  “He seems to think everything is important.  He tires me.”

“Yes, miss.”  Carlo readily agreed.  No one in the family liked Jake Winslow.  He was the cockroach that none of them seemed to be able to squash.  “But, he has told me his reason for disturbing, and I believe that this time he is right.”

Tina reached up and tucked a stray strand of jet-black hair behind her ear before walking around to the front of the desk and perching lightly on the edge.  “Send him in, then, Carlo.” She nodded at her friend.  Carlo nodded back and left, closing the door behind him.

Tina got an uneasy feeling as soon as the gutter rat entered her pristine office dragging his dirty trench coat all over her freshly mopped floor. The feeling only worsened when he yanked the bag off of his poor captive.

Craig.

“Jake, get out.” She whispered.

“But, the reward, Mistress.”  Jake tentatively argued.

Tina tore her eyes away from Craig and stared at Jake.  “Reward?” she bellowed through gritted teeth, “Reward?  There was never a price on this man’s head.  In fact, Jake, you did the exact opposite of leaving him alone.  You tied him up and brought him here – the one place I didn’t want him to be.”

Jake started shaking and slowly backing away towards the door.

“I never want to see your face again, Jake Winslow.”  She spat at him while following him out of the office.  “This is the last straw.  Direct disobedience does not warrant a reward.  I. SAID. GET. OUT.” She slammed the heavy door behind him and slowly took in a breath to calm her nerves. She turned and walked past Craig towards her desk, her heels echoing against the marble floor. He is trembling. He’s scared.

Tina picked up a letter opener and turned back towards Craig.  She took his hands in her left hand and used the letter opener in her right to cut him free. Chills went up her spine and she lingered with her touch. She had thought about this man so often, too scared for his safety to ever indulge in her desires.

“Thank you.” Craig muttered.

“I apologize for the way that street rat treated you.” She said as she walked back to the desk and laid the letter opener back in its place.  “It was never my intention for you to be harmed in any way, Craig.”

Craig froze. “You- You know my name?”

He didn’t recognize her. She thought he might not. She had worked very hard on her business image. Still, she had to admit, it hurt just a bit.

Tina turned to face him and smiled.  She walked back to him and stood like a statuette only inches from his face.  “Concentrate.” She whispered while placing a hand on his cheek.  “It’ll come to you.” His face was so warm. Adrenaline, probably, but the warmth was welcoming and Tina was instantly addicted.

“Tina.” He whispered. “God, I thought you had left town.”

Tina wanted to leap into his arms. She wanted to kiss him until they were both breathless. From what Smith had told her, he was still single, but Smith had only recently become most unreliable, so his word was worth less than a grain of salt. Better to air on the side of caution.

They spoke for several minutes about this and that, all the while Tina tried to figure out her next steps. He was back in town. Back in danger’s way. The safest place for him now would be in her line of sight. Permanently.  The damned charity function. She had planned on just not showing up, but this might be better. Let everyone see, he was under her wing now. Under her direct protection. Untouchable.

She rang for Carlo.  “Craig needs a tuxedo for tonight.  He will be joining me.  Please escort him to Antonio’s.  My dress will be sapphire.  Have him coordinate.”

“Yes, Mistress.”  Carlo motioned to Craig to follow him out of the office. 

Tina watched the two men leave her office and immediately pulled out her phone to call Smith.

“Any news?”

“You’re sure about that?”

“When was the last time you checked on him?”

“I do actually have a concern, Mr. Smith. My concern is that while you were looking at him this morning on the West Coast, he was here, on the East Coast trying to get a loan from a bank that was being robbed.”

Her voice gradually rose in volume with every word.

“He was brought to me in my office by a low-life that is now regretting every breath he takes. Do not tell me to fact check my own eyes, Smith!”

“I don’t care about your stupid excuses, Mr. Smith! You are finished. Your best course of action will be to stay where you are, because there is no longer any work for you here!”

Tina wished she could throw her phone across the room, but with everything going on, she did not have time to shop for a new one. She ended the call quite anticlimactically and dialed Carlo.

“We are getting in the car now. I’ve called ahead to Antonio’s. We’re expected.”

“Thank you, Carlo. We will need a new P.I. I’ve fired Mr. Smith.”

“I already have Junior on it.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you sure this is wise, Mistress?”

“No, but what are my other choices? The safest place for him now is with me.”

“And if he refuses?”

“I can’t think about that right now. Neither my head nor my heart can bear it.”

divider by @thecutestgrotto

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 14 August – Blessed Alberto Pandoni OSA (c1200-1274) “The Good Bishop” Bishop of Piacenza (Italy) (1243–1257), Bishop of Ferrara (Italy) (1257–1274), Religious of the Order of the Hermits of St Augustine, Reformer, political crusader and writer. The name Albert means “brilliant nobility.” Born in c1200 in Brescia, Italy and died on 14 August 1274 in Ferrara, Italy of natural causes. Also known as – “The Good Bishop”Alberto of Piacenza, Alberto of Ferrara, Albert… Additional Memorial – 27 July (on some calendars), 2 September (the date of the enshrinement of Blessed Alberto’s Relics Alberto was born into the Brescia nobility. After his studies, he entered the secular clergy of his City and later became an Religious of the Augustinians. In 1244, Pope Innocent had chosen him for the Episcopal chair of Piacenza, at the time of the greatest splendour of the star of Frederick II, whose Court was in Puglia, in Lucera. The Bishop of Piacenza’s love for culture is demonstrated by the fact that in 1248 he organised a university-type school in his City to promote good education, called the “Studio Pubblico.” Piacenza thus followed the example of nearby Bologna, a university cenrer of European importance. By educating themselves, the faithful could become aware of their rights and responsibilities, therefore, also of what threatened them, on the level of faith and politics.

(via Saint of the Day – 14 August – Blessed Alberto Pandoni OSA (c1200-1274) “The Good Bishop” – AnaStpaul)