#and then the actual competition will start feb 11

[camelspit]

and if i told you all the keeper sexyman round pairings have been planned out.. what then

[deesi-academia]

i know youre not a studyblr but as a senior can you please give any suggestions on managing 12th boards and competitive exams (im a jee aspirant but i still wanna know how you managed it all) hope its not a bother!

hiii sure!! feel free to reach out whenever, im happy to help <33

okay so. what i suggest you do (assuming you'll be starting 11th this year):

1. Enter 11th std. Don't get intimidated by others. Stay focused on understanding the concepts of all chapters, school exams toh derivations and formulas rattkar bhi ho jayenge. Clear concepts now rather than saving it for 'later'.

2. Practice all PYQs and whatever questions you get for maths. You can only do maths with practice × 100000. It's honestly quite tough, or it's too lengthy.

3. Fully strengthen the 'easier chapters' NOW. Own the knowledge like you made the concept.

4. Enter 12th. Let go of 11th from april-september and fully finish 12th std as soon as possible. Cover all concepts (I believe physics in 12th is relatively easier) and learn all formulas by your midterm exam time at school.

5. USE YOUR SUMMER VACATIONS WELL. COVER ALL BACKLOGS THEN AND THERE. (I regret procrastinating soo much 😭)

6. Just revise 12th entirely and focus on PYQs during October.

7. Nov-Dec go through 11th std again thoroughly, don't take too much stress for preboard cause hopefully you've prepared for 12th strong enough already. Don't take preboard marks to heart!!

8. January, do only and only JEE PYQs and cover whatever backlogs you have. Physics formulas must be learn to the heart. Understand organic chemistry basics very very well, cause it will help predict complex product formations too even if you don't remember the actual reaction!! Maths again, only practice or God can save you 💀 (I'm sorry I'm really scared of maths so maybe this is a biased reply!)

9. Now you'll have board practicals likely in Jan end or Feb only, just make sure your file is complete and you know the basic procedure of experiments. Don't stress too much about viva, usually your own teachers will help you through it!! Focus on practicals as it helps with conceptual JEE Qs too!!

10. Now simply focus on learning derivations and long answer type questions for upcoming boards. You've done enough for JEE and it's time to strength subjective answers. Focus only on cbse board PYQs and again, don't stress too much. Be confident you've worked so hard!!

11. Now the April attempt. Again start focusing on 11th at least 2 weeks before your JEE date. Revise 11th very well.

12. Lastly, solve sample papers only. During the last 3 days I recommend not studying. Only sample papers. With full syllabus. No chapter-wise or topic-wise. But yes if you still don't have concepts cleared, definitely do that asap. Still try to be fully prepared 3 days before the actual exam!!

That's all <33 I made it as detailed as possible for anyone to refer to. Set a goal and follow through guys!! I know it's super hard and yeah 11th mein vo feeling nahi aati, but trust me, if you can push yourself hard in 11th, you won't have to worry too much for the April attempt for sureeee.

All the best <33

[danukim]

W1 Phenomenology

Today’s session could not have been further stressed about the correlation between reality and consciousness. The duck or the rabbit image exemplified how phenomenology applied to art makes people’s perspectives differ. But not only specifically in art, I think this can be put into our daily lives, where we go through endless decisions and discussions. And probably this is where the concept of debates and controversies are created.

My father likes the philosopher Descartes, and he exposed me to the <Method of Doubts> since I was little. Growing up with him was all about questioning logics and introspections. It was nice to be reminded how powerful the misuse of our minds such as confusion and unconsciousness can be, especially since everything sounded familiar to what my dad had always been teaching me.

* W3 Photography, Still Life Objects - This project specifically required endless try-outs to achieve a specific effect I want. I couldn't realise how impactful the light and background reflections, until I started shooting pictures. Understanding the logic of the power of these small elements, and I make a connection to today's lecture by approaching subjects with multiple point of views.

*Night to Light Festival - One of the most commonly asked questions was 'What if this happens? Or what if this doesn't happen?' and I think that inspired us to explore more lightning techniques. Because the visual effects are created through machines, sometimes there would be clashes between images. Figuring out the best combination of lights was the key to the event.

I have titled my series of photos: “Golden Hour”. Although some may view my pictures as a collection of red items, I actually tried to capture all the emergency-related items around school. I was surprised how these items are so unconscious and unimportant to us until the moment of emergency actually hits and they become one of the first things that we look for. I tried to relate my photos to the given theme; time, by interpreting the importance of it - linking to the common knowledge of the golden hour - that appropriate time usage can actually save more lives.

As a conclusion, I learnt the importance of paying attention to details and perceiving things from various perspectives. Applying this skill to design would bring innovative and powerful artworks.

260 words

References:

Yadav, Amisha. “CONSCIOUSNESS AND REALITY.” The Stringent Relationship Between Consciousness and Reality, XMonks, 4 October 2021, https://xmonks.com/the-stringent-relationship-between-consciousness-and-reality/. Accessed 15 Feb 2024.

The School of Life, director. “René Descartes.” PHILOSOPHY, The School of Life, 11 September 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAjWUrwvxs4&t=64s. Accessed 15 Feb 2024.

"Red Meaning & Personality." Red Color Psychology -, uploaded by Color Psychology, 9 Dec. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVxJULzEAsE. Accessed 15 Feb 2024.

"Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality." Anil Seth, uploaded by TED, 19 Jul. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVxJULzEAsE.Accessed 15 Feb 2024.

Jastrow, Joseph . "Rabbit-duck Illusion." 15 Apr. 1899, beckman.illinois.edu/about/news/article/2011/10/10/ae5c0227-3f30-4eac-9c29-e7b8b8ca9b29#:~:text=Fellow%20Kyle%20Mathewson.-,Their%20new%20take%20on%20an%20old%20experiment%20suggests%20that%20our,was%20based%20on%20earlier%20drawings.Accessed 17 Feb 2024.

MIT Gurukul . "Debate Competition." The Thrilling World of Debate Competition, 14 Jul. 2023, www.mitgurukul.com/news/debate-competition/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Janew, Claus. How Consciousness Creates Reality. vol. 85 pages, Independently Published, 2022.

"Eye Image." All About Vision, 21 Oct. 2019, www.google.com/search?client=safari&sca_esv=def732e0ea4c2a3d&channel=mac_bm&q=eye+image&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjH9-WRnrmEAxWAyDgGHcwqD6AQ0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=2505&bih=1252&dpr=2. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Haramein, Nassim. "The Nature of Reality and Consciousness." The Mindvalley Showwith Vishen, Spotify, 6 Apr. 2019. Podcast.

Andrews, Paul . "Method of Doubts - Descartes’ Meditations." SlidePlayer, 9 Jul. 2016, slideplayer.com/slide/7930032/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Kim, Danwoo. "Photography Images." Sem 2, Week 2, 18 Feb. 2024, drive.google.com/file/d/1XaluoyuXI86dXH62aPTKUjzh8vLv2dAs/view?usp=share_link. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

"Night to Light Festival." - VJ Crew, uploaded by Kim Danwoo, 13 Feb. 2024, www.tumblr.com/edit/danukim/740927753357082624.

Danwoo, Kim. "D-CM102_WOII_CEN2B_Week 1 Activity 1." Phenomenology, 11 Jan. 2024, docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wP5LF3OkVxpviz5PtjgZVqgaPmdZtSopGdHVps5TeZ8/edit#slide=id.g26588e0b377_16_0. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Iakovlev, Yaroslav . "Color Psychology in Logo Design." Zeka, 9 Nov. 2023, www.zekagraphic.com/psychology-of-color-in-logo-design/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2024.

Kim, Danwoo. "Google Account." 21 Feb. 2024. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

[thetoxicgamer]

League Fans Are Loving the New Lec Format and There’s One Major Reason Why

In 2023, the LEC changed its format to include three Splits rather than two and much shorter Regular Splits. The regular season of the Winter Split has already concluded after three weeks, giving way to the Group phase. With teams only playing best-of-three and best-of-five series until the next Split, the stakes are rising ahead of the playoffs. The LEC met mixed viewership numbers at the start of the Split, but fans have reached a verdict on this year’s new format in a Reddit thread, and they’re pretty unanimous: changes happened for the better. The discussion became a popular appreciation thread for Riot Games’ new LEC format, where players shared its various advantages. They proved to be unanimous on the fact that the shortened regular Split significantly increased the stakes of every match since a single point can make all the difference ahead of the Group phase. “Every game is important. Nobody can relax or unwind. This is fantastic for competition and hype,” wrote the user. “A great element is how it makes BDS and Astralis tryhard for their lives. It’s a night and day difference for these lower teams who have to show up early now.” Players agreed that three weeks were a perfect time window for best-of-ones to show their full potential in terms of strategy and pure skill, without blatantly showing their limits, since teams won’t have the time to get comfortable with the format. https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/10vyyxc/new_lec_format_appreciation_thread/?ref=share&ref_source=embed&utm_content=points&utm_medium=post_embed&utm_name=60b96f2a86614182a63dda6d302886ba&utm_source=embedly&utm_term=10vyyxc Starting playing best-of-threes after only three weeks is challenging, which forces players to remain on their toes and constantly adapt —meaning more surprises and potential upsets in the following weeks. “I might actually pay attention for an entire regular season instead of just watching first week and the end,” wrote another League fan. Some were worried that underperforming teams wouldn’t have the chance to improve and make it to playoffs by coming back in the last games, like Fnatic, who is historically going to miss playoffs despite high expectations. But others argued that the team will have two more Splits to get into shape again and qualify for Worlds, as well as the rest of the Winter season to get back to their feet after hard weeks of competition. While the success of this format has yet to translate in viewership numbers, there is still more time to see the format bear its fruits. Winter’s Group phase will kick off next Saturday, Feb. 11 at 11am CT. Read the full article

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Dishwashers have become Iphones

Apple is a true business innovator: For more than a decade, they have been steadily perfecting an obscure anticompetitive tactic, turning a petty grift invented by console games companies into a global, cross-industry mechanism for extracting rents and centralizing control.

I'm speaking of App Stores, of course, and not just any app store, but one that's illegal to compete with or switch away from. This started with console companies, who used technical tricks to ensure that they could skim a rake from every program you bought for your system.

Consoles used proprietary hardware or media formats to ensure that software vendors couldn't sell directly to you, that every sale would be forced through their storefronts or licensing systems.

These tactics acquired the force of law in 1998 after Bill Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), whose Section 1201 made it a felony to traffick in "circumvention devices" that bypassed "access controls" for copyrighted works.

Broadly, that meant that you could go to prison (for five years!) for making anti-DRM tools. What's more, DMCA 1201's drafters rejected tying the law to acts of copyright infringement, making it illegal to remove DRM, even if you did so for a perfectly legal reason.

For example, if your games console had some code that ensured that the software you were running had been taxed by the manufacturer, then removing that code could become a criminal act - even though that has nothing to do with copyright infringement.

To make that concrete: copyright is supposed to help creators and audiences transact with one another. If you own a console and I wrote some software for it, then copyright should facilitate you paying me money for it and then running it on your console.

But if the console's manufacturer had designed its product so that it got to impose a tax on transactions like this, then I can't sell you my copyrighted work anymore unless I pay the tax. Doing so is a felony, but not because it infringes copyright.

No, it's a felony because it's bad for the manufacturer's shareholders. It's what Jay Freeman calls "Felony Contempt of Business Model."

Now, the defenders of this practice say it's not anticompetitive because I can invent and manufacture a different, competing console, sell it to you, and then sell you my code without paying tax.

But this isn't how competition works. Companies don't get to say, "You can compete with me, but only on the terms I set, and in the domains where I think I have an advantage." Excluding competition in "complimentary goods" (like apps) is 100% anticompetitive.

For several years after the passage of the DMCA, the abuse of Sec 1201 to create "Felony Contempt of Business Model" stuck mostly within the realm of games consoles, with the exception of mixed results in the printer ink market.

Then along came the App Store for Apple's Ios devices: these were designed to be locked to a single app store, so that people who made copyrighted works (apps) and people who wanted to buy them (Ipod/pad/phone owners) couldn't transact without going through Apple.

Apple's paternalistic pitch was that it would only use this power to benefit its customers. The press *loved* this story, because Steve Jobs posed himself as a daddy-figure who would use apps to get us all to pay for media again.

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

The consensus that Apple should be able to decide how other companies could compete with it was advanced by its most loyal customers, who'd long considered themselves to be a kind of oppressed religious minority.

They insisted that there was no reason to allow a third-party app store because everyone who owned an Ios device loved using Apple's App Store.

But when anyone pointed out that if this was true, then there would be no reason to ban third-party stores (because they'd fail), they'd switch tactics, saying that any Ios user who switched stores was Doing It Wrong.

This is the Apple fanboy No True Scotsman argument: "Everyone loves the limitations of Apple's walled gardens, and if they don't, they're not really Apple customers. If they didn't want to be locked into the walled garden, they should have bought a different device."

To understand how weird this is, consider the inverse: we live in a market society based on property rights. Once I buy an Ios device, I get to decide which programs I run on it and who I buy them from. If Apple didn't like that deal, it shouldn't have sold me an Ios device.

This belief-system is intrinsically conservative, in the sense articulated by Frank Wilhoit: "There must be in-groups whom the law protectes but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."

https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288

How else to explain the indifference of Apple trufans for the company's decision to reverse-engineer all of Microsoft Office's file formats and make compatible players for them, and their defense of Apple's strict prohibition on doing this to Ios?

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

But even if you think Apple will never abuse the power to decide who can compete with it to make complimentary products that interoperate with its own devices, the norms, laws and precedents backstopping Apple's business-model innovations can by used by anyone.

In 2015, I wrote a Guardian microfiction that exposed the perils of allowing companies to choose their competitors. It was called "If Dishwashers Were Iphones."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/if-dishwashers-were-iphones

It was a letter from the CEO of an "innovative" dishwasher company explaining why his customers were wrong to try to wash third-party dishes in his products.

The comments swiftly filled up with Apple defenders who decried it as an absurd, over-the-top analogy.

To those people, I say, behold, the Bob Dishwasher! It's a cute, countertop dishwasher aimed at single-person households, and it uses a proprietary cartridge for detergent dispensing, at about $0.67/wash - about $242/year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVup5ya0WVQ

The company makes a lot of familiar, paternalistic claims to justify selling a non-refillable, single-use electronics package that becomes immortal e-waste once you've used it up and replaced it: the precision electronics and proprietary detergent ensure optimal performance.

dekuNukem bought a Bob and decided that he - and not the manufacturer - should decide whether the "advantages" of throwing out the cassette and buying a new one were worth it. He reverse-engineered it and made a defeat device he calls a "rewinder."

https://github.com/dekuNukem/bob_cassette_rewinder

The tale of how he did this makes for a fascinating read, especially the analog sleuthing he did using product safety labels to reverse-engineer the "proprietary" composition of the detergent and rinse-aid, which turn out to be commodity products marked up by 7700%!

Extraordinarily, he's actually selling the Rewinder, for $30. This shouldn't be extraordinary, but it is, thanks to the penalties under DMCA 1201 (and the UK equivalent law, derived from Article 6 of 2001's EU Copyright Directive).

https://www.tindie.com/products/dekuNukem/bob-rewinder-renew-your-bob-dishwasher-cassette/

It's not just dishwashers, either. Would-be digital rentiers have figured out that they can turn their shareholders' preferences into legal obligations to their customers by engineering their products so they have to be used in specific ways...or else.

For example, KLIM makes a motorcyclist's airbag vest that deactivates itself if you stop making subscription payments (of course, this means that anyone who exploits a defect in KLIM's IT can shut off all its airbag vests, everywhere).

https://twitter.com/TrashGoat00/status/1387301889356689410/photo/1

If that sounds extreme to you, it's really not. Tesla has many safety features that are marketed as downloadable content, which it remotely deactivates when a car changes hands through a private sale:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21127243/tesla-model-s-autopilot-disabled-remotely-used-car-update

If you find yourself scrambling for reasons that it's OK for Tesla to do this with its cars, but not for KLIM to do it with its airbag vests, allow me to gently remind you that Tesla owners are not an oppressed religious minority, either.

This kind of rent-seeking is just getting started. As I tried to illustrate in my novella UNAUTHORIZED BREAD (part of my 2019 book RADICALIZED), there are limitless ways for Apple's pioneering business innovation to destroy our lives:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

And as I wrote in my story "Sole and Despotic Dominion," this is a frontal assault on the idea of personal property - it creates a world where property is the exclusive purview of remorseless, transhuman colony organisms (AKA corporations).

https://reason.com/2018/11/17/sole-and-despotic-dominion/

However, that future is anything but assured. Apple is being sued by Epic for antitrust violations over its Felony Contempt of Business-Model system:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/technology/apple-epic-lawsuit-app-fees.html

And European competition regulators have opened an enforcement action against the company on the same basis:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/eu-says-apples-app-store-breaches-competition-rules.html

Meanwhile, copycats who created their own Felony Contempt of Business Model walled gardens, like Valve did with Steam, are facing their own lawsuits, courtesy of Wolfire:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/

We've come a long way in a decade, and the No True Scotsman defense of the right of a dominant corporation to interpose itself between buyers and sellers, to control its customers' choices after a sale, is finally facing a real challenge.

https://locusmag.com/2021/03/cory-doctorow-free-markets/

[yuzusorbet]

Kikuchi-san’s book, partial translations

Akira Kikuchi is the trainer who accompanied Yuzu to many competitions in the past.  Since elementary school days, Yuzu has gone to his clinic in Sendai for therapy sessions after skate practice.  Last year (2019), Kikuchi-san published a book titled 'Strongly, beautifully, 30 Methods to train' (my translation from the Japanese title).   I read a Chinese translation of some parts.  Very interesting to see things from his perspective, and quite touching too, so I decided to translate them to share.  Not ideal to translate from another translation but I don't have the book, and usually Chinese fans' translations are pretty reliable. 

  *paraphrased means I summarised a few lines there.   *more info means I added notes for myself, and it's not from the book.

Chapter 1, part 5.  The muscles that were forged after the earthquake.

He became the World Junior champion, and also started school at Tohoku High School,  and at the age of 15, Yuzuru made his debut in senior level competition.  His 1st competition was Season 2010-11 NHK Trophy in Oct where he landed his 1st quad jump in competition and was in 4th place.   2010 Nov was Cup of Russia in Moscow, where he placed 7th. (more info: Japan nationals in Dec, he placed 4th.  Then 4CC in Feb 2011, he placed 2nd.)

At the end of his first senior season, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.  (March 2011)

When the earthquake occurred, I was working, seeing 4 patients.  My home and clinic felt the shaking but were not damaged due to being on higher ground.  But very quickly, the electricity, water and gas were cut off.

[paraphrased:  Everyone was worried but preferred to stay on.]   I continued treating the 4 patients.  When they left, I closed the clinic temporarily.

Soon, people whose homes were washed away in the tsunami or destroyed by the quake took refuge in nearby sports halls.  When I heard about this, I brought a simple bed into the sports halls and did massages for the  people there.  That was how I spent each day.

The reason I did this was because I thought of my father that night after the earthquake.  He was a policeman and was very strict with himself.   He was upright and always thinking of the safety of others.  He lived his life for others and he is the man that I most respect.  If father was here, he would definitely go to the evacuation centres to do his best to help......

Giving a massage to people at the centre, I was just doing the only thing I could do.

Yuzuru also went through some hard days.

On the day of the earthquake, he went to his usual training rink 'Ice Rink Sendai' after school.   It was at the rink that he experienced the "shindo 6"  earthquake.  (More info: shindo 7 is the highest.  See this: robintlewis/what-is-the-japanese-seismic-intensity-shindo-scale.   On the Richter scale, this is a magnitude 9 earthquake.)

That child felt the strong shaking and I heard that he rushed out of the building wearing his skate boots.  Next to life itself, the most precious thing is his skates.  Figure skaters always put skate guards on the blades when they leave the ice, they would never let the blades be exposed.  Rushing out without his skate guards, he must have been very scared.

Staying 4 days in the gym of a school which served as an evacuation centre, he seriously thought about whether he should give up figure skating.

It was also figure skating that made him pull himself together.

His home rink was damaged in the quake and he lost his usual training place. His coach during elementary school days, Tsuzuki Shoichiro, inquired about him.  Tsuzuki-sensei is the one who gave Yuzuru his foundation in figure skating.  Before the quake, he was coaching at a rink in Yokohama.

Subsequently, Yuzuru went to Tsuzuki-sensei's rink to train.

About half a year after the quake, around October, Yuzuru who had returned to Sendai came to my clinic.  He told me about what he had been doing.

During that period, he was participating in commercial ice shows and earthquake charity ice shows all over Japan;  I knew about this.  "For the people affected by the disaster, I want to give them some encouragement," I had read his interviews in the newspapers.  In the 5 months after the earthquake, he skated in 60 ice shows throughout the  country.  "I hope that my activities can become strength for the victims"-- to have this thought, he must have pulled himself together.

"When I participated in ice shows, I could do some training if I arrived early at the venue, and the intervals between shows also became my own training time," said Yuzuru, looking straight into my eyes.  (more info: usually there are a few shows at one venue, eg. 3 shows spread over the weekend)

After such an unprecedented earthquake disaster, what had Yuzuru learned, mentally how had he changed, all these I was not sure.  But the moment I touched his leg muscles, I immediately felt his efforts and I almost cried.

Since elementary school, I had been seeing him almost everyday.  Even a small change in his body I would know.

The muscles forged after the earthquake told of days filled with harsh figure skate training, day after day.

Skating in ice shows "for the disaster areas", and practising fervently in between shows.  During the performances, he must have also put in all his efforts so as to "convey something to the people".

Moreover, the muscles developed after the quake were not only those used for jumping, they were also those for bearing the impact of landing.

Landing on the ice after a jump, the impact on the body can be a few hundred times the skater's weight.  To withstand such an impact, the muscles around the knees, the gastrocnemius muscles in the calf and the tibialis anterior muscles must be sufficiently trained.  If these parts are not strengthened, injury will happen easily.

In a short period of half a year, those muscles grew to such an extent.   How much jump practice did he do after the earthquake.  Falling down countless times and getting up again.  How on earth did he train to develop muscles like that.

Yuzuru's leg muscles are different from other athletes that come to my clinic. His muscles were not developed by specialised muscle training but were formed naturally though figure skating practice.  In other words, they are muscles that grew only for figure skating.

Until now, that child still mentions that he "does not know how to ride a bicycle".  In my opinion, I think it is because he does not want to develop muscles except those needed for figure skating.

The muscles used for cycling are the same as those for speed skating.  Speed skaters have cycling in summer training;  bulging leg muscles are necessary for them.For figure skaters, if muscles become big and bulging, the weight can be a hindrance to jumping.  But still, strong muscles are needed to do quad jumps and to bear the impact of landing. [paraphrased]

Yuzuru overcame the earthquake disaster and developed muscles for jumping quads and for bearing the landing impact in a good balance.

Those well-trained leg muscles are the external manifestation of his experience of the Great East Japan Earthquake and his determination to fight as a top skater.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

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

Chapter 1, part 6. Overcoming pain in the hip joint

The first time I went along with Yuzuru in the team for a competition was in his 2nd year of senior level, the November 2011 Rostelecom Cup (Russia) in the Grand Prix series.  Traveling with a team to an international competition as a trainer, it was the first time for me.  Not only that, it was also my first time watching a figure skating competition up close.  What a disgraceful old man. Almost everyday I listened to Yuzuru talk about all things related to figure skating but I had never watched his competitions live at the venue.

I saw Yuzuru only at my clinic, diagnosing leg problems, applying tape to stabilise ankles, this kind of interactions, the relationship of a therapist and a patient, I felt this was enough.

I had the role of a 'sports trainer' before, but not for professional  athletes. Supporting local high school and junior high students, I was already very content.  I had served as 'team trainer' for the swimming, baseball, and track and field teams of Tohoku High and Junior High Schools where sports is very popular, and went with the athletes for competitions.

Once these children graduated, the relationship between trainer and athlete would end.  Those who wanted to continue their sports career, some would leave Sendai, some would get a professional trainer to guide them.

"Rostelecom Cup is going to start, Sensei, can you go together with me as my trainer?" Yuzuru asked me.  I answered in a relaxed manner, "Oh, alright."​

As an athlete, Yuzuru was steadily rising.

"Whether it's an international competition or the Olympics, let me be your trainer and take me along!"  This was what I said to him jokingly when he was in elementary school grade 4;  I don't know if he still remembers it.  But this kind of joke has really come true now, so I was actually feeling rather emotional.

This was also like a commendation from Yuzuru for the treatment he had received so far.  "Well, it's just doing the physiotherapy in Russia instead of the usual place in my clinic," this was how I thought at that time.

However, at that Rostelecom Cup, at the official practice, Yuzuru injured his hip joint (the joint between hip bone and thigh bone).

The injury was treated by a trainer sent specially by Japan Skate Federation.   I was just Yuzuru's private trainer.

I understood the situation fully when we were back in his hotel room.  The treatment for the injury had ended but the pain was still there.  I was very sure that it was not suitable for him to do more skating.  Even walking would be painful.

"In this situation, it's better to withdraw (from competition), isn't it?"   When he heard this, he said with absolute certainty, "Whatever happens, I will compete in Rostelecom Cup."  Actually for this competition, Yuzuru must win first place in order to qualify for the Grand Prix Final which is for only the top 6 skaters of the GP series.  He wanted to compete, no matter what.

From that moment, I felt for the first time that I have "joined forces with an extraordinary world".  Yuzuru was so focused on the competition, "want to compete", "want to win", these desires were way above any pain.  As a therapist, of course my advice was to withdraw.  But as a trainer, I had to respond to such intense wishes of the athlete.

All I could do was to take care of his hip joint.  I also taped his ankle, and then sent him off to compete.  I knew the pain of the injury was still there.

But, Yuzuru, he did it....... short programme and free skating both were ranked 2nd, but his total score of 241.66 was higher than other strong rivals like Javier Fernandez and Jeremy Abbott, and he achieved his first victory in the GP series.

At that moment, witnessing it with my own eyes, I was crying.  Even though he received treatment, his hip joint injury was quite serious.  Any jump would be very painful, especially when landing, he would feel severe  pain.  In spite of this, for the free skate, he made a mistake only for the quad jump, the other 7 jumps were all successful.

For the first time, I realised it was such a cruel world that Yuzuru was fighting in.​

In the spectator stands were many Japanese ladies and they were looking at me with a surprised expression "why is this old grandpa crying so much??"  But it did not matter anymore, I did not care how others were looking at me, I was crying my heart out.  I was so happy..... really so happy.

That Rostelecom Cup was my first experience as a trainer stepping into the figure skating world.

After this, I did not accompany Yuzuru to any more competitions.  I stayed in my clinic treating patients, and sometimes I would treat Yuzuru who came back from travels.

​After Rostelecom Cup, Yuzuru rose rapidly at an astonishing speed.

For the GP Final, he was 4th, then at 2011-12 World Championships, it was his first time at Worlds and he achieved 3rd place.  At the age of 17 years and 3 months, he broke the record for the youngest World Championship medalist in Japanese figure skating men's history and ascended to the podium.

Then, from April 2012, Yuzuru moved his training base from Sendai to Toronto, Canada.​

Before he had overseas competitions, I saw him almost everyday at my clinic.​ We had been together for the past 10 years.  So I would miss him quite a lot.

But it's for becoming stronger that he went to Canada.  For greater improvement in figure skating, he made the decision to move to Toronto.  He has already "graduated" from my place here.

"Sensei, I'm going off!"​

And just like each overseas trip, Yuzuru set off from Sendai, and started on another journey.

- translated by me from this Chinese translation: weibo

This is the book on Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/

(I will share parts from Chapter 2 soon.)

[eleamaya]

Fun with Zodiac Signs: Zack/Aerith/Cloud/Tifa

NOTE: Not really shipping related, this is just for fun I was idly doing based on tweet that came up on my timeline and people who try it are freak out of how accurate it is; even those who doesn’t really believe about personality traits from zodiac sign. This is the tweet:

So I went to “universal-tao-eproducts” and got what I copy-paste below. The sun signs are taken from their official bday. To get the moon one, you need to put your birth place in Birth Chart. I put Texas as Cloud & Tifa’s birth place for Nibelheim’s reference and the result is crazy accurate for them. I have no idea about Aerith which city in our earth similar to Icicle Inn so I pick the combination of moon sign that describe Aerith the most. As for Zack, since his bday isn’t given by SE (ugh, why?)... so this is the most accurate combination for me to headcanoning his bday^^.

AGAIN, THIS IS ACCURATE AS FUCK.

Zack Fair -- HC: Sep 23-29, 1984: Libra Sun, Sagittarius Moon (air/fire) why up to Sep 29? because he died on Sep 30

FREEDOM FIGHTER

You must have the room to believe and do, as you want. You most admire honesty, both in yourself and in others. You are never fearful to do what you think is moral or to say precisely what you feel. Your outlook is idealistic and your perspective is broad and extensive, but you may have some bewilderment when you find that others do not always match your standards of integrity or subscribe to your strange beliefs. You draw people to you with your free-spirited, courageous, and cheerful nature. Because your character is very self-governing, excitable, and restive; freedom is what you need most. You become incensed when someone tries to limit your expressive style or infringe on your way of life, even though you are even-tempered in most cases. Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is a Libra-Sagittarian preference, so even if you believe you are always being truthful and uncomplicated in your dealings, there are times when brutal idealism stops you from perceiving the whole truth. Do not allow philosophy to rule every move or blind you to the more pragmatic parts of life just because your convictions are admirable. You like to play with abstract notions and ideas as an intellectual and details always slow you down. You prefer thinking about the infinite of surveying the universe to balancing your checkbook. Many of your lofty ideas can be put to good use in a more practical realm. Nothing is better for the Libra-Sagittarian than to go off on an African safari or an Alaskan expedition, so go ahead and book your ticket. Any sort of physical exercise is good for you. You are an idealist with love, as with all things. Fantasizing about your perfect lover is usually the start. You are a great lover and are giving, affectionate, and open. Unfortunately most of them stay stuck in your mind, just because you lack discipline. Mix it with some good old-fashioned common sense and think of what you could do with all that inspiration. The barriers have been broken before. Imagination is a very powerful aspect of your combination. Do not let your overactive mind take you off into Fantasy Land in the middle of a chat or a day at work. Fantasy is not a substitute for experience, but you admittedly you do need both to be healthy. It is likely that you feel a need to travel to faraway lands because your Libra-Sagittarius combination has a lot of restless energy and inquisitiveness.

Aerith Gainsborough -- Feb 07, 1985: Aquarius Sun, Pisces Moon (air/water)

TRUE BELIEVER

You are a very kind and helpful person and are able to identify and sympathize with almost everybody. Your innocent soul is humble, generous, and sensitive. You know the difference between right and wrong because you have an innate sense of integrity and wisdom. But your spirituality is not always synchronized with pragmatic common sense. You have no cunning or shrewdness and are completely trusting. Your faith in other is total and you would be eaten alive if other people were not so kind to you. Fortunately people never fail to respond in a positive way to your innocence. There is a dreamy look that Aquarius-Pisceans have and it seems they have just woken up and do not know where they are. This approach is used in everything, as though existence is carried on in several dimensions. If you see the entire world at once, you get mixed up because you cannot really separate the parts. It is possible a religious path might be for you because you are quite spiritual. Some Aquarius-Pisceans are even drawn to the monastic life. Furthermore, you may be especially tuned in to the occult and the mysterious. More mainstream people find this quite odd about you. Your imagination is strong and you have a very visual mental framework. Given the right motivation and teaching, you might be an artist or other creative entrepreneur. However you must acquire some direction and discipline from others to be successful. Without this, you are a ship with no rudder to guide you to your destination. You are a sponge for the stress or feelings around your environment. That is a strong influence on you. Meditating, reading, or listening to music from time to time is good for you. However, you must be careful that isolation does not take you away from involvement with others. High technology or heavy competition is not suited for you as a career. Involve yourself in a profession where you can use your compassionate and humanitarian feelings. Or perhaps think in terms of using your powerful clairvoyant skills. Because of your detached character, people might think that you are uncaring. Aquarian detachment may lead others to believe that you are not very sensitive, but the opposite is actually true.

Cloud Strife -- Aug 11, 1986: Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon (fire/water)

VACILLATOR

You relish a good battle and, in fact, if there is not a lot of competition, you feel somewhat cheated and let down. You are very motivated and determined, even though you show a playful image to the world. You probably believe that, if you ever revealed yourself, you would give your enemies an advantage, even though most of your enemies exist solely in your mind. Consequently you are very secretive in order to protect yourself. You view yourself and humanity with the greatest importance and you are a very intense Leo. Your approach is almost always a serious one. Jokes at your expense are not thought of kindly. You generally have a master plan for life, and you carefully follow it because you are purposeful, bold, and aggressive about everything. A kind of wall is built around you. You desire all the comfort, authority, and control you can get from life. You like material possessions and are sensual. Nothing can hold you back after you have set your sights on a job, toy, or romance. You go after your aims with quiet firmness, and your charisma, self-assurance, and ruthless willpower help you to get them. You have a lot of determination, fortitude, and a strong sense of purpose because both signs of your combination are fixed, but that also makes you obstinate and rigid, especially pertaining to your beliefs. It is very hard for you to accept the views or opinions of others. You are very independent and you seldom compromise. You have a very low stress threshold thanks to your rigidity. Aggression, irritation, or injured pride cannot be held in for very long and it is generally released quickly. You are obstinate and somewhat spirited. You are very insightful and astute to the ways of the world unlike most Leos. Finance, management, and business attract you, as do most things involving competition. You have probably experienced strong creative desires, however. A Scorpio Moon can inspire and assist the creative needs of the Leo Sun. You rarely follow through on those artistic desires because you are so worried about instant gratification including things such as when you might get your promotion or have your next sexual conquest. You might be the next van Gogh or Picasso if you would redirect some of those sensual drives and use some restraint. In this lifetime, when there is so much going on, your creative talents are not likely to find an outlet.

Tifa Lockhart -- May 3, 1987: Taurus Sun, Cancer Moon (earth/water)

PROVIDER

There is an insecurity and restraint about you too. This results in a person who shows an exterior that is stable, while internally there is insecurity. There is a gentle kindness in you that attracts others. You also have a charming and tactful nature to go with it. You realize that aggression does not work nearly as well as diplomacy. Handling people well is an inborn trait, as is your almost instant adaptability to situations. You seem to be on everyone’s side at the same time. You carry yourself with an air of confidence. You are controlled in your approach to life and this makes you seem secure. This combination has a Taurus side that is dedicated, motivated, and sensual. The Cancer aspect shows sensitivity along with imagination. Caution is necessary if you do not want to lose your own identity in this process of trying to please everyone. As you move on in age, do not allow yourself to become self-satisfied and smug because a big part of you is easily satisfied with your life. Push yourself beyond what you see as your limitations and this will surely help round out your life. It would be a shame to waste your numerous strong points and talents. Creativity in design or architecture are places you can showcase your wonderful imagination and artistic talents. However, professions that provide more financial security because of your Moon in Cancer attract you. Undertaking a career that is a gamble is unlikely because it goes against your basic nature. The Taurus powers of concentration and the Cancer Moon provide an ability to understand and remember what you have learned. However, you also keep a ledger grounded in emotions such that you remember every insult, rejection, threat or other circumstance for a very long time. You pout in preference to discussing your feelings of hurt or anger. You can become a cynical and sluggish person if you experience a serious emotional setback in the form of rejection. Obviously, releasing negative feelings like anger is best for you and this means expressing them openly. Aggression is almost unknown to you because you are a peaceful person. Luckily, the vast majority of people respond to you kindly because you will probably not come to your own defense. Occasionally though, it is imperative to state your views.

COMPATIBILITY & STORY RELATION

FYI, Sun Sign represent exterior self, ego---dictates what we want out of this life, how we view the world, and how we interact/express with others. Moon sign represent inner self---especially when you’re alone, a personality that is often unknown to others unless they’re so close to you and understand you on that level, reflecting emotion/feeling, desire, and fear.

Zack & Aerith’s sun sign is air; the most expressive tribe. Air sign is social butterfly, flirtatious, and they quickly drag you to their life. They are truth-seeker to put their right belief onto before action and curious about many things in the world. You also could see them externally similar as fuck and being happy couple, no need explanation, do you agree? Meanwhile, as the one who has fire element under the sun sign, Cloud has the highest ego and fiery personality upfront. You see how he alienated himself and pick up fights since kid because he thinks he’s the best of everyone. He’s also someone who hardly admit his weakness and prefer to cover it. But his exterior energy matches Zack’s inner self. His desire of what he want to become is what Cloud carries for the rest of his life and put into real action. Like the name, Earth sign, Tifa is the most grounded character and the most stable outside while Zack-Aerith-Cloud are turbulent/chaotic people.

Surprisingly, Aerith-Cloud-Tifa are emotionally similar as they all carry water element as their moon sign: sensitive, depth of feeling, private, empathetic. So they all can be compatible each other to understand feeling while Zack is the most rational one who uses mind more than heart. The difference is... As Pisces, Aerith is the most selfless. As Scorpio, Cloud is the most secretive. As Cancer, Tifa is the most nurturing. Meanwhile, Zack & Tifa has no compatibility, both of their sun and moon sign are all opposites. Story-wise, they also have no interaction other than a week in Nibelheim where Tifa guided Zack to Nibel reactor, texted him about blond SOLDIER, and he felt responsible for the incident happened to her.

PS: I also search for Barret (Dec 15, 1972) and tweet it on my Twitter account, he’s Zack’s reversion: Sagittarius Sun-Libra Moon; probably gonna do more characters!

[balancingdiet]

Tabula Rasa

Detective Conan & Magic Kaito Characters: Shinichi/Kaito Words: 3100 ish Chapter: (1) … (18) (19) (20)

Shinichi always finds his neighbour weird. But he didn’t expect to find his neighbour lying on a patch of grass and donned in Kaitou Kid’s costume, too.

Dear Diary,                24 Dec

Hello! Before I start, let me first introduce myself. My name is Aoko, and I like to cook and volunteer at the hospital. There’s always this sense of accomplishment whenever people enjoy my cooking and company, and it makes me happy when they are happy!

What else... Oh, I haven’t thought of what I want to be when I grow up, but I do have lots of inspirations around. First of all, my dad is a Police Inspector! And Kaito, my childhood friend/neighbour is an amazing magician! Both Keiko and Sayaka, my close friends in high school, aspire to be a baker! Yuna too, wants to be a vet.

Ok, I think I’m starting to drift away from the main topic... Anyway, this notebook was a gift from Kaito. Or not. He said he got it as a complimentary item for some stuff that he bought online... But well, the fact that he even thought of me is already pretty sweet.

I originally wanted to use this book to do my homework, but Keiko suggested writing a diary with it, so I shall give it a go! Let’s see how long this diary-keeping thing will last (^-^)v

-

Dear Diary,               4 Jan

Bakaito got a cold today.

Okay. Let me rephrase that.

Kaito got a cold today.

Well, I guess he doesn’t deserve to be called Bakaito when it was sort of my fault that he became sick... But he’s so stupid! Yesterday, I told him I needed help because I sprained my ankle at the supermarket, and he came WITHOUT HIS COAT. It was such a long way home! What was he thinking??

But yeah... so now we’re both stuck at home. Me with a sprained ankle and him with a fever... I guess I can't see Kaito's ice skating fails any time soon! (≧∀≦)

 -

Dear Diary,               22 Jan

Today, Kaito and I went to volunteer at the hospital.

We found out that Mika-chan’s dad passed away last night.

This is so horrible... Mika-chan loved her dad so much.

When I heard the news, I couldn't control myself and had to cry in the bathroom while Kaito started the magic show on his own.

I felt bad. The atmosphere wasn't great and Kaito wasn't in his best condition either, yet he still put on a smile the entire time.

Ended up, his performance cheered me up too.

I don't know what I'd do if Kaito wasn't there.

 -

Dear Diary,               1 Feb

( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ

KAITOU KID SUCKS

KAITOU KID!!!!

SUCKS!!!

( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ

 -

Dear Diary,               28 Apr

It’s been a few months since Kaitou Kid returned.

I never like him, and will never understand why everyone treats him like a celebrity either. But now... I think I should start viewing this from another perspective.

Since Kid first disappeared, and also mom’s death... I rarely see dad ever energised for anything. But after Kid returned, he's so much more motivated to go to work now. Speaking of which, dad was on his way out to the office before I went to school this morning. He even agreed when I suggested to make and deliver him bento dinner. He never wanted them the last time, just because...

But even though I’ve decided this MAY be the best for dad, that DOESN’T mean I will EVER tolerate Kid’s criminal ways!! Dad is definitely gonna catch him in the end, and by then, let’s see if he can still walk around in his costume!!

Seriously though, what’s with his hat.

He looks stupid.

(」ﾟﾛﾟ)｣

 -

Dear Diary,               18 May

Today, Kaito and I went to Tropical Land.

I know I should at least be a bit happier when I had so much fun, but I still feel a little bad... especially when the reason why I asked Kaito out in the first place was because I thought he was Kaitou Kid! Or at least that was what my dad thought. 

But in the end, I’m glad Kaito proved my dad and I wrong.

How can he be Kaitou Kid anyway?

I think I owe Kaito more than just an ice cream treat for ever doubting him. Maybe I should ask him out to Tropical Land again properly next time. And then we’ll have real loads of fun!

 -

Dear Diary,               30 May

EDOGAWA CONAN THE KID KILLER IS MY NEW IDOL!!!

I have no idea who this kid is, but he’s really, really smart and cute! And comparing to all the Kid’s fans out there, I can’t believe it’s A CHILD that knows what’s right and wrong...

Hakuba-kun always uses the right words to irritate Bakaito, but I think the name “Edogawa Conan” has more effect on him. If I could get an autograph... I think it would be the best thing to use to tease Kaito and his stupid obsession with Kaitou Kid! (｀▽´)

 -

Dear Diary,               21 June

Today is Kaito’s birthday!!

I used to always buy him magic crafts and gadgets from our local bookstore, but now that he has the capabilities to make his own tricks, it’s a definite no-no! I considered bringing him to his favourite Ramen store, but I figured it’d be the easiest to just ask what he wanted to do or eat instead.

Guess what was his answer?

He said he wanted me to teach him how to cook fried rice.

I was like what?? That’s it? And he said yeah. So we spent the entire day getting the ingredients at the supermarket before going over to my house. It was easy and Kaito got the steps fast, but... silly Kaito. I mean... if he ever wants to eat it, he can tell me and I can always cook it for him.

But oh well! It’s nice to know Kaito wants to learn something else besides magic tricks. I had fun teaching him anyway. And I believe he had fun too!

As long as he’s happy, I think that’s all that really matters.

----

“Kudo-kun!”

Shinichi shut the notebook and turned, watching as Takagi walked to close their distance on the rooftop. Keeping the book inside the pocket of his suit jacket, Shinichi greeted back.

“I thought you’re taking a break.” Takagi gestured to Shinichi’s suit once he stood beside him. “Turns out you’re reading your notes? For a case?”

“No, it’s not anything related to work.” Shinichi afforded a smile, but there was just so much his lips could move as his heart squeezed at the thought of Kaito.

Takagi nodded understandingly and said nothing more, which Shinichi couldn't be any more thankful for. “Anyway, I’m not sure if anyone told you since you missed this morning’s debrief, but a new division is on its way.”

“Yeah, Inspector Megure did tell me,” Shinichi said.

“I’m so glad things are going back to normal for us again.” Takagi heaved out a relief sigh after a long stretch. “And maybe by then, you can also focus on what’s worrying you all these while.”

Shinichi blinked. “...What?”

Takagi raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been worrying about something, or someone, haven’t you?”

"Um..."

“I may be wrong, and I’m sorry if I am. It’s just that I noticed some similar things in you that I had whenever I worried for Miwako-san.” Takagi scratched the back of his head. “I hope things are okay for you.”

“...Thank you.” Shinichi turned and looked over the view beyond the roof. “Anyway, you’re not wrong. There’s someone I’ve been worrying about recently.”

And that was all Shinichi could say.

It wasn't just for the sake of Kaito’s privacy or identity. The truth was, Shinichi had no idea what to do besides worrying. And this was the first time he felt so, so useless in this entire decade of his life.

He pressed a hand over his suit, feeling the bulge from the notebook.

“Then I hope things will work out for that person too...” Takagi’s voice trailed off as his brows furrowed in concern. “Actually, is he or she someone I know? I’ll be more than glad to help if I can.”

“No, you don’t know him... but he did knock you out disguise as you before,” Shinichi muttered at the end.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Shinichi smiled. “Thanks for your concern. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Takagi slapped a hand over Shinichi’s back. “We’re a team after all.”

---- 

Dear Diary,               16 July

Kaito has been pretty busy lately. And tired. Yes. Definitely tired.

I thought it was related to his track-and-field club and went to ask Chihaya-chan, but she said there wasn’t any recent competition lately. In fact... Kaito hasn’t been an active member since many months ago.

I then asked Kaito a few times about it, but he always deflected my questions and started talking about other things. And that is ALWAYS his habit. Guess what, BAKAITO??? The more you try to avoid, the more obvious it becomes! <(｀^´)>

I'm so frustrated at him, but you know what’s even more frustrating? It’s the way he never fails to make me want to forgive him in the end even though I should have stayed angry at him longer. Always giving me those pretty roses and placating me with Tamago...

So SO FRUSTRATING!!

 -

Dear Diary,               11 Aug

Kaito fell asleep in class again.

It’s not like I’m worried for his grades when he never needed to pay attention in class to score well (;¬_¬) What I’m worried about is his health.

I’ve already given up asking why and what he is exactly busy with, but I’m afraid he’d started stressing himself to attend the volunteering sessions with me, just because he doesn’t want me to worry...

I’m grateful, and forever will be, for those days when he accompanied me to visit my mom and even signing up for the volunteering program just for me. I’m really, really grateful for all he has done and all that he is doing now, but what I want is to be able to help Kaito, to lift whatever burden he is carrying... And what I want even more is for him to trust me. Trust me enough so that I can do all those things I want to do for him...

Just... ugh.

Stupid, stupid Bakaito...

 -

Dear Diary,               9 Sep

Today is my birthday.

We didn't have school and Keiko asked why I didn’t take the opportunity to hold a party, but to be honest, it slipped my mind. I had been so busy with homework and worrying about... well, yeah.

Dad has work, but he wished me early in the morning before he went. Keiko, Sayaka and Yuna came over to my house and baked a cake for me. Everyone in the hospital helped to celebrate too when I went to volunteer in the evening. Kanna-chan even made a bracelet as a gift! Having a party or not, I still feel extra loved today.

As for Kaito... he had wished me in the morning through a text, but I didn’t see him all day. He must be busy.

It’s fine anyway. There’s always next year.

.

.

OH my god. Bakaito CAME.

Guess how did he do it?! He had climbed up to my balcony and scared the hell out of me! AND HE STILL HAD THE CHEEKS TO SAY HE WAS 12 MINUTES EARLY. He must be some monkey in his past life! ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ

He then asked me to follow him to his backyard. Like, seriously, he could have called or texted me on the phone instead of climbing up to my balcony... but beside the point, I followed while he led the way.

And turns out this Kaito... He had cultivated a bush of blue roses as a gift for my birthday.

Oh boy... It is really, really beautiful!!!! And I think I must be so overwhelmed that I just... sort of pounced onto him as a form of...thanks. (//∀//)

I called it a hug, and he called it an attempted murder.

Then with only 3 minutes left, he sang me a birthday song with Wasabi and Curry sitting on his shoulders while Tamago sat on his head. I think I hadn’t laughed that hard since ages.

And I think I hadn’t seen Kaito looked so bright and cheery for a long time.

He told me to make a wish afterwards. But to be honest, I don’t think I needed one.

At that point of time, I felt as though all my wishes had already come true.

 -

Dear Diary,               1 Nov

With the way Bakaito has been handling his life, I knew he will fall sick sooner or later...

He’s now down with a cold and a fever and has been missing from school for three days.

I was so tempted to tell him a ‘I told you so,’ when I dropped by his house for a visit, but I rather Kaito get well soon than to jinx him any further. He kept on drifting in and out of his sleep too, and it pained me when I saw him like that.

I stayed till dinner time and had to force feed him the porridge I cooked, while convincing him that I DID NOT put any fish in it for about 90 times. He seemed to care more about the non-existent fish than his fever and the medicines he hadn’t eaten. Silly Bakaito.

Maybe I should visit him tomorrow again.

 -

Dear Diary,               2 Nov

Today, Kaito got admitted to the hospital. He’s getting proper treatment, but he’s still sick, which is why it’s getting worrisome. This is the first time he’s been sick for so long.

And luckily Jii-chan was around... Or I don’t know what to do alone...

- 

Dear Diary,               3 Nov

Kaito Kaitojis Kaito iskasit

Kaito is Kaitou Kid.

The portrait of his dad in his room... I thought it was just an ordinary portrait. I thought...

I’ve thought so many things.

I just wanted to pack Kaito’s clothes. I don’t know why I heard a sound behind the portrait. I don’t know why I decided to give it a push. I don’t know why the portrait could flip.

I don’t know why I ended up in another room.

I... don’t know.

In the end, I had to lie to Jii-chan that I had something urgent and couldn’t bring Kaito’s clothes.

I can’t face Kaito.

I just can’t.

But then... What should I do now?

- 

Dear Diary,               6 Nov

Kaito is well.

That’s all that mattered for now.

 -

Dear Diary,               7 Nov

THIS BAKAITO. DID HE SERIOUSLY SEND A HEIST NOTE RIGHT AFTER HE RECOVERED?!

WHY IS HE DOING THIS TO HIMSELF.

 -

Dear Diary,               10 Nov

It’s been a long time since I went to Kid’s heist.

Tonight’s loot was a golden sapphire, and it was held inside a museum of a very, very wealthy man... And thanks to dad, I got into the museum and avoided being squashed by the crowd that were cheering outside, but I wasn’t allowed to hang out at the main area. I went to the security room instead.

The heist lasted around ten minutes, which was quite typical, based on what I heard from dad. Blackout. Smoke bombs. Escape. But for that ten minutes, dad had spent the entire day with the Task Force and the owner, just to prep enough to take down Kid.

And as for Kaito... he probably used hours and hours to plan, hours and hours to prepare, and hours and hours to do all of everything for this... and yet after a day or two, he would return the loot back in great condition...

Why?

I can’t figure Kaito out . Or Kaitou Kid. All these things... they don’t make sense. And if I can’t understand, I can’t find any reason to forgive Kaito.

But I want to.

I really want to.

Why is he making it hard for me to do so?

 -

Dear Diary,               14 Nov

What should I do?

 -

Dear Diary,               16 Nov

What should I do?

 -

Dear Diary,               20 Nov

What should I do?

 -

Dear Diary,               22 Nov

What should I do?

 -

Dear Diary,               28 Nov

At the rate Kaito is sending his heist notes, I’m pretty sure he’s going to fall sick again, what’s more the weather is getting really cold soon... How does Kaitou Kid keep himself warm in his costume? And that hat... it’s just ridiculous.

Everything is ridiculous...

Maybe I should have made a wish when Kaito asked me to on my birthday.

Maybe I should have told him how I feel.

Maybe.

I don’t know anymore.

 -

Dear Diary,               24 Dec

This diary is one year old now.

How time flies so fast...

Oh, and it’s Christmas tomorrow too. Keiko had invited me to her house to celebrate, and I think I’m going to go.

It’s the only place I could go.

 -

Dear Diary,               18 Jan

During the volunteering session today, Kanna-chan told me she missed Kaito and his magic shows.

It’s good to know I’m not the only one too.

But even though I feel that every single day, being told about it by someone else caught me off guard, and I didn’t really know how to response. So I just... told her he will drop by soon...

I think Kanna-chan wasn't convinced though, which isn't strange. I mean... I'm never a great liar after all. But it's ironic how Kaito hasn't seen through the things I've been hiding from him until now.

 ----

Shinichi reached the last written page of the book.

(But it wasn’t the end. In fact, there wasn’t an end.)

He brushed a finger at the bottom of the page, feeling the creases caused by the countless blotches of dried, water stains...

Shinichi closed the book.

Of course he knew better, but it was easier, and nicer, to think it was simply water and nothing else.

[thesportssoundoff]

“I’m not sure how to feel about this card but Jon Jones vs Dom Reyes is great shit.” UFC 247 Preview

Joey

Feb 2nd

The UFC rolls into Houston, Texas for a very STRANGE card. It's had some injuries and pull outs that changed around its dynamic (imagine this show if Jimmie River vs Marlon Vera and OSP vs Ryan Spann) but it's got the bare minimum which is two title fights followed up by an underdcard with big dudes on it. That's basically all  I ask for. It's definitely not the UFC's best offering but when you consider that they lost three good fights and had a PPV come up at the last minute? I've seen worse. I guess. Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes and Valentina Shevchenko vs Kaitlyn Chookagian are basically your drawing cards anyways.

2020 Stat-O-Matic:

Debuting Fighters (2-2): Youssef Zalal, Austin Lingo, Kalinn Williams Main Event Exemption:

Short Notice Fighters (1-1): Kalinn Williams Main Event Exemption:

Second Fight (1-1): Antonio Arroyo, Journey Newsom, Domingo Pilarte, Miles Johns, Justin Tafa Main Event Exemption: Vs Debutantes:

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (5-0):   Main Event Exemption (1-0):

Undefeated Fighters (2-1):  Dominick Reyes, Miles Johns, Austin Lingo Main Event Exemption: Dominick Reyes

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (1-1): Trevin Giles Main Event Exemption:

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (1-1): Ilir Latifi Main Event Exemption ():

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- When @theanticool  and @cerealsensei   says something, I feel compelled to listen because if he's not right, he's able to put things together in a logical enough sense that it makes me consider things. So when both say that they think the end of the Jon Jones reign at 205 lbs is coming to an end, I feel compelled to consider it. It's hard to really judge just what Jon Jones is and we're entering Anderson Silva territory where Jones is the world's most blasse unbeatable fighter ever. He's in that pre-Chael Sonnen phase where Anderson just sleptwalked through fights and struggled to amuse himself for five rounds of blegh. So is Jones about to prove some mortality? I kinda don't know. The three guys to come close to giving Jones an L was a super athletic and long limbed Alexander Gustafsson, Daniel Cormier in both their first and second fight (fights he still lost decisively) and the Thiago Santos fight where Jones just...sort of fought. The right people are telling me Jones is vulnerable----but I'm just not seeing it. Perhaps I'll believe it WHEN I see it and perhaps Reyes is the dude to bring that out.

2- So what does Reyes do well? For starters, it's hard to think of a fighter Jones has faced in a bit who possesses genuine stopping power with his hands. Anthony Smith hits pretty damn hard but he's more of a master of accumulation, Thiago Santos can wipe dudes out with his legs but really only has one serious finish with his hands (Jan Blachowicz) while DC's punching power seems to come and go depending upon the situation. Gus has tremendous hand speed but his finishes in the UFC were mostly against the likes of guys like Jimi Manuwa and five rounds worth of abuse vs old man Teix. Reyes has power and if nothing else, that'll give him a shot to do things in those brief moments where Jones' defense lapses and his chin is out there to be touched. Also I've seen Reyes have to adjust gameplans and make a swap up as he did vs Volkan Oezdemir, even if you can debate whether it was enough to WIN the fight. Lastly? Reyes is well rounded enough as a wrestler, striker and grappler that he's not as one dimensional as some of Jones' other opponents and he's not broken down like Gus was. Also don't forget that Reyes is a young 30 years old and not with over 30+ fights like Anthony Smith and he's a natural LHW.

3- I wonder if Jones will feel more motivated to get as finish in this one given how much flak he took by not finishing a guy with torn ACLs in both legs?

4- What does the UFC want more; a Jones win to get him to move up to HW for a big summer show run OR a Reyes win to finally have a sellable rematch for Jones that doesn't involve the retiring Daniel Cormier?

5- Is a finish like the one that Valentina Shevchenko got vs Jessica Eye actually a bad thing? If you go through Shevchenko's UFC history; you've got a lot of pretty damn boring five round fights with the occasional "holy shit" finish. The Jessica Eye finish is the Holy Shit-iest of the Holy Shit finishes----but in the process, it created this somewhat unfair expectation that Shevchenko is capable of doping that all the time. She may be capable of that but she rarely if ever takes that risk. Part of it has to do with the fact that most women are so petrified of getting what Jessica Eye got that they wind up hanging out away from the firing range, opening the door for Shevchenko to leg kick with an occasional takedown on the back end to control women. It creates for boring ass fights but would we be more willing to accept a boring fight if we didn't know she was capable of highlight reel finishes as well?

6- Chookagian tends to be a hyperactive striker so chances are Val is going to take her down and finish her BUT Shevchenko is prone to bouts of inactivity mid round and so I wonder if Katlyn Chookagian has the capacity to steal a few rounds just by doing stuff when Valentina isn't doing anything.

7- Fair to say Mirsad Bektic is just going to be a top 10 filler name and not a real contender any time soon? He draws rising MMA manager and pro fighter Dan Ige on the main card.

8-  A lot of people griping about HWs on the main card but this is a sport of size and the BIG BOYZ are here to throw fisticuffs!

9- What's Ilir Latifi's plan in the move up to HW? Is the goal to stop cutting weight and hope his sledgehammer power is able to travel with improved cardio on the back end?

10- Keep an eye on Miles Johns vs Mario Bautista. Got potential to be a wild scramble fight with subs aplenty.

11- Journey Newson had a pretty impressive debut as he overcome a really rough start to give Ricardo Ramos some trouble with his pressure game, length and boxing down the stretch of a loss on short notice. He draws Domingo Pilarte on the prelims and Pilarte is a wild fighter at 135 lbs who is coming off a disputed decision loss in HIS debut. Should be a really great fight on the ESPN+ portion of the prelims.

12- Do we pencil in Alex Morono for a bonus of some kind already?

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

After poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, Joe Biden’s campaign is pinning its hopes on South Carolina — in particular, the black vote there. The rise of Sen. Bernie Sanders and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the polls has corresponded with a Biden decline, but South Carolina will be the first state to vote where most of the electorate is black, and black voters have disproportionately supported the former vice president for most of the campaign (before people actually started to vote).

So two questions: How well is Biden holding up among black voters in the wake of the first two contests? And how much could the debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, which seemed to go poorly for Bloomberg, shift the race in the last few days before Nevada and South Carolina vote?

Two answers: Not particularly well. And maybe quite a bit.

In an average of national polls, Biden’s support among black voters has dropped about 12 percentage points from before the Iowa caucuses to the post-New Hampshire period.1 Conversely, during the same period, Bloomberg and Sanders (the two other candidates averaging double-digit support among black voters in recent national polls) each gained 10 points among black voters. And recent polls show Biden dropping fast among all voters while Sanders and Bloomberg are gaining ground. So if the Nevada debate really hurt Bloomberg, Biden stands a decent chance of winning back a lot of voters. Not only are he and Bloomberg both running in the same “moderate” lane, but it appears that a lot of voters left Biden for Bloomberg after Iowa and New Hampshire.

Biden’s 12-point drop among black voters is particularly bad considering how much his nomination hopes rest on support from that voting bloc. Black voters account for about one-fifth of the national Democratic primary electorate but make up a disproportionately large share of Biden’s potential electoral coalition — about a third, most likely.2 Indeed, Biden has dropped 10 points in our national polling average since the Iowa caucuses — from being the national polling leader to finding himself behind Sanders and in a battle with Bloomberg for second — and roughly a quarter of that slide is likely due to his drop among black voters specifically. Proportionally, Biden has actually lost more white support than black support, but he still lost around one-fourth of his support among black voters nationally since Iowa voted.

Biden’s diminished support among black voters matters in Nevada too, where Biden is currently running second to Sanders by about 12 percentage points in our polling average of all the state’s voters. Nevada is more racially and ethnically diverse than Iowa or New Hampshire, and while Hispanic voters form the state’s largest nonwhite voting group, there are a fair number of black voters in the Silver State, too — 13 percent of the 2016 caucus electorate was black, according to the 2016 entrance poll.

But Biden’s standing among black voters matters especially in South Carolina, where 61 percent of Democratic primary voters were black in 2016. Often referred to as a “firewall” for the Biden campaign, the former vice president basically has to win South Carolina — maybe even “win big” — or his campaign could find itself on its last legs.

Indeed, some recent South Carolina polls, though not all, have shown a similar trend to the national polls. Right before Iowa, East Carolina University found Biden leading with 37 percent overall, including 44 percent support among black voters. But in ECU’s latest poll, conducted after New Hampshire, Biden slipped to 28 percent overall (still leading), with 36 percent support among African American primary voters. Another South Carolina survey from The Welcome Party/Change Research dropped on Wednesday, and it found Biden tied for first overall with Sanders at 23 percent, and Biden leading among black voters with 33 percent. Unlike the ECU polls, this wasn’t much of a change for Biden compared to Change Research’s previous South Carolina survey just before Iowa3 that found Biden at 25 percent overall — 5 points ahead of Sanders — and at 30 percent support among black voters. Meanwhile, another new poll from UMass Lowell found that even if Biden’s black support holds up in South Carolina, it might not be enough to get him the big win his campaign is hoping for — the survey found him ahead of Sanders by just 2 points overall even though 43 percent of black voters backed Biden, double Sanders’s 20 percent support.

Biden doesn’t have to worry about Bloomberg in South Carolina because Bloomberg is not on the ballot there, but there’s another billionaire who may be hurting Biden’s chances of consolidating support among black voters in the Palmetto State: Tom Steyer. The post-New Hampshire polls from ECU, Change Research and UMass Lowell put Steyer at 17 percent, 31 percent and 19 percent among black voters. Indeed, Steyer’s place in the South Carolina race is somewhat analogous to the way Bloomberg may be complicating Biden’s ability to retain support among black voters in Super Tuesday states with sizable African American electorates, as recent polls of North Carolina and Virginia have suggested.

There are reasons to think much of Bloomberg’s rise in the polls among black voters came specifically at Biden’s expense. A large share of both candidates’ support comes from voters who describe themselves as more moderate, a group that includes many black voters. Of course, it’s hard to say how much Bloomberg’s gains are about Biden’s poor performances and how much they’re about Bloomberg’s campaign successfully cutting into Biden’s support — both likely play a role. But Bloomberg is pushing hard for black support among both rank-and-file voters and party elites. He’s holding events with African American groups and spending millions of dollars on advertising, which could help win over older black voters, a demographic group that watches a lot of television. Since Iowa voted, Bloomberg has received more elite backing than Biden, according to FiveThirtyEight’s endorsement tracker, with nine black endorsers backing Bloomberg compared to three for Biden. This includes multiple black members of Congress and mayors in big Super Tuesday states (Houston and Charlotte, North Carolina). This movement toward Bloomberg could reflect some of the changes we’re seeing among black voters at large.

Sanders’s gains, meanwhile, likely have less to do with Biden’s struggles. Instead, Sanders’s uptick in African American support is likely spurred by his early wins in the primary. Sanders started the campaign with essentially a tie in Iowa and a narrow win in New Hampshire. So his positive performances are helping him capture new supporters from lots of demographic groups. Sanders may also have benefited at the margins from the departure of tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who had a modicum of black support and whose supporters were far more likely to pick Sanders as their second choice than any other candidate. Unlike Bloomberg, Sanders doesn’t have any recent endorsements from black leaders in our tracker, but that certainly hasn’t stopped him from winning over some African American voters.

Now the question is whether Biden can maintain enough support among black voters to get a win in South Carolina. Any erosion in Bloomberg’s support in the wake of the Nevada debate would make that more likely. And a Biden victory in South Carolina might produce a “comeback” narrative that could dramatically shift the tone of media coverage surrounding Biden’s campaign and help him remain competitive in the larger nomination race.

If Biden’s falling support is mostly about his poor performances in the first couple states, a respectable showing in Nevada and a win in South Carolina could turn things around. And if Biden’s slide has as much or even more to do with Bloomberg’s overwhelming advertising firepower and his effort to win over black elites and voters, the former vice president might not be able to recover even if he has a solid performance in South Carolina later this month — unless, of course, the Wednesday night debate really cuts into Bloomberg’s standing. Regardless, Biden’s current trajectory among black voters is a serious problem for his campaign, so he absolutely needs something to change for the better.

[evak-fic-rec-turtleanon]

Evak Fics - Crossovers

Crossovers. Movies. Reality TV. TV Shows. Animation. Superhero. WIPs. (The Harry Potter aus will be in a separate list. Under a read more:

***** MOVIES *****

Alex Strangelove Only You Can Feel What You Feel by dvorahbee (4.3k words)

Before Sunrise blue like the night in cuba by piccadilly (44k words)

Call Me By Your Name

We Found the Stars by Sabeley (39k words)

mystery of love  by eggsntoast (18k words)

Candy Jar en passant by peachbombs (21k words)

CITY of ANGELS Breathe me into life by nofeartina (7k words)

Enchanted that's how you know by colazitron (7.9k words)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Fusion in these deep solitudes and awful cells by hippopotamus (14k words)

Grease Those magic changes my heart arranges by diamondjacket (7k words)

Hang Over Night I Want to Remember  by KeriJoh1515 (8.6k words)

High School Musical Breaking Free (Outta the Closet)  by valtersass (58k words) - 11/12 chapters posted

Inception i kept running for a soft place to fall by grinsekaetzchen (17k words)

It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life by kapplebougher (13k words)

Jongens Next to you, is where I call home by LostInAdmiration (101k words)

Moulin Rouge The Moulin Rouge! by theyellowcurtains (orphan_account) (8.6k words)

Nerve Oppfordre (Nerve) by Evenbechbaesheim (25k words)

Notting Hill light up the dark by argentae (68k words)

Pacific Rim if i run away, how long will i bleed by nicolesthename (1.6k words)

Papertowns inspired when i wake up i'm afraid (previously called Gone) by bixenboye (29k words)

Pretty Woman Old Money by twentyonetwentyone (100k words)

Princess Diaries 2 prize your heart of gold (the way i do) by orphan_account (30k words)

Robin Hood a man after midnight by Jules1398 (4.2k words) - Not exactly based on the movie.

Romeo and Juilet Cut Us Out In Little Stars by allyasavedtheday (32k words)

She Loves Me - Actually a musical Dear Friend by bri_ness (26k words)

Spiderman

 Welcome to the New Age by wyoheartsmusic (1.8k words)

 i have always been standing in your doorway by ahana (1.4k words)

The Greatest Showman Blinded By The Lights by lost_our_graces (16k words) DELETED

The Holiday

A Thrill of Hope by mlbee (34k words)

Titanic I'm Flying - SKAM Fic Week Day 7 by bashfulisak (1.2k words)

To all the boys I've loved before To all the boys I've loved before by janewritesstuff (Jane_de_Plaine) (46k words)

***** REALITY TV *****

Big Brother Expect the Unexpected by bri_ness (80k words)

Survivor

 Blood vs. Water by bri_ness (100k words)  Bury the Competition by daigina (1k words)

The Mole The Mole by bri_ness (26k words)

***** TV SHOWS *****

Black Mirror

  The 99.8% by TheGirlNoOneKnows5 (Series, 3 fics)

  waves crashing on distant shores of time by Anonymous (2k words)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

  i bet my life on you by janesargnt (4.8k words)

  I Don't Date Cops by jinglebin (2.9k words)

  Adrian and Markus by ufologies (3.9k words)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Isak the Vampire Slayer by Ye_Olde_Hedgehog (13k words)

Friends

  the one with the prom video by thekardemomme (5.5k words)

  Stuck in an ATM Vestibule with Even Bech Naesheim by yllawonders (868  words)

  TOW The Blackout by bri_ness (1.7k words)

  the one with the disastrous double date by orphan_account (3.1k words)

Merlin (not exactly a crossover) Camelot by whovian1243 (13k words)

Sense8 some kind of miracle by puddingandpie (41k words)

Shadowhunters As long as you love (and remember) me... by onlydeadsoulscantdance (WIP) - Last update Feb 2019

Shameless Finding a friend in a strange country by LadyEkaterina (1.2k words)

Star Trek And straight on 'til morning by diamondjacket (5.5k words)

The Office White Elephant by HazyCosmicJive (1.8k words)

***** ANIMATION *****

Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast by Masterless (16k words)

Coraline with the taste of a poison paradise by chasingflower (6.1k words)

Tangled starlight by thekardemomme (13k words) - Rapunzel au

The Little Prince Show Me Where My Armor Ends by ikerestrella (17k words)

***** SUPERHERO *****

Not exactly a crossover but hey! Superheroes!

All the Sickness Starts in the Heart by Laika_the_husband (14k words) WIP

Just your average ordinary everyday Superhero by vorfm95 (34k words)

Not a Bird, Not a Plane by shakespeareandsunshine (4.6k words)

********** WIPs **********

Star Wars May the Force by Laika_the_husband (13k words) - Last update Oct 2019

10 Things I Hate About You helium hearts (we're on fire) by itjustkindahappened (27k words) - last update May 2019

Anastasia Things I Yearn to Remember by daigina (27k words) - last update March 2018

Doctor Who doorway back home by hippopotamus (7k words) - last update Dec 2017

Enchanted just a bit of kindness by enterpoIaris (6.8k words) - Last update July 2017

Hunger Games whatever it takes by parallelisak (6.5k words) - last update Aug 2019

Life as We Know It Life as We (Don't) Know It by AnotherGallavichLove (1.6k words) - Last update Sept 2018

Lilo & Stitch To Find a Home by ahana, Carolus (12k words) - Last update Jan 2018

Stranger Things Stranger SKAM by Jamz24 (11k words) - last update Nov 2017

The Princess Bride The Princess Bride / The Prince Groom. {Skam} by EvakAlterlovebab (13k words) - last update July 2017 

Romeo and Juliet A Boy Like That by everything_else - Inspired by West Side Story. First posted in Sept 2019

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT QUINTILLION

As turned into de facto series B rounds. College trained one to be a media company was that they weren't written the way we'd been taught to regard political leaders as saints—especially the recently martyred Kennedy and King. Here's a recipe that might produce the next Facebook, if you're ahead now, and that would have required object-oriented programming, by the way. That's actually an alarming idea. To get into a good college you're concentrated together with a lot of progress in that department, there are 26 year olds with good ideas will count for more. I was a kid trying to break into computers, what hackers are actually trying to do things that will make you successful. But when I went to the next investor.

In private there was a widespread feeling among potential founders. Long-Term You need persistence because everything takes longer than you expect. Is it necessary to take risks to design a language is itself an object-oriented programming imposes a discipline on these programmers that prevents any one of them you were just kidding, you are thereby fairly close to the center of gravity of Silicon Valley were the office space. But by that time were brown with dirt. In the second phase is less secure. That must also mystify outsiders. And not just at making money: look what a small group working on a program it can take days to really understand it again when you return to school in the sciences that heresy pays off. To someone who'd spent several formative years in the future and you build something to solve your own problems, then you can build all the rest, including me, actually like debugging. So you won't attract good hackers in linear proportion to how good an environment you create for them. Taste. All they knew at first how big a deal as the Industrial Revolution.

Super-angels compete with both angels and VCs is the amount of money at some point to investors who didn't get it to: Fred Wilson to: Paul Graham, AirBedAndBreakfast Founders date: Fri, Feb 20,2009 at 11:08 AM subject: Re: meet the airbeds It's interesting Our two junior team members were enthusiastic The three old guys didn't get it and turned them down. You don't need to raise money, you don't know the answer to that. It's terrifying to build something better as a class project. They ask it just in case. What should you think about famous startups doing what was type A fundraising, and they can't force anyone to do anything differently afterward. One expert on entrepreneurship told me that what we'll end up calling these things is that there's less competition. Teenage apprentices in the Renaissance seem to have an interactive toplevel that starts up fast. Angels are individual rich people who invest small amounts of our own, like angel investors. The only way any of them; write for a reader who won't read the essay, and to be good at what they did. This may not be just stupid, but semantically ill-formed. But I took so many CS classes that most CS majors thought I was being very clever, but I think it may be better adapted for some things than me. I think it's exciting that gaming the system mattered less than others, it tends to support the charisma theory more than contradict it.

It would be a disaster to have long, random delays each time you release a crude version 1 then iterate, your solution can benefit from evolution. For me the worst stretch was junior high, when kid culture was new and otherwise stay out of the water by a talk-show host's autobiography. Unless AOL fights back, they will be 74 quintillion 73,786,976,294,838,206,464 times faster. Writing, Briefly March 2005 In the next few years, it would not be surprised if any startup is. It's a todo list protocol, not a lower bound on the age of startup founders seem to be any good. But maybe if we were visited by beings from another solar system. He was having fun. I remembered. When things are hard to erase from a company's culture.

Why? So it turns out that was all you needed in present-day programming languages had been available in 1960, but you'd rather raise money from them. Incidentally, this paragraph is sales 101. But I don't think ordinary programmers' opinions matter. For example, suppose you're saving a piece of software. Marketplaces are so hard to discover what we like to work on. Stock is not the most important source of growth in mature economies.

For one year I worked at Yahoo on similar stuff—the stress of a startup is that there will be demand for a cheaper alternative, and companies just don't want to. A rounds. I don't see why not. Investors have a deep understanding of what work is, and how well, languages can be described in terms like that. In fact, why go to college. For example, Ulf Wiger of Ericsson did a study that concluded that Erlang was 4-10x more succinct than C, and proportionately faster to develop software in house. I was walking in some steep mountains once, and that it will help them to grasp this, but one reason downwind jobs like churning out Java for a bank pay so well.

[thatpaintedpony]

Show Recap - Sydney Dressage Feb Competition

So today was a bit of a roller coaster of emotion for me. Realistically, everything went really well, Bob was really good and we got some pretty good results, but I had a few frustrating moments as well.

We had our first test, Prep E at 8:30 and of course the drive to SIEC was through fog that was thicker than pea soup so we were running late to start with, and then of course Bob had rubbed out all his plaits, AGAIN. I’m not plaiting up before shows anymore, I’m just gonna have to get there early and do them on the day. Anyways after some rapid repairs to our wardrobe I hopped on and walked down to the warm up with no dramas and he warmed up really really well. He had one big ole spook but such is life with Bob. He was nice and relaxed and moving forward nicely onto the bit. I was really happy with him.

So we went over to the ring for our test and of course the ring was super wet from all the rain yesterday so Bob was less than pleased about that. But the first half of the test went pretty well, he was a bit more back off my leg than in the warmup and a little more tense but okay. But then after the free walk it all went a bit sideways. For some reason he decided we were definitely going to canter, and so the whole way through the 3 loop serpentine he was tense, above the bit, behind the leg, and had no steering and I could not get him to behave. He finally started to come back to me as we made it back to A and turned to cross the diagonal and I was so relieved he’d stopped being a turd and so focussed on getting him paying attention I totally forgot I was supposed to walk a few strides over X and got a course error, had to go back and do it again, but he was pretty good for the rest of the test. Unfortunately, I was pretty gutted by how things had gone in the test. I’d entered the Prep thinking it would be an easy, confidence building test for us and for it to have gone screwy was pretty upsetting.

But then while I was waiting for my second test, the results went up for the Prep test and we got 63.158%! So I was actually really pleased with that, especially since if I hadn’t gotten that stupid course error that would have been a 65, which is a pretty solid score for us. I was expecting in the 50s.

Anyway, 11:00 rolled around and we warmed up for our Prelim 1A, and again he was super good in the warmup, even in the canter where I expected him to be a bit of a handful, he was relaxed and even and if not entirely on the contact in the canter he was at least forward and responsive. So I went down to the ring for the Prelim and it went much better than I expected. Unfortunately he spooked really badly when I first asked him to canter, so our 20m circle was more of a 10m pentahexagon thing, and since I decided not to try and do another circle the judge counted it as a course error (AGAIN). But he came back really nicely and we actually got a 7.5 for our canter and the rest of the test went really well, and we ended up with 64.4% for the Prelim. I was really happy with it. Unfortunately no media of that one since my camera man was warming up for her own test at the time. Hopefully the event photographer got something.

So I was feeling okay, though still a little disappointed to have a course error in both tests, until we went to pick up our tests and I found I had gotten 2nd in the Prep! So super duper exciting there. Even if you included the ponies and TBs that weren’t in my division I still would have come 4th so I was pretty happy and we got a shiny ribbon!

So it was a bit of an up and down day but I have to remind myself where we’ve come from and not to let little mistakes drag us down. Keep practicing and we’ll get there. 63% and 64% are both pretty solid scores and hopefully they’ll keep improving the more we get out. Bob was a real trooper even though he was obviously a bit bug eyed about a few things and I can’t ask for more than that.

[maksylmyheart]

Olympians Meryl Davis and Charlie White Represent Detroit at U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Published October 1, 2018  by Stephanie Steinberg

Four years after earning gold, ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White are excited to welcome the figure skating community to the Motor City this winter.

By Stephanie Steinberg

Photography by Allison Farrand

When the U.S. Figure Skating Championships comes to Little Caesars Arena this January, attendees may spot Olympic ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White — but not on the ice.

The Metro Detroit natives who became the first American ice dancers to win gold at the 2014 Olympics will be honorary co-chairs for the biggest figure skating event in the country Jan. 19-27. It’s an event they know well, having won it six times.

Now, Davis, 31, of Birmingham, and White, 30, of Ann Arbor, can’t wait to welcome their figure skating community to Detroit. The U.S. Championships — which serves as the final qualifying event for the World Championships every year and the Olympics every four years — was last held in the Motor City in 1994.

“We really want to highlight the best of Detroit,” Davis says, “so we’re really excited to show off what an incredible place Detroit is now.”

Meryl Davis and Charlie White will be co-chairing the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit this January.

Since winning the gold in Sochi, the pair has embarked on a professional ice dancing career. Perched on high-top chairs at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton — where they’ve practiced since 2005 — the two take a break from choreographing a routine for a “Friends on Ice” tour in Tokyo. A few weeks prior, they wrapped up a nationwide “Stars on Ice” tour.

They’re on the road a lot, but their faces resemble the gratification of nailing a twizzle when they chat about home.

“We have spent so much time away and so much time traveling, seeing the beauty of the world, getting to meet new people, see new places, but Detroit is always home for us,” Davis says.

And specifically, this rink.

Charlie White and Meryl Davis pose for a portrait at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton.

When training for the Olympics, they were here five days a week, sometimes six hours a day. They sacrificed their social lives, family time and degrees at the University of Michigan. “We’re on the 12-year plan,” Davis jokes, adding she plans to graduate this May.

While the pressure of winning an Olympic medal is lifted off their shoulders, they still feel the pressure to maintain excellence.

“When practicing for shows, we look up here at the medals that they’ve put up,” says White, pointing to a banner with their names above the rink entrance, “and we’re like, ‘OK, we really need to try.’ ”

A banner commemorating Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s 2014 Olympic gold medal win hangs at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton.

But now, the ice means more than competitions and shows. Both have taken to the rink to give back to a sport that’s given them so much. “The things we’re most grateful for from figure skating are the lessons that we learned,” White says. “… and it’s taught us a lot about ourselves.”

White now travels across the country, helping younger skaters, while Davis has poured energy into an organization that’s won her heart: Figure Skating in Detroit.

Figure Skating in Detroit is the first branch of Figure Skating in Harlem that started 21 years ago in New York. Davis says the organization wanted to expand to a new city to positively impact youth, and she helped convince the CEO to come to Detroit.

Meryl Davis (far left) joined Figure Skating in Detroit for ice skating in Campus Martius last winter.

The second year of the after-school program starts this month, and about 50 girls are enrolled. Davis explains figure skating can teach girls the skills they need now and later in life.

“It’s not about necessarily making Olympians or the most successful figure skaters, but figure skating is a platform and a tool with which to teach girls things like setting goals, picking themselves up when they fall down, persevering through challenges, supporting one another,” she says.

Figure Skating in Detroit Director Lori Ward says Davis is “hands on” — leading clinics, talking to parents and stopping by to work with the girls whenever she’s in town.

“It gives the girls a warm feeling to know that this is somebody who’s leading a very busy life, but yet she still takes time to come and actually participate with them and get to know their names,” Ward says.

For Davis, she says it’s been rewarding to watch the program grow “from the ground up.”

“To see the girls from that initial session we had, and not really knowing what to expect, to just these flourishing young ladies who are friends and support each other and really grasp these very important life concepts, is really spectacular.”

It’s not lost on the ice dancers that their medals have allowed them to have such an impact on others and the sport itself.

“Being able to stand on the (Olympic) podium and recognize what that means for ice dance moving forward,” White says “… it’s even hard to put into words.”

Meryl Davis and Charlie White celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Feb. 18, 2014 in Russia.

Davis chimes in to elaborate: “When we were young, very few people outside of the committed figure skating fans and family knew what ice dance even was, so to see people with really no connection to figure skating, even know what ice dance is, was really important for us.”

She describes a surreal moment when they flew to New York from Sochi for press interviews before heading home.

“We were walking on the streets of the city,” Davis recalls. “There would be random groups of middle-aged businessmen saying, ‘Oh, you’re the ice dancers! We loved watching you!’ ” Sweat, blood and bruised knees got them to that point. Yet they admit they did have “some luck” meeting in the first place — back when they were 8 and 9 years old, when White grew up in Bloomfield and Davis in West Bloomfield.

“Finding each other just 10 minutes away in ice dancing is very rare,” says White, whose wife, Canadian ice dancer Tanith Belbin White, came to the U.S. in search of a partner. Tanith found Ben Agosto and trained at Arctic Edge as well. They came in fourth at the 2010 Olympics while White and Davis took silver. “Finding a partner that has a similar work ethic,” White continues, “that is respectful, just like in any team sport, you have to be able to mesh and even more so when it’s just two of you — that plays a crucial role.”

Meryl Davis and Charlie White practice at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Canton.

That’s not to say they’ve never competed against each other. Right after the Olympics, the two competed in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” — in the middle of a “Stars on Ice” tour. Tuesday through Saturday they skated throughout the U.S. They’d take the redeye to L.A. to record the reality show on Monday. Then they hit the road again. The adrenaline from winning the Olympics kept them on their feet, White says.

“We really were living on the energy of the audiences every night,” adds Davis, who won the season with dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. “We wouldn’t have survived, if it wasn’t such a fun experience and people being so supportive, because we were exhausted, for sure.”

Four years later, the duo are quite content going at their own pace and enjoying all that Michigan has to offer. Davis and her fiance can be spotted trying new Detroit restaurants (Selden Standard is one of her favorites) or hanging out downtown in the artistic alley the Belt. “I just love that whole area,” Davis says. “I think it just really shows the efforts of what’s happening in the city now.”

White, meanwhile, jokes that he rarely leaves the house because he has an 11-month-old son, but you might see him around Ann Arbor. “Main Street in Ann Arbor is honestly one of my favorite places in the world,” he says.

One thing is certain: You can catch them both at LCA this January, and they encourage all Metro Detroiters to come see the most elite skaters in the U.S.

“It’s just an incredible experience to get to watch these hardworking athletes go after the opportunity to represent their country on the world stage,” Davis says.

“We’re looking forward to being able to watch — no pressure for us,” White adds, laughing.

[felixkalvesmaki-blog]

Notes on "News writing”

Felix Kalvesmaki Assignment #? Feb. 11, 2019 WC: 934 “The first thing to do is stop and think. Do not start writing until you have a plan.”I think I do this unconsciously, but I should be doing it with a lot more care. I should be meticulously pouring over information from sources, as opposed to trying to do all the math in my head, so to speak. “The reader of the Guardian will tend to be better educated and to have a larger vocabulary than the reader of the Sun.” Yikes. A little pretentious and presumptuous, don’t you think? I feel as though it’s true, but don’t say it out loud. Incredibly condescending. “It is never better, wherever you are writing, to prefer the less familiar word - "wordy" is always better than "prolix". Nobody is impressed by the use of a word they do not understand or would not use in everyday speech.” I’ve heard, in fact, the NYT does something similar. Or tries to, anyhow. “Self-indulgent writing pleases nobody except perhaps the writer.” I feel as though journalism is one of the only fields of professional writing in which the intent is not for the writer to please themselves, but for a writer to please their audience. Poets, novelists, and creative essayists a la Zadie Smith write to tell stories, sure, but it is often meant to document something personal, whether that’s a crafted narrative or a pivotal moment in the writer’s life. Journalism is different: you’re writing for the benefit of others, not for creative catharsis. "inverted pyramid:” the idea that a journalist should frontload their most important information. “…in extremis (do not use - see later…” I’m glad they at least clarified, but it seems counterproductive to use a big word, and then to say not to use it. Feels like a flex.“the second paragraph will be the most important you write.” the nut graf, correct? “Journalism students are taught about the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why.” I was also taught the H: the “how.” “News is more engaging if it describes something that is happening, rather than something that is not” is a very interesting analysis of both the news cycle and those who are consuming it. “Long quotes bring a story grinding to a halt, particularly if they are from politicians, particularly local politicians, bureaucrats or bores.” This made me think of why Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is such a distinct presence in politics. “But a quote will add a different tone of voice, inject emotion or passion, answer the question "what was it like?", "how did you feel?", "what are you going to do next?", "what actually happened." Usually the reporter was not there and is gathering the information after the event. The direct quote provides actuality.” This is good information about how to place the reader in a situation for which the reporter was not there to place themselves in. Journalism is about telling and selling a story. “People do not "proceed"; they walk. Police do not "apprehend"; they stop or arrest or detain. "At this point in time" is now.” I never thought about it like this. We should, in general, be more frank in our storytelling. Like people. Not journalists. To be frank, I found "Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account." more confusing than the first passage. But whatever. “Keith Waterhouse, the veteran Daily Mail and Daily Mirror columnist wrote an irresistible book on journalistic writing called Newspaper Style.” Dude, didn’t you just bash the Mail? Like, rightfully so, but weird to trash the same publication you’re pulling inspiration from. "Use specific words (red and blue)," says Waterhouse, "not general ones (brightly coloured).” This was called “naming the dog” in one of my journalism workshops. The rule being, it hurts more for the reader to read about a dog dying when you give that dog a name. “Anything readers do not understand makes them feel left out rather than included.” That’s so interesting! I never thought about it like this. I always knew not to use jargon, I could never quite put the “why” into words. “Pro bono, inter alia and in extremis have no place in newspapers, and usually mean the writer is showing off.”Do…do people really not know what “pro bono” means? I mean, I’ll listen to this advice, but like…really? “‘Kingsbridge Silver Band has hit a high note with National Lottery chiefs to the tune of nearly £52,000. Tired old instruments struck a chord with the lottery board, which has drummed up enough cash for a complete new set, giving the band plenty to trumpet about.’ Yes, really.” God, I couldn’t help but read this in a mid-Atlantic, ‘40s radio broadcaster voice. Like, remember the Hindenberg broadcast? That voice. This is a terrible piece of writing. REWRITE: Joseph Foster and sister Kate were involved in a small car accident when the car accidentally ran onto the sidewalk. The accident happened when the Volvo, carrying motor parts to Oxford, veered to avoid a police car driving on the wrong side of the road. A spokesman for the police department denied this story. The children were not hurt, only shaken, according to Andrew Brown, a spokesman at a nearby Eddington hospital where the children were assessed. The spokesman went on to say they were incredibly lucky. “They were examined in [the emergency room] and allowed to go home,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, Kate’s buggy was beyond repair.”

[jennygoeseastbay]

2018 in Review

So I used to do one of these every year on my Livejournal, and I completely blew it off in 2017 because I kind of abandoned that medium, and because the last month of that year was complete consumed with packing and moving. I’m not entirely certain I want to get more active on here, but for now this is a good place for me to post this, simply to have the written record of my existence that I need in order to process all that has happened and reflect on how it has helped me to grow and improve as a person. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I might even backtrack and do one for 2017 next week, because I like to be complete in my self-documentation. ;)

01. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before? Visited Washington DC for the first time.

Visited the Los Cabos region of Mexico for the first time.

Closed a major gift from someone who had not already had decades of cultivation from their University.

Visited even more areas of California that were new to me, including Anaheim, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, and Lake Tahoe (I guess that also includes Nevada since we stayed in Carson City)

Visited Ashland Oregon for the first time.

Sold a piece of real estate. Phew!

Practiced Yin Yoga. (And walking meditation!)

Engaged in a yoga hike!

Also tried yoga with goats!

Attended WonderCon

Attended a county fair.

Road a bicycle somewhere other than a residential street

Tried kayaking

Ran a trail run race

02. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I never really make concrete resolutions, just some general proclamations about eating better, and putting more time into fitness and writing. Of these three things, the one I was most successful at this year, surprisingly enough, was eating better. In September I realized that it was time for a physical tune-up, and so I rejoined WW after a long time away, and though I still have a few pounds to go, I’ve been happy to have gotten a bit sleeker after dialing back the bread and cheese. I also attended a writing group called Shut Up and Write a couple times, and I’d like to become more of a regular at their cafe sessions in 2019, because I’ve found that their method (literally a concentrated hour of shutting up and writing) has been helpful the two times I’ve gone.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth? My dear friends Drew and Kelly had their first child in September. And my friend Lynn had her second child, a little girl, just a couple weeks ago. 04. Did anyone close to you die? Not super close, but a professor at UC Davis who I had worked with closely, passed very unexpectedly right before Halloween. 05. What countries did you visit? Mexico! Finally broke in my current passport with a new stamp! 06. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018? Good novel progress. Or more discipline on some other fiction and an essay that I just started tinkering with. A legit boyfriend. 07. What date(s) from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 2 was my first day on the job at UC Davis.

January 7 was a super fun evening at the Museum of Ice Cream in SF

January 13-15 was a wonderful weekend in Seattle where I got to meet my nephew Apollo for the first time and photograph his first swimming lesson for his parents.

January 20 was my second Women’s March outing in Sac with my friend Jade and her little ones.

January 27 was a day when I got to play tour guide for my friend Gricel and her husband when they were in SF visiting for the first time.

Feb. 10 and 11 was a fun weekend in Berkeley and SF, being silly and singing loudly with my former Cal colleagues who had become dear friends.

March 23-25 Was my whirlwind Anaheim weekend at Wondercon, and I got to catch up with my friend Mike, whom I’d not seen in a couple years.

March 30-April 1 was an epic road trip weekend, the first of what my friend Maya and I now call our Girls Gone Sensibly Wild excursions. We drove to Santa Barbara and visited the deserted UC campus there (it was closed for spring break) and also enjoyed an amazing live show featuring Dave Hause, Dan Andriano, and Cory Branan, among others at the Cold Spring Tavern. And then got a joint membership at Peachy Canyon Winery on our way back, because it was one of the few establishments open on Easter Sunday.

April 22 was Earth Day, and prompted me to venture out to Marin for an impromptu yoga hike at Rodeo Beach.

May 14 was my first appointment with a new hair stylist who would also unexpectedly become a trusted friend.

May 24 was my first time seeing Depeche Mode live, and it was incredible.

June 8-10 was my second of two hit it and quit it Chicago trips (although really, the first one wasn’t so much Chicago as it was Joliet) this year, and allowed me to reconnect with my dear friends Drew and Kelly (Drew finished his PhD at UChicago and I attended his commencement and hooding), have a day at the zoo with my friend Dawn, and also road trip to WI with my friend Mary for a beautiful and moving Lights Festival experience together.

June 30 was the day I attended my first ever CalShakes performance with Maya and our mutual friend Paola (Girls Gone Sensibly Wild continued!), and Maya also got me on a bike for the first time in ages, thanks to LimeBikes being available at the Pleasant Hill BART station. We took a short, wobbly, but fun ride down the Iron Horse Trail.

July 1 was the day I learned to kayak and surprisingly got myself through 5 miles of the Russian River without tipping over or running out of steam.

July 26 saw me reuniting with my dear pals Shannon and Glenn, when they were visiting the Sac area for a wedding.

July 27-29 was the weekend I drove up to Ashland to enjoy some time with my friend Debbie and to experience the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the first time.

August 3-6 was when I somewhat unexpectedly had the delight of hosting my friend Clarise for a weekend visit. We drove down to Pacifica for the International Dog Surfing competition and I schooled her in the ways of California wine as much as I could with my limited knowledge.

The following weekend, August 9-13, I had a lovely time hosting and touring around with my 16 year old niece, and got to introduce her to the joy that is Santa Cruz. And yoga with goats!

August 30-Sept. 4 was when I hosted (this is a recurring theme in August, isn’t it?) my Aunt Sherrie for local sightseeing and a road trip up to Lake Tahoe.

Sept. 22-24 saw me heading down to L.A. for my cousin Katie’s wedding and some work meetings. It was the first time in ages that I got to connect with that specific branch of my family, and get to know them a bit better.

Sept. 29 was my first AFSP walk in Sac. And i was joined by Jade, her visiting mom, and her three little ones.

Sept. 30 was the really long hair session with Mason that helped solidify that we were legit friends (and included a shared sunset from the window of his hair studio!) and a quick follow up appointment on Oct. 3 allowed us to enjoy a rainbow and storm together.

Oct. 19-21 saw Maya and I doing another Girls Gone Sensibly Wild road trip. Back to Peachy Canyon to pick up some wine, and also Pismo Beach and Santa Maria for our first visit to a really lovely winery called Foxen.

Oct. 26 was quite possibly my all-time favorite Brian Fallon performance. It was just him alternating between his acoustic guitar and an electric piano, and he was joined by Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, who also did his own acoustic set.

Oct. 27 I got to introduce my new friend Torrey to the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, and we did a fun wine and Halloween candy pairing and some epic day drinking.

Nov. 3 saw me reuniting with my Cal crew and a sprinkling of East Bay friends at Fillmore Karaoke, for an epic night of loud singing as an early celebration of my 40th bday. So much wine. Actually too much, but for a birthday, that’s acceptable!

Nov. 4-6 I was in Indianapolis for work, and though the work part wasn’t particularly memorable, I was super honored and thrilled that my BFF Dawn drove all the way down from Joliet IL with her two boys to have dinner with me on my first night there.

Nov. 9 was an epic Local H show in Sac. Also a welcome break in the midst of a period of forced solitude, after the Camp Fire residual smoke prompted my whole office to work from home for about a week to protect us from the terrible air quality.

Nov. 18 was the day we had the beautiful service honoring the life of a beloved professor who passed.

Nov. 24-29 was my trip to Cabo with my Aunt Sherrie, and was also my official bday celebration.

Dec. 9-12 was my DC trip, which also allowed me to catch up with my friend Max, who lives in Baltimore, and my friend Stacey, who also happened to be there for her own work purposes.

Dec. 15 was my full day of yoga retreating at Green Gulch Ranch in Marin, and then I drove to the East Bay to catch up with Maya at Calicraft, which is one of our favorite craft distilleries in the area.

Dec. 16 was a white elephant celebration in Pleasant Hill that allowed me to unexpectedly meet a new, interesting friend.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year? So far, meeting all expectations at my new job and closing a major gift earlier than is required. Also not losing my shit during the condo selling process, even though there were a lot of reasons to do so.

09. What was your biggest failure? I wrote VERY little fiction. But I did dip my toe back into writing in general, so I guess there’s that. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I took a tumble at home that left my tailbone a bit tender about a month ago. But otherwise, no, pretty healthy, even after getting rear-ended in my car! 11. What was the best thing you bought? Various travel tickets, both air and rail. A beautiful new necklace that I found at the holiday market in D.C. All the concert tickets that provided soul-fueling live music.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Mine! I adjusted to a new job and an unfamiliar setting and managed to acquire a few new friends while also maintaining the East Bay friendships that meant the most to me. 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Who else but certain immediate family members? 14. Where did most of your money go? Rent. Travel. Wine, and to a lesser extent, craft beer, now that I’ve picked up a taste for stouts and sours. 15. What song will always remind you of 2018?

Anything off of Sleepwalkers by Brian Fallon

Anything off of  Be More Kind by Frank Turner

Chariot by Gavin DeGraw

Tall Green Grass by Cory Branan

16. Compared to this time last year, you are: Thinner and sleeker, weight-wise

More willing to make room for others and open my life and space to them (friend and lover both) Still as sleep-deprived as ever 17. What do you wish you'd done more of? Novel writing, as always. Flirting. And kissing. 18. What do you wish you'd done less of? Angsting over adulting-related things that were either beyond my control or that ended up working out just as they should.

19. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?

I’m driving to Santa Cruz on Xmas Eve and treating myself to an overnight stay so that I can indulge in my happy place and a sunset hike. Also get to celebrate Boxing Day for the first time with my friend Jade and her brood back in Sac.

20. How will you be spending/did you spend New Year’s Eve? Original plan was to hang at my friend Jade’s place with her kids, movies and snacks. But just learned the wee ones are ill, so now I’m not sure what I’m doing. That was how I spent last year (the original plan, that is), with the main difference being that last year I also went to a two-hour yin workshop beforehand, which was how I discovered my current yoga studio, and discovered how much I enjoy yin practice in general. 21. Did you fall in love in 2018?

No. But I made more effort to pursue it, and had more options than I think I’ve ever had in a single year. Which was kind of encouraging even if each one was relatively short-lived.

22. How many one-night stands? I always laugh when I read this question. How about I just wink knowingly and say a lady never tells? 23. What was your favorite TV program? Supernatural. iZombie. To a lesser extent, Riverdale, even though I’m still pretty behind on that one. Sons of Anarchy (which I know is old but I’m playing catchup via Netflix and Hulu) And as a guilty pleasure, Total Divas. And of course, I'm still casually following WWE on the WWE network, though the only thing I’m finding compelling aside from the women’s matches are the Brits featured on the UK specific programming. 24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No, I don't think so. 25. What was the best book you read? I finally got into the Harry Potter series and I’m really enjoying it. I just finished the Order of the Phoenix, and have the next installment requested from the library. 26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Not entirely new, but my appreciation for Cory Branan was reinforced and amplified after seeing him in Santa Barbara. And I’m also on a rediscovery tear with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Cold War Kids.

27. What did you want and get? Reassurance that this move to Sac was the right next step, after I settled in to my new role relatively easily. 28. What did you want and not get? Romantic love for an extended period. More down time. 29. What was your favorite film(s) of this year? Bohemian Rhapsody, even though I know it had some historical inaccuracies.

A Quiet Place was hard because of the ending, but decent as well.

And the latest Halloween was hella satisfying, especially since I caught it after needing an escape after learning about the passing of the professor I mentioned earlier.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I prepped for my Cabo departure, went exploring at the Cosumnes River Trail, which is also a bird sanctuary, and caught the movie Widows with my work friend Christine. Then she took me to Panera for dinner. Couldnt’ do much more than that since I had a 5 am flight the following morning. I turned 40.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Love, as always. 32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018? Activewear as much as possible. But never enough. 33. What kept you sane? My friends. The various trips I took and rock shows I attended. Junk food. Wandering in nature.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Jensen Ackles. Tom Hiddleston. Charlie Hunnan. Idris Elba. My taste doesn't change much. 35. Who did you miss? Dawn. Becca. Kelly and Drew. Stephanie and Scott. Rob. Elspeth. Mike K. Jason. 36. Who was the best new person you met?

Lu

Ellen

Mason

Torrey

Anthony

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018 Never underestimate my own ability to adapt to new situations, and to handle my own shit like a boss. I had a few challenging things thrown at me, namely the condo selling process, and the logistical gymnastics that followed after having to bring my car in for a bumper repair following a recent rear-ending, and though I felt tested by both of those situations, I ultimately succeeded at navigating both of them to a positive end.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

I’m always starting over....

I don’t wanna waste the nights in my life

But I never fit in, or felt home in my skin.

I’m waiting on a big love, baby.

--Brian Fallon, “Her Majesty’s Service”