#why most of Kentucky has a very low life expectancy

[bibliobile]

Trampoline by Robert Gipe

Gipe, Robert. Trampoline: An Illustrated Novel. Ohio University Press, 2015.

Summary-

Trampoline written by Robert Gipe, is told from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old girl named Dawn Jewell. Dawn Jewell lives in Eastern Kentucky and her life is absolutely anything but simple. Dawn describes herself as a:

“freak, soft and four-eyed, with black fingernail polish, a dead daddy, a drunk momma, a crackhead brother, outlaw uncles, and divorced grandparents who made trouble for normal people every time they come off the ridge” (p. 70)

 Her father died when she was nine in a coal mining accident, her mother has been an alcoholic/drug-user every since and has moved in with her boyfriend Hubert, otherwise known as Uncle Hubert, her dead father’s brother. Her mother and Hubert’s drug use drove her to go live with her Mamaw who is the matriarch of her family and parts of the community. Mamaw is an environmental advocate for the area, and wants the strip mining on Bear Mountain nearby to stop. Unfortunately, even though strip mining is harming the land and the people on it, it also keeps food in the mouths of most of Canard County including many members of their own family. When Dawn attends a town meeting about the strip mining on Bear Mountain, she can’t help but defend her Mamaw from the cruel words of angry mining families; but when her outburst is recorded and played on the local radio station, she finds herself at the front lines of the controversial movement with a target on her back.

From this point on Dawn must decide weather she is going to save herself or save the mountains she holds so dear, and if there is anyway, she can do both. Her Mamaw wants her to stay with her Aunt June, away from Canard County, where she can live a calm life away from the constant drug use and illegal activity of her family. But for Dawn, the simple life is more nerve-wracking and complicated than trauma filled life of home. Dawn is confronted with the choice to stay in Canard County where she is comfortable and knows what to expect despite being looked down on by most of her community for her environmental stances; or stay with her Aunt June and live a more ‘normal’ life with dinner on the table in the evenings and a boy that wants to hold her hand. How can she decide where she is going to be happy as a teenager, and soon to be young adult, if the last time she truly felt it she was only a child?

Personal Response-

Reading Trampoline was eye opening for me in ways I did not expect at all. It in my opinion was one of the most accurate portrayals of a young mind in YA literature that I have read in a long time. Trampoline reminded me what it was like to truly be in the grips of adolescence yet somehow still feel beyond it because you are expected to deal with issues that are much bigger than yourself. Dawn is constantly told by those around her that she doesn’t act like she is fifteen, yet for the readers who get to experience her inner monologue, she is exactly fifteen in every way. She longs to fit in, she is tired of being bullied, she has a temper that flares up at the worst moments and she herself doesn’t even know why, and in times of conflict and stress she still wants her mom -no matter how much her mother has mistreated her.

The highs and lows of adolescence are coursing through her all while she is learning of the very ‘adult’ world around her. Dawn is forced to witness the degradation of her mother as she descends deeper into addiction, and what was once just alcohol turns into weed, then opioids. There’s even a section of the book where Dawn’s mother decides she wants to give Dawn a makeover, while she is extremely high. Even though Dawn really doesn’t want to go along with it, she does, because it’s her mother.  Dawn’s mom ends up shaving parts of her head and dying the rest bright green even when Dawn protests. I think the most heartbreaking part of this scene in the book is her mother laughing at her appearance as she leaves the room. Dawn is forced to come to the realization that just because they are supposed to be the ones taking care of you, does not mean they always have your best interest at heart. Dawn is forced to lose yet another piece of her adolescence which is the idea that adults are supposed to always look out for you as a child, especially your parents.

Connections-

Robert Gipe has created some of the most well-rounded characters I have ever read in a young adult novel, every character has their flaws and redeeming qualities, even if the ratio is VERY skewed in one direction or the other for some of them.  I also really enjoyed how this book told the story of a teen girl who is coming of age but avoids the stereotypical pitfalls of being boy crazy, fashion obsessed, makeup slathered and materialistic, instead he allows Dawn to simply be a young person who in my opinion, anyone, regardless of gender identity, can relate to in one way or another.

For all of these reasons, and more, I would absolutely love to teach Trampoline in my future classroom. It perfectly tackles serious issues as and relatable adolescent mindsets, while inserting comical anecdotes and metaphors at the perfect moments. It also makes amazing use of figurative language which I love. Dawn is constantly making hilariously accurate similes and metaphors such as:

 "The state people sat like prizes at a carnival game, eyes wide and blank, stuffed pink monkeys, green hippopotamuses piled too close together. Every once in a while they would take a note, but not that often" (12).

Trampoline is also littered with drawings and doodles done by ‘Dawn’ that add an extra layer to the way we see the world through her eyes. There are not enough in my opinion to make it a graphic novel, but just enough to add an extra element to analyze and create a deeper understanding of the story being told. As someone who is not a huge fan of graphic novels, I think this would be a perfect way to teach symbolism in images without having to fully go into a graphic novel unit.

[dionandorange]

I am smarter than most of those guys and I do understand that a lot of those right right bastards are doctors and they are very very stupid. I’m too good to ever date those kind of men.

I should not have to apologize for being brilliant. I should not have to be accused of being a narcissist.

And Dr. Miller you need to slow your fucking roll you dumb Cunt

She is the fucking problem she is the reason why women and women don’t get along women like me children like me understood basic respect, but I also think that Dr. Miller probably comes from a lower class background and so she does not have class privilege

Well, that’s most of Kentucky

Amber says she’s an expert at human trafficking victims I suppose since she calls the cops, knowing that that is a button that she is something of a victim but I promise you when the mafia and CIA get a hold of you. Oh, darlin’ your life is over.

We do not treat human trafficking victims like that and when you catch that if you do not drop a hammer on those fuck bags, may you be killed by a bigger mafia fish, your honour

And besides, I don’t think Kentucky has seenome of the other TV shows yet they haven’t seen the parts where some of the really important royal people actually got out of shit and dropped a hammer on like everybody.

And if I am terroristically threatening, but your children are constantly plagiarizing yeah right so about that we still have a zero child molester policy in America so if you think that I’m being mean to you after everything that I have put up with gay community, shove it up your ass, you should be kissing my feet to be honest with you the unicorn shit you shove that up your ass. Also all of you all of you locally yes because you sit around and you watch other people get hurt and then you expect that it’s OK to say that Rebecca is a terrorist because you want everything that Rebecca is isn’t that right Lee cocks why don’t you suck Darren Hayes‘s dick, because he’s not gonna let you because you’re low class why does he want me to suck his dick? Why doesn’t he want you to suck his dick? I rest my case Faggot

Anyway, the judge is going to call you a Faggot behind closed doors. Are you going to call him a terrorist also

Or will people ever be permitted to have their own opinions? You don’t want the world to be unique or colourful at all

[forasecondtherewedwon]

Kentucky Calling

Pairing: Beth Harmon/Benny Watts Rating: T Word Count: 1426

Summary: Beth calls Benny up, hoping to talk a few things through after Russia, and finds him just as eager to hear her voice as she is to hear his.

“What?”

Beth’s eyebrows rise at Benny’s fed-up tone.

“Well, this isn’t the greeting I was expecting.” She smiles against the receiver.

“Beth?”

“That’s right,” she says with a laugh in her voice. “Who am I supposed to be?”

He groans and her smile widens, sure his irritation is not for her.

“The fucking State Department.”

“Why are you angry at the State Department?”

“They wouldn’t give me any details about you, when you were expected back. I managed to keep one son of a bitch on the line half an hour, but he just squirmed the whole time, refusing to share your itinerary. Where are— You’re back,” he says with sudden realization.

She hears him calm and uses the change to judge how worried he was a moment ago. Fairly worried, Beth decides. Oh, Benny.

“Yep. In Lexington as we speak. Calling from my own kitchen.”

He sighs.

“You might’ve let me know.”

“You know, I asked on the plane, but the pilot just wouldn’t radio the control tower to call you up for me,” she jokes. She laughs.

“So, did you give them the slip?”

“More or less. The State Department’s itinerary didn’t align very well with mine at the end there. I stayed a couple extra days to actually experience a little of the city and then flew home by myself.”

“Huh.”

“Benny?”

“Yeah?”

Beth grips the phone.

“Are you going to forgive me for worrying you? Now that I’ve confirmed they didn’t lose me over the Atlantic?”

“You yes. Them? No. Those bastards deserve a little hassling after they didn’t fund your trip. They pay a guy to watch you every waking goddamn minute, plus his flight, his room—how much does that cost?”

“I can’t believe you’ve been sitting around harassing the government on my behalf,” Beth says wonderingly, partly to head off Benny’s building rant. The man loves to talk.

“Well, the others got sick of me, as you can imagine.”

“Harry? Matt? The others? They’re still with you?”

“Can’t get rid of ‘em. They’ve been celebrating since you won and sleeping that off until midafternoon. When they drag themselves out to have lunch somewhere, I… well, I sit around with the phone to my ear, on hold, looking for you.”

“I beat him,” she whispers, because she can finally break the news to him herself.

“You did.” She can feel Benny smiling in the long pause. She’s doing the same. “I saw the writeup of your moves; looked like the most expensive phone call I’ve ever made was worth something.”

“It meant a lot. If you hadn’t had a clue about what I should try next against Borgov, it would’ve meant the same.”

“Look. I’m… I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did before you left. I felt terrible about it right away.”

“Good. And I…” Beth takes a deep breath that she’s sure he can hear. She twists the phone cord around her finger and tilts her head back against the wall. “…I shouldn’t have pushed you away in the first place. I hurt you, I could hear it in your voice, and—”

“I don’t need excuses. It was shortsighted of me to get defensive. What you were trying to accomplish was bigger than me.”

She agrees with a hum and adds, “Yes. Beating communists in the name of Jesus is for the good of us all.”

She thrills at his burst of laughter.

“How the hell did you pay for Moscow without them?”

“Jolene. You’ll meet her sometime, I hope.”

“If that means I can see you again, I’d be glad to.”

Now, there’s a distinct lack of breath because they both seem to be holding it.

“You will,” she says. After grazing her gaze thoughtfully around the kitchen, Beth frowns and remembers something. “Did the papers say anything about how Borgov looked at the end of the match?”

“They said he took the defeat with dignity. That he hugged you—is that true?”

She rolls her eyes at Benny’s poorly disguised annoyance.

“Yes, but I mean his face. He seemed at peace. Like I had helped him, somehow. Other people I’ve played, and I’m sure people you’ve played too, have this franticness, this terrifying, transparently obvious floundering quality. They don’t know what they’re going to do with the next five minutes of their life after losing, never mind months or years. But Borgov knew. His wife and son were always with him. I think, at the end, he was ready to be with his family.” She waits a second or two, mentally checking and confirming her next move before she speaks. “That’s what I want too.”

“I— What is this, Beth? A proposal?”

She laughs and clutches the phone as she shakes her head.

“Of course not. I just want you to know that you’re important to me.” Her voice grows solemn and fond. “Thank you for calling. I’ll never forget it.”

“I guess I had enough to get to Moscow with you after all,” Benny says, speech softening similarly until he sounds impossibly intimate. Like he only really has that time he said he missed her. The fact that he’s more vulnerable like this than he is face-to-face is something Beth enjoys about them being far enough apart to need to call. He clears his throat. “So it’s good that you weren’t trying to propose, because we know my, uh, allocation of funds could use some improvement and you don’t need to saddle yourself with that.”

“I certainly don’t. I have three thousand dollars to pay back to Jolene and then… I don’t know. Keep paying for the house.”

Beth twirls her hand in the air to indicate it, though he’s not there to see. If she tries, she can picture his leather jacket folded over the back of a chair, his hat tossed carelessly onto the counter. It’s not a bad picture. Definitely not the worst domestic vignette this place has ever staged.

“Grand plans.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“Make fun of the woman who just annihilated the World Champion? I wouldn’t dare. You’d drive straight out here and do to me what you did to Borgov. I can only be humbled like that so often.”

“Once every fifteen years?” she prompts.

“Hmm, ideally, but I won’t be able to resist playing you that long.”

“Well, I won’t go easy.”

“Going easy would only insult me,” Benny assures her.

“Got it. You prefer being beaten so thoroughly that I have to sweep the ashes of your ego off the board afterwards. Like dust.”

“I’m not rushing to play you again after that comment.”

“We could do something else. When I see you,” Beth elaborates, feeling herself perk up, her back straightening. “We don’t have to play chess.”

“The two of us, not playing chess.” He sounds like he’s genuinely contemplating it. “That’s original, but I don’t think it’d last very long. How much of the time we’ve shared has been spent not playing chess? I’ll tell you: very little.”

“But it’s possible. Whether or not you’ll stop talking about chess, on the other hand…”

“I—ha—I do remember a particular instance of you being ticked off at me about that.”

Whether or not Beth has consciously led them there, they’ve arrived. At least he can recall that going over strategy immediately after they had sex didn’t impress her, though he was befuddled by her brusqueness at the time.

“You wanna show me that you’ve learned from that?” she challenges.

She hears the groan he must be muffling behind his hand.

“If I told you in full how badly I want to show you that, we’d be running up another big telephone bill.”

Beth smiles coyly to herself and taps her fingernail against the back of the receiver.

“How big, Benny?”

“Beth, I— Hey, you’re back!” His voice is louder and she understands it’s for other people, the friends who have reentered his apartment. “No, idiot, she doesn’t want to talk to you. She doesn’t have to tell me, I already know.”

“Tell them all I hope to see them soon,” she pipes up to reclaim Benny’s attention. They can’t carry on now.

She hears him deliver her message before his voice sinks low again for her, his audience of one.

“Can you come to New York?” he asks. It has the ring of a riddle with all the times he’s posed the question to her before.

“Fuck that,” Beth says, grinning. “I’ll see you in Kentucky the day after tomorrow.”

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Opportunity Knox and Cameo

We’re treated to something a bit special this episode! No, not the art and animation quality, as that’s…kinda weak this time. Or maybe I should say Brain is drawn and animated kinda nightmarishly in a lot of parts? Well, you’ll see.

No, the special thing about this episode is that it’s written by Tom Minton, the writer at Warner Brothers who was the original inspiration for The Brain! The general idea for Pinky and the Brain as characters and as a show came from Tom Ruegger having an office close by to Tom Minton and Eddie Fitzgerald, two writers and storyboard artists who he would often hear laughing and joking around together but usually couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying. Minton usually spoke low and quietly and was more introverted, while Fitzgerald was much more outgoing and loud…basically already like a cartoon come to life (Eddie actually did exclaim things like ‘Narf’ occasionally in reality, which was an aspect that was added to and exaggerated in Pinky’s character). The fact that these two guys who were viewed as total opposites by their colleagues were good friends and spent so much time working together in secret lead to everyone joking that they were secretly trying to take over the world.

That isn’t to say that Pinky and Brain are 100% cartoon copies of Eddie and Tom—our mouse duo definitely veered off into their own distinct personalities very quickly—but the basic bones of their characters came from these two real life men. That makes me wonder about how surreal it must have been for Tom Minton to write for episodes starring Pinky and the Brain. He only did so four times in Animaniacs (and Eddie Fitzgerald never directly worked on Animaniacs or Pinky and the Brain, to my knowledge).

In any case, let’s move on to the actual episode.

We open to a multitude of bubbling beakers of mysterious liquids and one scientist working alone at night in the Acme Labs. She sneezes a few times, and then exclaims that she’s only a few steps away from curing the common cold.

…Man, Acme Labs is a total shitshow when it comes to their work, aren’t they? In addition to all the blatantly cruel experiments on animals that they do, just look at how lax this scientist is about lab safety. I’ll give her props for at least wearing her lab coat properly and tying her long hair up, which is something most media usually gets wrong. The fact that she’s doing this medical experiment while not wearing gloves or proper eye protection or a mask is very troubling. Not to mention that she’s doing all this while being very sick, if her violent sneezes are anything to go by.

Hmm, that cage is looking suspiciously empty.

Well, well! Looks like our mousey duo is up to something.

“Ahehehehe, oh this is gonna be great, Brain! Narf!”

“Quiet, Pinky!”

OH LORD, SHE JUST CHUGS IT HERSELF! Lady, PLEASE! The fact that this “cure” is piss-coloured only makes it worse.

Sweetie, I think this needs more peer-reviewed, double-blind tests before you can truthfully say that you’ve made a cure for the common cold. You have no proper safety gear on and you’re doing this experiment all alone at night with no one to check up on you.

Oh no. Boys, what are you doing?

So they catapult some powdery substance on her and she goes into a more violent sneezing fit than before. She leaves the room to go “back to the drawing board”, but honestly I’m hoping that she just goes home and isolates herself for a while.

“Success, Pinky!”

“Egad, Brain, what is this stuff?!”

“A new strain of pollen I created myself, Pinky. It causes a temporary but uncontrollable fit of allergic sneezing in man.”

Pinky looks very disturbed by this (although I suppose it doesn’t help that Brain has that very smug and devious look on his face) until Brain says that the effect is temporary. It’s a nice little detail that shows us approximately where Pinky’s lines of morality are. Brain makes his own strain of pollen to cause humans to have severe sneezing fits? That’s amazing but horrifying! Oh, it’s only temporary? Well okay, then. It’s fine if it doesn’t cause any lasting harm.

“No human is immune.”

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! Holy fuck, show, don’t give me a jumpscare like that!

“Do you realize what we will do with this pollen, Pinky?”

“Umm… Open a boutique?”

GAH! I told you to stop doing that! Seriously, what’s up with the way Brain’s draw in this episode?

“Yes, that’s it. We’ll open a boutique and sell ladies’ clothing and pollen.”

“Egad, Brain, what fun! I like this idea, I do! Hehehahahaha!~”

Of course he would. Of course he’d like working in a more domestic setting and selling ladies’ clothing.

…Say, now that I think of it, I think this might be the first time we get a hint as to Pinky’s love of what’s stereotypically thought of as women’s clothing. Hmm.

BONK!

“Focus, Pinky, FOCUS!”

Brain, sweetie, not everyone goes into tunnel-visioned hyperfocus like you do.

“We shall do no less than go to Fort Knox, Kentucky: keeper of the nation’s gold supply. There, we will expose the guards to our pollen…”

Despite the general awkwardness of the animation this episode, I like the way Brain is drawn here from over the shoulder. Very nice work.

Also…”our” pollen? Brain, you made that yourself. I guess this is just another example of Brain subconsciously including Pinky in everything.

“…and while they’re sneezing uncontrollably, we’ll move into the vault and take the gold!”

Brain’s plan blueprints are such a treat. Gold! Gold! Gold!

“For he who controls this nation’s capital, controls the nation!”

Okay, this close-up is a little better.

“Off to Fort Knox!”

“Oh! Wait! But isn’t the nation’s capital in Washington, DC?”

BONK!

“Capital as in money, Pinky!”

Oh come on now, Brain. It was an easy mistake to make. Also “capital” in this instance can mean more than money if you want to get semantic about it.

Brain grabs Pinky’s tail to drag him away again. It’s a wonder that Pinky’s tail isn’t as kinked up and injured as Brain’s is by now.

Ooo, improvised tools time!

“But how are we gonna get to Fort Knox, Brain?”

“We’ll simply borrow one of the lab’s technological resources:”

“The minivan!”

Pinky, are you mildly swooning over Brain acquiring a minivan? I…

This does bring up a point I wanted to make, though. Sometimes fans will question why Pinky and Brain stay at Acme Labs despite being put through so much inhumane and humiliating bullshit. While it’s true that Brain doesn’t much like the experiments he’s subjected to (Pinky is…another story entirely), I’m pretty sure he keeps the labs as his home because it’s incredibly convenient for his world domination plans. These are ACME labs, after all, and regardless of how terrible the experiments are, Acme has access to just about every bit of technology in the Warner Brothers cartoon universe. Brain can find or order whatever parts he needs for his latest world domination plan whenever he wants, and no human bats an eye at mysterious bits and bobs showing up because, well, it’s Acme. Acme is in the business of doing absolutely everything. No matter what daytime tortures Brain goes through, the lab is an incredible asset to him, and he’d be foolish to give that up.

Hello again, Warner siblings! I hope you’re having fun tonight.

That’s an awfully tiny sack of pollen to take for this trip…

“Won’t we get in trouble, Brain?”

“’Get in trouble’? Pinky, we’re going to take over the world!”

I just like the tiny silhouettes in this screencap.

“Besides, we’ll have the van back here by 8 am.”

“Oh! All right, then!”

[Quickly googles how long it would take to drive from Burbank California to Fort Knox]

…Are you sure about that, Brain? Are you really, positively sure?

Oh my goodness, a little winch and pulley system! That’s a little convoluted, but it’s adorable.

“Oi! Nice threads, Brain! But, err, why the disguise?”

“If we are to succeed in our mission, I must pass for an average, non-descript motorist, Pinky.”

I agree, Pinky. Brain always looks good in a suit.

Also he’s on a literal soap box, holy shit.

“So while we’re driving, call me Mr. Perkins.”

A trillby?!? Put it back! Putitbackputitbackputitback!

“Say no more! Brilliant, Brain!”

“Mr. Perkins.”

Oh no, he’s threatening to punch the audience now!

“Ooo, right, right. Narf! Heh, Mr. Per-kins.~”

“Pinky, start your engine!”

So Pinky tugs on a rope tied to the car keys to start the minivan, and I bet we can all already tell that he’s going to be doing most of the hard work for this roadtrip.

“Now depress the brake!”

I half expected a joke here where Pinky would say depressing things to the brake, but that didn’t happen. It’s just as well, I suppose. Pinky’s not usually the type to be mean to anyone or anything.

Instead, he pushes himself into the brake.

This made me curious about how strong real mice are. According to this scientific article, the average mouse can lift approximately 70 g in weight.That’s not a lot compared to us humans, of course, but seeing as the average weight of the common house mouse is 19 g (and common wood mice are on average 23 g), that’s really impressive! Still, for Pinky to be able to depress the brake is quite a feat that’s worlds beyond what the average real-life mouse can do.

Yes, yes, I know. It’s all cartoon logic and physics. That’s not going to stop me from having the headcanon that Pinky and the Brain have both been modified so much by Acme Labs that in addition to becoming sapient and intelligent, they’re basically little mouse superheroes in strength, too.

“Yes! Now I’ll shift the transmission into gear and…you give it the gas!”

Man, Pinky just slams his entire body onto the gas pedal with all his mousey might! You can hear him physically strain against it. Well done, Mr. Paulsen!

“Now Pinky, let us, in the vernacular, ‘take this hog out on the road and see who’s boss’!”

Oh lord, Brain’s on a slight power trip just from being able to drive a vehicle. If he ever does rule over the world one day, I fear he may explode from the sheer ego-high of it.

Anyway, on the way to Fort Knox they get stuck behind a rather slow transport truck. Well, Brain can’t have that! He’s got to get back to the lab by 8 am after all!

“Pinky! Prepare to pass a slow-moving vehicle!”

“Righty-o, Brain!”

Again, Pinky, I’m pretty sure you really aren’t supposed to stick your ass and chest out while saluting. You’re supposed to keep your posture straight.

…What am I saying? Pinky can’t do anything straight.

“Call me Mr. Perkins! Activate left turn indicator now.”

Aww, a little hop!~

Unfortunately it’s the wrong lever.

“…Let’s try that again, Pinky.”

“Narf! Wrong switch.”

He sits down to think and of course he gets it right that way.

Anyone else enjoying a lesson on how to drive from Pinky and the Brain? No? Just me? I mean, I already know how, but this is super cute.

“Exemplary work, Pinky!”

Brain, he just…he just pulled a switch. By accident. The fact that he’s so sincere about complimenting him for this is very cute but also very odd. I guess Brain’s in a good mood tonight.

“But we’re slowing down. Quickly, step on the gas!”

“Gas, check!”

Pinky, no!

Oh lord, he just lets himself fall directly on the gas pedal. You okay there, dude?

“Maintain pedal pressure, Pinky!”

I don’t think he has much of a choice, Brain.

So they get beside the freight truck and the driver of it picks up his CB radio mic.

“Hey, breaker breaker one nine, this here’s Big Red. Eh…what’s your handle, good buddy? Over.”

“The name’s Perkins. MISTER Perkins. Just an average, non-descript motorist.”

Wh—Why is there a CB radio installed in the Acme Lab minivan?

Pinky chooses this moment to lift himself off the gas pedal and then jump back on it in a weirdly showy, semi-acrobatic way. The first screencap has the tip of his tail almost in the shape of a heart, so I had to include it.

Our duo pass by the freight truck. Needless to say, the truck driver is still pretty rattled by his run-in with “Mr. Perkins”.

“I gotta quit eatin’ them double onion chili dogs!…”

Usually people just run with it on this show, but this is one of those rare moments where a human being doesn’t inexplicably fall for one of Brain’s horrible human disguises.

The minivan’s grill looks like teeth here and it’s almost menacing.

Uh oh, Brain’s getting dozy.

“Pinky…I’m in need of some music to keep myself raptly alert. And use the cruise control this time so we don’t lose speed!”

I don’t know why I’m so charmed by Pinky pressing the cruise control button like this, but it’s very cute.

“Cruise control on, Br—aaaerr—umm, Mr. Perkins!”

He is trying his best. :3c

“[yawn] Stellar, Pinky. Now see if you can locate a local radio station frequency.”

“Narf! Wrong knob…”

Smacking the hell out of the right knob make the radio explode into a loud yet incredibly mild generic rock tune. I’m surprised Pinky’s so alarmed. I wonder if Brain—

JEEZUS FUCK! You gotta stop giving me a heart attack with these sudden messed up close-ups of Brain, episode!

“Turn off the radio, Pinky!”

“Heeey! This knob’s loose!”

Aaaand there he goes.

“Oohoo ahaha! What’d’ya know? The lighter works!”

I wonder if Pinky knows what that’s actually for at this point, considering his utter disdain for smoking later in the spin-off?

“The radio, Pinky!”

“Ooo, right. Almost forgot!”

Uh oh.

“Whew. Suddenly I feel downright feverish, I do…”

Pinky has become a Charmander, and he’s not happy about it.

So he’s screaming and shouting his verbal tics all over the place and what’s Brain’s reaction?

“There’s no need for you to entertain me personally, Pinky. I’m quite awake now.”

BRAIN! You wipe that smug smile off your face right now, you little jerk! I know Pinky will be okay because he always is, but still.

One screen wipe later…

“Kentucky, Pinky! We made it!”

“All right, Brain!”

“Mister PERKINS!”

Brain, I think Pinky’s just not into this roleplay tonight. Or it might be your trillby. Lose the damn trillby.

“Fort Knox is mere miles away. Nothing can stop us now!”

Well, looks like you jinxed yourself.

I’ve got no love for cops, but his “what the fuck” expression here is choice.

“Good evening, officer. Was I exceeding the speed limit?”

“By about a hundred miles an hour.”

Oh, is that all? They’d need to be over by, like, a thousand or so miles an hour to make as good of a time as they did getting here.

Maybe this guy is going to arrest them for breaking the laws of time and space.

“I’m sorry, y’see—“

Shining a flashlight directly into your eyes? Yup, this is definitely a cop.

“I’m Mr. Perkins, an average, non-descript—“

“Can I see your license and registration, please?”

And then Pinky immediately interrupts the shakedown with a happy, matter-of-fact “We don’t have any! Zort! :D” and now my mind wanders off into let’s-overanalyze-the-shit-out-of-this-joke-scene territory because… Look at this. A cop pulls over a vehicle from Acme Labs doing about a hundred miles over the speed limit and finds Brain, a mouse in a suit trying to pass as a human driver. Then Pinky, who is dressed in no such disguise because why would Brain ever think of an obviously important detail ever in one of his plans, pops up to say that they don’t have a driver’s license.

…So what does this scene look like at this point from the cop’s perspective? Besides the very rare outlier like the truck driver from before, humans usually take Brain’s word for it that he’s also human, no matter how shoddy his disguise is. There are a few possibilities here, and I honestly can’t decide which is funniest:

1.      The cop can see through Brain’s poor disguise just like the truck driver from earlier can, and knows that these are actually two mice that have stolen a truck and have been speeding down the highway with it.

2.      The cop thinks Brain is a very odd-looking human without a driver’s license who’s been driving down the highway at insane speeds with his loose pet talking mouse by his side.

3.      The cop believes that Brain really is an odd-looking human who has no license and has been wildly speeding down the highway and also there’s an equally odd-looking human man with him who is stark naked for some mysterious reason.

I’ll let you decide which one is the most likely canon scenario as we continue as Brain tries to clear up this scenario.

“If you must know, we are two lab mice out to control the world by seizing its gold assets. But when we assume power, rest assured our budget will result in substantial new funding for law enforcement.”

…

Leave it to Brain to truthfully spell out his global domination intentions for no good reason and then lie his little mousey ass off to try and bribe his way out of going to jail.

Also, again, it’s “when we assume power” and not “when I assume power”. Hmm.

“…Oh.”

“Bwuhyuube… Be--best be on your way, then.”

“Thank you, officer.”

I’d say I was surprised that white privilege extends even to white lab mice here but…that would be a lie.

“Oh man, I do miss them witless teenage speed demons…”

So they finally make it to Fort Knox.

…And I guess the Warner siblings do, too!

The two mice have parked on a hill overlooking their target and gosh Brain, you’re looking extra pudgy here.

“It’s time to make our move, Pinky.”

Judging by the look on his face here, I think Pinky just noticed how thicc Brain’s behind has suddenly gotten.

Nevertheless, they begin their pollen assault on the guards.

Finally, the moment has arrived!

Brain’s head is shaped like a football and is almost as wide as Pinky is tall here, but besides that this is a cool shot.

This bit was also used in the spin-off’s theme for some reason, but now it will forever remind me of the absolute chaotic laughter that erupted when I got some friends to sit down and watch an episode of PatB. The stream decided to stop on this specific shot for buffering and they all just lost it. Most of the reaction was through voice on Discord, but luckily there were some friends using text chat too:

I live for moments like these when we’re streaming shows and movies.

“Egad! This is even better than a Ducktales episode, Brain!”

That’s pretty high praise, Pinky. I love the shadowing done on him here as well.

“Pinky… Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”

“Wha—I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career? Oof, it’s all too much for me!”

Pinky did…did you see all this gold and immediately begin envisioning yourself using the money to settle down and start a family?!? And so far in this series you aren’t dating anyone and you probably don’t even know anyone besides Brain and…

Okay, listen, I know it’s established later on that Pinky has wishes and daydreams about having a very domestic life, culminating in that one “Somewhere That’s Green” parody fantasy where he and Brain live together like a 50s couple in the Elmyra spin-off but… But…!

Well, you’ll kind of get a family along with your world domination “career” in a few years, Pinky. It’s probably not going to be quite how you envisioned it, though.

“The gold, Pinky! It’s all ours. Let’s move it out!”

Umm…

“One…two…three…and lift!”

I just realized that out of context the poses and faces in this screencap could look, uhh, questionable. But will that stop me from sharing it? No.

“I believe my plan has a…fatal flaw…”

About 27.4 pounds worth of a fatal flaw. You two might have super strength in comparison to other mice, but it looks like you both have a hard limit.

“I am in intense pain, Pinky.”

“Ditto, Brain. Zort!”

Well, okay, I guess it’s good that you are both cartoons, then. You boys should be able to shrug this off pretty quickly, especially Pinky.

OH GOD!

Is this what all those nightmarish close-ups of Brain were preparing me for?!?

“Fear not, Pinky, for the unwieldy atomic weight of gold will not thwart us tomorrow night.”

“Why? What are we doing tomorrow night, Brain?”

“The same thing we do every night, Pinky… Try to take over the world!”

You know, most cartoons would settle for them just being covered in bandages. Not Animaniacs, though. In Animaniacs were have to know that their removal from under the gold bar was so difficult and painful that fur was pulled out and they were left with bare, raw patches of skin. T-thanks, Warner Brothers?

Let’s end with a somewhat longer cameo appearance, as I suspect at this point Tumblr will have another fit if I try to combine two full episodes again.

The very next episode of Animaniacs has a skit called Hercule Yakko, which is a vague parody of Hercule Poirot mysteries. We get a good handful of cameos from the stars of other Animaniacs skits as passengers on a luxury cruise boat on the Nile.

The basic premise is that the Marita, one of the Hip Hippos, awakens in the middle of the night to find her comically large diamond necklace missing. The Warner siblings are a detective team who happen to also be onboard the ship and offer to help the hippo couple find it.

Before you ask, yes, this is the same episode as the infamous “fingerprints” joke.

Eventually the Warner siblings begin to go around knocking on the doors of the other passengers’ rooms to ask questions. They come across Slappy Squirrel first, who knows nothing about the missing diamond and just wants to be left alone to sleep. Then they meet Minerva Mink and, well, you can guess how that went. Then Yakko knocks on the last door.

“YES?”

Smol.

Look at them in their matching lederhosen! That’s absolutely adorable. Bravo to whichever of the mice had the idea for these “disguises”.

“Did you steal a big diamond?”

“No. We are Swiss hikers on holiday.”

Okay so maybe I’ll deduct a few points for wearing lederhosen, which is more associated with Bavaria and Germany, but claiming to be Swiss. Not that people in Switzerland didn’t also wear it, but you’d probably want to make your cover story as unsuspicious as possible, right? And that’s not even going into the idea of wearing a garment made from leather in hot, hot Egypt. These mice must be drenched in sweat…

“Look at me, Brain! I’m Heidi! Yodelehe-NARF!~”

Well at least someone in this duo is trying his best to reference things from Switzerland.

…Brain is the one that fucked up the lederhosen cultural background thing, isn’t he? Goddammit, Brain.

He just bonks the hell outta Pinky and silently slams the door in Yakko’s face.

After briefly talking with Marita, Yakko exclaims that he knows where the diamond is and asks that everyone assemble together in the state room. And so they do!

Aww, they’re sharing a chair because they are so, so tiny. :3c

“You’re probably all wondering why I called you here!”

“To reveal the thief?!?” says everyone in unison.

Minerva, you’re looking kind of weird in that second pic.

“No. It’s because you can’t play charades with three people.”

“That’s it! I’m goin’ back to bed.”

“So am I. I didn’t take the diamond!”

Man, Minerva really got a raw deal in the 90s. She only has two episode skits of her own and makes a few tiny cameos elsewhere, like in this one. I get that she was put on the back-burner as a character because her skits were considered “too suggestive”—and to be honest they were a bit over the top—but there are certainly ways that you can write a character who uses their sex appeal for comedic effect without it being disrespectful. It’s a shame they never tried to tweak the tone of her episodes just a tad.

But anyway, mice!

Brain is looking at Minerva with…worry? Concern? Confusion? Which is a very atypical reaction to Minerva. Gee, I wonder why.

Pinky is Looking Respectfully.

I’m never going to get over how cute they look in these outfits.

“I also am innocent.”

“Umm… I may have done it! I walk in my sleep, you know.”

Pinky, sweetie, I know you’re trying in your own odd little way to help but there’s no way you’d be able to carry a diamond of that size.

BONK!

This is the very last clear shot that the mice are in and it’s not very significant but I liked the angle of it.

Oh, you’re asking who took the diamond? No one did. The diamond was lodged in Marita’s butt fat the entire time. It’s the typical style of “humour” from skits with the Hip Hippos. Now you all know why no one is clamouring for their return in the reboot.

That’s it for this post, though. I should have the next episode that I promised would go with this one up in a day or two.

See you next time, folks, when we go off to the races!

[theatticoneighth]

Watching The Queen’s Gambit; on the Remarkable Unexceptionality of Beth Harmon

‘With some people, chess is a pastime. With others, it is a compulsion, even an addiction. And every now and then, a person comes along for whom it is a birthright. Now and then, a small boy appears and dazzles us with his precocity, at what may be the world’s most difficult game. But what if that boy were a girl? A young, unsmiling girl, with brown eyes, red hair, and a dark blue dress? Into the male-dominated world of the nation’s top chess tournaments, strolls a teenage girl with bright, intense eyes, from Fairfield High School in Lexington, Kentucky. She is quiet, well-mannered, and out for blood.’

The preceding epigraph opens a fictional profile of Beth Harmon featured in the third episode of The Queen’s Gambit (2020), and is written and published after the protagonist — a teenage, rookie chess player, no less — beats a series of ranked pros to win her first of many tournaments. In the same deft manner as it depicts the character’s ascent to her global chess stardom, the piece also sets up the series’s narrative: this is evidence of a great talent, it tells us, a grandmaster in the making. As with most other stories about prodigies, this new entry into a timeworn genre is framed unexceptionally by its subject’s exceptionality.

Yet as far as tales regaled about young chess wunderkinds go, Beth Harmon’s stands out in more ways than one. That she is a girl in a male-dominated world has clearly not gone unremarked by both her diegetic and nondiegetic audiences. That her life has thus far — and despite her circumstances — been relatively uneventful, however, is what makes this show so remarkable. After all, much of our culture has undeniably primed us to expect the consequential from those whom we raise upon the pedestal of genius. As Harmon’s interviewer suggests in her conversation with Harmon for the latter’s profile, “Creativity and psychosis often go hand in hand. Or, for that matter, genius and madness.” So quickly do we attribute extraordinary accomplishments to similarly irregular origins that we presume an inexplicability of our geniuses: their idiosyncrasies are warranted, their bad behaviours are excused, and deep into their biographies we dig to excavate the enigmatic anomalies behind their gifts. Through our myths of exceptionality, we make the slightest aberrations into metonyms for brilliance.

Nonetheless, for all her sullenness, non-conformity, and her plethora of addictions, Beth Harmon seems an uncommonly normal girl. No doubt this may be a contentious view, as evinced perhaps by the chorus of viewers and reviewers alike who have already begun to brand the character a Mary Sue. Writing on the series for the LA Review of Books, for instance, Aaron Bady construes The Queen’s Gambit as “the tragedy of Bobby Fischer [made] into a feminist fantasy, a superhero story.” In the same vein, Jane Hu also laments in her astute critique of the Cold War-era drama its flagrant and saccharine wish-fulfillment tendencies. “The show gets to have it both ways,” she observes, “a beautiful heroine who leans into the edge of near self-destruction, but never entirely, because of all the male friends she makes along the way.” Sexual difference is here reconstituted as the unbridgeable chasm that divides the US from the Soviet Union, whereas the mutual friendliness shared between Harmon and her male chess opponents becomes a utopic revision of history. Should one follow Hu’s evaluation of the series as a period drama, then the retroactive ascription of a recognisably socialist collaborative ethos to Harmon and her compatriots is a contrived one indeed. 

Accordingly, both Hu and Bady conclude that the series grants us depthless emotional satisfaction at the costly expense of realism: its all-too-easy resolutions swiftly sidestep any nascent hint of overwhelming tension; its resulting calm betrays our desire for reprieve. Underlying these arguments is the fundamental assumption that the unembellished truth should also be an inconvenient one, but why must we always demand difficulty from those we deem noteworthy? Summing up the show’s conspicuous penchant for conflict-avoidance, Bady writes that: 

over and over again, the show strongly suggests — through a variety of genre and narrative cues — that something bad is about to happen. And then … it just doesn’t. An orphan is sent to a gothic orphanage and the staff … are benign. She meets a creepy, taciturn old man in the basement … and he teaches her chess and loans her money. She is adopted by a dysfunctional family and the mother … takes care of her. She goes to a chess tournament and midway through a crucial game she gets her first period and … another girl helps her, who she rebuffs, and she is fine anyway. She wins games, defeating older male players, and … they respect and welcome her, selflessly helping her. The foster father comes back and …she has the money to buy him off. She gets entangled in cold war politics and … decides not to be.

In short, everything that could go wrong … simply does not go wrong.

Time and again predicaments arise in Harmon’s narrative, but at each point, she is helped fortuitously by the people around her. In turn, the character is allowed to move through the series with the restrained unflappability of a sleepwalker, as if unaffected by the drama of her life.  Of course, this is not to say that she fails to encounter any obstacle on her way to celebrity and success — for neither her childhood trauma nor her substance-laden adolescence are exactly rosy portraits of idyll — but only that such challenges seem so easily ironed out by that they hardly register as true adversity. In other words, the show takes us repeatedly to the brink of what could become a life-altering crisis but refuses to indulge our taste for the spectacle that follows. Skipping over the Aristotelian climax, it shields us from the height of suspense, and without much struggle or effort on the viewers’ part, hands us our payoff. Consequently lacking the epochal weight of plot, little feels deserved in Harmon’s story.

In his study of eschatological fictions, The Sense of an Ending, Frank Kermode would associate such a predilection for catastrophes with our abiding fear of disorder. Seeing as time, as he argues, is “purely successive [and] disorganised,” we can only reach to the fictive concords of plot to make sense of our experiences. Endings in particular serve as the teleological objective towards which humanity projects our existence, so we hold paradigms of apocalypse closely to ourselves to restore significance to our lives. It probably comes as no surprise then that in a year of chaos and relentless disaster — not to mention the present era of extreme precariousness, doomscrolling, and the 24/7 news cycle, all of which have irrevocably attuned us to the dreadful expectation of “the worst thing to come” — we find ourselves eyeing Harmon’s good fortune with such scepticism. Surely, we imagine, something has to have happened to the character for her in order to justify her immense consequence. But just as children are adopted each day into loving families and chess tournaments play out regularly without much strife, so too can Harmon maintain low-grade dysfunctional relationships with her typically flawed family and friends. 

In any case, although “it seems to be a condition attaching to the exercise of thinking about the future that one should assume one's own time to stand in extraordinary relation to it,” not all orphans have to face Dickensian fates and not all geniuses have to be so tortured (Kermode). The fact remains that the vagaries of our existence are beyond perfect reason, and any attempt at thinking otherwise, while vital, may be naive. Contrary to most critics’ contentions, it is hence not The Queen’s Gambit’s subversions of form but its continued reach towards the same that holds up for viewers such a comforting promise of coherence. The show comes closest to disappointing us as a result when it eschews melodrama for the straightforward. Surprised by the ease and randomness of Harmon’s life, it is not difficult for one to wonder, four or five episodes into the show, what it is all for; one could even begin to empathise with Hu’s description of the series as mere “fodder for beauty.” 

Watching over the series now with Bady’s recap of it in mind, however, I am reminded oddly not of the prestige and historical dramas to which the series is frequently compared, but the low-stakes, slice-of-life cartoons that had peppered my childhood. Defined by the prosaicness of its settings, the genre punctuates the life’s mundanity with brief moments of marvel to accentuate the curious in the ordinary. In these shows, kindergarteners fix the troubles of adults with their hilarious playground antics, while time-traveling robot cats and toddler scientists alike are confronted with the woes of chores. Likewise, we find in The Queen’s Gambit a comparable glimpse of the quotidian framed by its protagonist’s quirks. Certainly, little about the Netflix series’ visual and narrative features would identify it as a slice-of-life serial, but there remains some merit, I believe, in watching it as such. For, if there is anything to be gained from plots wherein nothing is introduced that cannot be resolved in an episode or ten, it is not just what Bady calls the “drowsy comfort” of satisfaction — of knowing that things will be alright, or at the very least, that they will not be terrible. Rather, it is the sense that we are not yet so estranged from ourselves, and that both life and familiarity persists even in the most extraordinary of circumstances.

Perhaps some might find such a tendency towards the normal questionable, yet when all the world is on fire and everyone clambers for acclaim, it is ultimately the ongoingness of everyday life for which one yearns. As Harmon’s childhood friend, Jolene, tells her when she is once again about to fall off the wagon, “You’ve been the best at what you do for so long, you don’t even know what it’s like for the rest of us.” For so long, and especially over the past year, we have catastrophized the myriad crises in which we’re living that we often overlook the minor details and habits that nonetheless sustain us. To inhabit the congruence of both the remarkable and its opposite in the singular figure of Beth Harmon is therefore to be reminded of the possibility of being outstanding without being exceptional — that is, to not make an exception of oneself despite one’s situation — and to let oneself be drawn back, however placid or insignificant it may be, into the unassuming hum of dailiness. It is in this way of living that one lives on, minute by minute, day by day, against the looming fear and anxiety that seek to suspend our plodding regular existence. It is also in this way that I will soon be turning the page on the last few months in anticipation of what is to come. 

Born and raised in the perpetually summery tropics — that is, Singapore — Rachel Tay wishes she could say her life was just like a still from Call Me By Your Name: tanned boys, peaches, and all. Unfortunately, the only resemblance that her life bears to the film comes in the form of books, albeit ones read in the comfort of air-conditioned cafés, and not the pool, for the heat is sweltering and the humidity unbearable. A fervent turtleneck-wearer and an unrepentant hot coffee-addict, she is thus the ideal self-parodying Literature student, and the complete anti-thesis to tropical life.

[vinke]

Predicting Diffusion or Creating Adoption?

In my New Enterprises class with Bill Aulet, I've been learning about the 24 steps of creating a startup. Among these steps, a pivotal moment to capture as an emerging startup are the Windows of Opportunity. These windows are described as times when someone within your customer's circle (influencer, economic buyer, target market, champion, etc.) will be particularly open to considering your product. These windows are moments like life events such as change of jobs, or holiday seasons. A very clear example of such a window of opportunity was the most recent COVID-19 pandemic, that saw rise to an accelerated growth of digital adoption. Companies like Microsoft, or Zoom, saw such an uptick demand for their videoconferencing products that they had to spend millions of dollars into their operations because they couldn't scale fast enough. We saw a similar behavior with toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic; toilet paper is a stable and low volatile product that I'm confident the manufacturers have a strong grasp on demand. They were too victims of an unexpected surge in demand.

This raises the question, can product diffusion really be predicted? Or, can we instead predict those windows of opportunity and trigger the behaviors as needed to accelerate adoption (or even slow it if required)? For this latter point, think of consumer goods companies activating promotions to trigger purchasing behaviors.

In the article we are presented with four products and we must rank each based on our expected adoption rate and our reasoning.

With this in mind, I ranked the products from fastest adoption to least in the following way.

1. Polytrack (synthetic surface for thoroughbreds)

* As explained in the case, the Window of Opportunity is happening now. Previously, the American market wouldn't consider the product, but after seeing the success and adoption in England, the leading players in Kentucky, USA converted to Polytrack. This led to other executives in the industry to consider Polytrack.

2. Peanut Butter slices

* If it weren't for the fact that Polytrack's window of opportunity is happening now, and the solution has already been proven, this innovative product would have been ranked first. Although it has enormous potential due to the amount of peanut butter already consumed by Americans, the company will have to educate the consumers and show that it is a safe product to consume, similar to the regular peanut butter that everyone is already accustomed to.

3. Stave Jigsaw Puzzle

* This product has the potential to become a rare and unique but must have products among households. The company has an opportunity to advertise itself as the conversation starter or ice breaker for house gatherings. Beautifully designed, intricate, and fun to solve, is a great way to spark interest. However, the proper retail channels and target market must be targeted due to the expensive price of the product. The chicken salad, at $500, competes with the likes of TVs, laptops, smartphones, and other products that could offer much more versatility and use for the same price.

4. Collapsible Wheel

* The main factor stopping rapid acceleration of this product is likely the cost, at a range of $2,000 to $6,000 makes it cost prohibitive. The convenience factor of a collapsible wheel probably does not outweigh the cost factor, considering you can buy a replacement wheel for $100. This probably explains why the designer is getting positive reactions from almost every industry except bikes.

[victorianwestpiano]

What would it be like if Colette and Holt lived in 2020 (without the virus!) but there was no Dreamland? What jobs might they have? How would they meet? How did Holt lose his arm (war? accident?). Is Colette famous? If so, for what?

Oh so many ideas, but here’s the one I’ll respond this ask ;)

Kentucky, June 2020

Holt Farrier, ex horse showman, was reading the newspaper in the morning like he always does every day. Although today, it was for him to concentrate because of his son Joe, who was playing with his new Xbox he got last Christmas.

It annoyed a bit the cowboy that Joe was so addicted with this technology with high volume and at this early hours. His daughter Milly was not different, when she was younger once in a while sat on her father’s lap and read the paper together alongside with his wife Annie. But now she prefered watching the news on her cellphone, searching science updates in the world. The worst part was the uncountable TikToks they do with their friends, now that summer began, TikTok was their only way to communicate apparently.

But in some way it didn’t surprised Holt at all that his kids were so submerged in their gadgets. Since their mother died of an illness almost an year ago, his children coped with their loss in the best way they could. In some parts, Joe dealt with Annie’s death better than Milly but it was still hurtful for both of them.

However, Holt felt he was suffering the loss the worst, he lost the love of his life while he was away on a excursion on the mountains with his friends Arav, Puck and Rongo. He felt guilty for not being there for her and for his kids. And if it was not enough, some days before Holt received the news of the death of his spouse, he had a terrible accident while he was climbing on the rock mountains. According to his friends, Holt was barely on the top, trying to reach one of the picks, but out of nowhere he slipped and fell many feet in the air. His body crashed somewhere in the rocks and woods. The last thing the cowboy remember is that he waked up in a hospital...without an arm. His left arm was gone and some days after his wife was gone too.

Holt and Annie were horse showman and woman, touring around USA doing  tricks with their stallions since that was the thing they loved to do the most. Their connection with horses was one of the things that united them even more. They loved the aesthetic of old-school circuses, but nowdays people are not longer interested on circuses anymore which brought Holt many economic problems.

Now without the love of his life, without an arm and without a job, Holt’s world was no longer the world he adored, so he decided to move with his daughter and son to his childhood town and buy a small house with the few savings he had kept. It wasn’t much but it was something, they had at least a roof upon their heads, electricity, hot water and of course wifi which is very expensive. Not living in tour anymore felt weird; static like a rock and being in just one place, it was practically boring.

Holt’s friends, who came from different parts of the country and the world, tried to convince him and lend him money until he find a job, however, Holt was so proud to accept money from his friends. If he wanted money, he had to earn it and he did not want to be in debt with the people he cared.

Just in very rare ocassions he accepted his friend’s monetary help and became stubborn promising a lot of times he’ll return what he owes, even though his pals said to him is not a big deal, that he’ll pay when he can.

That’s why Holt was reading the newspaper, so he could find a decent job, although, what job would accept a handicapped guy?. The rider from Kentucky was desperated, mostly for his children.

Suddenly, a knock of the door was heard, Holt reacted to the sound and quickly lifted his head up. The cowboy looked at his son sitting on the couch, which was nearer to the door, playing with his Xbox, super concentrated.

“Joe would you get the door?” Holt asked the boy.

“I’m busy dad, I’m in the middle of a mission right now.” the kid responded.

Holt rolled his eyes and spoked again, “Joe, c’mon, or I’ll plug off that damn thing this instant” he warned out loud.

Joe turned his head to see his father and reluctantly the kid obeyed him. He paused his game and circled the couch to get to the entrance.

“It was an important mission you know?” Joe protested.

“Yeah you said that yesterday 12 o’clock PM, you’ve been playing all week boy”

Joe’s eyes widened and then he nodded embarassed, “Non taken.”

The boy headed to the door and opened it, only to find a short man, he was the same height as Joe. He was around his sixties, had white curly hair, a pair of shades on his eyes, brown shorts, black flip flops and a radiant colorful hawaiian shirt.

“Hey Max!” Joe exclaimed in surprise seeing their family friend.

“What’s up little buddy!” Max responded in glee, “Tell me, is your dad here? I have excelent news for him.” the short man said excited.

“Max!” Holt waved him from the kitchen, “Come on in and sit.”

Max Medici, a not very succesfull sales man, was best friends with Holt’s dad and him when the rider was just a lad. Holt enjoyed his company, his optimism was very contagious even when his plans not always go as he wanted. Anyway, Medici’s smile made everyone smile too, that was one of his gifts.

“What is it Gustavo? Please sit” Holt invited his friend to sit with him at the kitchen table.

Max sighed at the mention of his real name, “Please Holt, just call me Max, ok? You’ll ruin my reputation here.” he took off his sun glasses and cliped them into the collar of his shirt.

“Ok sorry,” Holt chuckled, “What are this incredible news you have for me? Oh, please don’t tell me you had another fail in your bussiness and you need cash.” Holt sat slowly, expecting the news to be bad, since, now he’s used to them “Don’t ask me money pal, I still owing you those $100 bucks from last month---”

“Can you please shut up cowboy” Max interrupted him. “Jeez, I didn’t came here to bother you, on the contrary, I came here to cheer you up, bud.” he said with a huge smile.

Holt rose an eyebrow and listened. “So, what is it?”

“Look, a friend of a friend, of a friend, of a friend of mine, said that a famous actress has a ranch here in Kentucky, and she needs a foreman to take special care of it, mostly the horses.” Max said with a trusting glance.

“Wait, wait, wait a minute. Work for a famous actress? Who?” Holt was curious and wary of proposal.

“Colette Marchant the french actress of course!” the old man made a happy gesture with his hands to encourage his friend.

The name of the woman ranged on Holt and Joe’s ears, so much so that the boy left his game and turned around to face the adults.

“You’ll work for Colette Marchant dad!?” Joe asked happily, “I love her movies, and she’s so pretty. You will work with her dad?”

“What happened? Why is Joe so excited?” Milly enetered to the living room with cellphone in hand and her curly hair combed into a bun.

“Dad is going to work for Colette Marchant, the actress!!” Joe was very happy about the news.

“Wow, really?” Milly looked curious at her father.

“Kids uhhmm, I haven’t decided this  yet, I just found out. Go to your rooms and I’ll tell you later, or go outside.” Holt said to his children who obeyed him after a few minutes.

After that, Holt continued, “You want me to work as a foreman for a celebrity?” This didn’t conviced the cowboy very much,”Remember Max, I used to be a celebrity as well, I was like a superhero on top of my horses, if my friends find out that now I work as a foreman... they’ll think I fell so low.”

“Yes I know, but now things changed lad, this is a great job and the pay is very good. Look, this woman will stay in America all summer, from June to September 3rd. The rumor says she wanted to leave her home France for a couple of months and be alone, or somethng like that. She says she loves horses and needs somone efficient for the job. And don’t worry, she does speak english.”

Holt started to think massaging his chin, “And how is she, I mean, she’s bossy or calm?”

Max inhaled through his nose, “I heard she’s quite, well, spoiled but nothing that you can’t handle.”

“And where’s her ranch?”

“In Louisville, right in the north.” Max answered.

Holt’s eyes opened wide, “Louisville? But that’s too far! Mhmmm, I don’t know Max, I’ll have to think about it...” Holt was trying to considerate the offer.

“Well,” Max said a bit nervous, “in your place I won’t think it that much because... I’ve already talked about you and maybe I’ve send you refferences as well.”

Holt looked at his friend in shock, “You did what!!? How can you do that without telling me!? Are you insane!?.”

“I did it because I knew you were going to doubt and think this kind of job is below you.” Max stated strictly. “Here,” the older man took from his pocket a card with a number, “this is the phone number of her butler, if I were you I’ll call him now and accept the job.”

Holt gave a glare at Max, he couldn’t believe that his friend did all this behind his back.

“Holt c’mon, is a good payed job, surrounded by nature, taking care of horses and have your kids taking fresh air, isn’t that what you wanted?” Max stood up and left the card on the table. “Do it pal is a great opportunity.” the short man put his shades back on his face, approached the door and left.

Holt passed his only hand through his hair and looked at the card, this was all new to him he didn’t know what to do. But at the same time, working for a celebrity could be very interesting not to mention to payment, it could be higher than he can imagine. Also, the most important thing for Holt now are his children, he needed to give them a secured and stable life.

The cowboy reached for his laptop and searched about Colette Marchant, some pictures were showed on Instagram and the most recent one was a photo of her black and white, already in Kentucky sunbathing, in the backround there was her big house of her ranch.

Then Joe’s words about her resonated on Holt’s mind, She looks...pretty... I’ll give her that, he thought. He had never seen any of her movies but now he knows why a lot of people admires her or talks about her as soon as he read the reviews of her films. Then he searched for more pictures of the place, including her horses, which looked very healthy and beautiful. Holt went to the kitchen table and stared at the card with the number one more time. He made a long sigh and took it.

“I must be very crazy right now.” he said trying to grab his phone too.

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

A couple of days later and some other calls made, Holt and his kids finally flew all the way from the south of Kentucky to the north in Louisville to get the foreman cadre. In the airpor they were greeted by Sotheby, Miss Marchant’s english butler.

He gently guided them to the car, which he personally drove, and headed to Marchant’s ranch.

After 30 minutes travelling by car, they finally arrived and admired the big splenderous house. The vehicle parked in front of the property.

“Wow!” Milly and Joe said at the same time in awe looking the place through the window. “ Look at this place! I want to get in now!” the Farrier boy exclaimed opening the car door.

“Now, now lads,” Holt stoped Joe making a sign with his hand, “This is gonna be my working place, let’s go with calm.” Holt exited himself from the car and then his children followed him. He was wearing a dark blue short sleeved t-shirt, blue jeans, snikers and his lucky white cowboy hat. As soon as they were getting closer to the house, Milly took a couple of pictures of it and post them on Twitter.

Once they were on the porch, Sotheby told them to stay there, “Just wait here, Miss Marchant will talk to you in a couple of minutes, please sit.” the english butler politely offered to the Farriers.

Three minutes passed and Holt was already getting nervous, so he decided to talk to the children.

“So, how do you imagine Colette Marchant is behind the cameras?” Holt asked.

“I don’t know,” Milly answered “I heard she’s a diva, I watched her latest film Femme Fatale with my friend some months ago, she was very good in it, but...the plot sucked.”

“I see...” Holt rised his eyebrows. He remembered when he read Colette’s film reviews, some the critics said practically the same, Colette was stunning, but the direction and script by the known famous director VA Vandevere, where just ok or not very good.

Suddenly Sotheby appeared again, the Farriers rose up from porch couch and waited for the butler to speak.

All of the sudden, coming out from the door, there was a woman on her mid thirties, with almost wavy black hair, black dress, make up on her eyelids and intense blue eyes. It was her.

“Mademoiselle Marchant, this is Holt Farrier and his children, he came here for the foreman job.” Sotheby intoduced the cowboy and the actress.

Joe and Milly where in awe by looking at the elegant actress, Joe tried his best to not squeal, while Milly couldn’t contain her big grin.

Holt put his head steady and took a deep breath. “Hi, is a pleasusre to meet you,” the rider offered his hand to shake with hers.

But when Colette turned around to see clearer the man, her face showed a shocked expression. Then she started to talk.

“Uhhhmm, excuse moi but, what is this?” the french lady questioned staring at the cowboy.

Holt’s eyebrows frowned in confusion, “I’m sorry? I came here for the job Miss. that’s why I’m here.” he retreated his hand took off his white hat.

Colette’s eyes were fixed on on the man’s left side.

The cowboy noticed that and looked at where his left arm once was. Holt exhaed a quiet laugh and spoke up again. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinkin’ but don’t worry, it didn’t hurt that much.” he said trying to erase the uncomfortable topic, “and it doesn’t hurt now---”

“You don’t have...an arm monsieur.” the french celebrity was obviously dissapointed.

Milly and Joe glanced with concern at their father. They knew how hard it was for him to deal with a missing limb, it was something that made him more insecure with time. But they also knew that their dad tried to ignore it and move on, he hated when others feel pity for him.

“Well, yes Miss,” Holt started to get even more puzzled, “I mean....you didn’t know?” he looked at Sotheby who was just as confused as him.

Colette sighed impatiently “Do you think I would’ve hire a handicapped man as my foreman if I knew he was handicapped?”

“But, with all respect, I thought they had send you my refferences. My friend send them to you.” Holt explained.

“I have recived them and nothing in there mentioned a missing arm.” Miss Marchant said bluntly.

Holt started to breathe through his teeth with impotence, “Max you idiot!” he quietly muttered a bit enraged. First Max send his refferences without asking him first and he didn’t even mention the thing about his arm? The rider wanted to kill his friend at that moment.

The european lady sensed Holt’s discomfort and clasped her hands, “I’m sorry, but I cannot hire someone who is not capable.”

Holt turned his head to face the woman, breathing deeply and swallowing , “I am capable, please Miss, give me a chance.”

“You are not up to my standards, ma cherie.I cannot force a cripple to do this kind of work, because they can’t---”

That word hit Holt right in the chest, like bullet to his heart. That single word made his blood boil and encreased his anger, “I’m not... a cripple.” he said low and serious.

Colette’s eyes opened wide giving him a sarcastic shocked reaction, “Then I am not french!” she stated joking with irony, “Oh, my parents will be glad to hear it!”.

“Very funny.” Holt gave her an unamused sideway smile, “Look, if I’m going to stay in this place to be insulted, I’ll get the hell out of here. Let’s go lads.” Holt put his hat on, taking his children with him while walking away from the woman and her butler.

Colette crossed her arms, exhaled an unimpressed sigh, denying her head. She looked how the Kentucky rider was leaving the porch walking by her loan, until she spoke again.

“With that attitude of yours you are not going to get anywhere. You are too proud, cherie.”

The Farriers stoped as soon as Holt stoped, the rider bit his lip and slowly turned around. He wasn’t going to let this woman to have the last word.

“And you, princess,” the cowboy challenged, “you’re too spoiled”. His kids looked at eachother in surprise for what his father had just said.

Colette’s mouth fell open at Holt’s statement, “What an attitude.”

“What an ego.” Holt interjected again teasing her, imitating her tone and with a rised eyebrow.

“You have a problem?” Colette’s voice became demanding. She started to walk towards him.

“You’re my problem. Princess.” Holt smiled like a child.

“Do not take that tone with me. Do not disrespect me!” Colette approached the cowboy until she was just one meter from him. “And please, do not call me a ‘princess’.”

“You called me a cripple, and I call you princess. I think is pretty fair.” Holt rested his hand on his hip. “It is what you’re. You’re spoiled, believing you’re better than me, also, you like to whine when people tells you the truth. Oh, I’m sorry, did her majesty got her feelings hurt.” he teased her with a exagerated pout.

“How dare you---!” before Colette would say or do something else, the cat and dog fight was interrupted by Sotheby who ran towards the two of them.

“Miss Marchant, if I may please!” Sotheby calmed his boss, “Try to considerate this man, we have read his file, he may not have an arm, but his expirience is very good. Better than the other ones, and Miss, if I you give me your permission to say this, yesterday you said you liked his profile, that it was what you needed.”

“Don’t worry mister.” Holt stated directly to the butler. “Is not necessary to defend me, we’re going now, have a nice day. C’mon children.”

But Milly did not move, “No dad wait.” she exclaimed and turned to face Colette.

Holt and Joe stayed where they stood when Milly spoke. Her dad whispered to her, “Milly, what you doin’?”.

Milly walked towards the actress with her chin held high and honesty in her eyes, “Miss Marchant please forgive my dad, I know he can be a bit, well, stuborn.”

“I saw that.” Colette gave a glare at Milly’s father for a second. Holt rolled his eyes.

“But... he tried for months to get a job that we don’t know if he’ll ever get another opportunity like this one anytime soon. Please, give him another chance.”

The girl’s pleading moved a little the french woman, she amired how determinated she was, it reminded of herself when she was Milly’s age.

“Please Miss,” the Farrier girl’s voice suddenly became melancholic, “since...my mom died, life has been hard on us.” she turned to see her family, “It was very hard for my dad too, he lost his arm in an accident, but he’s still strong, he always was.” the girl smiled at her dad.

Holt felt overwhelmed by his daughter’s words and smiled back at her. Then he faced once more at the actress who was just moved as him. Sotheby also felt the emotions of the girl.

Miss Marchant placed a hand on her heart and showed a genuine worried expression, “Your mother died, petit? I’m so sorry...I didn’t knew.”

“It’s ok.” Milly answered.

“What was her name?” Colette asked.

“Annie.” Holt responded for his daughter, “Her name was Annie. She left us an year ago.”

“I see, and what is your name petit?” Colette asked to the girl.

“Milly”

“And yours monsieur?” the actress looked at the boy at Holt’s side.

Joe froze as the famous celebrity talked to him, “I-I’m Joe, a-a-and I’m your biggest fan.” Joe said nervous.

Colette laughed a bit at the boy’s presentation, she thought it was kind of cute. She glanced over Holt again and approached him litte by little, making him suspect on what this woman is going to do now.

“How much do you need this job?” she sternly asked at the rider, not breaking eye contact.

Holt blinked and inhaled deeply, “Honestly....very much.”

“Tres bién, I’ll give one more chance, I’m not giving it just because you are capable, we will see about that with the time. But also because this will be good to your children as well, do it for them, not just for you.”

“I am”. Holt answered firmly looking at the woman’s sapphire eyes.”My kids... are the most sacred thing I have left in this world.”

She gave him a trusting grin, “That’s the attitude I wanted. You are hired ma cherie.” she gave him her hand.

Holt looked at her elegant and white hand and gently, he took it and shaked it, sealing the deal. He glanced again at her face forming a tiny smile and feeling the softness of the lady’s hand.

“And I’m sorry if I insulted you, is just you can really push a person’s buttoms, monsieur.” Colette said not letting go the gentleman’s hand.

“I can say the same thing about you, but I’m sorry too. Thank you for givin’ me this chance, I hate to admit it but I’m forever in your debt.” Holt’s voice became quickly smooth with real remorse on his apologizing words. Then, he winked at her to give her trust.

All of the sudden, Colette’s cheeks turned pink, she was blushing. She didn’t know if the cowboy noticed, they were in summer so he could see her cheeks became hot for the heat. But Holt would never guess what was happening inside Colette’s body, because Holt’s commentary and the soft look in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.

The woman coughed and gently released her hand, she still could felt the roughness of the rider’s hand on her palm and fingers. But... somehow....she liked it.

“Tres bién! Let’s go inside, shall we?” Colette guided the Farriers to her house. Milly and Joe rushed inside the mansion, leaving Holt and Colette behind. The two giggled at the kids’ enthusiasm.

“They are very charming, monsieur.” Colette said walking alongside Holt, Sotheby was heading to the house a few meters away from them.

“Yes, they are. I’d give my life for them.” Holt turned to see the actress.

“I know they will enjoy being here, you will have good rooms to stay and later I will show my horses.”

“That sounds nice.... princess.” Holt teased her, containing his laughter.

Colette, as soon as she reached the entrance door, she turned again back to him with a warning stare, “Do not play smart with me Holt, I mean it.”

“Sorry...” he took off his hat and put it behind his back, he was smiling in a very naughty way.

“Non, you are not.” Colette crossed her arms, smiling in the same way as him.

“True.��� with that Holt entered in the house. Leaving the french lady denying with her head, rolling her eyes and laughing to herself.

“Oh mon dieu, this man!” she entered to her house and closed the door behind her.

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

THE END.

@vavandeveresfan​ This was fun, not my best work but still fun, I hope you liked it ;)

[hazedazethestealthhero]

Words Unspoken

“But times running out and you made this decision already without us having a fun chance to figure out how to make things work”

Your idea on the big factors as to why I’m leaving: How you treat me, how you question how I spend my money, and my standards of a clean house.

You said you would wait to respond to my responses in order to be able to come at me with a level head and be respectful. But of course, things escalated again. That’s both of our faults.

We rushed into this house. It was only meant to be a stepping stone. I know it wasn’t right to just make the decision without discussing it first, but honestly, I feel like I would’ve caved into staying longer even though I desperately need to leave. To just continue spiraling down. 

I don’t necessarily think you’re being over dramatic. But I think you know that you’re twisting that knife with some malicious intent. I wasn’t making this decision to hurt everyone. I was making this decision to help. Maybe it is a bit selfish that I am making this decision to help mostly myself. But sometimes you have to put yourself first.

I’ve been constantly trying to put you and the girls first. I care, and you seem convinced I don’t. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t have dropped everything to rush down to Kentucky to go get your sisters. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have taken you to the courts to fill out the necessary paperwork and get guardianship of them. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have made multiple shopping trips to try and help them get new clothes. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have taken them to the doctors/dentists. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have made multiple trips to and from their schools when they called or when they needed to come home when you weren’t answering your phone.

I never asked you to repay me for those and I never would. I did those things because I care. And I would do them again just the same.

I love you.

I love the girls.

I love our third roommate.

I love our animals.

I’m sorry that as of this moment I need to leave. That you consider this me abandoning you and our family. 

I’m sorry that you think me physically leaving is basically giving up and throwing it all away.

In your eyes, I am now deemed as weak and worthless. That now thoughts of tormenting me plague your mind.

But it’s because of how toxic you are growing. How your toxicity is spreading and affecting those around you. It’s a big factor in my decision for leaving though it isn’t the only reason.

It’s starting to affect me so bad. 

I don’t know if you’ve always been like this and I’ve just been able to handle it and now the dam is broken in me or if this is how you’re becoming now and I simply can’t handle it.

It’s kind of shitty to say that overall despite how I’m feeling, it was still more important to pay rent.

“Idk dude you do you

You gave up on everything

It’s just over now

Our social link is fully reversed”

In part, yes I am retracting my support. I can see your point on that. It might mean hardly anything to you but I was still willing to pay a couple months of my rent after moving out to help transition you and the family after my departure. Even with everything, I still want to at least help the best I can in my current situation. I’m sorry it’s just not to the full extent that you want it to be.

You bring up the argument that it sucked to watch me splurge on fast food and clothes for myself when you were spending your money on groceries, that it was too bothersome for me to even cook. In part, I can see your reasoning. I did go out and spend my own money on myself. But I’ve also spent my own money to help the family as well. You use the link card for grocery money. And if there was ever a time to where you needed money, you know all you ever had to do was ask and I would try to figure out something for you and the girls. As for cooking, half the time it was an argument if I went to go use something that was designated for something else. You were the one doing the grocery shopping, I had no idea what was supposed to be stored and not touched and it’s known that I don’t really have too much of a sense for cooking on the fly. I guess, in part, I could’ve asked you, so I guess all I can do is accept that jab.

You brought up your side of the gas station incident.

Stating that it really messed you up that I refused to drink tap water and I was going to take the whole family out to the gas station an hour before the city curfew and that it was unsafe but you were mind blown that I was “just gonna do it”.

That we didn’t grow up “privileged like that either” and to go out for “over priced water”

That I only chose to go out for water because I was “directly effect and wanted it”.

It’s funny because the only reason why I told the girls to go gather everyone up for water to make a quick trip was because the youngest was asking if we could please go get water. I wasn’t doing it because of me solely. I was doing it because the kids asked me. 

But just the day before you and the girls walked to the front of the neighborhood to go see what was happening down the street sometime after 5PM. That was more safe? And then got upset that I didn’t want to go but it was okay to act like  you did at the gas station. I just don’t understand sometimes. That’s what I mean by I feel like you are hypocritical. I’m not saying I’m not, I know I can be some times.

Then you brought up the cleaning thing and how cleaning only seemed important when it effected me. That I dismissed the kids every time cleaning was brought up and I wasn’t interested.

It gets tiring to be on everyone’s case about cleaning constantly. It also really got to me because it’s not like you were working or the kids were doing school since the middle of March. It was okay for you guys to stay up all night and the house to be messy after I had spent time cleaning it just to wake up and see it a mess again. So yes, I was a bit crazy when it came to cleaning because there was no excuse for it to ever get like that. No excuse for messes to sit for longer than a day, sometimes no reason not be cleaned up immediately. Yes, I did dismiss the kids sometimes when cleaning was brought up. I have to accept that jab. I won’t make any excuses for it because mostly it steamed from me being so agitated that they only had the drive to get up and clean their messes so infrequently. 

I get that you and the girls weren’t raised with the same levels and standards as me, and yes efforts have been made, but it only really felt like those efforts were made as to stop hearing me bitch, moan, and complain about it. 

When I said that you didn’t understand why I had said that I felt like I didn’t get to talk and the only thing I could do was apologize, I wasn’t talking as a whole, I was talking about in that moment. You went off about how I was basically a piece of shit for doing what I’m doing and I just kept saying sorry and then said “I feel like we talked a lot so I’ll talk to you later” but then went ahead and put in that extra like sprinkle about how my decision was going to make you an unfit guardian and that I made a promise to stick it out when things got tough. That’s what I had meant when I said I didn’t feel like I got to talk and only felt like I was just apologizing profusely. 

“But at the end of the day you gave up

You weren’t strong enough, and I do feel bad for that

But I know I would never give up and leave you hanging

And if I knew you were feeling this bad I would have tried even hard to fix what you needed me to fix

But you never shared what bothered you you were never fully honest”

I’ve always tried being my most honest self with you. I’m sorry that my weakened mental state makes you feel like I’m just giving up. But I never would’ve brought you down like that when you were already feeling low. To call you that we were weak and that it brings shame to others.

You are a strong person. But just because I’m not “as strong” as you or strong in the way that you are, doesn’t mean I’m weak. 

I’m sorry I couldn’t meet your “expectations”. 

I’m sorry that this decision is screwing you and the girls over.

But I can’t say sorry for trying to take the time to heal myself.

“Enough is enough.

Everything I’m saying is proving you’re right about how I make you feel.”

You say you don’t understand my words but I don’t understand yours.

If you’re saying that your words are only proving mine right, then how can you claim that you don’t understand my words?

I don’t know what else I can say to make you understand that things are growing toxic so fast. I didn’t want it to fester anymore. I know in part I did make it worse. Sometimes it has to get worse before it can get better. We’ve dealt with worse before with our mothers, but I can’t handle it anymore. I’m not able to handle even a fraction of that heartache like I used to. But I didn’t want to try leaving when things were so bad that it only left us dying from the poison. I’m leaving in hopes to stop the spreading and to find the cure.

Then I see you posts about how you want to watch me cower in the shadows.

It only reaffirms my stance and me standing my ground on my decision. To know that you know I’m wounded but you’d like to see me suffer more, you are only proving my words right.

I’m not saying I’m 100% in the right. I know I’m not. In part my actions were that of a coward, I can see why you would say I’m not strong. I’m just sad that the very person who is making me feel like a coward is the very person who used to inspire strength in me.

I have to carry that weight in my soul for the rest of my life about how my decision is affecting everyone I care about.

Next

[allykat4416]

Meme Trip 2k19, Pt. 3

Date: May 21st

Park: Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois

One of the most surreal things about doing these trips after being a homebound and family-locked coaster geek for many years is actually getting out there. I’ve heard of so many of these parks. I’ve seen pictures, read ride reviews, know at least a little something about something in them, and so on. I’m used to knowing factually, but not knowing by experience. You can read a book on how to be a good nurse all day long, but it’ll never prepare you for being in the hospital. Similarly, you can read all about these parks, but it won’t ever prepare you for walking into these places that only existed in your life before as a concept.

One such place was Six Flags Great America. I’d never paid too much mind to them outside of some vague knowledge about them—Raging Bull was the second B&M hyper, Batman was the very first B&M invert, I remembered X-Flight and Goliath’s announcements to some degree, and say, aren’t they getting a new coaster next year?

Then November happened, and I’ll spare you the details but my coo-coo bananas ass really did not like GAM after that. Like Holiday World, it was one of the parks I heavily considered asking Casie to skip. For months, the only coaster there I really gave a shit about was Goliath, and I think that that was originally only because I loved the character of Giorgos so much!

But, I knew that in order to be better, I had to do some stuff I wasn’t 100% comfortable with. I’d faced down ground zero in Indiana and thrived, had a lot of fun with Nelly in the process, and found closure. Now it was time to get closure about that trip, to surrender to the fact I’ll never know what happened and I’m relegated to trusting what I was told.

We pulled up to the park early that morning, the wind biting and cold. I could never live this far north. I shivered and pulled my arms tighter in my hoodie. At least Goliath is here. At least I’m going to get some credits to my roster. It’s just one day, try to keep an open mind! It may not be too bad. It may be like HoWo. Oryche may be here later on too. Early Entry only granted us 10 minutes, and our Six Flags day began.

Superman- Ultimate Flight is a B&M flyer, a model I’m not incredibly fond of. I’ve done 2 of these now, and I still don’t really care for them. This one is better than the one in New Jersey by a small margin, but as a woman with boobs, I don’t care for flying coasters. I’m glad we got this one out of the way early on. Similarly, The Dark Knight’s a wild mouse. There’s not much to say. I’m glad the horn on the train isn’t as loud as GADV’s, since I hate super loud noises. It was fun to shout out “We live in a society!” but it’s ultimately a pretty forgettable ride.

I can’t remember if I said my piece on Joker at Great Adventure, but I’m not a huge fan of these free-spin clones. They’re weird, and I know their gimmick makes them very marketable. However, after doing Lightning Run and realizing these coasters cost the same as that did, I’m even less fond of them. Really, guys? Both are capacity nightmares, but at least Lightning Run is actually a lot of fun. Got the credit, pass, never gonna do that again.

There’s not a whole lot to V2: Vertical Velocity either. It’s an Intamin Impulse, basically the same experience as Possessed at Dorney from last year. It’s a little shakier than Possessed is, and I seriously hurt my foot jumping down from the seats. (Short enthusiast problems.) Still, it’s a fun coaster for what it’s worth. I’m fond of these types of rides, and I’ll be sad when this inevitably does go.

Batman admittedly had always held a shred of an interest for me because of my giant bias towards B&M’s inverted coasters. Being the first of the kind was at least a slight draw to the park for me, and I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint me. I rode it twice, and I oddly enough prefer it in the back. I’m usually a Front-Row Purist for inverts. The queue is immersive for a Six Flags, and the recording of the laughing kids as you exit gave me hardcore heebie-jeebies. The loop should absolutely not be that tight, and I love it. Somewhat of a recurring theme, but the I prefer the clones here over the ones at GADV. This Batman crushes the one in Jersey.

Little Dipper and Sprocket Rocket are two very cute kiddie coasters. I think Dipper is my favorite of the two, even without the really heartwarming story about Six Flags saving its life. They’re both super-fun rides for baby enthusiasts to cut their teeth on, and I’m glad they’ve got both of them in their lineup. Nice work!

American Eagle was fun. This was the ride a lot of people asked me about while I was in the park, and I kept describing it as “Racer from KI with a better layout and not possessed by Satan.” My first ride was lackluster because of a misunderstanding in the queue, but when Oryche and I went back to ride it, I got to really appreciate AE for what it is. What it is is very good and very fun. While only blue side was running, it was a blast. I can’t imagine what both of the trains going at the same time would be like! The helix is a laugh riot and those first few hills give you some solid, strong floater. Shoutout to the kids behind O and I screaming out “Fuck bitches, get money” the entire ride. Whoever they were, I hope they’re having the best summer of their young lives.

Demon is surprisingly not bad at all. Most of the Arrow loopers I’ve done have been lackluster, sans Nessie and TNT. I didn’t have very high expectations for Demon, to be fair, but I ended up really enjoying myself on it more than I figured I would. The tunnel effects were nice, especially the second one that felt almost like a head chopper. The corkscrews are a little rough, but not unbearable. It’s a solid ride that I hope is around in the park for years to come! Good going, Demon. Even if I hurt my arm trying to get into your trains.

Viper is neat in that it was a coaster built in-house a la Beast or Twister, and that we share a birth year. It was better than I anticipated it to be (bear in mind, my expectations for this park were incredibly low), but I prefer the other two wooden coasters in the park to it. By no means is Viper a bad ride, my worst experience was hurting my ankle while getting out of the train, but there are just other rides in the park I like more. I think I might also be a little less keen on Viper because we modeled his personification after someone I dislike who is also a snake in the grass. Haha.

X-Flight sucks. I knew it was going to be Not Great, but I didn’t think it was going to be that bad. I’ve always kind of laughed at enthusiasts who whine and bitch about “omggg b&m rattle wahhh!” But guys… X-Flight actually has a rattle, and it’s awful. I felt like I was riding a jackhammer on this ride. I’m sure it was a lot more fun in its early years, but now that the wings are almost literally flapping, I’ll pass. I’m usually a little kinder on winged coasters than most other enthusiasts, but this is pretty awful. It’s the only ride in this park I actively dislike.  

We also hit a few flats. Mardi Gras Hangover was not a credit, but it also just kind of exists. Fiddler’s Fling was a lot of fun, since I like spinning flats [but not spinning coasters, funnily enough.] Oryche and I got incredibly close on FF, but we were both good sports about it. It’s Six Flags, it happens. Chubasco is also a blast with friends, and we were screaming “RMC WHO? I ONLY KNOW DADDY CHUBASCO. ALAN SCHILKE IS QUAKING” the entire time. Irony is funny, guys! Really! It doesn’t hurt that the centerpiece of the ride really looks like a giant bong at some points.

I was a bit anxious about Raging Bull going into the trip. Casie told me again and again that because I’m not too keen on 232 at my home park, I “probably won’t like Bull either.” I think we were both pleased to say that was not the case! I actually enjoyed RB a lot, to the point I really wonder why on earth enthusiasts dislike it. (Or rather, I would if I didn’t already know they dickride Steve and thus are stupid as all fuck.)

No, the layout isn’t as focused on that tasty graceful floater B&M does so well. But it’s unique, and as you can tell by my adoration of LRun, I heavily support individuality in rides. Give me those low-to-the-ground twists over a helix and some bunny hops. I dig it! The trims were about as bad as Diamondback’s, which is to say noticeable but definitely not enough to hurt the ride experience. Oryche and I also got a trimless Bull ride, which slapped.

Again, B&M hypers are like going to a new restaurant and ordering the chicken strips. You can’t majorly fuck up chicken strips. You’re gonna enjoy what you get. Bull is spicy chicken strips. Still chicken, but with a new twist on the same ol’ same ol’. I like it. I only rode twice, but I can’t wait to ride more to see if it holds up or if she was just having a particularly good day. Yee-haw.

And now it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. Over the last year, RMC has left a very unpleasant taste in my mouth because of Steve. I’ve enjoyed the other 3--- WiCy and TwiTim are wonderful rides and LRod is nothing short of fantastic--- but SV made me think twice about the company. I incredibly hate how they’re treated as if they can do no wrong within the community. I used to hype them up when my only experience with them was LRod, but after SV, my love for them died in a fiery car crash. Wicked and Timbers helped me realize Steve was most likely a glitch, but the damage was done already. I’d never be hype-hyped for an RMC again.

The only park I’d visited thus far where the RMC was my favorite in the lineup was Dollywood. Not Kings Dominion, not SFNE, not Kentucky Kingdom, and most certainly not Cedar Point. Great America is one of the rare parks where the RMC is my favorite in the roster.

Remember when I said there’s only one coaster with a first drop I might like more than Lightning Run? It’s Goliath. It may have been because I didn’t eat very much that day [only a coffee and a donut at Dunkin in the morning and a tiny bag of Takis during the day], but I was graying out at the bottom of the drop consistently. And the hangtime is sinfully good, it puts Copperhead’s to shame.

Yes, it’s short. But I like when RMC is short and packs a punch rather than being long, drawn-out, and having unnecessary MCBRs. I’m trying to keep my salt to a minimum, but it’s very hard to not. Goliath is not a long ride, and that’s a complaint I understand. But when you are riding it, it does the elements it has very, very well. I like Goliath. You guys are just mean. I marathoned this and lost count of how many rides I got, but Oryche said we racked up at least 12.

Also, funny story: Oryche and I were trying to re-ride, but my restraint kept locking back into place. I joked to the ride operator that “It must not want me to go!” She laughed and said that “Goliath picks people he likes.” He likes me as much as I like him. I will defend you, Giorgos, you glorious dumbass.

Overall, I liked GAM a hell of a lot more than I expected myself to. I do think I’d probably let my bitterness override my preconceived notions on the park, but it led to me being overwhelmingly happy with how good it actually is. It’s laid out very well, and it’s clean and honestly really beautiful. It’s like New England, just on a much larger scale and with a lineup that doesn’t need to rely on the top 2 because everything sans X-Flight is decent at the worst. Honestly, it’s probably my favorite Six Flags thus far. Those are words I never thought I would say, and I’m excited to come back and get Whizzer and Maxx Force whenever the winds blow us back into Chicago.

Until next time, you shirtless Greek horndog.

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Running For President

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How Many Republicans Running For President

Sen Tom Cotton Of Arkansas

How GOP retirements are making the 2022 midterm elections a Trump referendum

Cotton, 43, has been preparing for a potential presidential run since before the 2020 election even happened, visiting the first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire last year to campaign for local Republicans. I expect Ill be back to New Hampshire again in the future, he told Insider last October. The betting site PredictIt currently ranks Cotton alongside Pompeo, Rubio and Hawley.

Cotton represented Arkansas in the U.S. House for two terms before becoming a senator in 2015. His first brush with national prominence came in 2006 when he was serving in Iraq as an Army lieutenant. Cotton sent a letter to the editor at The New York Times criticizing their story about the U.S. terrorist finance tracking program. Cotton called for the paper to be prosecuted for revealing the program, and though his letter wasnt published in the Times, it was picked up by the conservative blog Power Line, which Cotton copied on his petition to the Times.

Another Cotton opinion piece did later make it into the Times. His controversial 2020 op-ed, headlined Send In the Troops about using the military and an overwhelming show of force against protesters and rioters following the death of George Floyd, led to the resignation of Times editorial page editor James Bennet. Cotton referenced the op-ed in January after the attack on the Capitol, and said in a statement that those involved should face the full extent of federal law.

What Is A Voter

The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, which took effect January 1, 2011, created “voter-nominated” offices. The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act does not apply to candidates running for U.S. President, county central committees, or local offices.

Most of the offices that were previously known as “partisan” are now known as “voter-nominated” offices. Voter-nominated offices are state constitutional offices, state legislative offices, and U.S. congressional offices. The only “partisan offices” now are the offices of U.S. President and county central committee.

Elites Still Matter Enormously In Primaries

George H.W. Bush

Just when journalists and political scientists were ready to proclaim the death of parties in favor of candidate-centered politics, the pendulum started to swing back.

Over the past 35 years, incumbent presidents have had zero problems obtaining renomination even presidents like George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton who alienated substantial segments of the party base with ideological heterodoxy during their first term. Reagan and Clinton both passed the baton to their vice presidents without much trouble.

Insurgent candidates who caught fire with campaigns explicitly promising to shake up the party establishment Gary Hart in 1984, Pat Robertson in 1988, Jerry Brown in 1992, Pat Buchanan in 1996, John McCain and Bill Bradley in 2000, Howard Dean in 2004, Mike Huckabee in 2008, and Rick Santorum in 2012 repeatedly gained headlines and even won state primaries.

But while 1970s insurgents were able to use early wins to build momentum, post-Reagan insurgents were ground down by the sheer duration and expansiveness of primary campaigns.

Tactics that worked in relatively low-population, cheap states like Iowa and New Hampshire simply couldnt scale without access to the broad networks of donors, campaign staff, and policy experts that establishment-backed candidates enjoyed.

Its this invisible primary among party elites that truly matters.

Endorsements were better at predicting the outcome than polls, fundraising numbers, or media coverage.

Don’t Miss: How Many Republicans Are In Congress 2016

Fragment Of Lincoln Speech To Kentuckians

A fragment of President Lincolnâs First Inaugural Address is attached to this speech intended for Kentuckians, indicating that it was prepared prior to his journey from Springfield to Washington. The assumption is that Lincoln either planned to receive a delegation from Kentucky during his stop in Cincinnati, or to make a quick excursion into his home state to deliver the speech. The speech itself confirms Lincolnâs belief that there was nothing he could say to appease the South without betraying the principles upon which he had been elected.

Abraham Lincoln. Speech intended for Kentuckians, February 1861. Holograph letter. Robert Todd Lincoln Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Digital ID # al0082p1, al0082p2

Bookmark this item: //www.loc.gov/exhibits/lincoln/the-run-for-president.html#obj23

Newsom Wins By A Little

Defeating the recall by a narrow margin significantly less than his 24-percentage-point beatdown of Republican John Cox in 2018 could weaken Newsom as he heads into reelection next year.

If he limps out of this, there will be some blood in the water, said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant. Another Democrat will think they could do better and they can take him on.

Republicans who backed the recall could claim a kind of victory from weakening the governor, even if they failed to throw him out of office. Some of them already are.

Hes spent $80 million, hes in the fight of his life, hes called in the president and the vice president, said Anne Dunsmore, a recall campaign manager.

Hes taking it seriously and hes using a lot of resources to combat us Weve already won. Weve made our point.

A narrow win would also likely trigger lawsuits over the validity of the election results. Conservative commentators have already begun saying, with no evidence, that voter fraud will be to blame if Newsom wins. Former President Donald Trump issued a statement Monday calling the recall another giant Election Scam.

Elder has said he plans to file lawsuits over election irregularities. His website links to another site that asks voters to sign a petition demanding a special session of the California legislature to investigate and ameliorate the twisted results of this 2021 Recall Election of Governor Gavin Newsom.

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Emboldened ‘unchanged’ Trump Looks To Re

The set of advisers around Trump now is a familiar mix of his top 2020 campaign aides and others who have moved in and out of his orbit over time. They include Miller, Susie Wiles, Bill Stepien, Justin Clark, Corey Lewandowski and Brad Parscale.

While his schedule isn’t set yet, according to Trump’s camp, his coming stops are likely to include efforts to help Ohio congressional candidate Max Miller, a former White House aide looking to win a primary against Rep. Anthony Gonzales, who voted to impeach Trump this year; Jody Hice, who is trying to unseat fellow Republican Brad Raffensperger as Georgia secretary of state after Raffensperger defied Trump and validated the state’s electoral votes; and Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks, according to Trump’s camp.

Trump’s ongoing influence with Republican voters helps explain why most GOP officeholders stick so closely to him. Republicans spared him a conviction in the Senate after the House impeached him for stoking the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, House GOP leaders have made it clear that they view his engagement as essential to their hopes of retaking the chamber, and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., was deposed as Republican Conference Chair this year over her repeated rebukes of Trump.

Those numbers suggest that Trump could be in a strong position to win a Republican primary but lose the general election in 3½ years. A former Trump campaign operative made that case while discussing Trump’s ambitions.

Republican Candidates Running For The Us 2020 Election

Bill Weld was married twice and has five children.

Weld ran for vice-president as a Libertarian on the Gary Johnson ticket in the 2016 presidential election.

As a conservative, Weld is strongly pro-choice on abortion issues.

The presidential race is on and the candidates are being whittled down to the very few. Who is running on the Republican side? Current President Donald Trump is going for re-election, and the only candidate now challenging him for election as president of the US this coming November 3rd, 2020 is Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor.

Also Check: Why Do Republicans Want To Take Away Health Care

Death Threats And Conspiracy Theories: Why 2020 Won’t End For Election Officials

Kelley said members of his staff have been followed and videotaped while picking up ballots from drop boxes in recent weeks.

“I’ve been doing this almost 18 years, and I would say the end of ’19 leading into ’20 and then all the way up to today has been the most stressful period of my career,” Kelley said.

Up until now, the fraud claims have been mostly isolated to national campaigns and the occasional statewide race.

But Jamie Shew, who oversees elections in Douglas County, Kan., said he worries the tactic could trickle down to local races, where margins are often extremely thin.

“Even in candidates were going to ‘there was fraud’ rather than it was a bad campaign,” Shew said. But “2020 took it to a whole new level. And I don’t think that’s going to go away.”

In Douglas County last year, for instance, a County Commission race was decided by just three votes. Both candidates running accepted the results after a hand recount, but Shew said he worries next time, they might not be so lucky.

‘americans Will See The Current Two Options Are Not The Choice’

Donald Trump to decide on 2024 Presidential run| White House | Latest English News | World News

Jade Simmons is a multi-hyphenated woman. A former beauty queen, professional concert pianist, motivational speaker, rapper, mother, and ordained pastor.

As she puts it, she is an unconventional candidate, “but these are unconventional times”.

“This seemed to me to be a time when we couldn’t afford to do business as usual,” she says. “I’m the daughter of a civil rights activist, and the way my father raised me was that if you see voids, if you see injustices, you need to ask yourself if that might be you that needs to be leaning in.”

She says her goal is to create equal access to opportunity, through economic, educational and criminal justice reform. And in that spirit, she’s aiming to run “the least expensive campaign in the history of our nation”.

“We think it’s abominable that it costs now almost a billion dollars to run for president when the qualifications are that you are 35 years old, a US-born resident, and have lived here 14 years,” says Ms Simmons. “We’d rather spend that money on helping people.”

Full coverage of the US election

While the Republican and Democratic nominees will be on the ballot in all states, independents must meet an array of state deadlines and access requirements.

“I know it sounds wild, given the history of independents! We believe that if we stay standing long enough, there’s still some more disruption coming in – that most Americans are going to see that the current two options are not the choice.

Read Also: How Did Republicans Do In The Primaries

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Partys 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her states first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trumps foreign policy team.

I think that shes done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume, said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolinas department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was disgusted by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.

Political Primaries: How Are Candidates Nominated

Article two, section one of the United States Constitution discusses the procedures to be followed when electing the president of the United States, but it does not provide guidance for how to nominate a presidential candidate. Currently, candidates go through a series of state primaries and caucuses where, based on the number of votes they receive from the electorate, they are assigned a certain number of delegates who will vote for them at their partys convention.

Earlier party conventions were raucous events, and delegates did not necessarily represent the electorate. Mrs. J.J. McCarthy describes her convention experience:

I can picture the great Democratic convention of 1894 at the old coliseum in Omaha right now I can hear the Hallelluiahs of the assembled. Oh how I wish I had back the youth and the enthusiasm I felt that night, I jumped on a chair and ask that by a rising vote the nomination be made unanimous, how the people yelled, how the packed gallories applauded, it cheers an old man now to think about it.

Politics played a big part in the life of this town years ago. Campaigns were hot, and there was always a big celebration afterwards. Votes used to be bought that is before the secret ballot was adopted. Some sold em pretty cheap. I remember one old fellow who sold out to one party for a dollar then sold out to the other for the same price.

Recommended Reading: Who Controls The Senate Republicans Or Democrats

Start Your Day With Laist

For nearly 25 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom rose the ranks of California politics without ever losing an election, buoyed by connections to powerful San Francisco Democrats and a willingness to take risks like sanctinoing same-sex marriage that put him at the vanguard of his party.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic.

The governors attention-grabbing style implementing the nations first stay-at-home order in March 2020, then dining at an exclusive wine country restaurant as he told people to stay home to avoid a winter surge rubbed enough Californians the wrong way that 1.7 million voters launched the second gubernatorial recall in state history.

And yet to fight back, the Democratic leader of one of the nations bluest states returned to what helped him succeed in the early days: connections to fellow Democrats and well-calculated policy risks this time, to fight COVID-19.

At a campaign rally in Long Beach on Monday night, President Joe Biden heaped praise on Newsoms management of the pandemic. Newsom this summer made California the first state in the nation to require vaccines for health care workers and state employees.

Gavin Newsom has had the courage to lead, to stand up for science, Biden said. Hes been one of the leading governors in the nation protecting people and vaccinating his state.

Can you imagine him being governor of this state? You cant let that happen, said Biden, who beat Trump in California last year .

Here Are The Republicans To Keep An Eye On For 2024

Republicans are paying extra attention to a number of Republican governors, senators, and former officials that might consider making a run for president in 2024.

The contenders come from various contingents of right-leaning thought, and will be fighting to capture parts of former President Donald Trumps base. Whichever Republican hopeful prevails will not only become the Republican Partys nominee, but also help determine the ideological trajectory of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era.

Vice President Mike Pence

Its not uncommon for vice presidents to follow up their stint as second-in-command with a run for president. Former President John Adams, the nations second president, was Americas first vice president under President George Washington. More recently, President Joe Biden became the 46th president four years after he ended his eight-year tenure as former President Barack Obamas vice president.

Vice President Mike Pence might decide to do the same, but Pences relationship with Trump seems to be severely tarnished after Pence did not contest the certification of the Electoral College results, as reported by The Hill.

Senator Ted Cruz

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz could run for president again come 2024 after he defended his senate seat in 2018 from Democratic challenger Beto ORourke. Cruzs bid for the presidency in 2016 ended in failure as Trump captured the Republican Partys nomination.

Senator Josh Hawley

Don’t Miss: Are There More Rich Republicans Or Democrats

Whos Running For President In 2020

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Trump in the 2020 race.

The field of Democratic presidential candidates was historically large, but all others have dropped out. Mr. Trump had also picked up a few Republican challengers, but they have also ended their campaigns.

Running

Has run for president twice before.

Is known for his down-to-earth personality and his ability to connect with working-class voters.

His eight years as Barack Obamas vice president are a major selling point for many Democrats.

Signature issues: Restoring Americas standing on the global stage; adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act; strengthening economic protections for low-income workers in industries like manufacturing and fast food.

Main legislative accomplishment as president: a sweeping tax cut that chiefly benefited corporations and wealthy investors.

Has focused on undoing the policies of the Obama administration, including on health care, environmental regulation and immigration.

Was impeached by the House of Representatives for seeking to pressure Ukraine to smear his political rivals, but was acquitted by the Senate.

Signature issues: Restricting immigration and building a wall at the Mexican border; renegotiating or canceling international deals on trade, arms control and climate change; withdrawing American troops from overseas.

Ended her campaign in March 2020 and said she would back Mr. Biden.

[hollowayfiona1993-blog]

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The best cheap car insurance in Kentucky

The best cheap car insurance in Kentucky. How is a minimum level of coverage a good deal? No good deal at all. No one wants to pay higher insurance. Not the least amount of money to change the cost up or down of their premiums. When you consider the benefits that are provided when you’re trying to protect the cost of your insurance premiums, it’s a no brainer. You can get the good price for lower risk by not getting a better deal. I’m a resident and a resident of Kentucky. I’ve lost a lot of family. I’ve lost business with different insurance companies that I’m connected with. But I’m the one who has to do everything when I’m in a car, I’m home and I haven’t lost all of my work. If you get a better deal on car insurance and you understand the basics, it keeps you protected. The Kentucky Department of Insurance is a great place to find.

I m a financial planner, and there are 4 steps I take every year to decide which health insurance plan to choose during open enrollment

I m a financial planner, and there are 4 steps I take every year to decide which health insurance plan to choose during open enrollment: Open enrollment is a free opportunity to compare insurance plans across the state. It usually happens the first time you need coverage. Open enrollment is often about a year but a year after purchase. The federal government requires that you buy health insurance. It is free, free, and free to enroll through the Health Insurance Marketplace. You can choose or change your health insurance if you   your coverage under that plan. Health insurance is designed to provide coverage for preventive care, accidental injury, co-payments, medical services and co-insurance. Health insurance plans do not generally include cancer screenings or screenings for Cancer. Cancer screenings often offer cost estimates that vary by plan type. Cancers have a life expectancy of more than 300 years. Any patient who is receiving cancer treatments, including lung cancer, is still considered an uninsured patient. Most health insurance plans will allow you to buy a cancer screening plan. The health insurance Marketplace has additional information that customers.

The best cheap car insurance in Georgia

The best cheap car insurance in Georgia is the Travelers Insurance. They get excellent ratings with and . Their rates are cheaper than most but you have to get your own . I did get a quote for the best cheap car insurance with Travelers but the best cheapest was with Travelers and the last three are $1,200. I was looking for low cost auto Insurance but a cheaper auto insurance company and i get a full coverage. I can’t recommend them at all. I want to be sure for me to drive my car in some accident in the middle of the road if it’s a covered property accident. I want to be sure if I can get a replacement car for my family. I want to save them money but we had no insurance! They are rude and just didn’t even want to help me. It’s a terrible insurance company and one of the worst I’m ever been in. We’ve had 2 accidents, with a second.

I m a financial planner, and I almost always recommend the same type of life insurance to my clients

I m a financial planner, and I almost always recommend the same type of life insurance to my clients. It is, that way you can have your financial future prepared and protect your loved ones. If you buy permanent, permanent life insurance, you will own your permanent coverage if you die during the term of your policy. If you need your current life insurance policy, you may also want to consider a non-temporary life insurance policy. I don t understand how an insurance company would work like that. My parents just retired in 2016, and as far as I know, they don t have life insurance. So they have no need for permanent coverage even though they haven t died yet. I would expect it to be in an amount less than their monthly income, in most cases. What we should focus on is you can see if you need permanent coverage — how long that coverage will last — for your parents (and if they can t take their future with these people with you). But I ve seen some examples where temporary life insurance policies aren t even useful. If your parents have more than 30.

7 reasons you may need life insurance, even if you think you don t

7 reasons you may need life insurance, even if you think you don t need it.  Some people may buy life insurance, but are uninsured, or don t know why they need it or if they should. As part of your life insurance policy, you, as a consumer, are responsible for paying the price of your policy.  When reviewing your rates, the insurance agent should help you determine your eligibility and provide you with a quote. If you still have questions about your life insurance policy and would like to make a payment, the insurance agents will call you at your convenience to make sure you have everything you need. If you don t, you may need to pay a fee. If you need to make a payment, you must pay in the order shown on your policy in order to get approval. The application process varies by state. In some states, you may want to do the entire thing on your phone or via snail mail. For these reasons, it is best to file online as soon as possible on time. When you need life insurance, the one time.

Insurance

Insurance coverage includes: If you don’t think you qualify as a high-risk driver, you might think it’s no use. Your car insurance coverage for low-income drivers is high. A car insurance policy is designed to cover the costs that unexpected accidents and injuries may unleash. If the other party can’t afford the damages and expenses that this situation incurs, the car insurance policy can cover the cost of their medical bills and vehicle repairs for you. A car insurance plan is designed to cover you and your family in the event that an accident or accident costs you too much money to cover. So, if you’re looking to save on your car insurance policy, there’s an easier way to save that extra amount. If you are in a situation that you’re not yet at fault in causing damage that may make it difficult to afford repair, the next step is to consider your options and consider some steps you can take to save on a car.

A million-dollar life insurance policy sounds like a lot, but you might want to consider it

A million-dollar life insurance policy sounds like a lot, but you might want to consider it to be at least your first choice when you’re looking for affordable insurance. Life insurance isn’t an investment… there’s a life insurance policy you can buy for your spouse that will give you a huge payout in case of your passing. But it’s also not an asset. Many people only want or , but the value at that point is just an asset and not a permanent asset. Most people don’t own a car, even though it is almost as safe to buy as a home, get to enjoy and live another day. What a great option to consider when considering life insurance for your spouse. There are two ways you can use life insurance: By working with an agent, or . You can usually . But life insurance isn’t an asset. If you’re in the middle of life, getting a policy is your best bet, and should be the last option before your spouse or anyone else you’d expect to.

4 reasons to get disability insurance, even if you don t think you need it

4 reasons to get disability insurance, even if you don t think you need it. Disability insurance covers a wide range of tasks, from transportation to daily work. You can get $1260+ in disability insurance with just $500 of coverage, and $200+ in lifetime, lifetime, or annual premium. You can get your disability insurance policy as easily as the day before and get the policy in force (within 45 days of starting coverage). This provides more peace of mind and protection in case your disability benefits are exhausted. If the disability insurance your employer offers is $25,000, you can get coverage as soon as the next day. How does disability insurance affect my salary? Unlike most insurance companies, disability insurance companies will consider your salary and the amount of coverage purchased as earnings (earning you the benefit of a percentage of your regular salary), not your actual salary. So don t get disability insurance. Ask your insurance agent if you can buy disability insurance to get a lower level of coverage and greater peace of mind. It s best to compare quotes.