#I read 5 books a month from January till May and then only 2 books since then lol

[lordoftheelves]

I’ve read 22 books this year. Just finished the last one. I did want to read more this year, and I definitely did! But I stressed too much abt it instead of using reading as a way to relax and distract myself. But that’s what I’m gonna do in 2024. Not gonna care abt the number. Just gonna try to actually enjoy the act of reading

[livingcorner]

12+ Ways to Make $1000 a Month from Your Garden (Year Round!)

They say when you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.  Well, I love my garden and given a choice I’d be out there amongst my garden beds day and night.  There’s a big difference between gardening and farming though, and while I love my garden I’m not cut out for the life of a farmer. 

While bringing in a full-time gardening income is a bit tricky, making a side income from your garden is easier than you’d think.

You're reading: 12+ Ways to Make $1000 a Month from Your Garden (Year Round!)

Most people see gardening as a seasonal endeavor, that starts in the spring and ends in the fall, coming and going each year.  Up here in Vermont, our summer growing season is only a sad 100 days or so, and if I confined my efforts to those short months it wouldn’t make for much of a side hustle.  I think it’s important to find a way to earn a consistent side income, so I’m providing options for every month of the year (even in a cold climate like ours).

Beyond that, our land is mostly forested, which means the definition of “garden” is a bit loose.  We grow mushrooms in the shady spots and tap maple trees in season.  We also forage the wild bounty that nature’s garden has provided, meaning that we don’t have to limit our “gardening” to a small tilled section of the yard. 

Even if you’re lacking space in a small suburban lot, expanding outside of the traditional garden into local parks, or taking your garden indoors with salad sprouts, closet mushrooms, and seedling trays will allow you to make use of the space you have year-round.

Here are a few options to earn a substantial side income from your garden every season of the year, with ideas for both city and country folk. 

(Be sure to check local laws and restrictions before you start with anything, as those vary widely from place to place.)

Winter Garden Income

While you’d think winter would be the slow season for backyard garden income, believe it or not, it’s actually the best time for making money from your garden.  You’re generally less busy with planting and weeding, but everyone is stuck inside dreaming of the garden bounty to come.  

Indoor Salad Gardening

January is when everyone’s making new years resolutions to live healthier and eat more salads, but it’s a pretty rough time for gardening in most places.  If right around the end of the year you plan ahead with an indoor salad gardening setup, you’ll be in the perfect position to market microgreens and sprouts when they’re in high demand.

Local farms around here sell winter micro greens CSA’s and unlike summer shares where they net less than a dollar on a head of lettuce, winter greens command high prices.  A small bag of specialty microgreens runs $12 to 15 each.  And I really mean a small bag, maybe 3 cups of at most.

The trick is to grow high-quality, specialty greens that get people excited when the grocery store options are minimal.  The book Year Round Indoor Salad Gardening is a great resource to get started, and covers all you’d need to know to grow your own greens.  At that point, the problem is scaling up and marketing.  

Start a Small Backyard Seed Company

You may think you need to be some kind of multi-national to sell seeds, but in reality, customers are looking toward sustainably grown seed for specialty heirloom varieties these days.  It doesn’t get much more sustainable than a backyard garden, and buying seed locally ensures that you’ll get varieties perfectly suited to a particular growing region.

Choosing the right crops is key to generating a good income selling seeds.  Tomato seed, for example, is very easy to save and a single tomato often has enough seed to supply a dozen seed packets.  The flowers are self-contained, and it actually takes work for plant breeders to hybridize a variety, which means they’ll come true to variety even with many different types grown in the same garden. 

Most importantly, people get really excited about tomatoes.  Ever wonder why 1/3 of any seed catalog seems to be tomato seed?  With all that love for tomatoes, customers are liable to drop $5 for a locally grown packet of seeds for a really great variety.

While tomatoes are really easy, there are many varieties that aren’t much harder.  You need to know a bit about seed saving, not only harvesting and cleaning the seed, but about how pollination and selection works by variety.  Some varieties require a minimum population size to avoid inbreeding in the long term, and all that’s important to know before you get started. 

Seed to Seed is generally recognized as the most encyclopedic book on seed saving, covering just about every variety you can imagine.  It has great breadth to get you started, but not a whole lot of depth.

The Seed Garden is hands down my favorite seed saving book.  It’s well written and covers varieties in great depth.  It’s authored by The Seed Savers Exchange which does great work in the field of preserving heirloom varieties.

The Complete Guide to Seed Saving has a lot of stellar reviews, and it’s the next one I’m going to add to my gardening library.

Even in a small town environment here in Rural Vermont, there are about a dozen local seed companies.  High Mowing Seed started out really small just down the road from us, and now they’re a big national brand.  Milkweed Medicinals sells specialty seed that’s hard to find, and they now sell in all the local coops. 

Find your niche and there’s a great income to be made with homegrown seed.

Selling Cuttings

Even easier than saving seed, selling cuttings is an easy way to make a healthy income from your established plants in the winter months.  There are a number of varieties, like grapes for example, that need to be cut back or pruned in the winter.  Those cuttings are perfect for starting new plants and many gardeners are willing to pay good money for tiny pieces of your established crops.

I just bought 30 elderberry cuttings from Norms Farms at $4 each to propagate at home.  Elderberries grow readily from cuttings, and it’s an economical way for me to get a huge bed of them started.  Elderberry plants from a nursery cost about $30 each, so I’m happy with the transaction and the seller just made $120 off a tiny box of trimmings.

There are a number of plants that grow well from hardwood cuttings, some like black currants, are as simple as snipping off a tip and sticking it into the ground.  Others require a bit more attention and prep work to the cuttings, but they’re still beginner level.

Scion wood, or cuttings from apple trees to be grafted onto rootstock, is similarly lucrative.  All you need is a couple of established apple trees of known varieties and you can harvest cuttings for sale. 

Usually, each cutting is only a few inches long, so shipping them isn’t a big issue.  There’s a marketplace on the seed savers exchange website, and a scion wood cutting sells for about $4 each.

Start by learning a thing or two about plant propagation, first so that you can establish your own cutting beds, and then so you can educate customers on how easy it is to grow plants from cuttings.  Try reading Practical Woody Plant Propagation for Nursery Growers to get you started.

Read more: Why Does My Garden Hose Keep Bursting? | GardenAxis.com

A handful of elderberry cuttings that sell for $4 each.

Growing Mushrooms Indoors

Learning to grow mushrooms is a bit different than most standard garden crops, so this one will take some studying for even seasoned gardeners.  Still, there’s the potential to grow large crops from a small indoor space year-round.

The book Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation describes in detail how to set up a back closet, extra nook or spare bathroom to grow mushrooms with minimal time investment (2 hours a week). 

He has a great breakdown of costs, inputs, and yields…but in summary, you can make about $100 per week from a small setup that takes up a 4’x4′ footprint.  The system scales easily, with minimal extra time investment, meaning you only need slightly more space to increase that to a grand per month.

The best part, they can grow in recycled 5-gallon buckets picked up from restaurants, and they consume waste products like spent coffee grounds, that you can often pick up for free.

If you have access to outdoor space and hardwood logs, growing shiitake mushrooms is also a great place to start for beginners, but outdoors, harvests would be in the warmer months rather than winter.

I don’t know about you, but when I had an office job my co-workers would have loved to buy fresh mushrooms to take home for a fancy Friday night meal.

  Spring Garden Income

Spring is when everyone’s mind is dead set on their own gardens, and it’s a great time to capitalize on the surge in interest in all things green.

Selling Dandelions (and other wild weeds)

While countless suburbanites are spraying their lawns trying to eradicate the dandelions, more savvy gardeners are realizing that one person’s weed is another’s delicacy.  Dandelions are edible root to shoot, and better yet, they’re also highly medicinal. 

Dandelion root tincture sells for about $12 per ounce, and it only takes a root or two per ounce.  The spring greens are highly sought after by local food coops, where they sell for $4-5 per bundle.  Not bad for a pile of weeds.

Beyond dandelions, there’s all manner of early spring green “weeds” that can command high prices if you know how to identify, harvest and process them.  Chickweed is incredibly invasive, but also delicious, and chickweed tincture has plenty of medicinal uses too.  

There’s nothing like making a bit of side income from weeding your garden early in the spring.  You’ve got to do it anyway, might as well make it pay.

Dandelion roots harvested for homemade tincture.

Growing Spring Ephemerals

An ephemeral is a crop that has a very short season, and it may only be around for a few weeks before the plants go dormant (or unharvestable) for a full year.  Ramps, or wild leeks, are a slow-growing ephemeral that’s only around for a few weeks in the spring, but during that time they’re in high demand by both home cooks and fancy chefs.  Knowing where to find a good wild patch is hard, but they’re actually remarkably easy to naturalize in your own backyard.

Growing ramps from seeds just requires the right conditions.  Moist soil, under the shade of deciduous trees.  The more leaf cover the better. 

You’re not growing anything else in that much shade, so growing your own ramps is a great way to earn top dollar from an otherwise unproductive patch of land.  This is a long-term venture though, as leeks are slow-growing, and they’ll require about 5-7 years before your first harvest, but after that, a well-tended and sustainably harvested patch can last indefinitely.

Fiddleheads are another crop that’s generally wild foraged, but it’s remarkably easy to cultivate.  They can actually be pretty invasive, and I spent a long time weeding them out of my garden so I could grow anything else.  I just dug them up and tossed them into a heap, and they kept on growing and spreading from there as if nothing happened. 

Fiddleheads can be really productive, and they sell for about $20 a pound here in Vermont where they’re common.  You might get even better prices somewhere they’re more scarce.

Since they’re productive, fern heads can be pickled to extend their season, so you can market the bumper crop a bit longer.

My daughter holding a harvest of fiddleheads and ramps.

Selling Spring Seedlings

Selling spring veggie seedlings is an obvious choice.  Tomato seeds cost about a tenth of a cent each, but a healthy started plant can easily sell for $5.  Sure, there’s the cost for potting soil and pots, but the profit margin is still huge on seedling sales. 

The trick is, you’re investing your time and energy into starting plants off right, so others don’t have to.  This is one of the most lucrative ways to make money from your garden if you invest in the right equipment and can master the process. 

A greenhouse, even a small backyard model, is essential for producing seedlings early enough in the season.  As for resources to get you started, The New Seed Starter’s Handbook covers everything in detail, including troubleshooting guides if your plants aren’t performing.

Beyond the income from selling seedlings, you’ll also save a boatload by starting your own seeds instead of purchasing starts.  That’s one of those penny saved is a penny earned propositions, and any seedlings you don’t sell can just go right into your own garden.

Take a look at the local market this spring, and see if there are any gaps.  Do all the tomato seedlings sell out quickly, or is the market flooded?  If there’s plenty of other vendors, consider growing something niche like medicinal herbs.

Start a Backyard Nursery

Similar to growing out your own veggie seedlings, starting your own backyard nursery extends the income beyond the busy spring season.  If you’re growing perennials, you don’t have to worry about any unsold plants at the end of the year.  Just tuck them in for the winter and try to sell them next year.

Propagating plants from cuttings is remarkably easy, and all it takes is a bit of time and patience.  Those elderberry cuttings that sold for $4 each (above) as trimmings will sell for $25 to $30 as full-sized potted bushes in a few years.  Just the patience, time and space required to grow out the plants pays back in dividends later. 

This is actually a big part of our retirement plan, and we’re putting in perennials throughout our land to serve as cutting sources later when we open our nursery.  In the meantime, they’re beautiful, and most are edibles like elderberries, so we’re harvesting the fruit for our table while we patiently bide our time to retirement.

Backyard plant nurseries don’t require that much space, as potted plants can be stored fairly close together.

Summer Garden Income

Summer is peak growing season and it’s a great time to earn income from what you’re growing at home.  The big farms and CSA operations have the lettuce market cornered, but backyard gardeners can break into the market by offering really novel crops.  Start by focusing on high-dollar items and unique crops that get people’s attention.

High Dollar Specialty Crops

You’re never going to compete with the 100 acre organic CSA down the road on most generic crops, but those big operations cant grow everything.  They can grow a lot of the staples most families use every day, but backyard gardeners can grow small amounts of truly specialty crops that demand high prices.  Here are a few good options:

Husk Cherries – Also known as ground cherries, these plants produce huge crops of sweet pineapple/strawberry flavored fruit.  They grow on plants similar to tomatoes, and each bright orange fruit is wrapped in a papery husk.  Just one taste and you’ll want more. 

Before we were growing our own, I’d buy them for $5 a pint…now I know that each plant can produce more than a gallon of fruit even with neglect.  If you hand out samples, these will sell themselves.  It also helps if you give people creative ways to use them.

Cucamelons – Also known as mouse melons, these tiny little grape-sized cucumbers taste like a cross between a cucumber and lime.  They’re really wonderful fresh out of hand, and they make great pickles or mixed drinks.  The cuteness factor means that these sell for about $5 per half-pint.

Berry Pick Your Own

To complement our backyard nursery retirement plans, we’re also planning a pick your own operation.  This requires more space than most of the other ideas on this list, but after the initial setup, labor is pretty minimal. 

A while back I calculated the rate of return on a raspberry pick your own, and you’d need about 250-row feet to produce $1000 worth of raspberries.  For us on 30 acres, that’s a drop in the bucket, but that may be more space than you can devote to any one crop.

Strawberries are similar, in that a plant generally yields about a pound of fruit in a season, and requires 1-row foot.  At $4 per pound, you’d need the same amount of row feet as raspberries.  The benefit there is, strawberry rows are much more closely spaced so this may be more practical for some.

  Read more: 37 Garden Border Ideas To Dress Up Your Landscape Edging

Garden Tours, Tea Times & Classes

Though it’s not my cup of tea, garden tours and country tea times are a good option for flower gardeners.  A local nurseryman around here makes a good side income hosting tea time in his home garden, and runs an annual tour of his extensive plantings, along with specialty days for big blooms (like daffodils).  Our gardens are more down-to-earth and “homestead” than they are attractive, but many people’s are just the opposite.

All it takes is a few tables, a decent scone recipe, and a few good teapots, and you’re ready to run a weekly afternoon tea time in the garden.  Add in tours and maybe a few gardening classes and you’ve got yourself a ready source of income from your own beautiful backyard.

Medicinal Herbs

With the increasing demand for more alternative remedies, there’s never been a better time to grow medicine in your backyard.  Locally grown herbs are still hard to find in most areas, but plenty of people are looking for them.

Many medicinal herbs are perennials, which means you plant them once and you can harvest them for years.  And the same compounds that make the plants medicinal also make them resistant to deer and insects, which means less maintenance than garden veggies.  For the most part, they’re perennial, persistent and more importantly…profitable.

There’s a high demand for medicinal tinctures since they’re ready to use, and our local coop has half an aisle dedicated to them.  Tinctures sell for $8 to $12 an ounce, but they only cost about $1 to $2 an ounce, even if you’re buying in the herbs rather than growing them. 

Add in another $1 for the tincture bottle, and you’re still making a pretty sizable profit per bottle.  Choosing crops that are common and in high demand, like echinacea tincture can help you break into the market.

As you’re just getting started, I’d recommend Backyard Medicine as a way to dip your toe into harvesting and making your own herbal remedies, especially from wild crops.  If you’re considering growing herbs for profit I’d highly recommend The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs on a Market Scale.  It’s written by farmers that grow just a few towns over from us, and they’ve inspired a lot of people to take up growing medicine for the market.

The Herbal Academy of New England also has a course designed specifically for herbal entrepreneurs.  The course walks you through the basics of creating your own brand identity, marketing, sourcing herbal ingredients, manufacturing herbal remedies and creating a business plan around herbs and herbal remedies.

Fall Garden Income

The end of the garden season, fall is generally when the crops come in.  In my mind though, it’s one of the more challenging times to make income as a small producer. 

There are a lot of products on the market,  and it’s hard to stand out.  With the holidays right around the corner though, marketing yourself as a niche producer of really unique homegrown gifts can work to your advantage.

Honey & Bee Products

Gardeners need bees and bees need gardeners!  Raising honey bees is a great way to support pollinator communities, but with all the challenges that face hives these days, it’s best to be educated before you start.  There’s a really great book called Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture that covers just about everything you need to know to keep your bees healthy naturally.

In a good year, with our short Vermont growing seasons, bees can produce as much as 100lbs of honey for harvest.  The current bulk price at our coop, meaning bring your own container nothing fancy…is $7 per pound.  Pre-packaged just in mason jars, honey goes for $10-12 per pound, and considerably more in specialty gift packaging.

Add in things like bee pollen or propolis for medicinal use, or comb honey, and you have yet more high-dollar items to market.

Honey, especially locally sustainably raised honey is in high demand just about everywhere.  People are realizing that bees are important to our environment, and many will be happy to pay for local honey just knowing that it means supporting someone who is stewarding such an important resource in their neighborhood.

Apples, Cider and Cider Press Rentals

My doctor has a small apple share side hustle that she runs with her sister, selling harvest shares to neighbors in her spare time.  They have a few full-sized apple trees, and each one produces around 100 to 120 pounds of apples per year.  These days, conventionally grown supermarket apples are about $3 per pound…and locally grown apples fetch a premium above that.

She sells shares ahead of time and then divides the harvest as each tree comes to bear.  Distributing them to shareholders every week or two as each variety ripens over the season.

We have other neighbors who sell fresh cider that they press from their trees, at $12 per gallon.  Last year we pressed nearly 80 gallons from our trees, most of which went into hard cider and homemade cider syrup (like maple syrup), but we easily could have sold it instead.  Instead of selling our cider, we have a different strategy for earning our income during apple season. 

We invested in an efficient double-barrel cider press, with the thought that we can rent it out to other small apple producers.  People with one or two trees in their backyard love the novelty of pressing their own cider, and around these parts a press rents for about $50 for the afternoon.  Over the course of the season that can really add up…

Year-Round Garden Income

Beyond different things you can do seasonally to earn a few thousand a couple of months a year, there are things you can do year-round to earn a steady income related to your garden.  

Garden Blogging

I know, making income from blogging seems too good to be true, but writing about diy, gardening, and self-sufficiency is now my full-time job. Within 6 months of starting this blog, I started making an extra $1000 a month.  After 9 months of writing, I was able to quit my day job, and now at 18 months in I bring in more each month than any job I’ve ever had.

The best part?  All I do is write about what we’re already doing here in our daily lives, and I spend my days playing in the garden and out foraging in the woods with my kids.

I was inspired to take the leap into blogging when I read the book Make Money Blogging at Any Level by my blogger friend, Victoria at A Modern Homestead.  She outlines in detail how to earn a substantial income, even from a very small blog.  

She was able to retire her husband and supports her family exclusively with her blog.  If you’re considering blogging as a source of income it’s worth the investment.  It’s $27 for the book, and I made that back in my first week with my blog following her tips.

She also has a much more comprehensive blogging e-course that takes you through everything you need to know to launch your own profitable blog.  It’s a bit more of an investment, but it’s the perfect way for a beginner to learn everything they need to know to launch their blog fast and start earning money.

Garden Micro-Influencer

Making money on Instagram is all the rage these days, and you’d be surprised how many companies are willing to send you free products just for a promise that you’ll post at least 1 picture of it to Instagram with honest feedback.  Once you have even a small following, companies will pay you for your time reviewing it (and you still get to keep it for free…)

Looking for a little inspiration?  You can always follow along on my Instagram for ideas…

Hopefully, this helps inspire you to turn your gardening passion into a meaningful side hustle.  If you have any other ideas, let me know in the comments below.

More Income Inspiration

How to Make a Full-Time Income Off-Grid

8 Ways to Make an Extra $1000 a Month on a Small Homestead

Making Money with Small Scale Maple Sugaring

Related

Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Garden

source https://livingcorner.com.au/12-ways-to-make-1000-a-month-from-your-garden-year-round/

[awhilesince]

Tuesday, 7 January 1834

8 1/4

11 35/..

L

a little pressing and grubbling last night but I am not for more of it than I can help –

read prayers – breakfast at 9 1/2 – very fine sunny morning till about 10 – rain between 10 and 11 for some time then fine again – read the St. James’s Chronicle London 3 days a week paper – 

out at about 11 1/2 walked with Miss W– (Walker) by Lower brea and along my walk to here – she paid her visit to my sister and was a little while in the drawing room with my aunt, and a longish while with me in my study – lent her (took back with me) volume 38 off the British Essayists – then walked back with her to Lidgate to leave the book, and then to Cliff hill where I left her at the gate at 2 40/..

then here and came to my study – wrote out yesterday and today – wonder how all this will end she makes sure of me if she chooses and talks as we both do as if all was fixed but still she says nothing positive I don't care much about it and perhaps I shall get off again without her and then be rid of her – 

finished my letter to M– (Mariana) dated Sunday yesterday and today – tell her to cheer up – 

‘things happen so oddly, – we are always so little about to calculate our fate; and there is generally so much good we never think of, that, trust me, it is a mauvais calcul to look too attentively on the darker side of anything – How can we say that even our mistakes shall cost us as dear as we fancy they must? In these matters, we pay only by instalments; and the remainder of our debt is often forgiven us when we least expect it – think not, Mary of ‘unstrung nerves’ – think only that with increased experience and improved discernment, you have added powers of setting right the wrong, and of bending circumstances more and more as you would have them – I remember what you allude to, about my aunt – it was rather an observance to me, than a message to you – you know my aunt’s regard for me, and should make much allowance for a feeling that might have been your own, had you been in her place – you say ‘my head and my words are very commonplace, but my heart has no affinity with either’– [Monday afternoon 6 January] This may indeed be more true than you ever before taught me to believe; but, remember, our most familiar friend must judge of us in some sort by our words; and we ourselves should watch these narrowly when we know that they are not in unison with, or do injustice to, our feelings – But cheer up my dearest Mary’ …..

wiser now than before can estimate persons and things more fairly – I believe her happiness will improve beyond her expectation – she richer in friends than most people – to call on Lady Eastnor, and if not at home send note to say sorry and was in Cheshire out the time or should have had the honour of waiting on her on the 6th – do not give the exact form of the note because know not the style she has written in before – Again bid her cheer up – 

‘I never despaired, of you or myself – if I see you dispirited and unwell, it must make me uneasy and unhappy in the midst of all the blessings that may surround me – Pray what was the Gipsy’s prophecy? I am curious to know – Do pray tell me – But the fact is, you yourself are the gipsy, the fortune-teller and the fortune-maker – Providence leaves us free – tis we enthral ourselves and you twisted round the thread of my fate; for I had left it in no human power but yours –

Miss W…..’s (Walker’s) return is indeed odd – your surprise could not exceed my own – But do not let your conclusions run on too rapidly – now that I have taken my fate into my own hands, believe nothing till I tell it you myself – I know well enough what all the world will think; – but all the world may be wrong – you cannot be otherwise than interested about me; and I shall not leave you to hear my history 2nd hand – all I wish at present is a better account of yourself’ –

scarcely know what to think of my aunt – ‘She suffers a great deal; but still I cannot agree with Cordingley, that she may and will linger many months’ – Eugenie sleeps in my room – I here 3 or 4 hours in the day and then return to Lidgate – ‘if the house was my own, more pains could not be taken to make me comfortable’ – but back and forwards work not agreeable and no chance of its ending these 3 or 4 weeks – 

‘by the way, Miss W (Walker) ….. says she remembers you, and I dare say, would count upon your good wishes – I have been at Copenhagen since last year; and my thoughts wander there at times’ – .. you know the only instance in which I have ever thought myself [Tuesday afternoon 7 January] hardly dealt ‘with’ – it is past – and God grant that, among the blessings I enjoy, I may always number your happiness – You have underrated my regard long enough – I only hope you will do it justice, by and by – Be my own fate what it may, I shall never cease to watch over yours with affectionate anxiety – I do not expect to tell me you are ‘quite happy’. it would content me, for the present, to know, that you were really comfortable – 

merely mentioned Birmingham’s having forwarded the stays from Paris to Mrs Hawkins and that I should write about them but could not till tomorrow – 

‘so long in writing on account of my unsettledness and frequent interruptions – God bless you, Mary! always especially yours AL– (Anne Lister)’ 

at 5 had just written the above and sealed my letter to ‘Mrs Lawton Claremont house Leamington Warwickshire’ and left it for the post tonight – and off at 5 20/.. and at Lidgate in 25 minutes – dinner at 6 – tea at 7 50/..

long talk she will employ Mr G(r)ey in York to make her will  meant to leave me and Captain Sutherland executors and secure all to the children  she seems quite decided to take me and leave me all for my life and I said then I would do ditto – 

came upstairs at 10 35/.. and to my room at 10 55/.. fine day –

reference number: SH:7/ML/E/16/0156, SH:7/ML/E/16/0157

[wasalwaysagreatpickle]

Tuesday 7 January 1834

8 1/4

11 35/..

A little pressing and grubbling last night but I am not for more of it than I can help –

Read prayers – breakfast at 9 1/2 – very fine sunny morning till about 10 – rain between 10 and 11 for some time then fine again – read the Saint James’s chronicle London 3 days a week paper – out about 11 1/2 walked with Miss Walker by Lower Brea and along my walk to here – she paid her visit to my sister and was a little while in the drawing room with my aunt, and a longish while with me in my study – lent her (took back with me) volume 38 of the British Essayists – then walked back with her to Lidgate to leave the book, and then to Cliff Hill where I left her at the gate at 2 40/.. 

Then here and came to my study – wrote out yesterday and today – 

Wonder how all this will end? she makes sure of me if she chooses and talks as if we both do as all was fixed but still she says nothing positive I do not care much about it and perhaps I shall get off again without her and then be rid of her – 

Finished my letter to Mariana dated Sunday, yesterday and today – tell her to cheer up – ‘things happen so oddly, - we are always so little able to calculate on fate; and there is generally so much good we never think of, that, trust me, it is a mauvais calcul (miscalculation) to look too attentionally on the darker side of anything – How can we say that even our mistakes shall cost us dear as we fancy they must? In these matters, we pay only by instalments; and the remainder of our debt is often forgiven us when we least expect it – 

Think not, Mary, of ‘unstrung nerves’ – Think only that with increased experience and improved discernment, you have addressed powers of setting right the wrong, and of bending circumstances more and more as you would have them – I remember what you allude to, about my aunt – it was rather an observation to me, than a message to you – you know my aunt’s regard for me, and should make much allowance for a feeling that might have been your own, had you been in her place you say ‘my head and my words are very common place, but my heart has no affinity with either’ – Monday afternoon, 6 January. ‘This may indeed be more true than you ever before taught me to believe; but, remember, our most familiar friend must judge of us in some sort by our words; and we ourselves should watch these narrowly when we know that they are not in unison with, or do injustice to, our feelings –  But cheer up my dearest Mary’….. 

Wiser now than before can estate persons and things more fairly – I believe her happiness will improve beyond her expectation – she richer in friends than most people – to call on Lady Eastnor, and if not at home send note to say sorry and was in Cheshire at the time or should have had the honour of waiting on her on the 6th – do not give the exact form of the note because know not the style she has written in before – 

Again bid her cheer up – “I never despaired of you or myself – if I see you dispirited and unwell, it must make me uneasy and unhappy in the midst of all the blessings that may surround me – Pray what was the gipsy’s prophecy? I am curious to know – Do pray tell me – But the fact is, you yourself are the gipsy, the fortune-teller and the fortune-maker – Providence leaves us free – ‘Tis we enthral [ourselves] and you twisted round the thread of my fate; for I had left it in no human power but yours –

“Miss Walker’s return is indeed odd – your surprise could not exceed my own – But do not let your conclusions run on too rapidly – now that I have taken my fate into my own hands, believe nothing till I tell it you myself – I know well enough what all the world will think; - but all the world may be wrong – you cannot be otherwise then interested about me; and I shall not leave you to hear my history 2nd hand – all I wish at present is a better account of yourself’ –

Scarcely know what to think of my aunt – ‘she suffers a great deal; but still I cannot help agree with Cordingley, that she may and will linger many months’ – Eugenie sleeps in my room – I here 3 or 4 hours in the day and then return to Lidgate – ‘If the house was my own, more pains could not be taken to make me comfortable’ – but back and forwards work not agreeable and no chance of its ending these 3 or 4 weeks – 

‘By the way, Miss Walker says she remembers you, and, I daresay, would count upon your good wishes – I have been at Copenhagen since last year; and my thoughts wander there at times’ – you know the only instance in which I have ever thought myself hardly dealt with’ – it is past – and god grant that, among the blessings I enjoy, I may always remember your happiness – you have underrated my regard long enough – I only hope you will do it justice, by and by – Be my own fate what it may, I shall never cease to watch over yours with affectionate anxiety – I do not expect you to tell me you are ‘quite happy’ - it would content me, for the present, to know, that you were really comfortable – 

Merely mentioned Birmingham’s having forwarded the stays from Paris to Mrs Hawkins and that I should write about them but could not till tomorrow – ‘so long in writing on account of my unsettledness and frequent interruptions – god bless you, Mary! always especially and entirely yours AL’ 

At 5 had just written the above and sealed my letter to ‘Mrs Lawton, Claremont House, Leamington, Warwickshire’ and left it for the post tonight – and off at 5 20/.. and at Lidgate in 25 minutes – dinner at 6 – tea at 7 50/..

Long talk she will employ Mr Fey in York to make her will, meant to leave me and Captain Sutherland executors and secure all to the children. She seems quite decided to take me and leave me well for my life and I said then would do ditto – 

Came upstairs at 10 35/.. and to my room at 10 55/.. fine day –

[recordmcqueen]

end-of-year asks

saw a post for this on my dash and figured no one ever sends me asks anyway so i may as well do em all myself umu

so here’s more info you didnt wanna know abt me :D

Song of the year?

hmmmmm thats a tough one but tbh i think clusterhug by idkhow sums it up pretty well and also absolutely sERVED the album we all been waiting for so :3

2. Album of the year?

well- razzmatazz i mean what else was i gonna say omg

3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

ooh sTARTED? probs waterparks then like yea i added turbulent to my playlist a while ago but i didnt actually Listen to them till lately but i am So glad i did :D

4. Movie of the year?

uh uhhh the old guard :3

5. TV show of the year?

i-i dont think i started any new shows this year rip :/

6. Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you?

BIJ WHO WOULD I BE KIDDING IF I SAID ANYTHING OTHER THAN SUPERNATURAL 15x18 SPANISH DUB OMG I DONT EVEN WATCH SPN LMAOO

7. Favorite actor of the year?

uhhhhh i mean..?? //idk noises

8. Game of the year?

i would say among us but yeet dabson is unparalleled so gotta go with hogwarts mystery uwu

9. Best month for you this year?

either january or december lel

10. Something that made you cry this year?

roughbreakupisroughahem uhhh l i f e :’3

11. Something you want to do again next year?

i- idk?? i honestly have no idea oop- survive ig :p

12. Talk about a new friend you made this year

“a” well i found ac and ashton and kamy and dia and ruby and all yall super awesome wonderful funky beans ilysm 🥺 <33

13. How was your birthday this year?

ask me after tomorrow :|

14. Favorite book you read this year?

tbh the only books i read this year were aftg and capri soooooo gonna go with prince’s gambit cause that thing was legendary :3

15. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year?

...uHmmmmmm closing myself off ig? but its kind of a coping mechanism for my circumstances so yknow :/

16. Post a picture from the beginning of the year

like...of me?

17. Post a picture from the end of the year

if yall want selfie then u gotta slide into my askbox and demand one lmaooo

18. A memorable meal this year?

hanging at timmys with my bestie before we moved qwq 

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

thats a question. uhhhh hopefully an improvement from 2020??

20. What’s something you learned this year?

I AM EPIC N FUNKY N FABULOUS N POGGERS it’s so important to love yourself and its helped a lot. also aHEM not tryna please everyone :/ it doesnt work qwq

21. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year?

well im at my grandmas house rn so im basically never going back to the place in question lmaoo

22. Favorite place you visited this year?

bruh its 2020 the only place i explored was my imagination

23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

uhhhhhhh see on one hand i kinda cringe but on the other if i had Gotten the message from my future self it would likely hinder the ultimate character development i Did go through so yknow ig id just say “good luck” :p

24. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions?

...yes and no but yknow what i did technically fulfill it so thats somethin :3

25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one

SO MANY LMAOOO but mostly my persona :3 hehe kachow

[wordstrings]

Inbox dump 

(brace yourselves, I’m including the timestamps because these have been sitting forever and you may literally forget ever having sent one of these because they’re from so long ago 😬)

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Anonymous said: March 11th 2014 *Clears throat* Non-canon verse, uni AU probably *strums guitar and takes a deep breath* DUEEEEE TO A COMPUTING errORRR, dean and gabe are stuck as roomatesssssssss, whilesamandcascanbestucktogethertoo that'snotaneccesitybutitwouldbegreaaaaaaaaattttttttt, and veeery soon it turns into something of a friendship BUT THEEEENNNN dean fights with saaAAAM and gabe is like "dude stop being so upset" aND FLUFF HAPPEeeeeeEEEEEEeens! *stands up and bows* tyvm for accepting debriel though like omg <3

I’ve been rewatching some of Supernatural seasons 5 and 6 this past weekend, and it reminded me how much I love and miss Gabriel. I still maintain that Debriel is a super-underrated ship. The manic-chaos potential is *muah*. (see: #Debriel)

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Anonymous said: August 7th 2018 psst... light back tickles while cuddling in bed are pure™ and wholesome™

Good shit good shit good shit

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Anonymous said: September 19th 2018 I love science and go to public seminars as often as I can. I walked in to the most recent one (which I had picked at random), and it was on the science of tickling. There were demonstrations. There were hand gestures and finger wiggling. There were in depth descriptions of the anatomy and physiology behind ticklish spots. It was legitimately your Amateur Production’s fic, and I was Kevin. Worst of all it was 2 hours long. I think I died during it and my soul was sucked into hell.

Uhhhhhh where can I get a copy of the slide deck?? Asking for a friend. (see: #series: Amateur Production)

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Anonymous said: September 23rd 2018 your art skills have me shook in the best possible way

aaaahh thank you! Fun fact: I went to art school and even took illustration as a concentration area but I’ve hardly drawn anything for like ten years. When I do draw, it’s usually because there are feelings that I don’t wanna do words about. (see: #strings does art)

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Halo!anon said: September 27th 2018 A small, sinful part of Castiel had the urge to gloat. It was somewhat dampened by the fact that Dean was still under the impression that being abducted is peak romance."I can't believe you went out of your way to set up our second date!" He'd squealed, as Castiel tightened his restraints. - little excerpt of a sequel to Date Nights with Demons i had planned for months but abandoned. halo!anon

Your demented version of Demon!Dean is so entertaining 😄 (see: Date Nights with Demons)

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Anonymous said: November 6th 2018 Aaaaah your Gabriel / Kali drabble was adorable, I can't help but love seeing our mighty archangel reduced to a mass of giggles, and you write Gabriel so so well <3. I love your writing your stories always brighten my day ^^

It’s so rare for him to let his guard down, isn’t it? But when he does, he has a grand old time of it. :) (see: this drabble)

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sarah-lou-who said: November 8th 2018 1/4 Boo! The ghost of my online presence in the community is peeking its head in because I need help. I don’t have a platform or following to sound an alarm, so I’m using my platonic tumblr wife’s platform and following for me, because that’s what platonic tumblr wives do. Right? Anyway, I’m very actively fixated on Attack on Titan atm. You know this very well. You also know my predicament. I seem to have exhausted the entire supply of tickly AoT content I’m interested in that exists currently. 2/4 So, if you’re willing to publish these for me, I’m crying out into the vast TFB lands hoping that there’s someone out there to answer the call. I am in desperate need of tickly AoT content. I don’t know if anyone around here writes for it much these days. I haven’t found anyone. And I know beggars can’t be choosers, but it can’t be helped; I really only care if Eren is involved. Even better would be Levi, but I haven’t found ANYTHING involving him, so I feel like asking for that is futile. 3/4 I digress. Even after all this time I can’t keep my asks less than 50 parts long. So my goal here is that someone, somewhere, will by chance come across these, and be able and willing to either write fic of the tickly variety for Eren and/or Levi from Attack on Titan, or direct me to someone who can, if they know a person who knows a person who knows a person. (Sidenote, hi anyone who still remembers me! It’s Sarah, the more ticklish half of Leerah. I’m doing good and I miss you!) 4/4 (I hope you’re all doing well!) Thank you for letting me take advantage of your devoted followers, Strings! Love yaaa!!!

Ah, my platonic tumblr wife Sarah returns! (Digitally, anyway. Reality-wise, we hang out all the time and it’s probably very rude of me to have not published this ask for so long!) I keep teasing her that she has a Type, and that is dark-haired sulky badass who’d probably make a wicked ‘ler – AoT Levi, SPN Cas, FMA Roy, etc. So anyway, if anyone knows of somewhere I can point her to find the content she’s (still) craving, lmk!

-

Anonymous said: October 23rd 2019 I’m sorry if this is invasive in any way, but how is Sarah doing? I’ve been absent from Tumblr for a couple years and I see that her blog is now deactivated. I was just wondering if she’s doing alright and if she’s still around here on a different blog maybe?

See above! She doesn’t have a TFB community blog anymore, but she’s doing well. We’re quarantine buddies and helping each other out a lot. Very kind of you to ask! <3

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Anonymous said: December 2nd 2018 Hi, sorry to bother you but do you know what happened to prodigal-anon’s blog? It seems to have been deleted. Sorry again if you’ve been asked this before

No worries, friend! Here’s an answer for you!

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Anonymous said: December 13th 2018 I LOVE THE LOOPY SERIES! I love it so much, is there any chance you’ll be doing a part four? I’d give anything to see Cas and Dean tickle each other, it would be so cute 😍

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I haven’t entirely stopped writing... and Loopy 4 is one of those unfinished pieces that has seen a few additions lately. :) I’ve learned not to make promises about when something might get finished and posted, but I genuinely do believe this may be one of the first things that shows up once I’m ‘back in the game.’ Stay tuned... (see: #series: Loopy)

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Anonymous said: January 1st 2019 No no no you can't just stop there! I need more fluffy destiel with tickles and kissing! Pretty please?

I believe this is in response to Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight. Don’t you worry, anon – Dean and Cas are not done being fluffy on this blog!

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1832wasalongtimeago said: January 25th 2019 Hi I just wanted to pop in and say the Maintenance series is amazing!! The second part was doing things to my poor heart I’ve read it like 5 times already. You’re such an amazing writer and thank you fo writing for us!

I’m very flattered, but I can’t take credit for the Of Maintenance series – that’s the lovely work of ask-flip-frost! It does things to my poor heart, too, so you’re in good company. :)

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Anonymous said: January 26th 2019 Sam Winchester can take a lot of things. The one thing he CAN'T take? Someone using baby talk on him when he's being tickled. He collapses into a puddle of helpless giggles faster than a house of cards in a stiff wind.

Precious Sammy just needs to laugh and be held, doesn’t he? <3

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Anonymous said: May 17th 2019 Thor needs tickles. So. Damn. Much.

Oh this was from right after Endgame came out. Thor did make me feel some sads there. :( Poor bab.

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Anonymous said: July 25th 2019 hi! i’ve read your wonderful fics forever but i’ve never really sent anything like this before so i don’t really know what to say.. but i had a destiel tickly thought and really wanted to share it with somebody, so here goes i guess- dean is taking too long in the shower so cas decides to use his mojo from the other room to speed things along. and listens to dean’s echoey laughs through the door. that’s all. sorry if this is weird! okay bye have a good one

This is not weird and I may have delayed in telling you any of my feelings about it but I definitely have a doc somewhere that has some vague notes about how I’d like to write this because I like it!

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Anonymous said: August 6th 2019 Anhhgff your Good Omens tword fics are so cute snvfddf i never knew I needed that of my favorite husbands till now😳😍

I know, right?! They’re just dying to be dropped into every fluffy situation. (see: #Good Omens)

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Anonymous said: July 25th 2019 Poking my head in to say hello, hope you’re doing well still! I just got into Good Omens and I absolutely loved your fic! (I watched the show first because my book was taking too long in the mail lol) Also, the other week I somehow talked myself into making a tfb blog, after all these years of almost doing so before chickening out (this ask isn’t from it because I just hopped in here briefly in a private phone browser to say hi, it’s literally just august-anon though) ~August!Anon

August!anon, I’m always so happy to see you stop by! Tagging your (not-so-new anymore) blog so everyone can check you out: @august-anon​

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hey-teenblog said: August 4th 2019 I love your fanfiction very much! They give me a lot of pleasant emotions. And most importantly, they, saturated with tenderness and love, gave me to accept myself as lee!! sorry for my english, i'm russian Love you 😘❤️

I will never tire of hearing things like this! Thank you for telling me. “Saturated with tenderness and love” is a such wonderful compliment about my writing – thank you very much! No need to apologize for language differences; I’m always impressed with anyone who manages to pick up English because it’s bonkers. 

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Anonymous said: August 23rd 2019 Hi! Just found this blog and wondering some basic info. ** What fandoms do toy write for? ** Do you accept prompts? ** Do you write reader insert fics? Thank you lovley ❤️

Anonymous said: August 29th 2019 Do you write tickle fics for bnha?? Asking for a friend 👀👀

The only fandoms I have reliably been able to write for are Supernatural and Good Omens – but even Good Omens is a rookie player here. Supernatural is my main jam, and Destiel is my favorite flavor. I don’t do reader inserts, but I’m always “accepting” prompts. I just haven’t written many of them for quite a long time now, so you’re welcome to drop them as long as you’re okay with them collecting dust. (see: this selfsame post)

My About/FAQ page is very dusty right now, too, but there might be some useful tidbits in there for you.

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Anonymous said: November 12th 2019 okayokayokay. Have you watched Lucifer? It's on netflix, it's great, so much emotions and pining. (Also, y'know, reg. Luci stuff. He runs a club. Bad jokes. It's great.)

I haven’t, but it’s on my Netflix watchlist, so I’ll get there eventually! I saw a gifset once where he actually did the thing I see in winged fanfic all the time, where there was gunfire and he sheltered someone he cared about with his manifested wings. And honestly, that was the deciding factor for me.

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Anonymous said: November 16th 2019 Oh Man U listen to Critrole as well! Nice! Campaign 1 was awesome but also heartfelt and really gut-punching at points. Who is your fav so far, anyone you aren’t fond of? (& Out of interest do you have any tickle related thoughts on the main crew or upcoming Fics we can look out for? As you said it’s tumbleweeds out here for this fandom’s tickles and I’ll take anything really 😂!) Hope u enjoy!!!!!

It’s STILL tumbleweeds out here and it’s making me crazy! My heart belongs to Vax primarily, Percy secondarily. I don’t really have cohesive thoughts or headcanons about anything, unfortunately. I do have this one mental picture that keeps coming up that I keep wanting to see art of (who knows, maybe I’ll commission somebody someday?) – of ridiculous brute Grog just lifting Vax straight up in his arms and gettin’ wiggly with his fingers while all Vax can do is laugh and pry and kick while absolutely nobody helps him.

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Regarding #series: Accessor:

Anonymous said: August 31st 2015 I would like to see accessor!verse cas using feathers on Dean!!! and NIBBLES and RASPBERRIES and TEETH and TONGUE and WOWWWWWW

ME TOO, FRIEND. It’s been aaaaages since I published anything new for the Accessor AU, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been going back to my unfinished docs every once in a while to add a few lines here and there. ;) 

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Anonymous said: October 29th 2016 Prompt: Cas is put in charge of getting a treaty with a neighboring country that shares a lot of the same customs, including Accessories, with certain... twists (think Bracelets AU) and treats their personal slaves (like Accessories) like people (listening to opinions, giving proper care, etc.). The foreign diplomats keep bringing that up and talking to Dean. Cas isn't sure he can make it though the diplomatic proceedings. Also, he might be having improper thoughts about that custom and Dean...

I’m posting this here, but I’m definitely keeping this filed elsewhere because it’s FANTASTIC.

-

Halo!anon submitted: June 4th 2018 I can’t help but imagine how tickling must play a part in other aspects of society in the accessor ‘verse, besides the sessions between master and accessory. So here’s some imagines and headcanons, with a touch of worldbuilding. (Warnings, besides the usual for this AU: death mention, reference to past trauma.)

- Among the high class, during parties and other celebrations, it’s seen as a common courtesy to string up one’s personal accessory in the center of the room and let the guests entertain themselves with them. Lord Castiel never does this with Dean, much to his fellow nobles’ disappointment; the mere suggestion had Dean quaking as things he’d rather forget came back to bite him.

- Every so often, a petty criminal(the poor man’s accessory, if you will) is placed in stocks in a small town’s square and left at the mercy of the very people they used to menace. What happens next usually involves honey, some sheep, and plenty of begging. A guard stands by to warn people, “No hurting, only tickling. Everyone please wait your turn, they’re not going anywhere any time soon.”

- Certain monastic healers perform tickle therapy as a treatment for anxiety, stress, and other “diseases of the soul”, as they call them. Balthazar himself proposed the idea, because of course he did. The rich usually indulge in this kind of therapy secretly, due to its undignified nature. Some contemplate the possibility of training accessories to tickle in the future, but it’s still a big taboo.

- Every town has a folktale about a tickle monster. Curiously, many of them involve controlling plants and attacking through dreams. The southern communities still have a giggle remembering that one time six years ago when Michael offered to hunt down one such monster and came back with Crowley, a sleazy drunkard with a fetish and a dream, sitting in a cage and wearing a mask.

- The Masters sisters, Lillith, Meg and Ruby, have a long history with law enforcement. Their favorite pastime is snatching unlucky merchants off the roads and tickling them into coughing up everything they have. Everyone is sure they had a hand in Fergus"Crowley" Macleod’s untimely demise by ferocious attack hounds, but they’re very good at covering their tracks. They’ll help you cover up your tracks too, if you’re a friend- ask Bela Talbot.

I might make a second part if I get any more ideas. I hope you enjoyed this! -Halo!anon.

I am very fond of you indeed, Halo!anon. These are so creative!

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hypahticklish submitted: July 24th 2018 Accessor!Ideas:

~ Gabriel leads a furious rant regarding Prince Lucifer/Sam to Castiel, relating back to perhaps dealings he has directly had with the Prince between their two unstable-yet-truced Kingdoms. Castiel relates with similar views shared by Gehenna’s councilor(s).

~ Dean and Sam BM where the audience learns more about their homevillage. Dean starts it after a rather morose remark from Sam and ends with Sammy smiling and stealing my heart.

~ Balthazar helps Sam in several ways: 1) Learns the Sam was originally a psuedo-Advocates apprentice, as well as herbalist nephew when Sam identifies the components to some salves/medicines he’s making (he had been explaining what he was doing in an attempt to spare himself being attacked like the first couple times) 2) Calls Sam out on being intelligent and making a recklessly stupid choice by selling himself to find Dean. 3) Removes Lucifers mark. And maybe perhaps: 4) Allows Sam to assist in his own healing/medicine making under his careful observation, feigned as needing two sets of hands to do correctly and his assistant was running an errand, to assess his skills. 5) Offer he work in the hospice under him, apprenticing, should Gabriel allow his intelligence not go to waste. It’s not what Sam really wants to do/learn, but it’s better than doing nothing.

~Dean officially thanks Castiel for saving Sam. I’m talking full feels, single man tear sorta thing. And Castiel says “there was never another option” and then its schmoopy sweet with the kisses and the tickles and the Cas saying he loves Dean back!!!!!!!! swoon.

~ Kali!Likes!Sam’s!Spirit! Give me a dinner scene with Gabriel, Kali and Sam where hes holding his own in a diplomatic conversation with them when he nearly crosses a line (maybe something classist? Making it clear that Cas and Gabe are the exception to his experiences) and she says “I like this ones fire. He reminds me of you, my love.” *grabby hands*

~ Prince Lucifer sends a message to Gabriel requesting (threatening) his Helpmate be returned to him for a handsome reward. Sam somehow sees letter and gets spooked because DRAMA. Gabriel responds to Lucifer with the Chief Advocate equivalent of “Fuck Off”

You, my friend. YOU. All these feelings about Sam? Top-notch, and I shall be borrowing them, yes I shall.

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Regarding #android!Cas:

hypahticklish said: January 23rd 2016 Android!Cas deciding today is the DAY. Dean has been teasing him lately that he likes these strange sensations that have him using all his back-up generated power to not accidentally break Dean's bones and challenging him with that cocky smirk and relaxed confidence. Android!Cas practicing during time while Dean rests with holding objects with similar density to the human wrists with enough gentle force that they neither fracture or slip from his grasp. Android!Cas surprising Dean by turning the tables and pinning his wrists over his head while settling himself on Dean's thighs. Android!Cas not necessarily tickling at first so much as just touching like he had been wanting to so as to catalog how his best friend feels with his new technology. Android!Cas feeling that bubble of FEELS in his chest as he listens to Dean swear at him with positive physical actions negating his harsh words, growing more amused as the bubbling giggles begin. I love Android!Cas 

Anonymous said: January 23rd 2016 Android!Cas figures out his own strength comes in handy for more than just retaining himself during tickle fights. When he surprises Dean, Dean tends to squirm and fight back a little (even though he told Cas to get him back as part of the experience), so Cas uses his strength to gently hold Dean down while ticking him. Dean's never been held immobile before so it's a new experience for him, but he ends up liking it. Cas notices how Dean relaxes into his hold after a minute or so. Cas doesn't fail to use this knowledge about Dean, coming up with teasing words and methods of ticking to make Dean all squirmy and giggly, taking special notice of how light tickles effect Dean even more than most other touches, using that specially designed soft brush meant to gently clean Cas' delicate computer chips.

Anonymous said: February 17th 2016 I'm joining in on the Android!Cas thing, if not too late. Perhaps Android!Cas has detachable parts, like a foot, and Dean is a jerk and runs off and hides with it all the while tickling it and making fun of Android!Cas's increasingly desperate attempts to get it back.

Y’all, careful deliberate curious determined ‘ler Cas is LIFE. And, reserved confused helpless adorable ‘lee Cas is also life. Detachable and extensible parts are probably key to both of these things.

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Regarding current personal circumstances:

Anonymous said: January 14th 2020 I pray that you’re able to find peace during this difficult time. You are loved more than you will ever know. I know it’s hard to believe, but there will come a time that you are thankful for this experience, because it will have turned you into the person you are truly meant to be. Be strong and be hopeful. Keep your faith and keep knowing that you are going to be okay. Don’t let this dark time destroy the magnificent light inside of you. Sending you so much love

Anonymous said: January 17th 2020 I’m so sorry you’re struggling. Hang in there! We’re all here for you!

Anonymous said: February 11th 2020 all my love, thoughts and prayers are going towards you right now. also wanted to just drop a little thank you note in your inbox for all the light and joy i've found in your fics over the years. im sitting half way through my first year at uni currently but ive been a fan of yours since early highschool and i feel like ive almost grown up with your writing and fanfics in a strange way, so thank you so much for that. sending all my love to you once again- you are so strong x

I love you all so much.

[taylorlearnsjapanese]

How did/do I learn vocabulary?

How did/do I learn vocabulary?

This is a question I’m asked quite often and I usually have a different answer each time. The reason is because I have no set way I learn vocabulary. This post will focus entirely on my experience and journey with vocabulary. Grammar will be a topic for another day. ;)

In my opinion, there is no set way to learn vocabulary. I can’t stare at lists and lists of words and suddenly they’re memorized, but I have! I can’t use flash cards because they take too much time, but I have! Kind of see where I’m going with this? I’m the perfect example of an informal or unstructured learner/studier. 

I am a lazy learner. THE LAZIEST. I’m all for fast and easy ways to learn without so much as lifting a finger. Insane, right? Totally. Extremely insane for a beginner like I was. Butttttt, I did it though. Was it smart? Probably not. Did it work? Well… kinda?

I also want to point out that I’ve never studied Japanese in a classroom setting nor have I had tutors to teach me. 

Okay, what I did:

I started learning Japanese on June 11, 2018. I’m going to list the resources I’ve done roughly up to this point in time that this is posted. 

Please don’t take my views on the apps and resources listed as final say. Everyone learns differently and I suggest you try all of these resources out! Things that don’t work for me, may work for you and vice versa.

DuoLingo. It was the only app I really knew of that was credible. I drilled the crap out of that app! That’s how I got my foundations in kana, my first words, and first kanji! 

DuoLingo is good in some ways, but bad in others. It’s perfect for repetition and getting you to think about those words over and over. But that’s also why it’s bad. Each step makes you go through like, what?, four or five tiers or whatever they’re called? By the time you reach that fourth of fifth tier, it’s just annoying to do that pattern over and over again before you can move on. This is just my opinion though, some people thrive off of that. Don’t knock it till you try it, ‘kay? I’ve heard the app has changed some since summer of 2018, so I’ll have to check it out again. 

LingoDeer. Gosh, I love LingoDeer. I really need to use it more. It is the best app ever to introduce you to grammar when you have no idea where to start. 

Workbooks. I got my first workbooks (not textbooks) at the end of June 2018 (I had been learning for roughly 3 weeks by that time). It was Learning Japanese Hiragana and Katakana and Learning Japanese Kanji Volumes 1 and 2, all published by Tuttle. As I worked through the kana book I managed to learn many vocabulary terms from the exercises in the back with the writing exercises (all spelled in hiragana and katakana, there is no kanji in that workbook). I tried and dabbled lightly in the Kanji Vol 1 book, but I wasn’t ready for that just yet back then.

I ONLY used those resources until the end of August 2018 and added Memrise too my list of apps during that time. I gained A LOT of vocabulary knowledge (and some basic grammar but that’s a post for another day) just from using three apps and a kana workbook over two and a half months. 

It was nothing fancy like some people tend to think? I didn’t somehow learn all these words over night.

Textbooks. Genki 1 and it’s workbook was my first ever textbook. This is one of the most widely known textbooks out there for learning Japanese from scratch. Most people know how vocabulary works for that resource. Each chapter introduces vocab and you learn it as you study the grammar and do the exercises.

Um, so, I’m gonna be honest for a second. I HATE TEXTBOOKS. I hate them with a fiery passion. *clenches fist* I stopped using Genki after completing half of the book because I felt like I learned nothing. It just wasn’t the resource for me.

At this point you’re staring hard at your phone, tablet, or computer like WHAT? Yeah… I didn’t hate them at first!! But because of my laziness and informal learning style, I grew to haaaate them. Textbooks are too “cookie cutter” in my opinion. But Taylor, don’t you use one right now? Yes, and let me explainnnnnn. I find that textbooks don’t give you freedom to expand! 

Remember when I asked on Instagram what were some things you’d like me to discuss or talk more about? One user messaged me and wrote,

“How [do] you apply grammar and vocabulary? Because I try to come up with sentences on my own then look up examples of its usage but I continuously use the same type of examples. But when I look at other example there is so much vocab and other grammar structures that go into play that I don’t understand, so it’s hard for me to find a balance that will make me push myself but also know that I can decently understand…”

That’s EXACTLY what I struggled with, with Genki! Textbooks only provide examples for that lesson and the grammar it teaches at that point. So you only know those words (and grammar) in those contexts only. You try to make your own sentences but you end up only using those words and those grammar points over and over. 

There’s simply no opportunity to expand.

Then when you look up other examples you see other new words (and grammar) and it freaks you out because suddenly you don’t feel like you’ve learned anything! This is the e x a c t reason I hate textbooks. 

My answer? For me, I don’t depend on textbooks anymore for vocabulary. They’re amazing for referencing vocabulary and pulling grammar structures, but textbooks only give a limited amount of vocabulary and if that’s all your rely on when learning grammar, it’s going to be rough. It stagnated my learning when I did that. 

When I make my own sentences now, I pull vocab I've been learning from apps, social media, reading, etc. I could go on and on about this, but that’s not the point of this post. I’ll discuss my more of my hatred for textbooks later. Same with grammar and how I make my examples and such. I’ve already gone off on a tangent long enough, hehe. (I hope that answered the above question though! If not, I hope future posts will! Or just message me, lol.) 

Other textbooks I have used after Genki for vocabulary gain is Basic Japanese by Tuttle and the にほんご90日 series.

YouTube. Japanese Ammo with Misa is my love. I love her videos and her personality. Her teaching style is relaxed, but she gets the job done. She has a wide variety of grammar videos along with lots of other videos related to Japanese and Japan.

After my downfall with Genki 1 and some discouragement that led to a nearly three months hiatus of studying, I started using her videos to get the grammar knowledge I needed in January 2019 (I have been learning (counting the hiatus) for about 6 months at this point). 

It’s the perfect things for a lazy learner like me, hehe. I could sit down at my desk and watch one of her videos (they can be anywhere from 8 to 40 minutes long) and watch, pause, and rewind as much as I wanted to write notes with ease. I was learning the grammar I needed to know and learned SO MUCH VOCABULARY. 

She uses common words you find in textbooks, but she also throws in culturally relevant words. She references Pokemon, manga, TV/anime, music, etc, vocabulary all the time! She even teaches the informal/casual variations of words along with formal/polite variations and that’s where I gain so, so, so much vocab! I still use and reference those videos to this day!

PRESENT DAY:

Okay, I just explained what I did to start learning vocabulary from the beginning to about ~5 months ago. I rambled a lot, I know… But did you kind of see the point I was hoping to make? I did not stick to one resource for learning vocabulary (and kanji). 

I didn’t not, nor do I still, learn vocabulary in a “traditional” way. There is no one way to learn everything you need to know. Over that course of time I learn about ~35-40% of my current vocabulary knowledge. Wait… Taylor… You learned ~35-40% of your vocabulary over the course of 10 months, but you’ve learned the other ~60-65% in less than 5 months? Yes, and I’ll explain below~~~

What I mainly use now, app wise, to gain vocabulary knowledge is Memrise, Quizlet (rarely though), Kanji Tree, and LingoDeer. I even use Instagram to learn new vocab too! I follow users who teach vocabulary (and grammar) with their posts. Yes, you will see lots of repeated terms but that’s exposure and review! 

Here are some profiles I really like for introducing vocabulary (new or review): boxofmanga, japanesepod101 (Instagram infographics only), japanese_language_mlc, j_aipon, blue_aoi, and _urabanashi_. 

I also suggest you find native Japanese Instagram users. Not just celebrities or idols. I mean average natives who use Instagram the same way we use our private accounts. I follow larger profiles (500+ followers) for the fact that I don’t want to be a creep and follow someone who only has like 100 or 200 followers. So, I follow some “mommy blog” Instagram's because they tend to use simpler vocabulary when referring to their kids. I also follow some book reviewers, writers, and one guy who loves camping! You get to see lots of natural Japanese this way and it shows common words that are used. I don’t understand a lot of it, but I’m being exposed to the language!

And by now you’re asking, “Okay, but how do you learn vocabulary NOW?” I’m going into N4 if you’re going to look at this from a JLPT stand point, but I don’t only learn strictly N5, N4, N3, etc level material. (That’ll be another post too, lol. Pssst… it’s another “cookie cutter” issue with me.)

Well, those apps mentioned above, obviously, but those only make up about ~30% of my vocabulary gain now. I use my textbook にほんご９０日 Vol 1 as a reference and gain some vocabulary there and I have a couple JLPT related vocab/kanji lists I use too, so that’s like another ~5% of where I get my vocab. 

I get the other ~65% from reading. Yup. Reading. Literally that’s it. I read all the time. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to learn Japanese! 

I have a short story digital bundle I read often from TheJapanShop.com and it’s aimed at beginners and becomes “harder” as you move to the next book and so on. I read through them and when my brain sees a word I know I’m like, “Cool.” But when I don’t know a word I see, I either look it up quick and write it in the margin or I continue on. I learn a lot through context clues. 

Here’s an example sentence from Story Two in Book One of the Japanese Reader Collection offered from TheJapanShop.com. 

「この傘は、雨が降るといつのまにか傘が開き、晴れると傘が閉じている…」

Roughly translated to “This umbrella opened unnoticed when it began raining and upon it becoming sunny the umbrella closed…”

When I read that sentence, I knew all the vocabulary except いつのまにか. The stories have lovely vocabulary guides, so when I looked it up, it said that it meant “before one knows; while unaware” and I took what I knew from the rest of the sentence and managed to learn that new word as a result! This is the best way I could explain how I use reading to expand my vocabulary… ^_^” Just taking what you know and expanding on it over time. I use this same method for grammar, but that’s saved for another post, lol.

I also use NHK New Web Easy to read articles about current events in Japan. It’s set up for native elementary and middle school students so they can read within the kanji and vocabulary they’ve learned so far in life. Guess what? That’s PERFECT for a language learner who has an okay-ish foundation with vocabulary. I learn so much everyday vocabulary that way.

Lastly, I read books and manga. Yup, manga. I don’t use these resources much right now because they’re bigger and more intimidating. I haven’t “officially” started a book but I’ve opened and read passages quite often to sort of test myself. Manga is simpler since there are fewer words than a novel, but they’re bigger than a short story or a news article. You’ve seen on Instagram that I’ve begun reading よつばと！ and so far I’m having a blast! I’ll talk about specific things I’m reading later.

Sooooo…. That’s basically it.

Most of my vocabulary gain now is through exposure to Japanese through social media (bless the internet), reading, and some usage of apps like Memrise and LingoDeer. I use no formal education or study plans or any structure at all. 

My word retention grew to be nearly double these last ~5 months because I built on what I knew and it grew easier and easier for me to learn and retain those words over these last few months. I never believed it, but there is definitely a language hump. Once you crawl over that, things simply become easier. It just takes A LOT of time and effort (and tears) to get over that hump. But, I believe anyone can do it, you just have to be determined and eager enough.

One tip I like to give is to learn through context. Don’t just learn lists of words and kanji. What’s the point? You can recite them, but can you USE them?

Oh, quick thing, I want to point out about how I personally learn vocabulary. I failed to realize this right away when I started learning Japanese, but quickly caught on and now hold onto this belief firmly.

I learn vocabulary and kanji together. 

I do not separate the two. I do not have a separate notebooks for vocabulary and kanji. I don’t even have a notebook at all actually for them, lol. When I post on Instagram that I’m focusing on kanji today, it means I’m just learning vocabulary or reviewing it. The 1026字の正しい書き方 book I use that teaches “kanji” is mainly for vocabulary expansion and how to write those kanji (stroke order). I don’t study the individual meanings of the kanji character, I study the example words it lists. That’s one way on how I’ve been expanding my vocabulary so rapidly.

Kanji is vocabulary. 

Kanji should be treated the exact same way that hiragana and katakana are treated in my opinion. Jokingly, kanji is just fancy kana. ;)

If you “fear” kanji, you’ll have a bad time. I joke and say now when I see an insane kanji or a difficult one, “Damn, that’s some angry squiggles right there.” and it makes learning it that much more enjoyable. :)

For example, 食 means “eat, food.” Okay, cool that kanji has a food related meaning. But I’m not going to do that for thousands of kanji especially since each kanji has multiple readings depending on how it’s used. It’s simply impossible! I found I personally learn better when I learn the kanji in it’s “true” form, aka, in WORDS. 

食べる - to eat / 食べ物 - food / 食事 - meal / 朝食 - breakfast / etc.

Holy crap, not only did I learn the kanji 食 effectively, I learned four words and THREE other kanji! (I’m over dramatic, I know, lol.)

Vocabulary is all interconnected. You can’t learn one thing without stumbling and learning other things by accident. Learning through exposure is the best in my opinion. It’ll be tough to begin with when you don’t know much and it will cause you to doubt yourself and your ability to learn this language. But, just be patient. Learning five, three, or even one word a day is progress.

Small progress eventually builds up to big progress as Yuta says. ;)

Words are meant to be strung together and form sentences for you to read, enjoy, and react to. That’s why books exist. You read those words and sentences and they make you feel warm and fuzzy or cry or laugh. Don’t keep them at an arm's length and treat it like it’s some delicate flower. Language is a not just lists of words, kanji, and grammar points. It’s a culture and way of life for people. Treat it like an old friend and play with it (or go get a beer with it, ya know, whatever gets this point across, lol)!

I tend to treat language learning like I’m a curious five year old. I’m constantly asking questions and discovering new things and it just sparks that fire that makes you want to explore more and more. 

I don’t take it seriously (from an academic view) and that’s why I find some stuff so easy. It only becomes difficult if you make it difficult. Everyone learns differently. There is no one way to learn Japanese and there is no one way to learn specific parts of Japanese. Also, don’t compare yourself! It only ends in self doubt and discouragement. 

Explore and try out all sorts of things. Try out the free apps, read articles online, watch YouTube videos, just do SOMETHING. Don’t look for the “perfect” resource or routine. Just. STUDY. You’ll find in time what works for you and what doesn’t.

Language learning is no race. There is no ribbon or trophy at the end for becoming fluent overnight. Take your time and enjoy the process, you’ll be learning your whole life, ‘kay?

I’ll talk further on how I review it in another post. :)

[booksinbeds]

BOOKS I READ IN 2009

Looking through my Facebook page I found a list I made of all the books I read in 2009. I think that might have been the first years I did the 50 book challenge. This was before I used goodreads on a regular basis, and I copied this from a little notebook I used to record what I had read. 2009 might have been one of the best of my reading years till this day. 

Here it is in all it’s dullness:

Month/Books/date finished January: "Fast Ships, Black Sails" by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer. 1/9 "Amulet" by Roberto Bolaño. 1/13 "Fireworks" by Angela Carter. 1/29 "Swords & Deviltry" by Fritz Leiber. 1/24 February: "Swords Against Death" by Fritz Leiber. 2/? "The Dying Earth" by Jack Vance. 2/18 "Swords in the Mist" by Fritz Leiber. 2/20 "Swords Against Wizardry" by Fritz Leiber. 2/23 "Eyes of the Overworld" by Jack Vance. 2/27 March: "Eeeee Eee Eeee" by Tao Lin. 3/2 "Cugels Saga" by Jack Vance. 3/9 "Swords of Lankhmar" by Fritz Leiber. 3/19 April "Lyonesse; Suldruns Garden" by Jack Vance. 4/2 "The Judging Eye" by R. Scott Bakker. 4/15 "Naked" by David Sedaris. 4/18 May: "Lyonesse: the Green Pearl" by Jack Vance. 5/? "Lyonesse: Madouc" by Jack Vance. 5/22 "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. 5/30 June: "The Savage Detectives" by Roberto Bolaño. 6/19 "All the Days Sad Stories" by Tina May Hall. 6/2 "the Convalescent" by Jessica Anthony. 6/30 July: "The Sword of Rhiannon" by Leigh Brackett. 7/12 "God is Dead" by Ron Currie, Jr. 7/12 "Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone" by J. K. Rowling. 7/17 "Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling. 7/23 August: "2666" by Roberto Bolaño. 8/? September: "Saturns Children" by Charles Stross. 9/18 "Lamentation" by Ken Scholes. 9/20 "The Collectors" by Matt Bell. 9/? October: "The City & The City" by China Mieville. 10/1 "Tunneling to the Center of the Earth" by Ken Wilson. 10/5 "Wild Things" by Dave Eggers. 10/? "You Don't Love Me Yet" by Jonathan Lethem. 10/7 "33 1/2: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Kim Cooper. 10/8 "Sword of the Lictor" by Gene Wolf. 10/? "Citadel of the Autarch" by Gene Wolf. 10?/ "Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury. 10/23 "Nightside the Long Sun" by Gene Wolf. 10/27 "Lake of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolf. 10/30 November: "Finch" by Jeff Vandermeer. 11/2 "Calde of the Long Sun" by Gene Wolf. 11/5 "Exodus from the Long Sun" by Gene Wolf. 11/12 "Sabella" by Tanith Lee. 11/? "Kill the Dead" by Tanith Lee. 11?/ "Yellow Blue Tibia" by Adam Roberts. 11/20 "The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart" by Jesse Bullington. 11/26 December: "The Birthgrave" "Vazkor, Son of Vazkor" "Quest for the White Witch" "Volkhavaar" ALL by Tanith Lee. Finished ? "Songs of the Dying Earth" Various. Notes: Read waaaay to much genre fiction! Was obsessed with reading books that inspired Gary Gygax, but barely dented his famous(?) "Appendix N". June and August were the only months I didn't read any genre books, but August was summer/work/ and Bolano's ginormous 2666, which also happened to be the best book I read this year. Year ended so/so with all that damn Tanith Lee I read. I can stop looking for something as good as her Flat Earth Chronicles. September was the worst reading month in terms of quality. Saturn's children and Lamentation were two turds that I wish I had avoided.

________________________________________________________________

2009 was a busy year for me. I broke up with an ex girlfriend in March and started dating my now wife in April. My son was 7 going on 8 years old and in the hospital for a few days at the end of March for his asthma (which he has outgrown). July was a destination wedding in Bermuda for my cousin. September saw the van I was driving get a cracked header and my purchase of an old jeep that I still drive. Some of the books on here are still some of my favorite books ever: 2666 and Savage Detectives; the Gene Wolfe’s; Vance’s Lyonesse books and the Dying Earth.

[thenorthreport]

Have the Los Angles Lakers uncovered “The Secret”?

The date was November 5th, 2019, The Lakers were visiting Chicago Bulls in the United Center at the tail end of a three-game road trip. The Lakers were the hottest team in the league  coming off 5 straight wins since losing Los Angeles Clipper's opening night of the and are now sitting on top of the NBA rankings. Coming into this game I thought it was a no-brainer to who was going to win. So confident in the fact that I put a bet on them to come out with the “W”.

 All thought the first 75% of the game all I was able to think about was how much money I was going to lose. In the first three-quarters of this game, this Lakers team looked like they smoked one too many bowls. The turnovers kept raking up, the team looked lost offensively with Anthony Davis only being able to score four points in the first half and eight by the end of the third quarter (which he left early in because he got into foul trouble), and Kyle Kuzma looking like a deer in the headlights ever since coming back from an ankle injury. Also had to give a shout out to JaVale McGee for the pass in the third quarter to Otto Porter Jr. for this open three (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPjTfIdF7eU from 6:00-6:08). It looked like one of those games where the team trailing behind could not for the life of them make a push back into the game and all looked lost when the team failed to bring it back into single digits at the end of the third quarter.

 But then it happened,

 In a situation like this one, there are two types of teams: the ones that will pull their pants down and take what they deserve and the ones who will fight back with BDE. This Lakers team was the latter. Surprisingly a 5-man unit of Alex Caruso, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard were the ones to score 24 consecutive points for this team starting from the end of the third quarter into the mid-way point of the fourth quarter and it was unbelievable. For starters, Kuzma played aggressively for the limited amount of time he was given to l play in that fourth quarter and was able to put up 11 points on 5/7 shooting in the fourth alone including this sweet off the dribble pull up jumper from the top of the key (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO798fl-uLo 10:04-10:12). Dwight "The Purpose" Howard was at the right place at the right time on the court coming up with big blocks and bigger rebounds throughout their fourth-quarter run. Caruso played solid on both sides on the ball including a huge steal which led to an and-one. Cook was doing his best Curry impression out there with all the backdoor cuts and off-ball screen including a potential four-point play. Finally, Troy Daniels, the fifth guy on the court who had the opportunity to watch this 14-0 run happen before being taken off for LeBron James. In the end, the Lakers took a cushioning 10-point lead in the last five minutes and didn’t look back and in the end, I won some money.

 After this game two thoughts occurred to me: 1. The bench actually resembled some NBA talent and 2. This Lakers team looked professional for the first time in almost 10 years. Now I know what some people might be saying: "This was a win against one of the worst teams in the league considering they are producing bottom 10 in the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency" and "It's too early to be saying nonsense like that" or even "Wait till January or February when Lebron is worn out, Anthony Davis is packing his bags for Chicago and Dwight is already two months released posting workouts videos on Instagram". I'm not saying this team is a favorite for the 2020 NBA finals just yet. The sports season is a long and treacherous journey with many bumps and obstacles on the way. This team will for sure be tested and will have nights where they will feel unstoppable and times where they will feel as if they hit rock bottom. I am not writing this article to jump to conclusions but to simply state facts and the fact here is the Lakers seem to have stumbled upon "The Secret".

 Know you may be asking yourselves: "What the hell is this hot shot up-and-coming sportswriter talking about and what secret is he is alluding to?" well person reading this article “The Secret” is something that has been around this league ever since it started and has been the driving force for every single NBA championship team. “The Secret” was first introduced to the general public by Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons in the finals of 1989 where he offers to multiple reporters that he was going to offer the "secret to basketball". In short, he never really gave the answer to the question rather dodges it by telling stories and talking about team basketball. No one seems to mind this and for years “The Secret” isn't brought up again until the summer of 2007 by a writer by the name of Bill Simmons. There is a whole story about him meeting Isiah Thomas in his book "The Book of Basketball" which I highly recommend everyone read at some point in their lives. Back to "The Secret", this idea was eating up Bill Simmons on the inside ever since he was told the concept so when he finally got to meet him, he asked Isiah this question. Isiah impressed with Bill answered as follows: "The secret of basketball is that it's not about basketball".

  What the hell does that mean?  Well, the short answer to this is that teams were successful because teammates liked each other, knew their roles, ignored statistics and finally, put winning over everything else.

 This Lakers team is on a mission whether its LeBron writing off the haters in his 17th season in the NBA, Anthony Davis proving he can make a deep playoff run without any major injury or Howard trying to stay afloat in an NBA Which had turned their back on him. This squad is filled with veteran players who are at a point in their career where all they care about is winning a championship and/or are trying to prove they still belong in this league. This Lakers team seems to have boughten into a culture and the stats back it up.

 Something that LeBron James has been known for this past couple of years other than his bigger than basketball mentality is the lack of attention defensive end no joke the guy looks like he’s in dire need of some Adderall. Ever since his last season in Miami, LeBron’s defensive intensity and engagement dropped off a cliff which is understandable considering the offensive load this mans must carry not only day in, day out but by the season. Defense is his cruise control or self-drive (for all the tesla owners out there).

 But something changed,

 During an interview in training camp, Anthony Davis came out and told reporters he expected himself and (called out) LeBron to make All-Defensive team which at first seemed like a joke considering LeBron hasn’t been seen on the defensive end since Barak Obama was starting his second term as president. But now seven games into this season LeBron has been refreshing on that the end of the floor. LeBron’s defensive starts thus far are his best in years with his defensive win shares already almost one third he contributed in his last season in Cleveland according to Basketball Reference­—and we are only seven games into the season(note: I did not want to use his first season in LA as an example because he sat out for around a quarter of the season last year). As well he just looks like he gives more of a s--t on that side of the ball which is encouraging.  

 On a greater scale like Kanye West, this Lakers defense is going through a rebirth thanks to the coaching of 1A (Frank Vogel, 1B is Jason Kidd) and his defensive-minded attitude towards the game. This Lakers team looks poised on the side of the court everyone seems to have forgotten how to play in 2019. honors. Vogel’s defense is designed for a team like this, a squad of veteran players who know their role on the defensive end with one player who is a gifted player running or anchoring the whole thing which is Anthony Davis, and it is built beautifully for him. In the rotations alone there are six different players who at some point in their careers got All-Defensive team honors. The best example of their new defensive style can be seen when the Lakers were playing the Jazz in their second game in the season. During this game the Lakers game plan for Mike Conley was to weak high ball screen which is when you force the player the same direction every time, he is given a screen it contained him for being 3-11 from the field and 1-5 from three.

Some of the reason for this improvement from 13th in defensive efficiency rating (and before you say that isn’t so bad this teamed ranked bottom three in points allowed off turnovers and bottom ten in second point opportunity identifying these teams hustle was … sorry that was needed to be said) to 2nd is thanks to the likes of Danny Green’s “doing the little things” mentality whether that be closing out shooters, constantly being in help, or boxing out opposing big (yes this is done more than you think) and Dwight’s new “the purpose” role (I must say this is the second time I have made this joke now but can we please start calling Dwight Howard “The Purpose”?). Shout out to coach 1A for using the “no roll man left behind” scheme for Dwight Howard when he is on the floor. For those who don’t know the “no roll man left behind” is a scheme they have been using for Dwight Howard on defense where his job on a screen and roll is to make sure he stays under on screens and not to let the roller get past him to the basket as well not giving the ball handler a clear way to the basket. Other than that Dwight seems to be lighter and more active this year than in the past three seasons and is ranked second in blocks per game on the team at 2.1 behind Anthony Davis’s league-leading 3.0. Finally, the key reason behind this defensive rejuvenation is because of AD. The best way to describe Anthony Davis is a bigger, longer more athletic Draymond Green. The thing about AD on the defensive end is that he’s so gifted at reading the offense and being able to see things before they happen which is crazy to think and with his athleticism and length, he can easily tip passes, block shots and keep up with players on the perimeter. His help defense whether that is in the pick-and-roll or under the basket are elite.

As good as this defense has been there are still a couple of problems that need to be resolved if this team wants to take a deep playoff run. I still believe this team is missing a good on-ball defender to match up with bigger, more athletic wings and the Clippers have two of those. The only player matching up well with players like these is LeBron James and considering his offensive contribution and his mileage I doubt he has the energy to be able to guard a player like that and do what he does on offense. The solution to this would be to sign or trade for a defensive-minded wing-like Iggy (duh) or low-key Andre Robertson or Trevor Ariza (even though he looks like horse s—t thus far). Second, even though their defensive RTG has risen they still rank second-worst in the NBA in points off fast breaks which means they still need to improve on their hustle back to the other end of the floor. For more on this Laker's defense and to see how well they are performing, I suggest watching Laker Film Room on YouTube who do an excellent job breaking this stuff down.

 The bench productivity so far surprisingly been key to this Lakers team's success. A couple things that are needed to be improved on is their offensive efficiency off the bench which ranks in the bottom ten in the league but I also believe with Kyle Kuzma back in the rotation and staying on the bench this should improve their rating significantly. This benches defense has been their recipe to success so far so much so that their bench plus/minus is ranked second in the league only behind Dallas according to NBA.com. You can say this bench mob has put MUD to shame (only real Laker/NBA fans should get this). As long as this bench finds their groove on the offensive end and get to the middle of the pack efficiency-wise this bench has the potential to be one of the leagues best and be the key to keeping an aging LeBron and a injury-riddled Davis off the court and not needing them to play high 30’s, low 40’s minutes a night.

 After this win against this Bulls team the Lakers have shown their identity and their potential of what they are and maybe— what they can be.

[aswithasunbeam]

Hi there! I wanted to ask you, based on the amount of knowledge of Hamilton that you have, do you have some sort of idea of how Philip 1 was, in terms of personality? according to wikipedia, Robert Troup describe (in private letters ) Phil as "alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country."

Philip was only nineteen when he died, so I think he was still the in the grips of teenage rebellion when he ended up in the duel with George Eacker. Hamilton was an incredibly doting and affectionate father, but he was also strict with Philip and held very high expectations for his success. The only existing letter from Philip to Hamilton, dated 21 April 1797, shows how active Hamilton was in Philip’s studies:

I delivered my speech to Dr. Johnson4 to examine. He has no objection to my speaking; but he has blotted out that sentence which appears to be the best and most animated in it; which is, you may recollect it “Americans, you have fought the battles of mankind; you have enkindled that sacred fire of freedom which is now.”

As Philip grew up, Hamilton appears to have kept closer and closer tabs on him. When Philip finished at Columbia, Hamilton drafted rules that regulated pretty much every moment of Philip’s day throughout the year:

Rules for Mr Philip Hamilton from the first of April to the first of October he is to rise not later than Six Oclock—The rest of the year not later than Seven. If Earlier he will deserve commendation. Ten will be his hour of going to bed throughout the year. From the time he is dressed in the morning till nine o clock (the time for breakfast Excepted) he is to read Law. At nine he goes to the office & continues there till dinner time—he will be occupied partly in the writing and partly in reading law. After Dinner he reads law at home till five O clock. From this hour till Seven he disposes of his time as he pleases. From Seven to ten he reads and Studies what ever he pleases. From twelve on Saturday he is at Liberty to amuse himself. On Sunday he will attend the morning Church. The rest of the day may be applied to innocent recreations. He must not Depart from any of these rules without my permission.

Even when Philip traveled on his own, Hamilton attempted to exert control. When Philip was traveling through Providence, Rhode Island, Hamilton wrote him a letter of introduction to Jeremiah Olney, but he made it clear that Philip wasn’t to linger in the city:

As my eldest son Philip, who lately graduated,2 will pass through Providence on his way to Boston, I give him this line barely to introduce him to you; since the time I have prescribed for his return will not permit the stay of more than a day at Providence.

Benjamin Rush described Philip’s visit on his own to Philadelphia in glowing terms, though he did write about the trip after Philip’s death, which likely effected the tone. Even so, Rush tended to fall more on the Jeffersonian side of politics, so I tend to find his kind words to Hamilton significant. Rush wrote to Hamilton on 26 November 1801:

[Y]our Son had made himself very dear to my family during his late visit to Philadelphia, by the most engaging deportment. His visits to us were daily, and after each of them he left us with fresh impressions of the correctness of his understanding and manners, and of the goodness of his disposition. To One of my Children he has endeared himself by an Act of friendship & benevolence that did great honor to his heart, and will be rememb[e]red with gratitude by Mrs. Rush, and myself as long as we live. My Son has preserved a record of it in an elegant and friendly letter which he received from him After his return to New York.

Yet, Philip also showed some irresponsiblity on that same trip to Philadelphia. In January 1802 (two months after Philip’s death), Hamilton received a letter from Charles W. Hare stating: “I have paid 20 Dlls 67 to the keeper of the city tavern on account of your son’s bill and have taken a receipt in full. I enquired for other bills, but could not find any, and I believe he owed nothing more.” Philip had therefore left the city with an unpaid tavern bill that Hamilton had to settle after his death. 

Hamilton was very proud and doting on Philip, as was the rest of the family. Philip Schuyler expressed his pride and hopes for his grandson after his graduation: “I rejoice My Dear Son that My Philip8 has Acquited himself so well, and hope that his future progress may correspond with Your & My wishes.” Even when Philip was being willful, Hamilton expressed more fond exasperation than real frustration. On 25 October 1801, a month before the duel with Eacker, Hamilton wrote to Eliza that he hadn’t heard from Philip in a while, though his tone is distinctly teasing: “I am anxious to hear from Philip.3 Naughty young man.”

Philip was young, handsome, and smart, but also rebellious and willful. Eventually, I think he would have grown up to be brilliant and responsible had he had the chance. Unfortunately, the culture of honor combined with Philip’s rebellious teenage years proved fatal. Thomas Fleming described the duel with Eacker in his book “Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America,”:

Philip and his friend Richard Price had invaded Eacker’s box at the Park Theater and taunted him about a speech he had made on July 4, 1801. Eacker had hailed President Thomas Jefferson as the rescuer of the Constitution and implied that General Hamilton was not averse to seizing power with a coup d’etat. Philip’s hooliganish conduct suggest he and friend Price were drunk. Realistic Robert Troup, belying his fond parents’ view of Philip’s talents and promise, described him as a ‘sad rake.’ (p.7)

Robert Troup may have been more realistic about Philip, but even he granted that Philip had promise. In a letter to Rufus King dated 5 December 1801, Troup wrote: “Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness!“ Though Philip was going through a rough patch of teenage rebellion, finding his way with high expectations and strict parenting, he was also beloved by family, friends, and acquaintances and showed great promise for the future.

[myamazingexperiencesblr-blog]

Absolutely Amazing Experiencing with Astrologer Vinayak Bhatt

I took consultation from Astrologer Vinayak Bhatt on 17th January 2019. If I have to explain my experience with him in short, I would say it was a remarkably wonderful and life-changing experience. He is a very good astrologer with amazingly accurate predictions and moreover a great human. Vinayak Ji's explanation was very clear, nice and full of practical reasons so that anyone can understand the concepts of astrology and planetary positions and their movements affect individual's life, which shows he is an expert in astrology. He helps in guiding you in the right direction, rather than forcing his personal opinion or view. My interaction with him was very insightful. Thank god, I consulted him.

I always believed in astrology and it's potential to change one's life but I never consulted any astrologer maybe because till now my all the problems were taken care of by my parents. I completed my studies in 2017 and got a job in Bangalore, for 1 year everything was working out well and I was getting good feedback from seniors and was getting recognition for my work at the office. Recently things changed very drastically in my office and not only that, they transferred me to the Pune office but things got worse here and I have to leave the company and joined a new company in Mumbai after 3 months job search, but here also I was not feeling comfortable, I thought of resigning from this office as well. I was unable to take any decision nor concentrate on my work.  This situation was affecting very badly, I was depressed, not eating properly, not getting proper sleep, my mental and physical health was getting worse, I had to do something about it. At this point of life, it was made or break situation for me, so one day I got the idea to consult an astrologer.

I approached astrologer Vinayak Bhatt on the recommendation of one of my close friends who faced some bad times in a couple of years back. Here is what she has to say about Vinayak Bhatt - "Today the peace and happiness in my family is due to Shri Vinayak Bhatt Ji. The gemstone and the mantra which he gave me worked miraculously. His expertise in astrology is really great. I got his number while surfing the net, I really thank God for helping me to meet him."

So after getting such feedback from her and listening to her experience and results after the consultation, I made my mind to consult him. She gave me his office number, I called the number to get an appointment with Vinayak Bhatt. They explained to me the whole process of getting a consultation from him which was easy and everyone has to follow. As explained to me I booked an appointment for a Skype consultation from Vedicgrace Foundation (Vinayak Ji's organization) website. They scheduled a consultation for next weekend and sent me all the details on my email.

So, I called him at the scheduled time, first he confirmed my birth details and told me some primary information from my charts. Then he started telling me about my career related problems. He explained to me in detail when, where, how and why experiencing those problems and gave me several options to fix the things. His explanation itself was very healing and relaxing to me, now I can see light hope. He told me not to worry about it, it because of some adverse planetary positions in my charts and it is possible to improve the situation by following some remedies. He said though astrology is like a deep ocean…anybody can get knowledge through going deeply in water and get some drops of nectar of this divine knowledge. Since he did masters in Computer application he knows a lot about information technology and today modern world and the problems faced by the youth.

During the conversation, I cross-questioned him about a couple of things in my charts, I noticed he listened to me very carefully and took interest in responding to those until I am satisfied which gives the whole consultation a casual and personal touch. I also noticed that he does not hide anything during the consultation and tell you everything honestly and transparently without trying to please you. He told me upfront that I will get the results from remedies for sure but it will take around 2 months time for me to see the results provided I do the remedies correctly. Vinayak Ji also explained to me how these remedies work. He didn't give me any false commitments.  

He is quite amusing, that’s his style of going about your chart. You may or may not like his style of reading. While speaking with him, I exceeded my time appointment time but he said its alright and asked me to have faith in God and follow the remedies.

I followed his advise now after 5 months, I have seen results. The predictions he made are true, I must say that his expertise in future predictions is unmatched. I will be consulting him again for sure and I highly recommend his services to everyone who is in search of a good, knowledgeable and professional astrologer.

All the best wishes to everyone. Thank you for reading my experience, hope I was able to help.

[crummy37-blog]

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                           Microsoft   Only some individuals know, that Microsoft is not really Bill Gates´ only source of cash flow. Furthermore, he will be the operator of Cascade Investments and shareholder on the John Deere & Co tractor producer and stakeholder from the Canadian Railway Modern society. Right now (January 2018) Bill Gates´ fortune quantities to all over 89 billion $. Assuming that Bill Gates had a daily financial institution financial savings account having an curiosity price of three %, he would receive about $seven.three million dollar per day. Each hour $304.000 will be added to his fortune and each minute his checking account displays a additionally of $5000. And also every single next of your working day Bill Gates would make $84. Having said that, In spite of all that wealth, Bill Gates does not ignore Individuals, which have not been Fortunate of their lives. His Bill & Melinda Gates Basis will take treatment of a number of jobs in third world nations. A person branch of the activity could be the funding of study in the sector of Malaria, Aids and Tuberculosis. With a total funds of 30 billion $ the Bill & Melinda Gates Basis is regarded as being the biggest social Firm of the globe. Up till now it truly is believed, that Bill Gates has invested 30 billion $ for charity and social jobs throughout the world.

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[awhilesince]

Friday, 24 December 1830

7 40/60

12 10/60

Incurred a cross just before getting up thinking of Pi (Mariana) Fahrenheit 33° and snowy morning at 8 1/2 – out at 8 3/4 – took Mac Donald – the 1st time and even said and probably the last time I ever shall try such experiment – went with her to Michel’s – but too early to get what I wanted – at least none but a woman in the shop who knew nothing about serving me – then en passant bought a couple of mince-pies at Tavernier’s – then unluckily thinking it would better suit Mac D– (Donald) to do what she had to do in the Marché St. Honoré, let her go out of my sight to buy a fowl while I stood bargaining for ten eperlans (smelts, asked 4 sols a piece at no. 56 – got them for 1/40) and never could find her again – wandered about the marché making inquiries – then walked along the rue neuve des petite champs as far as rue Chabannais then back to the marché – then away a little – then back again all in vain, so gave the thing up and returned by the rue de la paix and sauntered along the boulevard des Italiens – asked in vain at 2 shops for chinoises au sirop that I meant to have got with Mac D– (Donald) – at Corcelet’s, palais royal – 

home at 10 1/4 – dressed – wrote the above of this morning – somehow I feel out of humour now with Mac D (Donald)  no great fault of hers shall say nothing to her  but it vexed me that I need be pothered so about dinners  that there is nobody to whom one could say let us have dinner for so so and  and there would be an end of it  my poor aunt is really nobody  well I am resolved on her going to Shibden where I hope not to be living with her again till I have somebody to keep house  Cameron is not the person for me  she is not a sufficiently good confidential thoughtful servant  and George is a drunkard  I shall merely remind him this morning that I observed the state he was in yesterday  I shall just keep him to get us back to Shibden and as much longer as ssuits my convenience and that is all  and I shall be delighted to get rid of him   I will either have more gentlemanly people about me or none  If the latter I shall save my money at any rate – writing all this has done me good as writing my journal I have none to speak to writing must do and does do instead –

‘tis now 11 1/4 when I have written so far and Fahrenheit 33° and fine morning – It ceased snowing almost as soon as I got out, and has been fair and fine ever since – there is a little attempt just now at the sun’s getting out – wrote the latter 3rd page my letter to M– (Mariana) then came the man from Giroux’s with albums – had Madame de H– (Hagemann) and long, very long doubting whether to take the soufflet writing box thing I chose last night or not – at last, yes! – then breakfast from 12 1/2 to 1 1/2 – then wrote the ends and under the seal and finished my letter to M– (Mariana) speaking of her ‘professed cook’, 

‘you are pothered with one, and I without – I sigh every day for somebody to arrange these matters – nous verrons ce qu’il faut faire – ‘Shall you come over next year?’ – I have a great deal to say to you, on this subject, by and by – you know I told you long ago, if you could not come to me,  I should go to you –  I really must see you before another year is over – However short the time we might be able to pass comfortably together, a few days would be better than nothing – the state of politics is so completely changed within these 6 months, it is difficult to know what to do for the best – I am not sanguine as to the very long preservation intact of the peace of Europe – things are too much embrouilliés for me to see the way very clearly far before me – not that I have any fear for ourselves at present’ … 

then the whole of the 2nd page of Paris news the republican has joined the Buonaparte party – stronger united than might have been imagined, but do not think they can overthrow the état actuel des choses – this morning say 

‘so I see the Eastnors will not be near you – tell me what you determine to do about calling – Circumstance may probably occur to decide you are way or other – you are right not to be too anxious about the acquaintance I know everybody takes fright at the squire, more or less’ – 

ask her to write by bit and bit, and say afterwards that ‘if it was not for shame, I should beg to make up for lost time, and hear from you once a week’ – Fear Miss Hobart is not quite well – she has a complaint – begin to be uneasy about the possibility of her having in some measure caught it from her anxious attention upon our dear Sibbella – ‘You well know how and where to find comfort’ Yes! Mary, I only wish that comfort was nearer – Do not hint to anyone my hope of seeing you next summer’ – will be 2 years next March since I saw her last – quite long enough – 

‘the lease of our house will be out the 1st of July, and I must stay to make some arrangement about – ‘I often wish you were once more safe in England’ – I cannot imagine how you would contrive for us – now do let me have your ideas on this subject – my aunt was not all alarmed last summer into wishing to return to England – nor has she cared a halfpenny for the Trial of the ministers, or anything else – I am much the most thoughtful of the two, tho’ you know, I am anything but an alarmist – I really do long to see you – however, I have all along dwelt on the promise of your coming to me, or my going to you –’ ….. where are you likely to be about the middle of July?’ – 

conclude with ‘I should be glad of your writing me ‘a good comfortable letter – adieu – again, my dearest Mary, ever very especially and entirely yours AL Anne Lister’ – 

at 2 3/4 had just written the above and sent off my letter to ‘Mrs Lawton The Priory, Leamington Warwickshire, Angleterre’ from 2 3/4 to 6 (Mr Henry Edwards called at 3 1/2 for 1/2 hour to say how sorry he was he could not dine with us tomorrow but Mrs de Boyve had made them all promise 3 weeks ago to be at home on Xmas day) from 2 3/4 to 6 except this interruption, writing out posting account in Travelling Daybook – about 5 1/2 letter a full 1/2 sheet dated December 21st from Miss Hobart Whitehall to ask me to get 2 little almanacs according to an enclosed for Lady Gordon who has been very ill – the 20th the the 1st day she had been out of her room for many days – 

‘she had been cupped at the back of her neck, bled, blistered calomelled, bathed, bedevilled, and done every sort of horror to, as she herself describes it, and is consequently now bettering a little’ – excellent accounts from and of Cosmo from Sir Charles Gordon who saw him the other day at Cadiz – ….’ we have Wimpole thoughts rising – January will prove them – adieu – ever yours Vere Hobart’

sat musing near 1/2 hour over the fire in my sitting room which I have had read there this last day or two to warm my fingers by occasionally having sat writing in my bedroom without fire, fancying the fire did not suit me – have observed myself always having indigestion pain come on in the course of the afternoon with a fire and not without – was it on account of the smell of the wood and smoke? Dinner at 6 25/60 – read the paper 

Monsieur de Quatrefages came at 7 – and hearing I was at dinner said he would come again in an hour – came at 8 1/4 – I kept him waiting 5 minutes while I swalled a glass of Medoc, and then tho’ very civil did not absolutely keep by dint of talking and he went away at 9 – unusually and fortunately soon – he said Mrs Opie said I was a person of great talent – took many notes at Cuvier’s letcures – I said it was difficult to judge of one’s talent in an hour or 2 under such cercumstance – and afterwards somehow, on hearing Mrs O– (Opie) was absent from the last lecture from attending a pious meeting of the dames de la rochejaquelin, de St. Aularie, etc, wondered how Mrs O–‘s (Opie’s) sentiments could argue with those of these ultra catholic pious ladies, and how the death of the husband could turn her quaker thought the singularity and of tutoying saved less of real simplicity than pride – I would not give one of Cuvier’s lectures for all the meeting of the de la rochejacelins and de St. A–‘s (Aularie) of Paris – It seems Mrs O– (Opie) travaille – is writing, and will give Monsieur de Quatrefages a little niche in her work – he asked if I was not writing – no! I thought there were books enough without my adding to the no. (number) – I had no thought of turning another in any genre, but certainly should not write des romans (novels) – coffee at 9 25/60 then from 10 to 10 1/2 wrote the last 2 lines the last page and so far of this – Fine winter’s day – the man from Giroux’s brought the score-paper (with soufflet and drawer) tonight, and a geographic decoupér of Denmark Norway and Sweden for little de Hagemann on new year’s day – came to my room at 11 1/2 at which hour Fahrenheit 38°.

(SH:7/ML/E/13/0128) (SH:7/ML/E/13/0129)

[yahoo-my-featured]

Going to Maldives is easier than you think!

The idea of visiting the luxurious Maldives seems intimidating to many Malaysians. Sure, a vacation in Maldives is no budget trip at all and requires effort to plan, but it doesn’t have to just remain a fantasy - especially if you are a beach lover.

Here’s a quick lowdown on planning your first trip to the Maldives - read it, and don’t be surprised to find yourself checking out flights after this!

01 / Understanding the structure of the Maldives

You’re no stranger to the name Maldives, but you’re probably unaware that it is not one single destination but home to 1,200 islands. The ones that you can visit are either the inhabited local islands or uninhabited resort or picnic islands developed solely for tourism. Most resorts have their own private islands and are costlier, while staying on local islands like Maafushi and Thulusdhoo will cost less and are accessible by public ferries.

02 / Accommodation choices

Next is a make-or-break decision: accommodation. This will affect most of your following budget plans, as you will likely spend most of your time hanging around where you stay. A typical Maldives holiday is spent at a water villa resort in its own private island complete with all-inclusive facilities; alternatively, staying in affordable guesthouses brings you closer to the real Maldives life, not to mention the rates will be much more reasonable too. Tip: guesthouses only became available 8-9 years ago so the establishments are still fairly new!

When choosing your accommodation, it’s important to consider its distance from Male, the capital where most visitors fly into. Airport transfers can get really expensive if the resort is far away and requires a seaplane transfer (USD $250 - $450 / trip), and you could end up paying more for transfers than the room itself! Also, try to spot for places with meals included as there are limited restaurant options on the islands.

03 / When to visit

The world class beach paradise stays perfectly around 27ºC hot all year round, though there is a monsoon season that runs from May to October. The best weather to visit is the dry season between November and April, but beware of high season rates, which peaks around December to March.

Your best bet of avoiding the high costs is towards the end of dry season, around April to May. If you have specific activities that you want to do, e.g. snorkeling & scuba diving, you’ll be happy to find that the ideal time to visit will be in the more affordable winter months when the water gets clear.

04 / How long should I stay

Malaysians require a visa, applied on arrival, and a hotel/guesthouse reservation to stay in Maldives for up to 30 days. It then comes down to two biggest criteria: 1) luxury of money and time, 2) how much do you love the beach life. If you’re a die-hard beachlover and can afford to stay longer, we suggest to spend at least a week here. Generally, many visitors may get bored after 4-5 nights by the beach and too many water activities can drill a hole in your pocket fast.

05 / Finding the right flight

The more money you save from flights, the more you get to splurge on the island experiences. As of now, AirAsia is the only airlines offering direct flights to Male from Kuala Lumpur. In the past, the daily direct flights operated by AirAsia Malaysia land in Male during the evenings; now with additional frequencies operated by its long-haul affliate AirAsia X flying four times weekly to Male, you can arrive in the morning and make more flexible travel arrangements to your hotel.

The D7 code AirAsia X flight will commence in February 6 2018, and offers a valuable kids-free quiet zone upgrade starting from RM39 so you can begin indulging in peace and serenity even in the flight itself. For extra comfort throughout your journey, you can opt for premium flatbed upgrades for not only the complete lie-flat seats, but to receive 40kg luggage and complimentary Red Lounge entry as well.

06 / Planning your activities

The relaxing beach and the watersports are the main reasons people flock to the tropical paradise, so do not expect much nightlife or entertainment programmes like tours and excursions (though certain resorts do come with these). With waters clear as crystal and spectacular underwater life, Maldives is deemed the mecca of scuba-divers. You can even get a discovery dive at one of the many PADI dive shops if you’re non-certified.

Resorts and guesthouses offer a plethora of water activities like snorkelling and parasailing, but if you’re traveling on a budget, beware that the costs may pile up easily. Nevertheless, lounging on a beach and indulging in the dreamy sea views will feel equally divine.

07 / Useful tips to be mindful of

Staying near to the locals means you can avoid high tourist prices, but it also means you need to refrain from disrespectful behavior as Maldives is a predominantly Muslim country. In other words, no alcohol, no revealing beachwear, and no public display of affection! Fret not, you can still flaunt your bikini body while enjoying a cocktail when you take day trips to resort islands, where all the above are not illegal.

As resources need to be flown into Maldives, pack everything you need or pay an unreasonably high price on the island, so maximize the 40kg luggage AirAsia X is giving you via premium flatbed from only RM699. Hunt for local packages and flight promotions from now till 28 January 2018, as these can bring you huge savings for a luxurious holiday in return when you travel from 6 February till 31 July 2018.  

Fare promotion:

Booking Period: From now till 28 January 2018 Travel Period: 6 Feb till 31 July 2018

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[nehawriter16]

7th October, 2018 23:05 pm Average, Mediocre, Loser

For the longest time, I had myself fooled. I was on a secret mission – to study for all 8 papers even though I hadn’t done classes for 4 of them (the really tough ones) and there was hardly any time to prepare for them without sacrificing my marks in the others. I didn’t tell any of my friends or the senior who was mentoring me this. I just picked up the books and began to try to figure things out myself, going into panic and frustration when I couldn’t understand something.

I’d spent time drawing up timetables that required studying 300 pages a day, which was obviously impossible, even if I sat for 16 hours a day with barely any breaks. All of my friends were appearing for only 4 papers, which was the sensible thing to do because it meant passing with good marks and a part of me wanted to do the same, to make things easy for myself, because it meant I wasn’t going to have to resort to extremely unhealthy sleep/eat/social patterns such as alienating every single person I know, completely switching off from social media, and most importantly, sacrificing my creativity in terms of writing. Giving up everything else seemed like a small price to pay – and I have endured years of mental, emotional and social sacrifice for this course already, so I’m used to it – but writing is in my blood. Writing is the one thing that brings me immense happiness. I can’t give it up. Even if it’s not monetarily viable, even if nobody is reading what I have to say, it is as important to me as breathing.

But I wanted nothing more than to somehow pass. To wake up one morning in January close to my 23rd birthday and find that I was a Chartered Accountant. I knew that seeing that four letter word on my marksheet wouldn’t mean pride for having “made it.” It would mean giddy happiness for finally being DONE. Done with this course that I never wanted, would never be good at, would never enjoy no matter how hard I tried.

I just wanted to slap the degree in my parents’ hands, pack a bag, move to Bombay as soon as my articleship ended in March. I had so much to do – my unfulfilled creativity, a half written book to finish, a part time job in poetry waiting for me, and most importantly – the new-found freedom of being a young, single, self sufficient wild thing in a city where nobody knew who I was. It was a new beginning and when I was falling asleep every night, when I woke up every morning, and when I couldn’t force myself to keep going – it was all I would think about. I associated Bombay with the first breath of fresh air after being in jail for 5 years, because that’s how sickening this city, the course, and the people had become for me.

I knew I would never fit in the minute I walked through the doors on the first day of class for the first level. These people weren’t like me, and I wasn’t willing to change what I enjoyed for the sake of a 5 year period, or even for a single day. Words would always be my poison. Not law, not numbers, not the robotic ways in which the students around me seemed to be able to sit in one place for hours, learn things I couldn’t get myself interested in despite trying so hard.

But from the first day, I forced myself to study, because what choice did I have? I’d shunned science when my parents offered it to me, and arts was not a choice. I passed, faltered once, but landed a big four articleship and kept going. On the surface, everything seemed to be working out. Inside, I felt suffocated. The artist in me was screaming for release, which is how I started to get more involved in my Instagram account. For 2 years I spent all day at work, trying to excel in a field I was starting to dislike more and more by the day, but convinced that quitting so close to the finish line was stupid and out of the question.

There were only 2 things that kept me happy – a boy I was in love with, and narrating stories for my Instagram account. I relied on them heavily and hopelessly as reasons to wake up every morning and go to work, or class. I watched the girls I call friends do much better than me and began to develop a serious inferiority complex. They loved what they were getting to learn and wanted to be better. I was trying to chameleon their behaviour, and failing miserably.

In June of 2017 I lost the boy. But like Nikita Gill and Rupi Kaur would remind me in numerous poems, he lost me, not the other way around. Either way, it was a loss, and my happiness took a monumental blow. I held on hopelessly to hope till my hands turned to scabs. I did things I’m not proud of. I resorted to reckless behaviour to replace the big, gaping hole that seemed to have opened up in my heart. But heartbreak was not a new concept to me, so I gritted my teeth, wrote some poems, and pretty much managed to put it in the past. I still had the writing, after all.

Still, emotional loss can leave you marinating in nostalgia forever, especially if you have the tendency to feel things deeply. As Pablo Neruda so beautifully put it, love is so short and forgetting so long.  

Writing kept me alive in those months. I began to compile a collection of poetry and stories that I would someday turn into a book. That people were excited to buy.

Work was getting worse and worse because I had been allotted to a team that was not welcoming at all. I travelled for almost 4 hours every single day. I got into several fights with my seniors, who were rude and callous and made me feel worse while I was already dealing with coming out of emotional trauma. The deadlines we were asked to meet were insane. I began to fall sick a lot. I would look out of the window and sob in silence every single day.

But I decided to put my health first and left. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t. Because even though I didn’t realise it then, work, no matter how bad, kept me distracted from the terrible thoughts that were forming in my head every time I let it be idle for a few minutes. I moved into a smaller firm and suddenly had a lot of free time. The jobs I was assigned there were much more mundane, and the people working around me had no ambition at all. I stopped making the small but relevant amount of money that was guaranteeing my financial independence of sorts, and brought a completely self-dependent girl back to her parent’s allowance.

All in all, it’s safe to say that in the beginning of 2018, I walked myself into a mental trap. On one hand, my heart was broken and it was extremely hard to get over the fact that even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, somebody I was convinced would stick by my side chose to hurt me when I was least expecting it. I began to distrust people and alienate them as an impact. Lots of good, kind friends were lost. Romantic and platonic connections that could have been beautiful if I had allowed someone past my suddenly very high walls never got a chance.

Second, my workplace and academic environment was choking me with monotony. There was no incentive – earlier, at least the ping of money credited into my bank account made me show up and put on a show, but now I didn’t even have that.

Third, and most disheartening of all, was nothing to look forward to for the rest of the year but this endless tunnel of having to stay home and study for exams that were in November. I felt handcuffed all times of every day. The only momentary happiness I felt was when I was well sedated with alcohol or hanging out with two of my best friends, one of whom moved to London for the last year of his university and our conversations became limited to Facetime calls.

Writing got spotty because every time I opened a word document, this voice in my head would remind me that I needed to study. When I tried to study, I could never get enough done because I simply hated it. I fucking hated it all.

In April of 2018 I decided that if I kept going this way, I would send myself into chronic depression. I already felt like I was there – what with the self-imposed ban on writing. It made more sense to space out the papers, even if it took 6 months more than I had originally planned. At that point in my life, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Giving 4 papers in November and 4 in May of 2019 meant I wouldn’t be pulling 16 hour days for 6 months. This way, I could balance my dislike for the subjects with allotting enough time for social outings and just being a normal 22 year old. But on 20th July, the results for everyone else’s exams came out.

I found a seething jealousy begin to build in my heart because the girls and boys who were my age were now done and would be embarking on the life that I would have to wait a year for. It consumed me. I couldn’t sleep at night. I screenshotted their marksheets and stared at them. I would check their facebook pages and compare every little detail of their lives to mine, causing my already fuelled inferiority complex to grow. I completely forgot that CA was not my gift, art was.

It felt as though I was standing in a room of overachievers holding bulky files of their accomplishments, and the only thing I had was a knack for poetry. Except, nobody CARES about your knack for poetry in the Chartered Accountancy world. No one gives a fuck if you can write. And so I felt like the biggest loser in the room.

I still do. It is October now, just days away from the exam, and even though my secret mission was always impossible, I was unwilling to accept it. Even if I was able to sit for 16 hours, even if I was able to study for all this time like everyone else probably had, I would never have been able to complete the course by January. This is not because I am dumb. It’s because I put myself into the wrong race and I’m trying to compete with people who are in love with what they do. Put me in a room of poets and I will outshine most of the room (or so I like to think).

But all these 5 years – and especially these last 5 months – have done for me is cause my brain to believe its inferiority. Everyone else my age has either graduated from university, or is months away from getting a well paying job. Their lives are starting to bloom, while mine just looks dark till May of 2019. Till July, in fact, because that’s when results come out.

I am handcuffed to my identity, to this city, to my mediocrity, to my parent’s supporting me financially for the next 8 months, with absolutely no way out. I have no space for writing. I have nobody to call my own that doesn’t live oceans away.

I wanted to be great at something. I wanted to be doing well in at least one thing, you know? But it seems impossible now. I am not good at anything. I feel mediocre at best.

The voice in my head does not fail to remind me that I am standing in a room where nobody sees me as competition or a threat. That they never will. Accept it, she says to me incessantly, you are average. You will always be average.

What do you do when your self belief in your own failure is so deep rooted, your brain is mocking you constantly? How do you fight your own mind?

[keywestlou]

WE HAVE THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY

Back. Only one day off. Doctor and emergency room.

Problem gave me some concern. Woke in the middle of the night choking and having difficulty breathing.

Fine now. Endoscopy next. In several weeks. Told I am not so bad that I need an immediate one. There are others who do. Bothered me initially to have to wait. On the other hand if such was the opinion, it did contain a degree of good news.

Florida Governor DeSantis not the best of leaders. Never the less, he is up front as the Republican candidate for President in 2024. He is a junior Trump.

Monday DeSantis signed into law a bill giving him the power to preempt local COVID rules.

Preemption getting big in Florida. Key West continues to have the cruise ship problem. DeSantis expected to sign that bill into law soon. Now he wants to dictate wearing of masks, etc. He claims by preempting the local COVID rules he’s helping “people, businesses, jobs , schools, and personal freedom.”

Hitler was a #1 tyrant. In my order to things, Trump was and still is #2. DeSantis could be #3. God help us!

The Citizens Voice portion of today’s Key West Citizen had an interesting comment regarding Florida. The last line read: ” We have the best government money can buy.”

Though this is fantasy, I sometimes think the island of Key West is going to sink into the ocean. Too many people!

Everyone wants Key West! Prospective residents and tourists. Each group willing to spend astronomical amounts of money to be in Key West as owners and tourists. Demand being high and supply limited, prices are ridiculous. But, they still keep coming.

United Airlines announced yesterday they have decided to extend the Houston/Key West connection till September 7. The present run which actually was a short one was to end May 5. However, business is obviously good.

Rents are very high. Many cannot afford them and have left. Workers, especially bar and restaurant ones, are in short supply. Most landlords will not rent for more than 7 months. They want their property back by December or January so they can gouge the tourists. I don’t blame them. Rental properties are an investments. Investments are intneded to make money. Here a bit piggish. However, part and parcel of a capitalistic society.

The situation overall is too much. Key West is growing. I don’t like it. Doesn’t matter. Merely one person’s observation.

An example of the growth is interesting. When I first started coming to Key West in the mid 1990s, the season was it. The season ran from January 15 till the sunday after Easter Sunday.

Then it became quiet. Nice.

It was always said at the time that during the summer, a person could throw a bowling bowl down Duval and not hit one person. Things were so slow that many restaurants closed August and September.

There no longer is a slow season. Key West has become a summer vacation land. The season runs all year. At most a 25 percent difference makes for a slow month. The hotels getting big dollars in what used to be the off season and summer.

Some day the boats with a glass bottom will tell its customers to look closely and you will be able to see Key West.

A respected and honored Key Wester died this day in 1937. Judge Jefferson B. Browne. A prominent person. His positions included President of the Florida Senate, Collector of Customs, Chairman of the Railroad Commission, and a Judge of the Florida Supreme Court 1916-1925. From 1916-1923, he served as Chief Judge.

I know of his background personally. In 1912, he published the book “Key West, The Old And The New.” Considered the best historical reference for Key West data from its beginnings to 1912. The book covers everything in detail. Politics, churches, businesses, burial grounds, hurricanes, cigar manufacturing, hospitals, Civil War, education, etc.

I know. I discovered his book about 3 years ago and purchased it. Many times the book provides facts I cannot find elsewhere.

Peter Minuit. I have not heard nor seen that name since grammar school. It appears in this morning’s Key West Citizen’s day in history section. The event occurred on this date 1626: “Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on present day Manhattan Island.”

Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are 2 Republicans I have always respected. Rarely agreed with their views. We are diametrically opposites when it comes to political philosophy. They are both staunch Republican Conservatives. I am a Liberal.

The “new” Republicans are beating the hell out of them. Trump’s people. His followers. Those who believe everything he utters. Those who want to ride his coattails, if that will be possible, into nomination and election to office.

Cheney’s Dad was Vice President under Bush 2. He had a tremendous influence on Bush. I believe Cheney talked Bush into invading Iraq.

Liz Cheney today is #3 in the Republican House caucus. An important and powerful position.

Her party is ready to dump her. Probably will occur in the next 2 weeks. Her sin accusing Trump of the “Big Lie.” His insistence that the election was rigged. She has no fear in repeating her position that Trump is fabricating.

Her penalty for speaking truth. A truth her party presently refuses to acknowledge.

I have always respected Mitt Romney. His business and political career without reproach. He was the Republican Party’s Presidential candidate in 2012. Now, a U.S. Senator representing Utah.

The Utah Republican Party held its State Convention over the weekend. He was booed when he came on stage to speak and during parts of his speech.

Romney’s sin was he voted “yes” to Trump’s impeachment.

This consistent lying by Trump that the Election was rigged and stolen from him has a significant number of followers. People who have bought the “Big Lie.” Some those who attacked the Capitol on January 6. Most of whom are anti Cheney and Romney.

Joseph Goebbels was Hitler’s Propaganda Minister. He was the one who said and sold the statement which in effect said tell a  lie, make sure it is a big one, repeat it constantly, and it will be believed.

Trump’s claim of victory reflective of Goebbels’ statement. The statement used by Hitler to capture power and retain it for a number of years.

In a recent Opinion Piece in the Dessert News it was written: “Without open and civil debate within a party, it will grow ossified, the GOP will miss out on the immolation that is bred from diverse incidental exchanges.”

I first thought Trump was not actually lying when he argued the election was stolen. I attributed his comments to his not being that intelligent and having a sick mind.

Now I am convinced he is lying. He is following the Goebbels’ line And it is working!

Trump’s first wife Ivana said he kept Hitler related books in his nightstand drawer and would read a few pages each evening. He obviously knew where he wanted life to take him.

Today is tuesday. Tonight my blog talk radio show. Tuesday talk with Key West Lou.

Join me at 9 my time for an interesting half hour of my rantings and ravings. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

WE HAVE THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY was originally published on Key West Lou