#the laramie cycle

[thesnowqueen]

my favorite books can be sorted into two very distinct categories: 1) silly and/or uplifting stories for children with a very positive outlook on the world (alice in wonderland, peter pan, the tale of despereaux, the phantom tollbooth) and 2) terribly depressing stories about how the world and most of the people in it are mean and awful (the things they carried, the kentucky cycle, the laramie project, the great gatsby)

[allielee]

𝕒𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔

oil stains on concrete. a dirty wrench. careful calculations on grid paper. nike sneakers and small shorts. sports bras and baggy sweatpants. waterproof mascara.

𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕤

Full Name: Allison Laramie Lee

Nickname(s): Allie, Aliwoo

Age: Thirty-Two

Birthday: September 8th

Hometown: Abilene, Texas

Length of Time in town: a few months

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Orientation: Heterosexual

Relationship Status: Single

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer, restores and sells antique cars

Accent: generic American accent

𝕓𝕚𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕪 

tw abuse, abortion, car accident, sibling death

She was the reason her parents fought. That was the impression that she had been born with, the first child of two virtual strangers who decided to stay together for her. That was always clear. The implicit: you better be worth it, never said but always resting over her shoulders.

So she tried to be. Smart, a perfectionist, she tried to wow her parents with her brains and grades, and when that didn't work, she tacked on extracurriculars. She wanted to show them she wasn't a mistake, that she was worth their fights, not the cause of them. It wasn't enough, they split, and it just seemed to get worse.

Dancing started off small, a few classes here and there, but it paired perfectly with her honor roll grades, her perfect image. Allie thought that if she tried hard enough, she could win her mother back over. All so curated, all so perfect. She was dabbing coverup on her sister's bruises and whispering to keep quiet, swallow the poison, never let anyone see, because if they did, well, then that whisper would be right. She was the cause of it all.

When it was time for college, she was accepted into one that was out of state, for a good reason. She had a dancing and cheering scholarship that was a coveted full ride, and her grades helped with that. She needed to shed her skin. She needed to be able to look in the mirror and not see the cracks like porcelain just under the surface.

She was a good girl, but she soon found out that her picker was something of broken. It was always this dude, with his anger issues — a reflection of their mother, who put her hands on people, and the men were the same — or that dude — a reflection of her father, absent, leaving her to chase after them. A cycle of heartbreak and self esteem issues.

When there was a missed period and a pink positive sign, Allie was terrified. She was 19. She was no older than her mother was, and the childhood she had flashed before her eyes, and she knew it would've been better to not have the kid than to repeat that cycle, so she called the only person she knew who would help her: her sister Olivia.

After the spring semester, which she managed to finish without too much fanfare, she headed home for a break. The decision was made. She was going to have an abortion and quietly forget anything happened. It was done, and that was that, and in the two weeks between spring semester ending and summer starting, she had already arranged to attend Stanford in California for a summer semester and then she could fully transfer to Stanford for the rest of her career.

When she was 22, she graduated from Stanford with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. She moved back to Dallas and took a job at a firm. She was still dancing, and on a whim she decided to audition for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. It wasn't a surprise that she was hired, she had worked hard for the position.

She went on to cheer for three seasons before a scandal broke out. Allie had been one of the cheerleaders that had caught one of the executives of taking photos of them changing without their consent. She quit while she worked on a case.

Moving back to California, she took another job doing lower level engineering work. She met the man who would become her boyfriend. Daniel was a Formula D racecar driver — he was in Prosec at the time, and wasn't fully a professional. They hit it off, after all, she was pretty and liked cars.

Pretty soon, they became something of a power couple, with her posing for pictures and designing a new engine for him. It was her designs that ended up propelling him into the professionals, even and it landed them a deal with Ford Mustang to have their own proprietary line.

They were good for each other, at least everyone thought so. But most people didn't see the behind the scenes where Daniel struggled with alcoholism. Allie held it all together.

When the court case finally settled, Allie came into a ton of money. She quietly tucked it away, and that became something of a fight, even if Daniel was making a ton of money off brand deals and races.

When he proposed to her, it was an easy yes. It wasn't long after that tragedy struck, on a hiking trip, her brother slipped and fell. He passed away some months later after being in an extended coma. The death of her brother rocked Allie. But disaster wasn't over yet.

Daniel got behind the wheel of a car, and wrecked it. It tanked his career, as well as got him into a ton of legal trouble. Allie wanted to postpone the wedding, to try to handle all of this, and he fought her on it. So she called it off. It was all too much to handle.

So she moved to Whiskey Flats, trying to be closer to her sister and away from the drama. The engine designs were hers, so she took those too, the brand deal with Ford now in litigation as well. Meanwhile, she's living off her settlement money and making real money by restoring old cars that she picks up and does the work on her own.

𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖

2013: graduated college and became a DCC cheerleader

2016: DCC scandal / quits DCC

2017: meets Daniel

2018: designs the engine

2022: court proceedings and settlement from the DDC

2022: engaged / accident with brother

2023: brother passes away

2023: Daniel gets into an accident / she calls off the engagement / moves to Whiskey Flats

[pseudonourishment]

Another Domestic Abuse Victim Falls Through the Cracks

Kudos! I want to thank the state of Wyoming, our governor, our judicial system, the state Legislature, our Mayor Collins, current Cheyenne Police Chief Francisco, former police chief and current Laramie County Sheriff Kozak, as well as the officers of both the Cheyenne Police and Laramie County Sheriff's departments for a job well done.

Not having a full-time paid mental health professional on staff like other municipalities allowed another woman to fall through the cracks and succumb to her addictions. But she was also another victim of domestic abuse. Her husband just turned Wyoming's once powerful piece of legislation for domestic abuse victims on its side.

He was able to play the victim and get a restraining order against her, not allowing her to communicate with her kids. Knowing her kids meant the world to her, he understood that this would push her over the edge and further her addictions, while driving her deeper into depression.

What he had put on that restraining order while playing the victim was totally fabricated, completely untrue, petty and unequivocally false. When the restraining order was served, not only was she given 15 minutes to vacate her own home, but the officers that served it did not explain the restraining order to her in a way that she could understand what was happening to her, nor even tell her where to go to contest it, and they did not take her to a safe environment that could've helped her deal with her circumstances.

Basically, she was treated like human garbage by the officers of both the Cheyenne Police and Laramie County Sheriff's departments, as well as our judicial system, which did not want to deal with another person who was more a domestic abuse victim than an addict.

If both the CPD and LCSD had a full-time mental health professional on staff, this would've been more apparent. Seriously, what's another addict's life if it means breaking the cycle of domestic abuse? Nothing, apparently.

[shannontlkearns]

As Uprising prepares to present “The Laramie Cycle” in honor of the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder several members of the creative team were talking about how old they were when it happened.

I was a freshman in college. My 18th birthday was October 7. The day that Matthew lay in the hospital between life and death. But I didn’t hear about him until years later. See, I went to an evangelical college that later that spring would kick two women out for being lesbians. I wouldn’t hear about Matthew until years later, when I finally had the courage to come out myself. 

This conversation also made me think of the other events that happened while I was in college; the spring of my freshman year the shootings at Columbine happened. The fall of my senior year was the attacks  of September 11. 

Right now it seems like horrendous things happen every day; every hour. But back then it seemed that catastrophes were more spread out and yet, at the same time, increasing in number. Whether that’s because of the rise of media (meaning we heard about things faster than we did before) or because the world really was on the brink of getting worse I’m not entirely sure.

But I do know that being in college as these things happened shaped me. And yet I wonder now why there were certain things I heard about and others I didn’t. Matthew’s death was obviously huge news. Did I not hear about it because I didn’t have access to much news as a college freshman? Was it not mentioned because my college probably thought he deserved it? Or was I so deeply closeted that I did hear about it but shut it out of my mind?

And it makes me think about what other stories I don’t hear because someone deems them not important or not news-worthy or not innocent enough. 

The stories we hear matter. Who tells the stories matters. 

[madscientistjournal]

Fiction: Canis ignis

An essay by Derek Bradley, as provided by Cory Swanson Art by Leigh Legler

At first, the wolves were shot. People didn’t want to come into the park and see the majestic herbivores chased to their demise by hungry predators. So they were eradicated.

Unchecked, the deer and elk tore the hell out of the ecosystem. So many hungry mouths to feed, they yanked the vegetation up by the roots. There were floods and mudslides, with nothing to hold them back.

The humans, never a part of this environment in the first place, decided to bring the wolves back. The wolves brought back the vegetation, and the landscape flourished again.

That’s how I viewed myself as a ranger at Yellowstone National Park. Humans had royally screwed this place up in so many ways. How do we as people enjoy a place like this without destroying it?

That was the million-dollar question, one I’d wrestled with over the course of my career, rising in the ranks. Here we are, the self-aware invasive species, cursed with understanding the beauty and complexity of all that surrounds us even as we inevitably destroy it.

There I sat in my daily wrestling match with this question when Jason stormed through the door. “Mr. Bradley, there’s a fire in the southwest corner of the park,” he said, out of breath.

Fire. The other wolf. A natural part of the cycle. Without fire, the dead vegetation builds up. Certain trees won’t seed. The land is supposed to burn from time to time. But lord knows you can’t let Yellowstone burn. “Deploy the resources. Get a perimeter going. Don’t let it spread.”

“Yes, sir,” Jason barked.

“And none of that ‘sir’ shit. This isn’t the military.”

I flipped the slide to show a striking image of one of the wolves carrying a long stick with flames caught mid-dance on both ends.

To read the rest of this story, check out the Mad Scientist Journal: Winter 2020 collection.

Ranger Derek Bradley grew up in Laramie, Wyoming, and received degrees in forestry and zoology from Colorado State University. While working up through the ranks of the Parks Service, he wore out a couple trucks, a couple marriages, and a couple good dogs. He misses the dogs the most.

Cory Swanson lives in Northern Colorado with his wife, two daughters, and an old blind dog named Kirby. When he’s not working himself to the bone teaching tweens how to play band and orchestra instruments, he can be seen camping with his family in his tiny trailer or traveling to strange worlds in his head in order to write about them.

If you would like to witness a nearly middle aged man attempt to navigate the perils of social media, you can find Cory on Facebook under the handle @speculativemeculative, on Instagram @coryswansonauthor, or at his website, coryswansonauthor.wordpress.com

Leigh’s professional title is “illustrator,” but that’s just a nice word for “monster-maker,” in this case. More information about them can be found at http://leighlegler.carbonmade.com/.

“Canis ignis” is © 2019 Cory Swanson Art accompanying story is © 2019 Leigh Legler

Fiction: Canis ignis was originally published on Mad Scientist Journal

[wildcraftedwoman]

My husband left me earlier today, packed a bag and walked right out. I cooked dinner from scratch for the children like I do every night. All had freshly made apple juice. I scrubbed the dirty dishes clean. I tucked in all and sat with the little one who held onto my arm. I did all of my homework assignments late into night with cucumber jalapeño tequila sunrise, including reading a short story by Cisneros - except for la morte d'arthur. It must wait until morning. I laughed at the thought of my mother at the beach the other weekend telling me we are somewhere around 2% Ethiopian and Filipino too. I felt the presence of God in the beautiful hall, enveloping me in a trance. Had anyone noticed I was gone? And how many coffee spoons to measure for the machine? I’ll look it up in the morning. The Orchard Keeper is getting eerie. I guess I’m driving to Laramie alone. Sixteen hours of contemplation to and back again. Wyoming and men and just me, vulnerable. I wanted to be a good Christian wife. He was surprised to hear I was happy to receive my menstrual cycle - that I wasn’t pregnant. Thank God I’m not and yes, please tell any interested to wait in heaven. I’m going to do triage on my current three tomorrow night when they expect our Friday movie night and we inform them of our divorce. Papers signed already. Neatly on desk. His goodbye kiss tasted of salt and warmth. He tried to pick me right up and I collapsed. Our wedding anniversary was supposed to be in a week and a half. I’ll never own a home or raise children in one. I have Berkeley at least. I have a furnished apartment here, and my fifth wheel. I choke off the panic attacks that make me scratch at my throat. Everything tastes sour. I wish I could sleep.

[mikestraumietis]

Mike Straumietis on the Plight of Wyoming Farmers

Mike Straumietis of Advanced Nutrients looks at what Wyoming farmers are saying about price hikes in supplies.

Mike Straumietis Details the Problems of Wyoming Farmers Amidst Price Increases

According to Mike Straumietis of Advanced Nutrients, farmers have felt the brunt of price increases in supplies such as fertilizers and fuel. Indeed, plenty of farmers in Wyoming have lamented this fact.

Jim Lerwick, co-owner of Lerwick Farms in Albin, said farmers have always tried to be positioned for whatever happens. Lerwick mentioned that he contracted enough fuel in 2021 for a supply of about a year and maybe four months. Lerwick was in good shape last year and hoped to make it through most of 2022. Lerwick's fuel expense is still higher but has not increased as much as it could have.

BJ Bender, co-owner and founder of Laramie's Taste of the Wind Farm, said that she is trying to take not just fewer but more efficient trips into town. She also mentioned how she would now be lining up animal feed ahead of time to cut expenses, so she doesn't have to raise her own prices too much. However, Bender also said she would probably have to raise her prices starting in the second half of the summer, or she would likely go out of business.

Bender has been looking at exporting some products to other farms to cut costs. For example, the Taste of the Wind Farm raises lambs, chickens, eggs, and pigs. Bender said her farm has looked at working with another farm nearby that can raise pigs more efficiently. Since the cost of shipping products has doubled, the price of shipping materials has also increased by about a third.

Mike Straumietis says that inflation is everywhere in agriculture. The cost of feed, fertilizer, and various chemicals makes it much more challenging for local farms to operate like normal.

Patrick Buenger, another Laramie farmer, said inflation impacts all aspects of his business. As the owner-founder of Sheep Mountain Livestock, he has found ways to raise pigs for meat and show.

Buenger told interviewers that he has noticed the cost of feed going up every two to four weeks when he visits the store. He also says that fuel prices are hurting his business since it's more expensive to transport pigs to the butcher or even have a veterinarian visit the farm.

As he looks to the future, Buenger mentions that he is worried about increasing his prices too much for fear of people being unable to afford to buy his product. He also says that the current inflation issues put pressure on every kind of business, which will cause owners to start cutting costs. This could very much lead to layoffs. This is a circular problem, and why inflation is dangerous, Buenger added.

Mike Straumietis is the Founder and CEO of Advanced Nutrients, whose large and diverse team of Ph.D. scientists has developed a broad spectrum of next-generation products that nourish each phase of the crop's cycle from seed to senescence, unlocking its true genetic potential. For more insights on growing crops from Mike Straumietis, click here.

[insideusnet]

Live updates: Wyoming and Alaska election results 2022 : Inside US

Live updates: Wyoming and Alaska election results 2022 : Inside US

A campaign sign for Rep. Liz Cheney is posted in Laramie, Wyoming, on Aug. 14. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump’s campaign to purge the Republican Party of his opponents could reach its most dramatic moment of the 2022 midterm election cycle on Tuesday in Wyoming. Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the House committee investigating January 6, 2021, who was booted from her…

[strac9]

So, thinking of letting Unforgiven go... Today, anyway. Not posted anywhere else currently, if anyone is seriously interested in this one of a kind jeep DM me. It's at EJS till Saturday, then not sure which route I'll take back to Alberta for the following Saturday. $69,000 US (appraised at $135,00 a year ago) Too much to list here, some of it is obvious from my pics: Approx 32,500 miles 5.7 Hemi Built 545RFE front Rockjock 60, RCV shafts, 5.38 gears, E locker Rear Rockjock 60, full float, 5.38, E locker 41x14.50/17 Iroks, ATX beadlocks King coilovers, 2.5 x14" stroke Dual fuel tanks Dual batteries: odyssey starting battery and matrix deep cycle with national Luna dual battery controller Front and rear #warn winches- 9500lb Power plant and 9.5ti Brand new full PSC hydro assist system with big bore XD steering gear Rubicon express long arms, 4 link and radius arms. Front currently had the 4 link installed and radius arms on rear, will come with both complete sets of arms. Rugged radio 25 watt Inverter and more. Obviously lots of custom work. Drives excellent, in the past year I have driven it daily, as well as 3 big road trips: from Alberta-Las Vegas-Moab-Alberta Alberta-King of the Hammers in California and back, this current trip was its first trailer ride, tailgated to Moab, drove it to Phoenix and back with the #jpdnd18. Upcoming feature jeep in JP magazine. Trailer is negotiable as I have it on this trip. Also may sell the tow rig 2013 Ram 2500 diesel Laramie limited crew cab 4x4 with full Thuren suspension and king shocks. Approx 45,000 miles warranty to 10 years 124,000 miles bumper to bumper. (at Moab, Utah)

[ramtrucksandvansintexas]

2020 Ram 1500- A Must Buy Crushy And Robust Work Truck!

Ram structure, its 1500 truck last year, and it constants to be our top-rated full size trucks.

All Ram 1500 trims come with excellent driving features, perfectly appointed interiors, and a distinct rear suspension for the segment. With it, the Ram glides past rivals with a ride quality generally associated with cars!

Truck duties are not a concern, though — the 2020 Ram 1500 renders comparable maximum ratings for both- payload as well as towing capability.

Engine preferences include similar picks such as a- V6, 3.6-liter, and a 5.7-liter V8. The previous year, Ram introduced a mild hybrid system that improves fuel efficiency and the smoothness of the stop-start engine system. It's general equipment on the V6 engine and optional on the V8 engine.

2020 Ram 1500 Trims

Ram gives a truck for everything from down and dirty hauling to cushy cruising in style and class. The 2020 Ram 1500 presents seven trims:

2020 Ram 1500 the base Tradesman

2020 Ram 1500 HFE

2020 Ram 1500 Big Horn also called the Lone Star in Texas

2020 Ram 1500 The Off-road Rebel

2020 Ram 1500 Laramie

2020 Ram 1500 Longhorn

2020 Ram 1500 Limited trims

All are equipped with the coil-spring rear suspension and offer the mild-hybrid eTorque system, neither of which is matched in the half-ton pickup segment.

On most models, buyers can select from a quad cab with a long bed 6 feet, 4 inches, or a crew-cab configurations that also extends a shorter bed 5 feet, 7 inches dimension wise.

Many models come common with a 3.6-liter V6 engine -305 hp, 269 lb-ft with the eTorque mechanism, and they can be optioned up to a 5.7-liter V8 395 hp, 410 lb-ft with or without eTorque system. The V8 is standard on Laramie, LongHorn, and Limited trims.

The new diesel engine -260 hp, 480 lb-ft, is also available on any model with the excellency of the HFE, which is only presented in the quad cab body style with the V6 gasoline and rear-wheel drive as a whole.

A smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission is combined with each engine entirely.

The entry-level Tradesman comes with 18-inch steel wheels and some niceties such as a 5-inch touchscreen, a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, and push-button start. There's also a six-speaker stereo  and trailer sway damping. Crew-cab versions have second-row in-floor storage.

With some preferred updates for the HFE trim, which is essentially an efficiency-minded Tradesman model with an appearance package and few hardware deletions.

Upgrades include; 20-inch chrome wheels with low-rolling-resistance tires, side steps, a carpeted floor a tonneau cover, and front bucket seats than a 40/20/40-split-bench.

The HFE does not include a rear stabilizer bar, an engine oil cooler, or cargo tie-down hooks. Fuel economy rises one mpg in united and highway cycles in comparison to a rear-wheel-drive Tradesman with the V6 element.

Moving forward to the Big Horn and its Lone Star segment adds up; aluminum wheels, foglights, 18-inch, and a 60/40-split rear seat system.

The real leap comes in the available choices, comprising an 8.4-inch or even 12-inch touchscreen. Both provide Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

If you are thinking off-road, move to the Rebel with its sturdy styling features. A four skid plates and electronic locking rear axle are ready to hit the desert trail at full speed with full power and performance.

Ram takes a sharp turn toward affluence with the Laramie model. Here the 8.4-inch screen is common, so are the power mirrors and 20-inch wheels and the rear windows.

The leather-trimmed front seats are ventilated, heated, and power-adjustable absolutely. Driver assistance aspects such as forward collision warning and lane-keeping assist are presented in optional packages known as safety.

On the other hand, the Longhorn steps up to the plate with a leather-wrapped wood steering wheel, premium-leather bucket seats, and a spray-in bedliner.

The top-line Limited, in the crew cab with the short box only, takes things even further. It's loaded with attractive chrome trim and standard four-corner air suspension, bringing pickup trucks into the realm of true luxury vehicles.

In addition to infinite features packages and stand-alone affluent, tech, and mechanical choices, the Ram 1500 comes with a number of an exclusive package of graphics.

These involve the military-themed Built to Serve package with the 4x4 Off-Road Group package, 20-inch wheels, and low-production exterior colors not presented on other model and Black Edition and Night Edition packages, which adds black-colored styling attributes to higher-end trims.

No matter the trim you opt for, the Ram 1500 is a great empty slate to start building your dream truck. To make the most of its many facilities at an affordable cost, choose the Laramie trim for its massive leap in standard tool.

An 8.4-inch touchscreen, ventilated and heated front seats and access to attributes that aren't present on the Tradesman model and the Big Horn put its over the top in this segment.

Head towards the Reliance Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram updated inventory to get all your questions, attended related to the 2020 Ram 1500 truck trim levels and specifications in detail.

[rocketfromrussia]

Episode #248

Hello Hello Hello!

First pop punk block is great and features new fantastic songs by The Dopamines (Cincinnati, OH, USA), Frenzal Rhomb (Sydney, Australia), Hi-Standard (Tokyo, Japan), Robot Bachelor (Springfield, IL, USA), The Lillingtons (Wyoming, WY, USA), Isotopes (Vancouver, BC, Canada) and Teenage Bottlerocket (Laramie, WY, USA).

Second block is great as well because it consists of fantastic songs by Cock Sparrer, Booze & Glory (both London, UK), Derozer (Vicenza, Italy) and The Real McKenzies (Vancouver, BC, Canada).

Final block celebrates The Vicious Cycles 10th anniversary and the show they played for that reason! 

NOFX - We March to the Beat of Indifferent Drum [Wolves In Wolves' Clothing] THE DOPAMINES - The King of Swilling Powers, Part I, II, III [Tales of Interest] FRENZAL RHOMB - Don't Cast Aspergers On Me [Hi-Vis High Tea] HI-STANDARD - All Generations [The Gift] ROBOT BACHELOR - Interviewing Voices In My Head [The Third House Boat Album] THE LILLINGTONS - Until the Sun Shines [Project 313] ISOTOPES - Indian Summer [1994 World Series Champions] TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET - Gay Parade [Stealing the Covers] COCK SPARRER - Nothing Like You [Forever] DEROZER - Il cuore del mare [Passaggio a Nordest] BOOZE & GLORY - The Time Is Now [Chapter IV] THE REAL MCKENZIES - Northwest Passage [Two Devils Will Talk] THE VICIOUS CYCLES - Keep Your Hands Off of my Bike [The Strange and Terrible Saga of​.​.​.] THE TERRITORIES - New Thing [Demo] ALIEN BOYS - Gentrifriction [Self-Critical Theory] CHIXDIGGIT! - Nobody Understands Me [Pink Razors]

download / listen online

[itunesbooks]

The Laramie Project and The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later - Moises Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti & Andy Paris

The Laramie Project, one of the most-performed theater pieces in America, has become a modern classic. In this expanded edition, it is joined by an essential and moving sequel to the original play. On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of the town, the event was deeply personal. In the aftermath, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with its citizens. From the transcripts, the playwrights constructed an extraordinary chronicle of life in the town after the murder. In The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, the troupe revisits the town a decade after the tragedy, finding a community grappling with its legacy and its place in history. The two plays together comprise an epic and deeply moving theatrical cycle that explores the life of an American town over the course a decade. http://bit.ly/2VuyJXM

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Triceratops horridus, T. prorsus

By Cameron Clow, on @darktanion and who can be found professionally here at http://cameronclow.weebly.com/! 

PLEASE support us on Patreon! We really do need all of your support to keep this blog running - any amount helps!

Name: Triceratops horridus, T. prorsus

Name Meaning: Three Horn Face

First Described: 1889

Described By: Marsh

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Neoceratopsia, Coronosauria, Ceratopsoidea, Ceratopsidae, Chasmosaurinae, Triceratopsini

Behold - one of the most well known of non-avian Dinosaur genera. Triceratops lived about 68 to 66 million years ago, in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, making it one of the last Non-avian dinosaurs to have lived - and it certainly was unique among Ceratopsians, reaching extremely large sizes and having strange bodily proportions. It was about 7.9 to 9.0 meters long, and up to 2.9 to 3 meters in height. It probably would have weighed somewhere between 6 and 12 tonnes, but this is still under scrutiny (as most weight measurements are). 

By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs

There are two species - and yes, both of them are valid for once - with T. horridus mainly different from T. prorsus due to having a shallower snout, as well as being from different times in history (for the most part). They were very stocky and study, and though when I was a kid it was highly debated whether or not the front limbs would have had to sprawl, it has been concluded nowadays that, indeed, the front limbs would have been positioned under the body, with the elbows flexed and only slightly bowed out like in modern rhinoceros. 

By Matt Martyniuk, CC BY-SA 4.0

Given that it could not pronate it’s hands, like other dinosaurs, it had a unique strategy for walking on all fours - it walked with it’s fingers pointing out away from the body, like in other Ceratopsians and in quadrupedal Ornithopods. It is also known to have scale impressions which are, as yet, unpublished; however, these skin impressions are truly unlike anything else we’ve seen in other Ceratopsians, with a network of large hexagonal tubercules and conical projections. It is uncertain what these structures would have represented in life, and they do not rule out feather bristles (as seen on Psittacosaurus, a distant relative); so the jury is still out on what, exactly, the integument of Triceratops was, and, obviously, more published research is required; for now, scales are a definite, and quills and other structures are possible in addition to them. 

By Charles Nye on @ad-0rca-ble!

The first named Triceratops was thought to have been from the Pliocene, and thus, there’s the funny fluke of Triceratops first being called a bison, which is hilarious. Many other species have also been named, but only T. horridus and T. prorsus remain. It is known from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, the Evanston Formation of Wyoming, the Scollard Formation of Alberta, the Laramie Formation of Colorado, the Lance Formation of Wyoming, and the Denver Formation of Colorado - so the general northwestern United States and southwestern Canada region. It lived alongside many other dinosaurs, most famously Tyrannosaurus, which probably preyed upon it; in fact, there are remains of Triceratops horns and skulls with tyrannosaur tooth marks and new growth after breakage, indicating the dinosaurs encountered - the Tyrannosaurus hunting the Triceratops - and the Triceratops walked away. 

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable​

Triceratops also shows extensive evidence of intra-specific combat, with a hole found in one skull that matches up with the horns of Triceratops, which was also healed, indicating that the two individuals fought one another. Studies of wounds found in skulls have also indicated that Triceratops not only probably engaged in intraspecific combat, but also used its frill as a defenseve mechanism against predators, given it’s relatively robust structure (compared to other Ceratopsians). In addition, like in other Ceratopsians, it probably doubled as a display structure, to intimidate other members of the species, distinguish between species, and to attract mates. 

By Jem McCormick on @excessively-english-little-b

Though it is often depicted as living in herds, almost all remains of Triceratops are known from solitary individuals; groupings of juveniles are known, but bonebeds of Triceratops are rare. This would indicate that they did not, in fact, live in large herding groups like modern bison - but may have been mostly solitary like modern rhinoceros. Small family groups have also been found, of varying individuals of varying ages, indicating that  it seems likely that they lived in small family groups. What composition these family groups were in is uncertain - they could have been mated pairs, or females grouping together to care for their young. (All I’m saying is, sapphic Triceratops are totally in the realm of possibility. Like the two lovely ladies above.)

By José Carlos Cortés on @ryuukibart​

Much is known about the life cycle of this animal, with many individuals from various ontogenetic stages known. Babies, juveniles, subadults, and adults are all known, showing a clear progression through life - from the babies having diminished horns and frill, to the juveniles growing those features out, including developing triangle-like osteoderms on the frill. This is an extensive amount of change already seen in bone development and growth, and it highly varied between individuals, with many growing longer or more curved horns, bigger frills, and even frill without known projections around the side. Indeed, there’s so much variation in Triceratops individuals - and it is such a common animal in it’s time and formations - that scientists have a nasty habit of taking seemingly extra-unique Triceratops specimens and assigning them to new genera. 

The gang’s all here! By Jack Wood, José Carlos Cortés, and Scott Reid; assembled by me

However, I’ve already covered the biggest question on that score in my Torosaurus entry, so I will leave that controversy at that. As for other dinosaurs that lived alongside Triceratops, there were indeed many: in Hell Creek especially, it lived alongside such dinosaurs as Acheroraptor and Dakotaraptor, Struthiomimus and Ornithomimus, Pectinodon and Paronychodon, Anzu and Leptorhynchos, Avisaurus and Brodavis, Ankylosaurus and Denversaurus, Leptoceratops and various probable- ontogenetic stages of Triceratops like Nedoceratops and Tatankaceratops and Torosaurus, Thescelosaurus and Edmontosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus and so many others. Similar collections of fauna were found in other formations it lived in, and it usually lived in forest and floodplain environments, where it would have eaten large amounts of fibrous plant material such as palms, cycads, and ferns. 

Sources:

http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2015/12/dinosaur-scales-some-thoughts-for.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triceratops

Shout out goes to @inserthumanhere!

[underwearparade]

This video shows you how hideous the trails/landscape around Laramie are, and how dreadful UW/downtown looks, and rude members of the cycling community (trust me, I know both of those guys). Bleck. Just stay away from here.

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Investors Follow Tourists to Rocky Mountain Region

Cities and towns scattered throughout the Rocky Mountains have become a year-round playground for tourists coming to enjoy the scenic beauty and outdoor recreation ranging from skiing and snowboarding to hiking and mountain biking. And that strong tourism industry helps to support a thriving hotel market.

The U.S. hotel has been on a strong bull run over the past several years. Recent data shows that demand is pushing the industry to new highs for occupancies and revenues. In October, U.S. occupancy averaged 69.9%, which was the highest monthly occupancy ever recorded in October. ADR and RevPAR also hit new records in October with RevPAR that increased 3.5% and ADR growth of 2.7%, according to STR (the leading hotel market data and benchmarking company). And the latest industry forecast released by STR and Tourism Economics points to a lower, but still positive forecast ahead for 2019 with occupancies that are expected to hold steady amid new supply and ADR and RevPAR that will both grow at 2.3% and 2.4% respectively.

Against that backdrop, hotel investors are working harder to find viable investment opportunities that generate favorable yields. One area of the country that is attracting attention is the Rocky Mountain region where acquisition opportunities run the gamut from luxury resorts to boutique hotels. Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are home to four of the top 10 most visited national parks in the country with Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier. Cities such as Denver, Jackson Hole, and Boise serve as gateway markets for visitors exploring the region.

According to Reonomy, hotel sales in Denver have been choppy in recent years with some large deals boosting volume in both 2015 and 2018 and more subdued sales volumes sandwiched in between in 2016 and 2017.

2015 – 11 properties traded for $352.8 million

2016 – 9 properties for $95.7 million

2017 – 7 properties for $54.9 million

2018 – 21 properties sold for $245.1 million

Across all property types, Boise has been posting steady sales activity with sales that have exceeded $1 billion for the past few years, including $1.9 billion in 2017 and $1.2 billion year-to-date 2018 through November. Sales are tougher to track in Jackson Hole, but according to Reonomy, the town of Jackson has reported three sales over the past two years that sold for a combined price of $21.8 million.

215 N Cache St, Jackson, WY 83001 – $561,563

930 W Broadway Ave, Jackson, WY 83001 – $18,125,000

265 N Millward St, Jackson, WY 83001 – $3,125,000

Denver Attracts Investment

A significant volume of capital has been focused on Denver with tourism and business growth that has been fueling demand for hotel rooms. That interest also has resulted in a spike in development activity. According to Marcus & Millichap, Denver had an estimated 4,100 units underway at the start of 2018 and an equal amount that was expected to break ground by year-end.

The hotel industry has been booming in Denver with an estimated 46,000 hotel rooms in the greater metro – 10,000 of which are within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center and more projects that are under construction or proposed. Other states in the region are benefiting from increased demand and more limited supply increases. Some of the notable new projects that are under construction or proposed in the region include:

A new 233-room Hilton Garden Inn Union Station is under construction in the heart of Denver’s LoDo neighborhood near Union Station and Coors Field. The project is set to open in February 2019.

A new 157-unit Element Hotel by Marriott is under construction at 13th Avenue & Elati Street in Denver. The project will feature one- and two-bedroom guest rooms with full kitchenettes and is set to open in spring 2019.

Denver has several more projects that have been proposed that include two projects proposed by Stonebridge Companies. One is a new 200-room, seven-story hotel in Downtown Denver at 17th & Blake, while the second is a 382-room, 21-story hotel at 15th & Stout that will be dual branded by Home2 Suites and Tru Hotels by Hilton.

One major project that broke ground in Montana in 2018 is the $400 million Montage Big Sky, an ultra-luxury resort in Big Sky that will open in 2021. The resort is located about 45-minutes from Yellowstone and expects to serve visitors to the park with 150 guestrooms and suites, 39 Montage Residences and a variety of resort amenities that include restaurants, swimming pools, spa and ski services.

Boise has been experiencing its own smaller scale building boom. In July, the Boise City Council approved a new hotel development on Front Street between 5th and 6th Streets. The seven-story, 138-room Home2 Suites by Hilton will be the fifth new hotel built in the last year.

Although Denver has been a strong performer in recent years, the weight of new supply being added to the market has created a dip in occupancies and room rates. For example, among the top 25 markets that STR tracks, Denver was in the bottom five for fundamentals in October with occupancies that dropped 1.7% along with ADR and RevPAR that fell by -0.9% and -2.6% respectively.

Despite that softening, Denver continues to offer the biggest potential for investment opportunities in the region simply due to the size of the market and still active development pipeline. The broader hospitality market remains highly fragmented with a variety of tourist towns scattered through the region. From the likes of Colorado’s Aspen, Breckenridge and Estes Park, to cities such as Laramie, Wyo. and Boseman, Mont. The latter two are home to colleges and bigger business bases that fuel demand for hotel rooms beyond just tourism. Investors also need to be mindful of the late-cycle risks that exist relative to demand drivers in the smaller secondary and tertiary markets in this region.

RSS Feed provided by theBrokerList Blog - Are you on theBrokerList for commercial real estate (cre)? and Investors Follow Tourists to Rocky Mountain Region was written by Reonomy.

Investors Follow Tourists to Rocky Mountain Region published first on https://greatlivinghomespage.tumblr.com/

[olympicgames-en]

Senior Summer Olympic Games a success in Laramie

#OlympicGames #SummerOlympics [Laramie Boomerang]I knew I didn’t stand a chance of winning the gold. I looked at the two women, one on each side of me, as we waited our turn to start the 20K road cycling race. It was Day One of the Wyoming Senior Ol...