#dustin kettering

[machinefey]

So the one good thing about traveling is that you have a lot of time to draw if you bring your stuff.

Do you know that Dustin Kettering has like zero description in the books, the closest you get is his ice powers ect, and his cousin being huge like him.

Trust me, I looked through all 11 books I had available to me… so I have decided to make up a design for him.

I know he is a sheilder, but he creates his own armor, so I did not feel like kitting him to much out.

Updated Thadwick’s outfit a bit and Neil’s, nothing to crazy.

Either way, hope you like it.

Character interactions are based off the fanfiction I’m working on, they definitely are not cannon, hahaha.

[jordanr770-blog]

America Needs Some Talent

 I just needed someplace to write down my thoughts so here we are!

I have been watching America’s Got Talent since season 11 when the ukulele girl won. I personally didn’t vote for her but can understand why she won. Same goes for season 12. I was rooting super hard for Diavolo but can understand why puppet girl won. Season 13 had some of the best acts ever (Shin Lim-winner) and I know a lot of people disliked her, but Courtney Hadwin should have at least  gotten 5th place over sob story “I’m such a good person and I hit my wife” Michael Ketterer. Kodi Lee was the obvious winner of season 14 and I personally thought he deserved it over the other acts. Other people did not think it was well deserved, and that’s ok too.  

Last season we got a spoken word poet in the form of Brandon Leake. I did not enjoy the act AT ALL and was kind of mad that he won, but I will say that even though I did not enjoy him, spoken word poetry is indeed a talent.

Now, you may be thinking that season 16 would be a smidgeon of an improvement over season 15. Talent and reality shows should probably strive to become better every season. But if you thought this show isn’t capable of getting any worse, you haven’t been paying attention because this show will always find ways to disappoint. Last night we were told everyone voted for an INSPIRATIONAL speech giver as the winner. Or I’m sorry, apparently he does magic. His name is Dustin Tavella. But the thing is, he was HORRIBLE at both storytelling AND magic and nowhere near deserved the win. “It was well deserved.” How? How is a kindergarten level “magician” worth a million dollars and a Vegas show? I believe the show in Vegas is about an hour and a half and I am curious as to what is he going to do in that timeframe? Talk about how the folks living in Vegas are living in sin while simultaneously throwing paper in the air MAGICALLY? I’m sure the audience will go wild over that. Or maybe during all of his shows he will adopt a kid a day from different countries and then spend about an hour talking about Little ZimZam’s harsh life and while he’s babbling  he’ll be semi incorporating his poor magic skills into the act in the last minute so the poster stating he’s a magician didn’t TECHNICALLY lie so nobody is getting their money back. I really don’t know. I have a lot of thoughts. 

Plus, his sob story just did nothing for me whatsoever. Good for you for adapting 11 children, unless it has to do with whatever your act is, shut the hell up and do the trick! Not once did this guy impress  or give even the best of a performance of the night. It was always 8+ minutes of “inspiration” and tirades about how we as a society need to be good to one another whilst doing crappy magic. Let me tell you, I know next to nothing about magic but even I could tell he was a less than stellar magician. Even calling him a magician is somewhat laughable. In reality he's a motivational speaker who does terrible magic tricks and  who always somehow manages to suck at said terrible magic but America apparently doesn’t notice him screwing up his terrible magic because he’s too busy telling them to look at a crumpled up piece of paper or a ladder or the new photograph of his adopted son who has an extra eyeball or whatever. It’s stupid.

Last night for his final performance Dustin’s act was, and I kid you not, telling us all to be nice. FOR SEVEN UNNECESSARY MINUTES. And I do believe he started to fake cry. Dude, you’re acting is about as good as Heidi Klum’s. You can't act and you can barely do magic. Why are you here? What is your talent? Did he really join a talent show to become some type of inspirational God of obvious wisdom? If that’s the case, he should have gone and done a Ted Talk, many less victims of mediocrity that way. America somehow  put him in the top 5 with actually talented people? I think not. The act itself was not impressive and he did the same thing every time, just told a different sob story. If you have to rely on a sad story to win, you don’t deserve to win a show where talent is the main objective. 

In case my last few paragraphs were not made abundantly clear, I am not a fan of this dude. At all. I read a comment which stated that a message is not a talent and whoever said that is 100% correct and summed up my feelings pretty accurately. I'm not a fan or boring and basic tricks combined with even worse stories. He's the living embodiment of a motivational meme and anyone who voted for this guy is  gullible and can fight me. Maybe people “voted” for him because he attempted to pull on the heartstrings? But because I sold my heart long ago his act didn’t effect me as much. /s But I swear every year they make it more clear that the entire show is rigged. 

Well, maybe the voting ISN’T rigged entirely and all the boomers  (first time I’ve ever used that term) and antivaxxers and easily swayed by sob story people on Twitter and Facebook voted for him. Doubtful, but you never know. HE WAS SO FREAKING BAD!!!

We are all allowed to have opinions and just because you don’t agree with me that doesn’t mean I am an awful person who deserves DEATH. I keep getting responses and messages on Twitter from angry folk who are calling me heartless because I questioned WHY they voted for him. “Well, IIIII gave Dustin all 10 of my votes!” That’s nice Karen. That is also not an answer and I cannot stress enough how much I do not care that you voted for the phony used cars salesman. Go tell your Prince from Nigeria all about it. Another guy got mad and reported me for “yelling at strangers.” Which is kind of a typical thing people do on Twitter. And I wasn’t even yelling! Lol. 

And another point I’d like to make (about this and  in general) is people really need to stop using the terms “all of us” and the word “we.” I am my own person and you do not get to speak for me. 

“We were all crying when we saw him perform!” - No WE most certainly weren’t. I was seething with anger, yes. Crying? Not even close.

“His magic touched all of our hearts!” WHAT MAGIC? WHERE WAS THE MAGIC IN THIS MANS ENTIRE ACT? I MUST HAVE MISSED IT AFTER I PASSED OUT FROM HIS 7 MINUTE LONG STORY ABOUT HIS BORING LIFE. 

His win was a complete insult.

* I personally voted for Aidan Bryant, but I really wanted Unicircle Flow to win before they got kicked off due to the judges having a tendency to suck at picking during judges choice. *

Edit: I apologize if this wasn’t articulated very well or if it seems I basically said the same thing over and over. To be fair it was 3 am when I wrote this and I was still irritated and questioning everything. Still doesn’t excuse the fact that this guy was lame and doesn’t deserve a Vegas show. My mom told me earlier today that people on the Internet are mad about his win and that it’s not fair to take it out on the guy, which I suppose is kind of true. Not exactly his fault the general public has failed and shown their stupidity yet again. If anyone is to blame it is the people who actually voted for this doofus. And AGT. And yeah, I guess I will blame him as well. But I’m not saying go to his Twitter or Instagram or whatever and call him out for being a con artist and bully him. 

I think the MESSAGE =P I’m trying to display here  is that someone has no business being on a talent show unless they have talent; self explanatory. A message isn’t talent. Being a narcissist isn’t talent. Exploiting your kids and wife isn’t talent. Speaking can be a talent (comedy, that poetry guy, acting, improv, probably a lot of other stuff I’m forgetting about) but one shouldn’t call themselves a magician if one is really a way less cool garage sale version of Talky Tina. Magic IS talent but if you want a million dollars you better have skills that are on par or better than the professionals. 

[govandalsncaa]

Vandals sign #104 ranked recruiting class

In what can only be described as a disappointing signing day, the Idaho Vandals have announced their incoming football recruiting class, following Year #1 of the Dynasty.

Idaho signed, 10, 3-star prospects, 4, 2-star prospects and 2, 1-star prospects for a total of 16 signees.

Despite courting several 4 and 5 star recruits, especially late in the process, Idaho was not able to sign any of them.

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Top 5 Classes:

Ole Miss

Alabama

Florida State

Michigan

Michigan State

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Alabama signed, 6, 5-star recruits, the most of any team.

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Vandals signees:

1-Star: Carlton Richard - K - East Renton, Washington

3-Star: Mike Jones - OT - Shelley, Idaho

3-Star: Randall Reid - OT - Kettering, Ohio

2-Star: David Robinson - K - Ontario, California

3-Star: Dominic Henry - WR - Mount Pleasant, Texas

3-Star: Jeff Ray - OG - Belle Haven, Virginia

3-Star: Bryan Smith - OLB - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

3-Star: Michael Holt - DT - Sweet Home, Oregon

3-Star: Matt McKenzie - CB - Elroy, North Carolina

3-Star: Marcello Hester - SS - Adamsville, Alabama

3-Star: Brian Morgan - OT - New Orleans, Louisiana

1-Star: Steve O'Donnell - P - Daleville, Alabama

3-Star: Jeremy Kent - CB - Murrysville, Pennsylvania

2-Star: Tim Givens - TE - Dillon, Montana

2-Star: Dustin Coleman - QB - Barrow, Alaska

2-Star: Kenny Washington - DT - Shelley, Idaho

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Coach Idaho Coach commented on the class.

"I know that some fans were expecting some big name 4 or 5 stars in this class, but those are just internet rumors. I am ecstatic about this recruiting class. We signed a 3-Star recruit on the defensive line, line backing group and in the defensive backfield. On offense, we have almost overnight, rejuvenated our offensive line. In the kicking game, we have multiple guys ready to take over after Austin Rehkow was drafted, so that will be a battle in Spring and Fall camp. We signed a few skill guys that I also think will really help our team speed. This is a class, that while it may not have that big flashy 5-star quarterback in it, is the type of class you have to sign, in-order to set a foundation so that those 5-star type of kids want to come and play for your school. This is a meat and potatoes class. I love it."

[enzaime-blog]

Nancie’s Blood Cancer Story

New Story has been published on https://enzaime.com/nancies-blood-cancer-story/

Nancie’s Blood Cancer Story

Seven months into her pregnancy, Nancie and her doctors were alarmed to find she had an extremely low count of platelets – cells necessary for blood clotting. After Nancie gave birth, experts at Memorial Sloan Kettering diagnosed her with myelodysplastic syndrome, a group of diseases that affect blood stem cells in the bone marrow. Nancie needed a stem cell transplant, but the best match was a man in the US Army, stationed in Iraq.

There is never a good time for disease to strike. But for chef and restaurant owner Nancie Simonet, the phone call that woke her up before dawn one morning in January 2003, could not have come at a worse time. The call would eventually lead to a diagnosis of a blood disorder known as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and a life-saving stem cell transplant.

At age 42, Nancie was seven months pregnant with her first child. The voice at the other end of the line belonged to her obstetrician, who had received alarming results from a standard prenatal blood test. Nancie had extremely low levels of platelets, a type of blood cell that is essential for coagulation. This meant she would be at risk of bleeding to death if she were to injure herself.

A Puzzling Bone Marrow Condition

Nancie and her husband, Darren, immediately drove to a hospital near their home in Milford, Pennsylvania. At the hospital, Nancie had new platelets infused into her blood and underwent a series of exams. In the course of the following months, she was misdiagnosed with one blood disease after another. “From lupus to ITP to aplastic anemia,” Nancie recalls. Her doctors put her on several different treatments, but none seemed to work.

“At that point, I didn’t even care what was happening to me,” Nancie says. “All I could think about was my baby — I was so afraid of losing her!” She and Darren had been longing for a child and Nancie had gone through a number of unsuccessful pregnancies.

Several times a week, Nancie needed to have new platelets infused into her bloodstream. “Time and again my gums would start bleeding, and I would run to the hospital for a transfusion,” she recalls. “The first time it happened I was in a panic. I felt as if my body were deteriorating completely.” She was eventually transferred to a hospital in New Jersey, where her daughter, Sophia, was born on April 6.

“Sophia’s Caesarean delivery was a big affair,” Nancie recalls, “with a large team of doctors and nurses involved. They were concerned I would lose too much blood.” To her parents’ joy and relief, little Sophia was as strong and healthy as any baby when taking her first breaths.

However, Nancie’s condition began to worsen soon after the delivery. Her bone marrow ceased to produce red and white blood cells as well as platelets, causing extreme fatigue, as well as various inflammations and infections. “The situation was getting desperate,” Nancie says. “My doctors still couldn’t figure out what I had. Finally, an oncologist I had been seeing here in town gave me the phone number of a specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, advising me to seek help there.”

A Diagnosis and a Turning Point

The specialist Nancie’s doctor recommended was James Young, of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service. “My first consultation with Dr. Young was a turning point,” Nancie recalls. “After reviewing the results of my bone marrow biopsy, he suspected that all the previous diagnoses I’d received were wrong. Darren and I immediately felt that he would be able to help us.” A bone marrow biopsy is a procedure in which a sample of bone marrow tissue is removed, usually from a patient’s hip bone, and examined under the microscope.

Dr. Young diagnosed Nancie with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of diseases that affect blood stem cells in the bone marrow. Today, most cancer experts classify MDS as a form of cancer because it produces a large population of abnormal cells from a single abnormal cell. In approximately one-third of patients, the disease will progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer.

Dr. Young explained that Nancie’s condition was serious but curable. To get well, she would need to undergo allogeneic stem cell transplantation — a challenging procedure during which she would receive new blood stem cells from a healthy patient’s blood or bone marrow.

Once Nancie’s friend Ellen found out that Nancie would need to drive to New York City on a regular basis, as well as learning of her need for childcare and other unforeseen expenses, Ellen immediately went to work putting together a fund raiser in their community. All the local restaurants and specialty shops came together to prepare a feast, while local musicians entertained and staff volunteered to create the most memorable night. Guests poured in and the response was nothing less than miraculous. “I am so very fortunate to live in a small town like Milford. Even now I think about the generosity of friends and strangers and I am overwhelmed,” says Nancie. Guests were even signing up to be tested as a possible match.

Two Years of Waiting

For patients requiring an allogeneic transplant, every effort is made to find a donor whose tissue type closely matches that of the patient. The patient and the donor need to share a number of genes, called HLA genes. This reduces the risk that new immune cells, which form in the patient after the transplant, will recognize the patient’s tissues as foreign and attack them — a serious complication known as graft-versus-host disease.

Nancie has three siblings, but none of them matched her tissue type, nor did any of her other relatives. So, her Memorial Sloan Kettering doctors began searching national registries for a volunteer donor. Combinations of HLA genes vary extensively between individuals, making close matches between unrelated people rare. In Nancie’s case, the search for a potential donor lasted for more than two years.

“Darren and I waited and waited, hoping each day that a donor would show up,” she says. “Meanwhile, I had to manage my disease and have constant transfusions at my local and New Jersey hospitals.”

 When it was time for me to move home, I was even reluctant to leave my nurses, in whose care I had felt so safe and at ease.

Finally, Dr. Young identified a suitable donor who was registered with the National Marrow Donor Program. But one problem remained: the donor was a US Army Special Forces Green Beret stationed in Iraq.

“We had no choice but to wait until he came home on permission,” Nancie explains. “The first time that happened was in July 2005. My doctors had prepared my body for the procedure, and everything was ready. But at the last minute, they couldn’t proceed with the transplant. My liver enzymes were too high. I felt so miserable going home that day, knowing my donor was on his way back to Iraq!”

At Last, New Bone Marrow

Nancie was finally able to have her transplant on the next occasion that her donor was back in the US, in October 2005. During the first part of the procedure, called myeloablative therapy, Nancie received three chemotherapy drugs over nine days to destroy her immune cells, which otherwise could react against her donor’s stem cells and reject them. After one day of rest, she received the stem cells that had been harvested from her donor’s blood and that would build her new bone marrow.

Nancie had to stay in the hospital eight weeks after the transplant while her immune system developed. “That wasn’t nearly as bad as I had thought,” Nancie says. “All the physicians on my treatment team were taking such good care of me, and the nurses were just wonderful. Someone was always there to check on me or sit by my bed if I were having a bad night. When it was time for me to move home, I was even reluctant to leave my nurses, in whose care I had felt so safe and at ease.”

There were several setbacks during the long recovery process that followed. “The side effects of the chemotherapy were grueling,” Nancie recalls. “I developed mouth sores that were very painful. I had high fevers. I vomited constantly.”

Four Years Later

Nancie has now made a full recovery and is busy running The Waterwheel Café, a popular restaurant and live music venue she launched twenty years ago. With Darren’s help and a dedicated staff, she managed to maintain the establishment throughout the long course of her illness. She is also the mother of three — her daughter Sophia, now six years old, and her stepchildren, Dustin and Morgane, who were 9 and 14 years old when Nancie had her transplant. Looking back, she recalls that a strong determination to sustain her life and her family was what most helped her pull through the difficult years of disease and treatment.

“After Sophia was born, I was determined to be there for her first day of school,” she says. “It became my mantra, something I would repeat to myself in my worst moments of despair.”

Nancie has developed a long distance friendship with her donor, Joshua, who lives with his family in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I was so eager to find out who he was and to thank him,” she says. A year after her transplant, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Bone Marrow Transplant Service helped her to obtain the consent necessary for her to contact Joshua. (After a patient has a transplant from a donor identified through a national registry, both the patient and the donor may choose to remain anonymous or may choose to meet each other by mutual consent.)

 Nancie’s long-term prognosis is excellent now that she’s made it this far out. We are very pleased and happy to have cured her.

“When I received the call from Memorial’s BMT service office with Joshua’s information I remember how just hearing his name brought me to tears. The first time I phoned him was such an emotional moment,” she recalls. “I had so many questions about his experience, and we talked for many hours. He taught me how to use Facebook so that we could exchange photos of ourselves and our families.”

“Joshua and Dr. Young are my biggest heroes,” adds Nancie. “Each in their own way, they gave me back my life.”

[machinefey]

Guess what, I’m on my way back from my travels!

Also was looking at the drawing and realized it needed some perspective and just general tweaking.

Either way, I’m looking forward to getting home to my computer to start back up writing the Thadfic again!

[machinefey]

Decided to superimpose my first drawing of Jason to see the height comparison. ( it’s really sketchy due to that reason)

Jason is such short King! Though to be fair 5’6 is not that short.

I kind of want to draw the seen from chapter five now with their standoff.

Ok I’m actually going to work on some new stuff and stop reposting variations of this picture.

[machinefey]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64735012/chapters/166329964

Guess who’s back from hiatus!

Chapter 5 is out now baby! Which means I can also get started on new fanart to start procrastinating chapter 6. Though I have been writing a lot of future scenes for the project.

[machinefey]

Hey everyone, finally got chapter 10 out, and we are back on track with plot stuff!

Originally chapter 9 and 10 were supposed to be one chapter but got split, so expect a slower release on the next one.

I’m pretty excited about the dominoes I’m laying out for future events, so please enjoy!

[machinefey]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64735012/chapters/170242384

I would like to announce that suffering shall continue as chapter 6 of the Thadfic has been released!

It’s very much more of an introspective chapter than some previous ones, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

Bone Apple Tea!

[machinefey]

Guess what I did instead of sleeping before the second day of my weekend hiking adventure!