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It is almost three months since my move to Sherbrooke QC, and while there are still some boxes unpacked, my very first studio is already up and running. I already painted a few times and it is such a treat to have a dedicated room to one's passion.
With some delay, it's time to evaluate the status of my annual art goals for 2017. I use this review as an opportunity to strategize on how to achieve my goals by the end of the year.
It is an ambitious goal to create six large and six small paintings; until today, I completed only one large-scale painting. However, I am still hopefully optimistic about achieving this goal. Winter is around the corner and with it plenty of quality studio time.
I had hoped to sell some studies at an art show this year. As I didn't attend a show, I will focus on plan B: my small online shop. The setup on my website is as good as complete and I plan to post the first paintings for sale early November.
With respect to my artist CV, I didn't make as much of a progress as I had hoped for. With a move to organize and many trips to the US, I only applied to 4 art shows and one art contest. But I'm glad to announce that with my participation in the traveling group exhibition 'Le Canada pour c'est …', I am halfway there.
My painting is on display at seven venues across the Eastern Townships. You can find the related blog post about this traveling group exhibition here.
I did a very poor job with posting new photos and posts on social media. So, I will stick again to scheduled and automated posts for the remaining months. This should hopefully bring me back on track.
I created several little video clips but did not edit any movies yet. I plan to post a 'making-of' video of my recently completed large-scale exclamatory intermezzo painting; if you are following me on Facebook or Instagram you might have seen some of these clips already.
Also, I plan to create short introductory videos for my two series.
This year I made quite the progress with setting up my online shop. However, I am still behind with improving the Commissions, Events and About pages. I plan to work on them in early November.
I Joined CARA (Centre d'art de la région des Appalaches) in Thetford Mines in fall of 2016. Currently, I am looking at different options to reach out to local artist community in Sherbrooke, QC.
To sum it up, the last months have been very busy with a time-consuming move and lots of travel. Unfortunately, I am behind on almost all my goals. Therefore, it's high time to move up a gear for the last three months! I will keep you posted.


it's reveal day at little black dress kit club!
the kit this month is so appropriately named "miss maggie". and it's beyond amazing! i'm still in my "love everything pink" phase, so the beautiful papers, rhinestone pins, fabric frames, clothespins, etc... were perfect for me. but don't get me wrong...it's not all girlie! there is some lovely glitz design and american crafts goodies too! you seriously don't want to miss this wonderful kit!!
you can tell that i went totally "girlie" on this layouts and used lots of the pinks, as well as some feminine cut files i cut with my silhouette.
i'll be sharing more of what i created using this kit later in the week!! be sure to stop by the little black dress kit club blog for more inspiration, videos and to pick up your own "miss maggie" kit!
celebrating women at glitz design..


text:
namespace _04_Konspiration
{
    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Text;
    using System.Threading.Tasks;

    class Konspiration
    {
        // Store found methods
        static string method = "static";
        static List<string> foundMethods;
        static List<List<string>> invokedMethods;
        static string curMethod;

        // Helper
        static int curLineNumber = 0;

        // Parse current line.
        static void ParseLine(string[] curLine)
        {

            foreach (var item in curLine)
            {
                var isNewObject = false;
                // If the line contains
                // "static" then it's a new
                // method
                if (item == method) { AddNewMethod(curLine); break; }

                // Check if the current word contains
                // a name of a previously declared method.
                // TODO: More checks might be needed.
                //for (int i = 0; i < foundMethods.Count(); i++)
                //{
                //    if (item.Contains(foundMethods[i]))
                //    {
                //        // checki if separate method
                //        if (isDeclaredMethod(item, foundMethods[i]))
                //        {
                //            var index = foundMethods.IndexOf(curMethod);
                //            invokedMethods[index].Add(foundMethods[i]);
                //        }
                //    }
                //}

                if (item == "new")
                {
                    isNewObject = true;
                }

                // Check if object.Method()
                if (item.Contains(".") ||
                    (item.Contains("(") && !isNewObject))
                {
                    SearchForMethods(curLine);
                    break;
                }
            }
        }

        // Check if static method is a separate word
        static bool isDeclaredMethod(string curString, string methodName)
        {
            var check = string.Format("0{0}0", curString);

            var indexOfMethodName = check.IndexOf(methodName);
            var lengthOfMethodName = methodName.Length;

            if (!char.IsLetter(check[indexOfMethodName-1]))
            {
                if (!char.IsLetter(check[indexOfMethodName+lengthOfMethodName]) ||
                    check[indexOfMethodName + lengthOfMethodName] == '(')
                {
                    return true;
                }
            }
            return false;
        }

        // Search for invoked static method
        static void SearchForStaticMethod(string[] curLine)
        {
            var isMethod = false;
            var methodName = new StringBuilder();

            foreach (var item in curLine)
            {
                foreach (var ltr in item)
                {
                    if (char.IsUpper(item[0])) isMethod = true;
                    if (ltr == '(') isMethod = false;
                    if (isMethod) methodName.Append(ltr);
                }
            }
        }

        static void SearchForMethods(string[] curLine)
        {
            var methodName = new StringBuilder();
            var isMethod = false;
            var isNewObject = false;

            foreach (var item in curLine)
            {
                var checkItem = " " + item;

                for (int i = 1; i < checkItem.Length; i++)
                {
                    var chr = checkItem[i];

                    if (chr == '.')
                    {
                        methodName.Clear();
                        isMethod = true;
                    }

                    if (char.IsUpper(chr) && !char.IsLetter(checkItem[i-1]))
                    {

                        isMethod = true;
                    }

                    if (isMethod == true) methodName.Append(chr);

                    if (chr == '=' || chr == ',' || chr == '<')
                    {
                        isMethod = false;
                        methodName.Clear();
                    }

                    if (chr == '(' && isMethod)
                    {
                        isMethod = false;

                        var name = ExtractName(methodName.ToString());

                        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(name))
                        {
                            var index = foundMethods.IndexOf(curMethod);
                            invokedMethods[index].Add(name);
                        }

                        methodName.Clear();
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        static string ExtractName(string toParse)
        {
            var name = new StringBuilder();
            var write = false;

            foreach (var ltr in toParse)
            {
                if (ltr == '.') write = true;
                else if (char.IsUpper(ltr))
                {
                    name.Append(ltr);
                    write = true;
                }
                else if (ltr == '(') break;
                else if (write) name.Append(ltr);

            }

            return name.ToString().Replace(" ", string.Empty);
        }

        static void AddNewMethod(string[] curLine)
        {
            // static T methodName (

            var newMethodName = new StringBuilder();

            // Helpers.
            var isType = false;
            var isMethod = false;
            var isArray = false;

            foreach (var item in curLine)
            {
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(item)) continue;

                else if (item == method)
                {
                    isType = true;
                    isMethod = true;
                    continue;
                }

                // In case type is
                // array, list, whatever
                else if (item == "<" || item == "[") isArray = true;
                else if (item == ">" || item == "]") isArray = false;

                // Method return type
                else if (isType && isMethod && !isArray) isType = false;

                else if (isMethod && !isType && !isArray)
                {
                    // Read the name
                    newMethodName.Append(item);
                }

                // Stop Reading MethodName on Opening Bracket
                if (item.Contains("(")) { isMethod = false; break; }
            }

            var toAddName = newMethodName.ToString()
                .Trim()
                .Replace(" ", string.Empty);

            newMethodName.Clear();

            foreach (var chr in toAddName)
            {
                if (!char.IsLetter(chr)) break;
                else newMethodName.Append(chr);
            }

            toAddName = newMethodName.ToString();

            // Add the name to the existing names list
            foundMethods.Add(toAddName);
            // Create a list for methods invoked
            // within this method
            invokedMethods.Add(new List<string>());
            // set current method to this method
            curMethod = toAddName;
        }

        static void Output()
        {
            for (int index = 0; index < foundMethods.Count(); index++)
            {
                if (invokedMethods[index].Count() > 0)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} -> {1} -> {2}",
                        foundMethods[index],
                        invokedMethods[index].Count(),
                        string.Join(", ", invokedMethods[index]));
                }
                else
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} -> None", foundMethods[index]);
                }
            }
        }

        static void Main()
        {
            foundMethods = new List<string>();
            invokedMethods = new List<List<string>>();

            var linesOfCode = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

            while (curLineNumber < linesOfCode)
            {
                var curLine = Console.ReadLine()
                    .Trim()
                    .Split();
                ++curLineNumber;

                // Skip Line
                if (curLine.Contains("using") ||
                    curLine.Contains("namespace") ||
                    curLine.Contains("class"))
                {
                    continue;
                }

                // Search for
                // 1. Declaring methdos
                // 2. Invoking methods
                ParseLine(curLine);
            }

            // Print
            Output();
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Martin City, Missouri, features its train traffic as part of its charm. In the upper right is a photograph of a modern Union Pacific freight train engine which roared through Martin City on Aug. 11, 2021. Soon after, Big Boy No. 4014 (center photo) followed. In the lower right photograph, Big Boy is shown when it paused for a few minutes after it passed the Martin City intersection.
Big Boy No. 4014 Locomotive steamed into Martin City, Missouri, on its 2021 summer tour of the Union Pacific Railroad network. Martin City is part of Kansas City.
I felt an exciting big rush as this huge engine roared past me on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. I saw this same engine in November 2019 in Lawrence, Kansas.
Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service. Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the Rail Giants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.
Big Boy No. 4014 departed Cheyenne, Wyoming on Aug. 5, 2021, traveling through Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. Along the way, the Big Boy will be on display in the following cities during the tour:
Saturday, Aug. 14: Fort Worth, Texas
Tuesday, Aug. 17: Houston, Texas
Saturday, Aug. 21: New Orleans, Louisiana
Sunday, Aug. 29: St. Louis, Missouri
Monday, Sept. 6: Denver, Colorado
It is scheduled to return to its home base in Cheyenne on September 7, 2021.
My blog post about Big Boy No. 4014's visit to Lawrence, Kansas, in November 2019:
Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 Steam Locomotive Engine
Big Boy No. 4014 Steam Locomotive as it nears Martin City, Missouri.
Big Boy No. 4014 Steam Locomotive rounding the bend, heading toward Martin City, Missouri.
Filed under History, Photography, Transportation, Travel
Tagged as 2021, Big Boy, Engine, Historic, Kansas City, Locomotive, Martin City, Missouri, No. 4014, Railroad, Steam, Train, Union Pacific

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Die Spiele der kleinen Staaten von Europa 2013 fanden vom 27. Mai bis zum 1. Juni 2013 in Luxemburg statt. Das Motto der Spiele lautete "Are you ready for the games?" (Sind Sie bereit für die Spiele?). Die Eröffnungs- und Abschlussfeier fand im Josy-Barthel-Stadion statt.

Sportarten

Wettkampfstätten

Zeitplan
Legende zum nachfolgend dargestellten Wettkampfprogramm:

Letzte Spalte: Gesamtanzahl der Entscheidungen in den einzelnen Sportarten

Weblinks
 Offizielle Website

Quellen

2013
Multisportveranstaltung 2013
Sportveranstaltung in Luxemburg

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Music Bank A-Z
First 800 posts
Pick You Up Double Allergic
The Day You Come Internationalist
Waiting For The Sun Odyssey Number Five
My Happiness Odyssey Number Five
The Metre Odyssey Number Five
(Baby I've Got You) On My Mind Vulture Street
Sunsets Vulture Street
Lost And Running Dream Days At The Hotel Existence
All Of The Dreamers Golden Rule
Burn Your Name Golden Rule
Powderfinger (l to r): John Collins (bass), Bernard Fanning (vocals, guitar), Ian Haug (guitar), Jon Coghill (drums), Darren Middleton (guitar, keyboards)
Contributor: Richard Warran
Australia has always had a knack of producing great in-your-face straight-talking rock music. Think AC/DC, INXS, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil to name but four. Added to the list of great Aussie rock should be – and were, at least in Australia anyway – Powderfinger.
It was on another trip I made to Australia back in the early 2000s that I first came across them. If you listened to any rock radio station at that time then you couldn't fail to hear them coming out of the airwaves. They had just released their fourth and probably best known album, Odyssey Number Five, to great critical acclaim. Songs like Waiting For The Sun, My Happiness and The Metre, all in my top 10, got me hooked instantly. Always a fan of great melody, catchy guitar riffs and singalong lyrics, well these songs had all of this and more, and my love of Powderfinger had started.
Formed in Brisbane in 1989, and named after a Neil Young song, they released their debut album, Parables For Wooden Ears, in 1994. Nothing off this album would make my top 10 and I think it's fair to say that it didn't cause too many ripples in the Australian rock music lake.
They had to wait until Double Allergic was released in 1996 to start receiving much more positive noises from the media. It was the time of many new rising indie Oz acts. Bands like Silverchair and You Am I were getting a lot of international attention which perhaps helped Powderfinger on their way to eventually become one of the most respected and loved rock acts in the country. Their first single from Double Allergic, Pick You Up, cracked the Australian charts and started their massive success that lasted until they split in 2010.
The third album, Internationalist, was released in September 1998 to great critical acclaim reaching No.1 in Australia and spending over 100 weeks in the chart. The Day You Come, the first single from the album, gave the band their biggest chart hit to date. Still a big fish in a small pond, the band were making minor waves in the USA but didn't really make a dent in Europe.
Odyssey Number Five, the album that got me into the band, was released in autumn 2000 and is still their biggest selling album, shifting well over half a million copies. This is where I jumped on the Powderfinger bus. Always looking for new music when travelling, this was a band I kept hearing when watching music TV or listening to iconic radio station Triple J. I remember buying the CD somewhere in Australia but not being able to hear it, as my only form of music listening on my travels was my Walkman.
Powderfinger started to tour abroad by this time and I managed to see them live in the UK on a few occasions, usually at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a home from home for bands touring from Australia and New Zealand. They always attracted a large and lively crowd, mainly Aussies living in the UK and always delivered an excellent live set. Bernard Fanning is a great front man and always seemed to me to have a touch of Michael Hutchence about him.
Vulture Street, the band's fifth album, came out in early summer 2003 and again went straight to No.1 in the album charts, their third #1 in Australia. A harder sounding record than previous releases, it still had its fair share of anthemic tunes on it. (Baby I've Got You) On My Mind and Sunsets, both from Vulture Street, also make it into my top 10. Quite soon after, a great compilation, Footprints, was released containing most of their hits to date.
Dream Days At The Hotel Existence was released in 2007, a fair gap after their previous album. Bernand Fanning released his first solo album, Tea & Sympathy, in that hiatus and while the other band members were involved in their own projects. Dream Days didn't sell as well as earlier albums and perhaps the band could sense their best days were behind them. Lost And Running, the lead single from this album, does make my top 10 though.
Golden Rule, the last album from Powderfinger, was released in 2009. All Of The Dreamers and Burn Your Name are going in. Golden Rule still managed to get to No.1 in Australia but the band decided to call it a day, playing their final show in their hometown of Brisbane in November 2010 in front of 10,000 adoring fans. They finished the show with These Days, one of their finest songs.
Since then Bernard Fanning has released more solo albums including Departures (2013), another No.1 record. Ian Haug, the band's guitarist, has played with The Church. Darren Middleton relocated to Melbourne and is still making music and releasing albums. Jon Coghill is now a reporter and John Collins is the owner of The Triffid music venue in Brisbane.
Powderfinger will always be remembered as one of the finest Australian rock bands of the last twenty years and, although not so well known outside their own country, will always be one of my favourite rock bands. Go check them out, you won't be disappointed.
Powderfinger official website
Powderfinger (Wikipedia)
Powderfinger at Discogs
Bernard Fanning official website
Powderfinger biography (iTunes)
Richard Warran lives in Haywards Heath, famed for being a rather dull but close to Brighton and London commuter town. He has a passion for music and travel sometimes combining the two and can often be found at gigs in the above two cities. Find him on Twitter @rickwarran1.
Read the Toppermosts of the other Australian band mentioned in this post:
AC/DC, INXS, Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil
TopperPost #649
Posted on Aug 19, 2017 in 90s, ROCK/POP
Glenn Smith
Apparently they have a standard line in which they both thank and say sorry to anyone who bought their first album!
The thing that marks out all the great Australian bands (Hunters and Collectors and The Angels would be two I'd add to your magnificent four) is that they always stayed on the road and developed their sound and songwriting touring. It's a bit of cliche I know but it is absolutely true, they all got out there endlessly playing pubs, clubs, beer barns and, most importantly, country towns. Powderfinger exploded about 1997 and they were everywhere playing great gigs, they were fixtures at the festivals during the period where the Gurge and You Am I, Spiderbait, Something for Kate, Jebediah et al were setting high standards for live music. Powderfinger could match them all.
So here is my first quibble with your otherwise superb list and that's only one entry from Internationalist. That was the record that moved me into the Powderfinger corner, and I'd think Passenger and Already Gone are worthy of inclusion as is Hindley St, a great opening track.
And then These Days, which I think was originally from the soundtrack to Two Hands. That song is a powerhouse live, it is an amazing experience to hear it build and build. It's up there in the INXS anthemic show stopper category.
I really enjoyed this post, great overview of a great band.
I must agree with Glenn, and maybe just expand a little. The great Australian bands (in fact nearly all of them – the great, the good, the ok and the oh dears) started in a pub culture (and many lesser ones too). In fact, till you've played a pub, or a club, with an audience more interested in the sport on the big screen behind you, but who somehow KNOW when you adjust their favourite song, and who remonstrate with you. Peter Garrett describes (and we've all been there) calls to 'turn down, we're watching the footy', and a fight breaking out and the two participants getting closer and closer to thousands of dollars worth of equipment… Going to an American pub, or an English pub (as tough as they can be), is a delight in comparison.
Powderfinger won over tough crowds (as did all of them) and entered the consciousness. I don't have any 'wot! No?'s but would suggest Bernard Fanning's first solo album as a superb example of how an artist can grow.
Billy Lee Riley
Mike Stern
Sonny Burgess
Wooden Shjips
Dexys Midnight Runners
Happy Mondays
Barbara Dane
Nine Black Alps
Johnny Burnette
Spooky Tooth
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I am not normally a great watcher of horror movies. I'll be really honest and admit that I scare pretty easily and the fact that I have a vivid imagination tends to leave me with horrible mental pictures that haunt my dreams. However when Tyson Carter of Head In A Vice decided to celebrate his return from a baby related hiatus (no he did not give birth Junior style but he has been taking of a little Carter) with a blogathon all about watching the movies we put on our recommendations list and never get around to, I decided to push the boat out.
I can't remember how many people have reviewed You're Next and suggested that it was a bit of a standout but my most recent recommendation came from garylee828, whose blog has mysteriously disappeared, so I am going to credit him.
We start off with Erin (Sharni Vinson) in the car with her boyfriend, Crispian (AJ Bowen) driving to his parents' house for their wedding anniversary party where she will meet them and his siblings and their partners for the first time. I have to admit that my first question was how a beardy dork like Crispian nabbed a young hottie like Erin. I thought it might be his money or amazing intellect or bravery but he doesn't have any of those qualities either so the question never really got resolved in my mind.
Anyway, Crispian has three siblings, golden girl Aimee (Amy Seimetz) who is dating Tariq (Ti West), stuffy older brother, Drake (Joe Swanberg) who is married to even more stuffy, Kelly (Margaret Laney) and Felix (Nicholas Tucci) who is accompanied by his enigmatic girlfriend, Zee (Wendy Glenn). Dinner with mom (Barbara Crampton) and Dad (Rob Moran) in their opulent home starts well but it's not long before old resentments come to the surface and a raging argument breaks out – one that is stopped in its tracks when mysterious attackers invade the home.
As a group of intruders in weird animal masks slowly picks off the panicking family members one by one it becomes clear that Erin is a lot more capable when it comes to survival than anyone expected and a violent cat and mouse game between her and the intruders ensues. But just exactly do the intruders want and why have they chosen this particular family?
This is actually the first home invasion movie I have ever seen so I think a lot of the in-jokes might have been lost on me and I can't comment on how inventive or not it was but I found the overall concept quite fascinating even though the twist was relatively predictable, well part of it anyway. I really liked Vinson as Erin and I thought it was great that she was tough but not invincible although her back story explaining why she was such a tough nut was a bit weak. Tucci was suitably slimy as Felix and he and Zee were immediately suspicious. I am thinking of one particular scene where Zee wants to get, er, freaky at the most inappropriate moment that is probably the most disturbing part of the whole film.. There's a fair amount of blood for those who like that kind of thing along with some pretty unusual kills. I will never look at a blender the same way again.
I wouldn't call You're Next scary. It's more suspenseful and thrilling than anything else while managing to keep its tongue firmly in its cheek. As with most slashers the characters often behave in absolutely idiotic ways, which is a bit painful along with how convoluted the whole premise is but if you can put that aside it's a pretty good watch even if it's not really my thing.
Was it a good recommendation?
What do I recommend in exchange?
Well I still want everyone to check out Everything is Illuminated.
Pictures or it didn't happen! Jk.
Not being a horror fan it's rare for me to enjoy them at all but this was really fun. I genuinely got sucked into the story. Thanks for having me!
I'm afraid the pictures will get hacked and leaked along with all my naked ones with Jennifer Lawrence.
I don't often watch horror but this was really watchable.
Cool! This has been on my to watch list and it's finally come to Netflix so I've been eagerly anticipating having the time to watch. Even more excited now!
Thanks, me too! 🙂 I'll find a way.
Okay, I didn't participate in this because to be honest I didn't understand how it works, How does it work?
I got it now. I think I just didn't understand because I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Sorry I missed out. I'm not sure if anyone's actually recommended a film to me before.
It did. I want to see the movie "Wer" starring A.J. Cook but I can't find it.
Also, I can't remember who the blogger was who reviewed it. It may have been thycriticman. It was Derek at It's Latin for Cookies who presented the trailer.
I'm going to try to watch and review Sightseers.
Cheers John!!! Looking forward to it.
How soon do you need it? The earliest I can do it is Thursday.
I can't think of any films that have been recommended to me.
Right now I recommend you either Everything is Illuminated, Idiocracy or A Separation.
Any of them available on Netflix?
Hmm… not on British Netflix. If you want something on Netflix I can offer White Men Can't Jump, Misery and Stake Land.
Seen them all. Loved Misery, liked Stakeland, no opinion on White Men Can't Jump.
Let me look for some more and come back to you. I recently quite enjoyed Thanks for Sharing.
NOTHING tops Eat Pray Love!
My birthday is coming up in October. I don't want any gifts. Just take the money you would have spent and send my friend enough money for a down payment on a house.
How much square footage can your friend get for 50p?
Check out my review for "You're Next" recommended by garylee828 as part of Tyson Carter's Recommended By series on Head in a Vice.
I still haven;t seen The Purge. I have heard very mixed reviews. I am waiting for it to show up on Netflix.
I'm not much of a horror film fan either, but this sounds interesting, although rather predictable like you said. Not so sure I will check it out, but I will look into Everything Is Illuminated. Thanks for the recommendation, and nice review, Abbi!
I saw the trailer back when this was first released, and liked what I saw, but never got to see the movie. And your review is the first I've ever read about it, so based on your thoughts, I'll see if I can track this thing down and give it a look. But if Erin buys the farm at the end, I'm going to be reeeeeeeally upset! And of course, I'll blame Tyson for my anger!
Just as long as it's not our two favorite babes, then I'm cool with it!
It always totally weirds me out when blogs stop without explanation. Guess Gary got burned out, went and joined that commune Andy Watches Movies and the Film Hipster started down in Belize.
Excellent review Abbi. Not a bad flick, not as great as most reviews made it out to be. I expected a little more.


Looking for natural remedies for homesteading? Here you'll learn how to clean your house and ease some ailments all while using natural products sourced from Mother Nature! These alternative remedies are safe for you, your kids, and your pets, keep reading to see how they can benefit you.
So what are the benefits of lemons anyways? Why do doctors highly recommend them for your diet? If you want to know how to use lemons as home remedies, you've come to the right place. Here are ways lemons can help you, and why they're so beneficial.
Flies are not just nuisance they are dangerous to our health because they are carriers of disease-causing bacteria. They can be easily found in places where there is no cleanliness or hygiene. Thus, it is important to keep your home clean and you can try these natural ways to get rid of flies. These mosquito repellent plants are a match against these pesky blood-thirsty, disease-spreading, ear buzzers!
Although in most cases only a doctor can cure the source of the problem, this list of treatments & pain relief remedies should get you through until you can visit the dentist… Check out these home remedies for a toothache.
If you're looking for home remedies for fleas that is natural and effective, you've come to the right place. Does your dog or cat have fleas? Get rid of them naturally with this flea-ridding home remedy that is painless for your pet, but kills those fleas for good.
Apple cider vinegar benefits the body, internally and externally. There are many home remedies and apple cider vinegar uses that you can do to combat odors, ailments, and more! It's a product that can be used as an ingredient in food, a cleaning product, and to improve your health is a necessity to any homesteader. Not to be mistaken for other beneficial fermented products making their way back into the spotlight, Apple Cider Vinegar's benefits and a variety of uses outshine all of the others. Click here to learn all the benefits of apple cider vinegar.
Go all-natural with DIY household products you can whip up in your own kitchen! Save money and keep away from harmful chemicals with these easy homemade products. Using natural recipes to make non-toxic DIY household products means two things: you're saving money and you're saving the environment. Sound good to you? Here is our compilation of easy DIY household products to get you started!
Long before pharmacies and prescription medication, the people visited healers and medicine men or women for nature's medicines. Natural Antibiotics have been around longer than you think! In this article, you will find a list of holistic ailment fighters!
I've tested multiple natural home remedies for colds, coughs, and flu and have been happy with the results of most of the remedies I've tried. Bare in mind that these remedies may be effective to me but not to you so don't treat this article as a medical basis for your illness. Click here to view our list of remedies! NOTE – I've been homesteading for years now and my body has adapted to natural remedies that may not apply to you so please please please be cautious and don't self-medicate. I strongly suggest you consult your doctor before doing any of the home remedies on this list.
Need more natural in your life? Make this DIY body wash from organic ingredients!
Which natural remedy have you tried? Let us know in the comments below!


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Listen: Brandy Returns With 7th Studio Album "B7" | Album Stream
If you are looking for a songstress that can handle any vocal you throw at her uniquely, you would be looking for Brandy. The young veteran songstress, and actress has been praised by her contemporaries and greats like the late Whitney Houston as "The Vocal Bible."
This is because she pulls off a beautifully rich vocal whether she approaches it with her upper register or her staple alto range. Being one of the more courageous vocalists, she has taken chances by trying on new sounds, but returns to her staple sensibilities with B7. The new effort is grabbing rave reviews from around the web as the return we have been waiting for.
Though Brandy has released singles along the way like Let Freedom Reign, and Beggin & Pleadin, B7 comes 8 years after her previous album Two Eleven from 2012. For the effort, she makes it a family affair with a feature from her daughter Sy'Rai, along with Daniel Caesar, and Chance the Rapper.
Come through with the vocal acrobatics Brandy!! We love her new album B7, and we know you will too. Click play below to enjoy Cinderella's triumphant return.
John Mayer x PRS Guitars Limited-Edition Silver Sky "Lunar Ice" Guitar
BBE Records Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of J Dilla's Welcome 2 Detroit with 12-LP Vinyl Box Set
What Was That? stupidDOPE 2020 Year-In-Review & Music Playlist
Kanye West and The Sunday Service Choir Deliver 5-Song "Emmanuel" for the Season
SZA Follows Up Hit Different with Jacob Collier Co-Penned "Good Days" Single


Madi oversees the daily operations of the church, facilities, provides general support for the office, and supervision of facility staff. She enjoys working at the church and working with church leaders. She volunteers to ensure our many ministries run smoothly.
Madi has grown up in the Texoma region and she grew up attending Abundant Life Texoma.
Madi's passions inlcude spending time with her family. She loves shopping, decorating, and is a part of the Mexico Missions team.
Madi is currently attending Murray State College in Tishmingo, OK where she will graduate with a Associate's degree and become an Occupational Therapist Assistant.


Practical, PERCH can be used as a bunk bed or both beds can be used individually.
Perfect for those who love a pure, almost Scandinavian style, it can be assorted to other pieces of the Oeuf NYC collection, i.e. night stand, dresser, library or wardrobe.
Children will sleep safely, thanks to the top side guards and its low bottom height of the bed.
The ladder can be at the right or left side of the bed (to be decided when assembling). The upper or lower bed can not be sold separetely. No grinding noice thanks to the felt pad included.
Dimensions of the mattresses: 90 x 200 cm (max thickness 15 cm for upper bed).


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Baltimore Orioles' comeback falls short
David Hess pitched a good game for the Baltimore Orioles – through four innings. Hess started to lose it a bit in the fifth, mainly due to a high pitch count. And that short spell is ultimately what did the Birds in last night. Hess' line: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 K.
The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the last of the fourth when Trey Mancini smacked a solo homer. However Toronto's big push came in the fifth, as I said above. Hess loaded the bases with nobody out. To Hess' credit, he induced a ground ball with Gurriel at the plate. While with nobody out that would have yielded a run, it also should have given the Orioles two outs – something they would have taken in theory…
…but that's not what happened. Gurriel hit the ball just perfectly so that while they only got one run because the Orioles kept it in the infield, it went as an infield hit. So Toronto pushed a run across and kept the bases loaded with nobody out.
After Hess exited the game Miguel Castro uncorked a wild pitch, allowing a run to score and giving Toronto a 2-1 lead. Toronto would re-load the bases, and Tellez's grand slam would break the game wide open. The Orioles trailed 6-1.
Toronto would also put two additional runs on the board, this while the Orioles were trying to come back. The Birds also netted a run on a wild pitch, however they pulled themselves closer in the last of the eighth on Chance Sisco's two-RBI double.
The Birds would later push across two additional runs, but the comeback attempt stalled. To their credit, the Orioles didn't quit. It would have been easy to go into auto-pilot being down big after the grand slam. But they kept fighting, which shows their character as a team.z
Character isn't winning the Orioles any games – for now. However it shows that this team has some spunk. And once they get stronger, down the road, that quality will help them to win games. Play until the last out…it's something we've heard before.
The series concludes this evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Gabriel Ynoa gets the call for the Orioles, and he'll be opposed by Toronto's Marcus Stroman. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.


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The LOL in B2B
by Sheetal Pinto - Published on 4/18/2019 06:00
B2B Content CAN Be Funny
As a rule of thumb, B2B marketing should avoid certain false steps or 'faux-pas.' The list includes attributes like being vague, presumptuous, or ill-researched. But somewhere along the way, marketers added "humorous"" to that list. Why?
Through history, humour has been used as an engaging tool to connect with audiences. Last week in our article "Live, Laugh, Blog,"" we explored the merits of humour in content marketing. It's an important aspect of engagement and ensures that your content stands out from the crowd. In this piece, we'll extend that conversation, borrowing from successful examples of funny and successful B2B content.
Finding Your Timing
Humour isn't just engaging. It's also strategic. According to Tim Washer, Executive Producer of Rich Media Marketing at Cisco, "Comedy can cut through all the noise, it makes the point in a very clever way, and it connects with people so they listen."" When people listen to you, they're more likely to associate you with that field of expertise.1 Humour leads to strong connections, something that's crucial in the B2B marketing space because of constant new competition.
We might do well to listen to Tim Washer. Cisco flexed their comedic muscles with their campaign, "The Perfect Gift for Valentines Day."" Cisco positioned their ASR9000 as one of the most ideal gifts you can give your partner. By pairing something inherently unromantic with the most romantic day of the year, Cisco won the hearts of audiences and clients alike. By poking fun at themselves, Cisco also grew their sales and their exposure.
Laughing at Yourself
One of the best examples of funny B2B marketing comes from Mailchimp, the well-known email marketing company. Mailchimp realized that people often forgot their name, and their value in the process. Their 'Did You Mean' campaign released a series of ads for fake businesses, all with names that rhymed or vaguely sounded like 'MailChimp'. This included: FailChips, JailBlimp, MaleShrimps, and more. When customers searched these businesses online, they would find themselves redirected to a simple ask, "Did you mean MailChimp?""
"We have a history of not taking ourselves too seriously and having fun with our name,"" said Mark DiChristina, senior brand director at MailChimp. This felt like a perfect way to introduce ourselves to potential new customers in a big and creative way."" For Mailchimp, the decision to be funny was an effective one. Through that campaign, MailChimp gained $988 million in earned media impressions and $3.52 million in earned media value.2
Making Humour Make Sense
It can be intimidating to include humour in your content, especially if you're wary of businesses reacting the wrong way3
Establish Trust by Directing Humour to Yourself: It will humanize your brand and show your humility.
Criticize Authority with Humour: It will help you make a point that might otherwise be received with blunt criticism. Humour softens the blow and allows your audience to comprehend your point with a new lens.
Choose Interesting over Funny: This might sound contradictory, but it's not. When you're passionate about something, you're comfortable explaining it. Similarly, your content will make more people smile if it's interesting, than if it's embedded with slapstick or forced humour.
Writing with humour can seem like an unforgiving mountain to climb because of its perceived risk and tricky tact. For B2B businesses, however, humour can serve as a podium to elevate your content by making it more engaging.
If writing humorous content sounds like a scary challenge, we are here to help. At MintCopy, our talented team of writers are trained in best SEO practices, ensuring your B2B content is crafted skilfully and strategically.
Use our online form to get in touch today. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated on the latest content marketing trends.
1 https://www.elevationb2b.com/blog/marketing-technique/b2b-marketing-general/national-humor-month-humor-fits-b2b-marketing
2 https://droga5.com/work/mailchimp/
3 https://hub.uberflip.com/blog/how-to-add-humor-to-your-content-marketing
Filed under: content agency, content marketing, copywriters, SEO, SEO marketers


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Short Story Sharing
Thread: We've Only Just Begun
Steven Hunley
San Diego Calif.
We've Only Just Begun
Avoided it for several days. Wouldn't write it. Refused to even think about writing it. Didn't know where to start.
Pamela questioned me.
"You are writing this, aren't you?"
Then, after all the tests and tears, decided against the path of avoidance. Pamela was right. It was time to face the monster and describe him.
The Big C.
Barb found a lump in her breast, decided to have it checked out. It had been two years since her last mammogram. Mammograms and ultrasounds were ordered post haste. That was last week, and yes, it was cancer. Sh*t, I don't even want to give it respect by capitalizing its name.
Biopsy was next. In the meantime, there's a lot of waiting and nail-biting to do. This nail biting is compounded if your significant other is any good at using Amazon prime, because slews of books are about to arrive at your door. And all of them scare you. Not to death, but close enough.
Barb cries on and off for days. Each time she cries it tears me up too. But I don't wail. Men aren't supposed to wail. And besides, I can save the wailing for later if I need it. But I know what Barb is crying about. She wants to see Judith, our granddaughter, graduate. Hell, I want us to be at her wedding.
And what about us? What about we two? As the song says, "We've only just begun."
"The odds are with us," I tell her. "If I had to bet, I'd bet on it."
They called and said it was the size of a pea. Barb and I wonder.
But what stage of a pea? What kind of a pea? Where is the pea… exactly?
Hope Hospital is organizing and marshaling its forces of good. The soldiers take their places. For the biopsy we have Dr. P, the radiologist, and Mary and Jane, the oncology nurses. Mary is a survivor herself. That's inspiring news. They numb her left breast after she lies down stretched out on a table. Not one of them is wearing white, none wear grotesque masks, and the lights dim and flicker like candles. The room grows hushed as a monastery while they bow reverently over their healing machines. You imagine you smell incense and hear Gregorian chants, but it's only the rhythmic rush and whoosh of their miraculous machines, and the frankincense and myrrh that comfort and surround you, only the fleeting scent of Mary the Survivor's perfume.
Numb turns the sickened breast. In goes the device. It's a tube, and it clips out a piece or two using ultrasound to locate the microscopic infidels. They plunk the slim clippings into a plastic container and snap on the cap. This particular battle is over, but not the holy crusade for Barb's life. I pray to our Lord the medical team gets it right.
We wait a couple of days for the results. As Tom Petty sings, "The waiting is the hardest part". And that's true. But he also sings in the same song, "Don't let it get to you." I pray Barb takes that advice. Barb's heart knows no fear. Together, we'll mold a new reality closer to the heart. Barbara is strong, and refuses to live in a land of fear. That's the part of Barb I can always count on, the fighting part.
"I'm going to be a ninja about this and kick this cancer's butt," she told me as they rolled her off.
"No, you're not. You're going to be an up-front warrior, more visible than that. You're going to be a samurai. Tishiro Mifune is going to be jealous of your Occidental butt."
But nobody sleeps. This endless waiting is a trial by fire. My formerly stiff upper lip is getting weary.
It's Wednesday, we've got the call, and just pronouncing 'invasive ductile carcinoma' makes me shiver.
Friday is the big meeting where they'll discuss how to treat it and have more info on her HER hormone, some kind of estrogen? I need a medical dictionary to keep all these words straight.
Barb is courageous. To get her mind off her own problems she throws herself into other people's problems and still goes to work. That's what she does, that's who she is. Sometimes I'm so proud of her it hurts.
The Surgeon
It's a family affair and the kids are here. To a man of my age anyone under fifty is a kid. Dr. M says her breast will be disfigured to an extent, if not from the surgery, from the radiation. She draws a breast on the piece of paper you sit on during the examination. Her ductile tubes look like Broccoli upside down. This is why Dr. M is a surgeon instead of an artist. Said it wouldn't matter if it was a few inches lower or higher, I can't remember which. Barbs two daughters and I exchange glances so packed with meaning it's clear what's on our minds.
You have a vain woman here, a proud beauty, one that can't pass a mirror without seeking its approval and getting it. If Barb made a great pile of her vanities and stacked them into a bonfire, they'd outdo Hitler youth burning books in those old thirties newsreels. And when you consider all she's got to be vain about, the fabulous mug, the hair, the figure, the confidence, the love, the kindness, the total commitment to motherhood and grand motherhood, what's one tit more or less? I'm going to love her no matter what shape or form she's in, as long as the surgeon leaves me a morsel to nibble or a place big enough to kiss. My Barbara is never going to suffer from a lack of loving, and that's a fact.
Love isn't just a noun, or even an action. It's a growing thing and isn't nurtured on the number of teeth or tits we have. Not after we've matured enough to place a value on a spiritual connection, a spiritual connection to our maker through the woman of our species who is therefore a priestess. A man can give up his virility, a woman can give up her tit, but they can never give up that vital connection to spirit we all need. You'll never let go. Your woman isn't just a part of your life. Your woman is your life.
The Lumpectomy
Sophie, one daughter is here and after they finish the pre-op she leaves and Natalie will show up later. They roll Barb off and she's wearing a brave face but a funny hat like a shower cap. This should be easy. I'm hoping it's easy. They wheeled her in at one o'clock and put her number up on a screen so you can see where she's at. It says number 3888 is in pre-op, then she goes to op, then she goes to recovery, then she's sober and ready to see visitors. As far as I know, it shouldn't take long, usually only an hour and a half. I may be wrong about this. So many times and facts and figures have been flying at my head lately I'm not sure of anything.
After forty-five minutes the surgical concierge comes out from behind her desk and announces they started late, it will take more time than usual. The waiting room is full of people, maybe a couple of dozen. They have an iron cart with a bottle of water with lemons in it and a stack of plastic cups. It looks like an escapee from Mardi Gras in Louisiana. As comfortable as they try to make it, I don't feel comfortable here. Maybe I'm coming down with something.
After half an hour more she comes out again an announces to everyone that she's out of here, but she's going to turn her phone around and if you need anything just push the extension where it says surgery concierge and they'll hook you up. Sounds good to me, but as time marches on, I grow more nervous with every passing minutes. The people in her are fewer and fewer. Now it's 14 hundred hours and no news yet. I've read three magazines by now and suspect something is up. I walk over to the concierge desk and give the phone extension a try. It's a case of Hall and Oates No Can Do. It rings and rings but no one answers.
Now it's almost four and I'm worried about Nat. What must she be thinking. I'll text her and tell her they started late. Again it's Hall and Oates. Again it's No Can Do! My dumb phone says it doesn't have sufficient funds for texting messages! Why, I'll just call instead. Again No Can Do!
Then it hits me, like Kurt's crystalline bullet, it slams into my noggin. About three weeks ago we thought my credit card was lost. We cancelled it, and ordered a new one. The day before it arrived, Barb found the original in her wallet. My phone bill tried to charge that account, but couldn't, that account was dead, so it cancelled my service.
I took out my composition book and made an entry.
Nat, was going to tell her they started late, but my phone doesn't work due to me being an unorganized idiot. Sorry, Nat, I love you, but I just pulled a Nat on you. You get no message.
At four thirty-nine a petite woman wearing a blue shower cap and scrubs appears and it's Dr. M! It's Dr. M!
Seems the machine broke down twice and the tumor and the lymph nodes were tiny and hard to find. Of course she can be exaggerating, but she isn't. I can see she's been through the mill herself. You'd think doing a bit of slicing and dicing was an easy job but this woman looks like a rock star after a stadium concert for fifty thousand people. She takes her job seriously. Would we want our doctors any other way? Women this dedicated remind me of Barbara. You just have to love them. Surgeons are the rock stars of the medical world.
"But she's doing fine, you can see her soon."
I take a breath, the first real breath in three and a half hours. You know when it's time to give thanks.
We meet in recovery and Barb is conscious but still in outer space. I tell her what the doctor told me but as soon as I do she asks the nurse, who repeats it, and then within seconds, asks me again. The anesthetic hasn't worn off completely.
"It took longer than expected and they took only four lymph nodes. Both cancer and lymph nodes were so tiny they had trouble finding them."
In a few minutes it's time to take her home. Time to go get the car. When I get out to the parking structure I take the elevator to level three. It's not on level three. Maybe it's four. I go to four and look the same place. No Can Do either. I try five and make the circuit. No Can Do. Level two-the same. Something is wrong I'm beginning to suspect it's my brain.
I feel aches and pains all over and my nose is getting stuffed. We've been out here several times and I can't remember which time this was. And it's been over twenty minutes and I can't call them because my phone is dead and tell them I can't find the car. Yet I know it must be here somewhere. I make one last circuit of three and there it is. It takes even longer because the parking attendant is having trouble making her little barrier stick pop up to let the cars through. She has to jump out of her glass box and lift it by hand. People behind me are honking like geese.
Finally we make it home and go to bed. I start to have uncontrollable shakes. We take my temperature and it's 99.9. Thinking I'm having something communicable, and I don't blame her, I'm banished to Sophie's old bedroom upstairs, where I spend the next morning alienated from my Honey, which is pretty weird for a guy who is always so near.
Now we're home and have more visitors than the San Diego Zoo. Flowers arrive in droves. Cards arrive in stacks. Elizabeth, Nicole, Michelle, and Pamela arrive. The phone rings off the hook. Texts text all over the place. Barb is kept busy with e-mails and calls all day.
"Everybody wants you, babygirl with a small b."
Shaky Jake should repair to Hillcrest to see his doctor with no appetite, a runny nose, and shaking all over. At this point his idled brain is asking, "Where are my flowers? Where are my cards? What about me? It's an odd thought that's been running around in my brain all day. Barb is getting all the attention. Where's my attention? I mean, I have a virus, and I have a nasty sty in my eye, I have South American quality runs. Barb only has one thing… cancer. No matter what I do I just can't compete. And at this very moment, Me, Mister Helper Supreme, is on the outside. I can't even get near her. I have to use sanitary hand-wipes on everything I touch, the doorknobs, the light switches, the toilet bowl lever, the refrigerator handle, the towels, which have to be washed now, and I can't be the one to wash them. Barb's plan is for me to order the doctor to,
"Just draw some blood."
She puts out her fingertip as if she's diabetic. I picture something like a big tube sucking blood out of a vein in my arm, leaving a bruise the size of Oklahoma. My reptilian brain sings No Can Do. I Can't Go For That."
"By the time they get the results back, I'll be over it."
"Never mind that. You're going."
So I go. Down the 163 I sputter, praying to God my latest bowel attack isn't ill timed.
The parking lot guy calls me Boss. I like it when people call me Boss. The receptionists are pleasant and pretty.
I ask one of them if they have a record of my latest flu shot. Barb would be happy to know I asked this question. It shows I've learned organizational skills.
"Yes, you had it last October."
In a few minutes I see Dr. B. He's dark-haired, handsome, and stylish to boot. His shirt is blue in a tartan design with three shades of blue. It's almost exactly like the one Barb just gave me! He's wearing navy blue Dockers and a brown leather reversible belt. His shoes are two-toned variations on brown leather and suede wing-tips.
We sit down and I tell him why I'm here. I tell him the whole Barb story too. That's what I do. When I meet people I end up telling them the Barb story. It's a fascinating story about how we met, or about her accomplishments, or her daughters' accomplishments. I have bragging rights on them all, even though I didn't contribute to their success. Their dad did that. But I brag on all three of them anyway and on my son and two daughters too. They're all my family at this point. I get to brag about all of them. But this was about Barbara, and our closeness and how I'm miserable being banished, even though it's for both our own good.
He grabs two long cotton swabs and sticks them up my nostrils. "This is to check for flu."
"For a particular flu?"
"More like a generic flu."
No Can Do. It turns out negative. I draw his attention to my sty. His eyes widen. I notice he uses product in his hair. That's what Barb calls it, product.
"I'd like to poke that with a diabetic syringe and drain it.
"Do it, Doc," I say, rather heroically. That was my idea, but I wouldn't trust a rusty old sewing needle so near my eye myself.
Out comes a itsy bitsy needle and some gauze. He pokes it, and gives it a squeeze with this blue-gloved fingers but nothing much comes out. Finally I'm ready to go, but as usual, have to make a comment.
"You know, I expected an old man with grey hair dressed in a white lab coat," I point at my head, "as grey as mine, and wearing wire rimmed glasses. And your staff looks like runway models. Instead, I get a doctor who could be on the cover of Gentleman's Quarterly like Robert Palmer."
"I sometimes wear a lab coat." He smiles slyly, "But not often."
"Not fashionable enough?"
We laugh.
In the hallway he hands me a prescription, and being me, Chameleon Man, like George in Seinfeld, decide to go out on a high note.
'Thanks, Doc, and just keep on stylin' the way you're stylin'. You'll make the cover of GQ yet."
We laugh again. We bond. Now I have a favorite doctor. This didn't turn out half as bad as I thought it would.
Of course… it's not over.
Like Karen Carpenter once sang, "We've Only Just Begun."
©Steven Hunley2017
https://youtu.be/4lWKdZv6hZA Hall and Oates I Can't Go For That
Last edited by Steven Hunley; 11-23-2017 at 01:39 AM.
https://everypicturetellsacalifornia...wordpress.com/
kiz_paws
TheFairyDogMother
The Prairies, Canada
Steven, I absolutely LOVED this work.
Thank you for your sharing your talents here.
Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty
~Albert Einstein
Danik 2016
On the road, but not!
Beyond nowhere
I think this is your best love story!
"You can always find something better than death."
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, The Bremen Town Musicians
Near Chicago, Illinois USA
Nice story and if it is a true story, best wishes as well.
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
It's true and lasted months, through trials and tribulations, whatever tribulations are. I'm not sure, but if they're tough and no good, then maybe tribulations is just the word. I'll have to google it. This is the second phase after the lumpectomy.
Hiroshima Revisited
It's late and we're in bed watching some program on Net Flicks about dropping the 1st atom bomb. About was it really a choice between losing seven-hundred thousand G Is in the invasion of Japan or dropping the fricking bomb. Really, we were lead to believe, there were no other choices, no other ways out, but that was only what they wanted the public to think. There were plenty of other ways out.
Not for my partner.
About half-way through, the film turns to the actual bomb drop, the exact moment it happened, then the aftermath and what was left.
Here's where it gets sticky for us. The stick happens the moment Barb realizes her radiation symptoms and theirs are the same. The first half of the film was Machiavellian politics but now it's a more personal story that matches hers. The exhaustion, the fatigue, the searing sensation, the peeling skin, it's her radiation revisited, but five times a week in smaller doses.
The radiant rays are supposed to be good guys, but they cause devastation of their own. For her, the choice isn't political, for her; there isn't any other way out… except death. So radiate the cancerous ****ers out of existence. After a few more distressing minutes, Barb falls asleep holding my hand.
She falls asleep holding my hand a lot lately. I look forward to it. I believe during sleep her body is healing from the effects of the radiation. The dead little cancers guys and collateral damaged good cells are heading out, into the blood stream, to be carried away with the waste. In time, fresh new ones will be born to take their place. It takes time. It's a process. The process is a monster.
It's not easy to slay a persistent dragon. They have to shoot it with radiation twenty-three times to ensure its death.
For Barb it's contorting herself into impossible shapes, and being shoved into the breach, and the deafening roar of the machine while the table she's strapped to shakes back and forth like an earthquake.
So my warrior, the heroine, needs sleep. I grab the remote and turn off the boob tube. Her hand is still clutching mine, and she's still wearing her black Lois Lane glasses too.
When her Superman carefully lifts her glasses free of her face, a lock of dark hair falls over her eye. He pushes it aside and plants a kiss on her cheek, and tunes into his own thoughts as easily as Alice falls down the Rabbit hole.
The worst thing about radiation seems to be that the nasty effects: tiredness, exhaustion, the burning sensation, is worse after the treatment than during. It hangs around to remind you of the horror you just faced.
Then I suppose it's over. Well, not completely over. There's always the hormone blocker to worry about. We'll deal with that when we come to it, as Scarlet O'Hara once said,
"Tomorrow is another day."
And it's true. Each day is different and filled with friends and love. It's after dark when it gets to you, when you're alone with yourself and the fear. The Boogie Man always comes in the night after you've been reading Despairing Tales of Horror on the Cancer Message Boards, the ones that rival Poe.
After she falls asleep, these Cancer Board Memories haunt her dreams. She tosses and turns and calls out for me in the night.
So I hold her hand while she sleeps.
©StevenHunley2017
It takes guts to write so eloquently of something so very close to home.
I thank you for your frankness and how beautifully written the story is.
Kizzo
Threat of Imminent Death
You'd suspect that after all of this, the last hurdle would be easy. That's what I told her.
"Babygirl, after all that, the surgery, the radiation, the swelling, the aches, this Anastrozole should be a piece of cake."
"You may be right. Let's see what we can find."
Barb grabs her I-pad and petitions the God of Google; since he/she knows all, sees all, and there are charts and they have more than one pill that does the trick. It looks like variations on a theme. If one doesn't work, you try another. It's an easy to read chart. It's easy on your eyes and easy on your brain too, with numbers and words in neat little boxes and not one of them look too foreboding or threatening.
What the chart leaves out is a story in itself, but we don't know that yet.
"We can do this," I stated, and sprinted to the closet.
"And, after all, it's only one little pill a day," she smiles back, like an innocent monkey.
When I appeared again, I was sporting my Mr. Can Do tee-shirt, the one Barb got for me at the La Jolla Playhouse.
We were there to see Hershey Felder and one of his one-man shows, doing Irving Berlin. When it was over, we walked hand in hand through the parking lot. It had sprinkled while we were inside. The black pavement, and the eucalyptus trunks, smooth and slick, reflected sodium vapor lights. Warm tones ran like honey down their sides. Rain is a blessing on the California coast this far south. Like our night at the La Jolla Playhouse, we never get enough of it.
People learn to thirst in Southern California. For water, for love, for recognition, for solitude, for acceptance, they thirst. They make the best of what they've got in the meantime and they're good at celebrating the moment with a significant other as long as it's a short moment so they can get back to their phones.
For the rest of their moments, for the future, they covet, they thirst. They have their heads too far up their own *ss*s to smell the coffee brewing. It takes a life-threatening moment to make them slow down and smell the roses.
This is their plaintive song.
If you are the desert
I'll be the sea.
If you ever hunger
Hunger for me.
Whatever you ask for
That's what I'll be.
Tomorrow we pick up the pills at the pharmacy.
For almost three weeks it's smooth sailing. But then the wind picks up, and it's subtle, but it's a red flag. It's a red flag small enough to fit on a cupcake, but it's there. We should have noticed it earlier.
"You know, Totsky, my eyes seem dry lately, and I feel tired all the time."
"You're still healing. You have to recuperate."
"I guess I can get back in bed and read. Hand me that copy of Becoming Myself. How do you like it so far?"
"I've gotten to the point where Irvin just met his future wife. But I want to finish Orwell's dishwashing episodes first. Down and Out in Both Paris and London, you know."
After a few minutes of reading Barb looks up and says. "My eyes feel swollen and they're so dry!"
She calls a nurse on the phone. It's a side effect and we have eye drops to put in. Now she can't read even if she wants to. And it isn't just her eyes.
"What's the temperature? I'm feeling a bit cold."
This is what Sir Edmund Hillary was rumored to have said at the foot of Everest to Tensing Norgay. Norgay, like me, knew he had troubles.
"Babygirl, it's set at 72. It feels alright to me."
"Then bring me my mother's comfy fuzzy blanket in the closet."
"Can Do." Since the cancer, we call me Mister Can Do. I have a "special" T-shirt that says "Mr. Can Do." When you say "Special" you have to screw your mouth up like Trump and look as stupid as possible. Now you get the idea.
We stole the idea from Hall and Oates. I Can't Go For That. No Can Do."
Music rules my life. I say to you unbelievers, "So what?"
Now back to the story.
I wrap her up like Boris Karloff, drop two drops of Blink®Tears in her eyes, and hand her Yalom.
After twenty minutes she's shivering.
"Turn it up to 76," she suggests, in the way Napoleon suggested, "Let's take Moscow."
I knew something was up.
By the time Chris Mathews came on, the room was 76, and that isn't so bad if you're watching a Tarzan movie or something. But by then we're on Facebook looking at piks Johnny O took of Ironwood today and it's snowing. It's Christmas-card-quality when it snows in Ironwood Michigan and looks like Currier and Ives.
"Honey, it's getting pretty warm in here," I say as diplomatically as possible, sounding as neutral as possible, like I don't really mind sweating my way through the night like Maugham in the tropics or something. Like I like feeling like malaria.
"Never mind," she scowls back, "Get me the electric blanket. And turn it on high."
I try to set it on medium when she isn't looking, but it's No Can Do. Barb catches me and tries to bite my head off, but I duck and she misses…for now. But I have a feeling this is only the beginning of something ugly.
So I set it on high.
Then another aspect of the Anastrozole Beast began to raise its head.
"It's my eyes again," she tells me.
It's the end of the day and the late news is over. The lamps on each night stand are brass shell casings from World War You Didn't Know When. At the tops they narrowed and were fluted like Buddhist temples. Like the ones you see in Anna and the King of Siam. God only know where she got them.
She's got her head on a pillow and is reading the latest copy of The Week. I'm doing the same, and reading an old copy of The New Yorker I found in the bathroom.
You know how reading is, like roughage for your brain.
But even these two ancient war-like towers of light and the latest mag didn't help.
"My eyes are dry and swollen shut too! I can't read!"
"Yes," and her eyes take on hurt and her eyebrows hold it tight. Mouth goes down on the corners.
"On the page or on the screen or what?"
"Both," she whimpers, and bursts into tears.
"Wait a minute, Babygirl, let me go get the Blink."
"I'll never be able to walk again," she said, and pulled a Kleenex of the box, "and never be able to see again," and pulled out another, "and never be able to read again either."
"Look up and I'll squeeze a couple of drops in," I replied, like an Ophthalmologist or whatever you call the official eye-guy. There's something about their signs that remind me of the cover of Gatsby.
In they drop. One, two.
In seconds she feels better.
"Never mind," she says, like Emily Litella on Saturday Night Live. Once soothed, a woman can change her mind.
On and off and between all of these side-effects, another monster is taking a chew off her sleep.
Nightsweats.
On some nights my fashionable woman, (she hates it when I refer to her as fashionable, since fashion is based on appearances and beauty runs fathoms deeper than that) goes to bed feeling normal for a change. Like a raven-haired Goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold. It's a Saturday night after the run to Solana Beach and Barb's hair is perfect. I mean to say Werewolf of London Perfect. The color is perfecto beyond belief and each and every highlight is in place and solid gold. She makes me keep my hands off. It's the movie-star thing, kiss but don't touch the special effects, like lipstick.
Somewhere in the night something happens and she wakes up wet! Like her half of the bed has suffered a monsoon. She has to get up and change her nighty.
When we wake up Barb is gone and some woman, who looks like a fair-skinned Tobriand Islander, is there beside me in a soaking wet Mumu, like Dorothy Lamour in Hurricane. It's Barb, and her hair has gone Polynesian, makeshift, kinda bambooi, with a mind of its own.
There's another problem too. Barb's blowing up like a balloon monkey. I keep thinking it's the wide-angle lens, because my eyes don't see it, but after a while she notices too. It's gradual, but it's there.
And it looks like the time frame is blowing up too. The talk now is of taking the pill for ten years, not five.
At this point I begin to really appreciate Barb's attitude about this.
I watched her suffer daily from one side effect to another, and there were over a dozen, yet she still carried on. It made me consider how much pain I might be able to bear on a daily basis if it meant living longer. How far does one go in these matters, when trading pain for longevity?
The thing is, it isn't a matter of how far one goes. If you have any kind of family, and considering families are not always born under the same roof, you're not alone, you're not considering for just one. That's why she's put up with it so far, for her family. To be in their future, to give them some love and direction. Just the thought of that has given her strength so far. We all need her and she knows it.
When we first met I told her she was worthy, meaning worthy of my love. Now that worthiness has grown tenfold.
In the end we decide she's had enough. What's the point of a percent of living longer if the quality of your life is tanked? Her doctor agrees and instructs Barb to lay off the processed foods, white flour, especially sugar, and exercise regularly. A conscientious diet is just as good as the hormone blocker. And no pill to take either!
Three weeks later and she's on the mend. But then there's an examination and they notice some liquid. A mammogram and X-ray are ordered.
In the meantime, while you're waiting, it's back to the Cancer boards, skewed to the gills with horror stories, and the sad thing is, they're all true. You read them and wince in pain, saying, "Ooo! Ouch, Oh my God, I hope that doesn't happen to me."
You pray nothing can go that wrong with you, but it's one of those things you'll never know until it's too late. This notion tints your rose-colored glasses blue.
Three days later.
For the mammogram I get to watch. It isn't easy, kinda like watching boxing and wincing with every punch. Barb sidles up to the machine, so close it can compress her breast. They do and it hurts. Then they twist the machine and squeeze her boob in the other direction until it hurts that way too.
"Take little breaths," they tell her. Isn't that the ***t they tell you when you're having a baby?
Later, they have to take one more because she moved. This time they give me a lead suit, and it's heavy and black and ill-fitting. I don't like it, but it's better than getting ****ed by some x-rays that don't even know you.
After the mammogram proves negative, "You're fine. You're good."
Copious tears of joy fall down.
Then it's a dash to the ER to find out about the pain in Barb's foot. It's crowded and I drop her off. By the time I park and get to the ER the triage nurse is walking out singing, "Barbara ?" like a bellboy at the Waldorf.
"I can't stand," the patient yells back, and identifies herself by her malady. They wheel us into an examination room and lift Barb onto a gurney, both feet up on pillows, waiting for the X-ray tech to arrive. Barb taps on her I-pad while I look around. With a metallic swish they pull a curtain shut and exit stage right.
On the other side of the curtain, down the sterile corridor of sick rooms, you hear mumbled voices, but after some time they grow silent. Then you notice a pinging, a metallic pinging, like sonar in one of those old submarine movies, the ones you and your mom would watch on a Sunday afternoon, like Destination Tokyo or Run Silent Run Deep. Now it's Das Boot. You wonder what the pinging is, and where it's coming from. You consider the surroundings and go crazy with suspense. It's close in here, and only a thin curtain is stretched between you and someone's pain.
The pinging is urgent; the pinging is rapid, like pain shooting up her leg. And to be honest I know Curt Jergins isn't our captain and we're not in a U boat and Clark Gable isn't going to depth-charge us, and we're not being depth-charged like in Das Boot, and I know at first I exaggerated the pinging and all, but now that I've been listening to it closely, now that the voices and moaning are quiet, I can hear it even better, and goddamn it, it does sound real and the ping is getting more incessant and more rapid and I am scanning every wall for my life-jacket and breathing apparatus.
There are the green oxygen tanks fastened to the wall and on the stainless steel sinks are stacks of Caviwipes piled on packages of blue Sensitive Silk® XL with SmartGuard® gloves, next to two You Have No Idea What They Are® machines. Chromium stands with hooks for hands and five chrome wheels crawl by festooned with care-fusion panels and pumps and clear plastic I Don't Know What tubes.
My seat is claustrophobed between Barb's gurney and the wall, and the rest of the room is either oxygen tanks and chrome and diving apparatus or equipment, and there isn't a window in sight. TV screen, computer and keyboard are nailed to the deck. These I recognize. Stericycle Sharps Management System I don't. There's a machine behind us that says Phillips. Hey, I know Phillips. They make lightbulbs. But this isn't a lightbulb.
It's big and it's says BIOHAZARD in red letters, and is so complex you don't have any idea what it does with all the plastic tubes and wires and sensors and gizmos, and whatever it is, and whatever it does, you don't want it hooked up to you.
Suddenly, it occurs to me what the underlying similarity between a cancer patient and the crew of a submarine under attack is.
It's the threat of imminent death.
No matter how fast or long you sail away, your fate is always just on the horizon. It's fuzzy, like in a fog, and you can't make it out. So you're always a little lost. You pray one of these days it will lift. The days of sunshine you have while waiting are a gift from heaven.
The air seems sweeter than before the episode. Minutes are more precious. You've survived the attack. You've learned the preciousness of life. And now, because of the cancer, not in spite of the cancer, you're going to be thriver, not just a survivor.
https://youtu.be/m_9hfHvQSNo Father Figure
Last edited by Steven Hunley; 12-19-2017 at 06:35 PM.
I am humbled just at the reading of this entry, Steven.
What an incredible journey indeed...
Prayers for both you and your beloved Barbara.
fudgetusk
A touching story. Cancer seems to enter all our lives. Mine too it seems.
Over a lifetime, it's a one in eight chance for women to get breast cancer.
What stands out is your gift of making the best of a bad job. In the same way that you probably lighten the burden for your wife and yourself you light if for your readers. Congrats!
I hope you and your wife got over it.
After 6 months they did a mammogram to check. Then they did the other breast. I showed something, but the something was unidentifiable. It had "a-typical" cells. So they scheduled a MRI needle-guided biopsy and we got there at 8 and were out by five that night. Then the waiting, just like the above. About 4 days later the lab told the oncologist, it was benign. Love the word benign.
Amen to that, Steven.
Hugs to you both.
Next week some time she reminded me, is our two year cancer-free marker. You know, emotional support is one of the factors that contribute to healing. Thank you all!!!! My thanks are beyond mere words.


Rain is essential to our planet. Without it, all life on Earth would struggle to survive. How do rain clouds form and what determines whether it rains or not?
Rainfall comes from the clouds which are made of liquid and frozen water.
Clouds are composed of billions of water molecules.
These molecules latch on to dust and pollen, cluster and fall as raindrops.
There are three types of rain: Convectional, Frontal and Relief.
From a light drizzle, to the epic downpours of a monsoon – rain is a vital part of our weather.
And it all comes from clouds.
Clouds are a swirling mass of liquid droplets, or crystals, of water. They contain billions of water molecules.


text:
Coffins of Easter Sunday bomb blast victims lay at a mass burial ground in Katuwapitiya village in Negombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Sri Lanka's president has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, the president's office said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lanka shakes up top security posts after deadly bombings
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's president shook up the country's top security establishment after officials failed to act on intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before the Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, his office said Wednesday. The capital of Colombo, meanwhile,...
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 23, 2019, file photo, Sri Lankans carry the coffins carrying victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The U.S. ambassador says America had "no prior knowledge" of a threat in Sri Lanka before the Easter bombings that killed more than 350 people. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)
April 24, 2019 - 9:14 am
Ambassador: US had no prior knowledge of Sri Lanka threat
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.S. had no prior knowledge of the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that killed over 350 people, the American ambassador said Wednesday, despite local claims that foreign officials had been warned an attack was looming. As the investigation into Sunday's Islamic State-...
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Human Rights Director Richard Bennett speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April. 24, 2019. Afghan and international forces have killed more civilians in the war with the Taliban and other militants in the first three months of this year, the first time deaths caused by government forces and their allies have exceeded those of their enemies, a new U.N. report said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
UN: Pro-government forces kill more Afghans than insurgents
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People gather around a television in a cafe showing Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's address to the nation following Easter Sunday terror attacks in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, April 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
The Latest: Sri Lanka president dismisses security officials
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Latest on the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Sri Lanka's president has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and the national police chief after security forces failed to act on warnings before Easter suicide bombings that killed...
Family members mourn at the burial of seven-years old Dhulodh Anthony, a victim of Easter Sunday bomb blast at Methodist cemetery in Negombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, April 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
The Latest: London counter-terrorism team seeks images
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Latest on the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka (all times local): 11 p.m. London police are asking for images taken during the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka. Acting Commander Alexis Boon said Tuesday that counter-terrorism police want to look at any images and footage taken...
Relatives of the Burlington family weep during the funeral of their family members who were killed in the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The six near-simultaneous attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels and three related blasts later Sunday were the South Asian island nation's deadliest violence in a decade while Sri Lanka police arrested 40 suspects in the wake of a state of emergency that took effect Tuesday giving the military war-time powers. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Sri Lanka minister: Easter bombings a response to NZ attacks
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A top Sri Lanka official said Tuesday the Easter bombings that killed 321 people were carried out by a Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacres last month by a white supremacist, while the Islamic State group sought to claim...
Police forensic officers at the scene in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Friday April 19, 2019, following the death of 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee who was shot and killed during overnight rioting. Police in Northern Ireland said Friday they are investigating the fatal shooting of a journalist during overnight rioting in the city of Londonderry. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)
Revulsion in Northern Ireland over riot, fatal shooting
LONDON (AP) — The dramatic riot in Londonderry last week was starkly reminiscent of the violence that plagued Northern Ireland for decades before the 1998 peace agreement. The result was both tragic and familiar: the death of a young journalist, apparently hit by a stray bullet. Here are answers to...
FILE - In this Oct. 16, 2006, file photo, a Sri Lankan soldier inspects the debris at the site of a suicide explosion by Tamil Tigers near Dambulla, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The April 21, 2019 deadly Easter attacks in Sri Lanka are a bloody echo of decades past in the South Asian island nation, when militants inspired by attacks in the Lebanese civil war helped develop the suicide bomb vest. Over nearly 30 years of civil war, the Tamil Tigers would launch more than 130 suicide bomb attacks, making them the leading militant group in such assaults at the time. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)
Sri Lanka, like world, again sees scourge of suicide attacks
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka are a bloody echo of decades past in the South Asian island nation, when militants inspired by attacks in the Lebanese civil war helped develop the suicide bomb vest. Government ministers have said seven Sri Lankans from a little-known local...
In this April 19, 2019, photo, Democratic presidential candidate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg answers questions from employees during a campaign stop at a dairy company in Londonderry, N.H. Buttigieg's presidential campaign has attention and money. Now he has to convert that into a sustainable operation that can keep him in the race well into next year. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Latest: Buttigieg: It's clear Trump deserves impeachment
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The Latest on a series of town halls with five 2020 Democratic presidential candidates (all times local): Midnight South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) says President Donald Trump has "made it pretty clear that he deserves impeachment," but he will "...
FILE - In this April 19, 2019, photo, Democratic presidential Candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority South Central Regional Conference in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Impeachment, felons voting divides Democrats at CNN forums
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — California Sen. Kamala Harris joined the call for President Donald Trump's impeachment as five leading Democratic presidential contenders clashed in a series of prime-time town hall meetings that exposed deep divisions in a party desperate to end the Trump presidency. Harris...