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Combating Malaria in the Next Liberian Republic
By Syrulwa Somah, Ph.D.
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
January 24, 2005
While we have yet to determine Liberia's annual budget due to 14 years of conflict, if Liberia were to spend $200 million annually on the treatment of malaria-related diseases, similar to Uganda's $210 million malaria treatment budget (allafrica.com), Liberia would have spent 5000 million on the treatment of malaria in the last 25 years alone. But this is a huge financial and human cost overlays that Liberia might not afford in the next 50 or more years. The 14 years of unprecedented civil wars in Liberia has led to the displacement of an estimated 600,000 Liberians, while according to Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF), recorded deaths in Liberia resulting from malaria-related diseases and water-borne diseases during the war years skyrocketed. MSF said among Liberian children under five, deaths were "eight per 10,000/day, a figure two to three times higher than that found in Liberia during peacetime." Similarly, the Incident Displaced People (IDPs) recorded in fall of 2002 that, "53 percent of deaths in the under-fives [in Liberia] resulting from these same four diseases, i.e., diarrheal, respiratory infections, measles, and malaria." In addition, in his article, "Removing Obstacles to Effective Malaria Treatment in Emergencies", Richard Allen laments that the lack of "Skilled health staff shortages and inadequate national supplies" in Liberia, which he said contributed to Liberians resorting to the use of "CQ intramuscularly for the treatment of severe malaria cases, an outdated and dangerous method in the face of rising CQ resistance" www.globalhealth.org/conference_2002).
It seems to me that Liberians are caught in a catch-22
situation in which they must choose to die from malaria
or subject themselves to unsafe and outdated CQ intramuscularly
treatments for malaria. But all hope is not lost as
long as Liberian national leaders and health officials
take appropriate steps to eradicate malaria in the
same way the United States, China, Cuba, and other
nations did when confronted with menacing effects
of malaria. For example, in 1935 the United States
experienced an estimated 135,000 cases of malaria,
including 4,000 deaths, but the U.S. government launched
a vigorous malaria eradication campaign with a battery
of trained health professionals that eventually paid
off. China, Cuba, and India equally launched vigorous
malaria eradication campaigns with marked successes
by combining political leadership, mass communications,
and both medical and grass roots educational and training
techniques. In addition, India launched a series of
national health campaigns that effectively succeeded
in eradicating the bandicoat rats that destroyed about
one fourth of the country's grain. Of particular note
was India's reliance on local traditional technique
involving 300 members of the 28,000-strong Irula tribe
- a rare mixture of patriotism and individual empowerment
- to act as a true national resource against the pests.
This effort helped India to secure sufficient meal
to feed its 900 million people.
Liberia therefore needs to emulate the national campaigns of the United States and other nations, especially India, in combating malaria in Liberia. Liberia needs to reconsider its reliance on chloroquine as malaria treatment by seeking other viable treatment options for malaria, including ATD and traditional Liberian herbs. Chloroquine and other malaria treatment drugs are becoming less effective against malaria, as malaria-producing mosquitoes are gradually fighting back. According to Kenyan researcher Kevin Marsh, malaria is no longer responding to treatments that rely on Chloroquine and other popular drugs. "The resistance is spreading fast, and science is running out of time. 'Nowadays you have resistance all over the continent. We need to find urgent solutions.'" Marsh said (www.2001pray.org/Malaria.htm). Like Dr. Marsh, Dr. Vonhn of the Liberian Health Ministry expressed similar concern about the resistance of malaria-producing mosquitoes to treatment. "… In 1996 studies in three locations showed the southeastern port city of Buchanan with 38 percent, the capital city Monrovia with 18 percent and the northwestern border town of Vahun with five percent…in 1999, two other studies in the Central Liberian city of Gbarnga and southeastern Pleebo showed 28 percent and 22 percent resistance respectively. Plasmodium falciparum resistance to chloroquine up to 24% has been reported," he said (www.republic-of-liberia.com/vol4_no5.htm).
What Can We Do Now
I indicated earlier that hope is not lost in the treatment or eradication of malaria as long as Liberian national leaders and health officials summoned the political will to act by launching vigorous malaria eradication programs in Liberia. First, a battery of health inspectors would help with mosquito surveillance and control programs. The health teams must conduct appropriate mosquito surveys and determine the right species of malaria-producing parasites present in each political subdivision of Liberia, to determine their abundance and seasonal variations, and to identify the breeding habits of the various species of mosquitoes in and around the city areas. Second, the Ministry of Health could use biological control method to determine the various species of small fish that mosquitoes feed upon to create mosquito larvae and pupae and adult mosquitoes that are eaten by birds, dragonflies, and bats. The Ministry of Health could develop pools for raising species that naturally attack mosquitoes and construct city parks that will attract bats and birds that feed on mosquitoes. Given this kind of Integrated Mosquito Control Management Plan (IMCMP), the high incidence of malaria in Liberia could be adequately controlled or eradicated knowing the population' dynamics, the reproductive behavior, seasonal cycles, and resistant populations of falciparum and malariae issues. Once this information is known, the Liberian government can begin sanitation improvement measures, habitat alteration, cultural practices, reproduction of harborage and mosquitoes proofing.
Third, our nation should consider the safe application of DDT, which is 90 percent effective in destroying mosquitoes and it is cost-effective due to its 90-year durability. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller invented DDT in 1937 and it soon emerged as "miracle chemical" in the treatment of –mosquitoes, by helping to eradicate malaria in Western Europe and the North America. However, DDT use in Africa felt apart in 1962 when environmentalist Rachel Carson released her book, "Silent Spring," which dismissed DDT as a poison for the environment rather than a miracle treatment for malaria. DDT was labeled as the world's most toxic substance and eventually banned, though DDT is not known to have killed anyone. Other research scientists eventfully questioned Carson's conclusion and DDT was restored as a treatment against malaria-producing mosquitoes. In "Malaria Remains Real Tyrant" visiting professor Jason Lott of Oxford University writes, "Recent studies have shown that DDT is actually less toxic than aspirin for humans, and the minimal amount needed for protective indoor spraying will likely have little, if any, environmental impact. DDT's effectiveness was proven again in 2000, when South Africa broke rank with environmental standards and implemented indoor residual spraying of DDT to end a malaria scare along its border with Mozambique" (www.humanbeams.com).
"A blight that has been all but eliminated
in the West, malaria still claims between one million
and two million lives every year in the underdeveloped
world. ... The bigger problem is the politicized international
health agencies that discourage the employment of
all available tools of prevention -- specifically
insecticides containing DDT that is anathema to environmentalists,"
The Wall Street Journal noted in a 29 December 2004
edition. In addition, "Roll Back Malaria should
reconsider the role DDT can play in the fight against
malaria. For the most part, "Roll Back Malaria
of 1998" has not met its goals. In his article,
"Day-After Day After Day After Day" by
Dr. Roger Bate, he argued that: "The WHO, World
Bank, the US aid agency, USAid, and Unicef launched
Roll Back Malaria in 1998. Their aim was to reduce
malaria deaths by 2010. So far malaria deaths have
risen 12 %" (www.fightingmalaria.org/article).
If saving as many lives as possible is what truly
matters, then prevention protocols emphasizing the
use of ITNs and DDT must be adopted and implemented
across the region. Vague appeals to environmental
integrity and unfounded warnings of human harm do
not justify the needless deaths of so many, especially
when a solution is near at hand," the U.S.-based
Roll Back Malaria Campaign said in an article (www.humanbeams.com).
Traditional Treatment
In addition to the Integrated Mosquitoes Control Management Plan (IMCMP) suggested earlier, DDR and traditional Liberian herbs could be used in the control of malaria in Liberia. I have already discussed the success of DDT in South Africa, so I would suggest that Liberian health authorities must engage in a national campaign to learn about all the herbs our people knew and used to treat malaria that we have abandoned to crave for western medicine. Instead of cutting down the forest, we must leave the trees where they are and invite pharmaceutical companies to test these herbal remedies as other nations are doing. For example, China for centuries have a plant called the "sweet wormwood" that work effectively against malaria. Though it is not known in the West, the WHO just learned about the Chinese herb and is now recommending its use of multi-drug combinations based on artemisinin after researchers concluded that Africa needs the sweet wormwood to treat malaria. The Chinese wormwood is now being mass-produced and sold at affordable prices to the African people. I believe that we have a Liberian "sweet wormwood" in our backyards, and we need to exploit it. For example, a local herb popular among the Bassa people for treating malaria is the "deede-chu," while other popular Liberian traditional herbs for treating malaria or fever includes the "jologbo". These are popular herbs found among the Bassa people of Liberia, but efforts should be made to find and catalogue all herbal medicines used by traditional Liberia in the war against malaria and other illnesses in Liberia. In the United States and other developed traditions, herbal medicines use are on the rise under such names as "herbal supplements" or "alternative medicine," and Liberia as a developing country cannot afford to overlook its traditional herbal medicines reserves. Any new governments in Liberia need to encourage the cataloguing of traditional herbal medicines for purposes of refinement for use by the general public. And this is why previous efforts by Isaac Smith, RN at TB Hospital and biologist Dr. Dickson Redd of the University of Liberia and his students in cataloging some herbal plants in Liberia must be resurrected and expanded as part of a national effort.
Nevertheless, the success of any national health campaign would depend on two major factors—education and cooperation, which have been two of Liberia's greatest challenges. Even now, if Liberian health authorities were able to mobilize the Liberian people to embrace a malaria eradication campaign that combined cultural and individual empowerment similar to the Indian program, it might still not be possible to reach Liberians living outside the city centers in each political subdivision of Liberia. So the first step is to ensure that the national radio stations reach every corner of Liberia if we want the full participation of the Liberian people. In fact, once we succeed in a vigorous malaria eradication campaign on our own, the rest of the world will see an opportunity for investments in Liberia.
· Clinical evaluation of our forest trees to produce herbal medicines or industrial production of anti-malarial drugs from plants extracts on an industrial scale. Instead of deforestation, we can preserve our forest and contract with pharmaceutical companies or find investors and researchers to partner with our nation's universities, laboratories to study anti-malarial plants like "zeechu" (Bassa)· National Health Campaign to rally the people to action· Involve the University of Liberia and the nation's elders in the identification of useful herbs for the treatment of malaria· End deforestation and contract pharmaceutical companies to begin testing extracts of trees. In that way Liberia makes money and still keep the ecology intact
I strongly believe that if a nation and its people are to participate fully in the bright prospects of democracy, it is necessary for the people to be healthy and strong so they can take an active part in nation building. Nation building is impossible without changed mindset about national health and sanitation in Liberia. Combating malaria is not an easy task in Liberia, given the country's current political and economic conditions, but a national health and sanitation campaign to control wastes and garbage disposals and the construction of public latrines and sewer disposal systems will go a long way in controlling the spread of malaria-producing mosquitoes in Liberia. Above all, we need a new Liberian leadership that will take the health and wellness of the Liberian people more seriously, to properly plan, with respect to effective and efficient sanitary system, environmental impact surveys, and so forth. To delay action in the treatment of malaria in Liberia now, may lead to a drastic turnabout in the future, which might result in -an expensive proposition--and this can make it into an extremely intolerable venture.


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There are only 153 days until Hope City publicly opens its doors for the first time!
It is so exciting! 153 days may seem like a lot of time to you, but January 22nd will be here before you know it, and we've got a lot of work left to do!
We have been hard at work with an incredible launch team. You would be so proud of this group of people–I know I AM! This team is focused on what is ahead, not where we've been. They have a heart to see the city of Sarasota changed by the gospel of Jesus, and I am so proud of them!
But we can't do this alone!
This would be impossible without you! We need your prayers and your financial help. Our launch team is giving sacrificially and together with your help we have received almost $130,000. This means that we have a gap of $70,000 left before we accomplish our goal.
Will you consider making a financial gift to help support Hope City today? As Pastor Bill Hybels says, "Maybe God has afflicted you with affluence", would you consider how you can help make that $70,000 gap shrink? Every dollar matters… and will be used in the mission of reaching people here in our city, because every person matters. Our launch fund is exclusively used for purchasing equipment, but that equipment is used exclusively to see more people hear the word of God. It is all about people.
In the next few weeks we will be starting to secure the resources that we will use for church every week; computers, screens, projectors, kids equipment–everything we need for our kids environments, our main auditorium, and for our lobby.
You can send your gift electronically by clicking the donate button below.
Or, you can mail your tax deductible gift to the following address:
Hope City Church
3995 Bee Ridge Road Ext.
Sarasota, FL 34241
All checks can be made out to Abundant Life Church, and in the memo line write "Church Plant". Email email@example.com with any questions.
Will you be a part of the mission to bring the good news of Jesus, the Hope of the gospel to Sarasota? Thank you for your gift to Hope City.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mac Lion HTC Incredible S Converter
September 20, 2011 11:09 am / Posted by Jack Fisher to Supported Devices
Follow @jackfishrain
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The Incredible S offering four backlit touch controls under the screen. One advantage these offer is that the icons can now rotate with the phone, so if you are watching a movie, they'll switch round into landscape. It's a minor point, but highlights (excuse the pun) the attention to detail that HTC lavish on their phones. We couldn't, however, find a way to get those control keys to dim, so when watching said movie in bed, we had the four symbols shining out at us as well as Clash of the Titans.And this HTC Incredible S can play videos in MP4, 3GP etc, and music in MP3, AAC, WMA, AMR, WAV, etc as follow:
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An article in Wired magazine, Frame That Spam! Data-Crunching Artists Transform the World of Information, introduces several artists who transform found data into artistic creations. Their craft lies in the choice of data source to operate on, and the construction of an algorithm that manipulates the data to give results that are aethestically pleasing and/or conceptually interesting.
The art could be three-dimensional, as with the creations of Alex Dragulescu, though his objects are, as far as I can tell, not actually constructed, but merely rendered as images.
Dragulescu explains the series represented by the images above:
1. The images from the Spam Architecture series are generated by a computer program that accepts as input, junk email. Various patterns, keywords and rhythms found in the text are translated into three-dimensional modeling gestures.
2. Malwarez is a series of visualization of worms, viruses, trojans and spyware code. For each piece of disassembled code, API calls, memory addresses and subroutines are tracked and analyzed. Their frequency, density and grouping are mapped to the inputs of an algorithm that grows a virtual 3D entity. Therefore the patterns and rhythms found in the data drive the configuration of the artificial organism.
3. Extrusions in C Major is an experiment in music visualization. The composition used for these images is the Trio C-Major for Piano, Violin, and Cello by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The computer software analyzes a range of note characteristics such as value, velocity, duration, and overall tempo. The notes of the various instruments are differentiated by color: white for piano, yellow for violin, and blue for cello.
Further differences between the compositions is achieved through the rotation of forms while they grow and produce more curvy structures. These structures develop segment by segment, so each segment represents a note of a particular instrument from the composition. In addition, each note's characteristic — velocity, value, and duration — is translated in the segment's weight, length, and rotation.
My favorite works are perhaps the Dreamlines by Leonardo Solaas, which you can play a role in creating yourself:
Dreamlines is a non-linear, interactive visual experience. The user enters one or more words that define the subject of a dream he would like to dream. The system looks in the Web for images related to those words, and takes them as input to generate an ambiguous painting, in perpetual change, where elements fuse into one another, in a process analogous to memory and free association.
The control over the artwork exerted by these artists is at quite a high, conceptual level. Their algorithms are tuned for a class of data, not for specific data point by point. In this way it is unlike, say, an abstract painter adapting each gesture to the previous one, which might have owed some part to chance but is henceforth a fixed reality.
What do you think of this approach and these works?


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Note: I know, I know...how come I'm not updating "Silence?" I promise that I have not abandoned that story. The truth of the matter is that I got a little burned out on it and needed some time away. Real life is also interfering and it's hard to find time to write these days. What little writing that I have done has largely been devoted to original work that I can hopefully publish. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy this story until I get the next update to "Silence" and "Pit Life."
Also, there is an homage/parody of a famous Justice League International scene in this story.
This story is largely the result of Twitter crack. I should also note that this is an AU story, in which Doc, Lady Jaye, and Breaker are still alive.
Also, I don't own GI Joe or any of its characters. There. You have my obligatory disclaimer.
Poker Face
"All right everyone, place your bets."
Breaker, the self-appointed card dealer, placed a combat helmet upside down in the middle of the round table. He looked around at the other Joes who had decided to join the poker game.
"Two dollars," Rock N Roll told him, throwing a couple of bucks into the helmet. Breaker raised him three packs of chewing gum and turned to the only woman at the table. Jinx smirked and pulled out four, long bootlaces.
"I raise you Flint's bootlaces," she said.
"How did you get Flint's bootlaces?" This question came from Spirit, who was seated across the table from Jinx. Freedom was perched nearby on the back of a heavy chair. The eagle was carefully preening himself and ignoring the humans.
"He was a little…indisposed with Lady Jaye in the next room," the ninja explained. "He accidentally left his boots outside the door, along with his socks."
"And the socks?" Spirit asked knowingly.
"I donated them to Order and he shredded them."
"Alright…" Breaker interrupted, bringing their attention back to the game. "The lady raises Flint's bootlaces. Gung Ho? Spirit? What about you two?"
"Who the hell bets bootlaces?" Rock N Roll asked, before either of the other men could place their bets. "I mean, yeah, you stole them off of Flint, but still…"
"You can strangle people with them," Jinx replied, holding a bootlace up in mock demonstration. "It's a perfectly valid bet." Rock N Roll decided to nod his head, rather than voice his opinion that she was just being a cheapskate.
"Of course it is, Cher," Gung Ho told her. The Cajun threw three dollar bills into the helmet. Everyone then turned to look at the Joes' tracker.
"Spirit?" Breaker asked. "What's your bet?"
"Nothing as flashy as Flint's bootlaces," Charlie Iron Knife replied. His lips twitched slightly with amusement. "I do have these."
Two Snickers bars and a package of Skittles joined the pot.
"Dude…this is, like, the cheapest game of poker I've ever played," Rock N Roll complained. He received a "Hmph" from Spirit and Jinx.
"Just startin' out, mon ami," Gung Ho told him. "It'll get better."
They soon began the game, but had to pause when Freedom attempted to snatch a bag of Doritos from the pot. Spirit set the grumpy bird back on his perch and attempted to distract him with a piece of jerky.
"You don't want Doritos," the tracker told his pet. However, Freedom turned his beak up at the piece of meat and continued to eye the bag of chips. "You don't need Doritos," Spirit corrected firmly.
While the "Keep Freedom from stealing the pot" game continued, Rock N Roll studied the tracker's uniform. Spirit had switched to a black bodysuit several months ago.
"So Charlie…we've been meaning to ask you something," the blonde machine gunner said.
Charlie Iron Knife, the GI Joe known as Spirit, looked away from Freedom and raised a quizzical eyebrow at Rock N Roll. The eagle took that moment to greedily snatch the jerky from his master's hand. The tracker frowned at his pet briefly, before looking back at his teammate.
"Then ask," Spirit told him. The tracker set down a couple of chips and tossed a dollar into the pot. "I bet one dollar." They went around the table, placing bets again and scrutinizing cards. Rock N Roll waited until after Jinx folded and Breaker dealt out another round of cards before finally asking his question.
"What's with the new look?" The blonde Joe grinned. "The skintight, black bodysuit and the flowing locks of long hair, I mean. Are you going for the Sexy Spirit look or something?"
There was the briefest of pauses.
"If you're trying to distract me because you have a bad hand, it won't work," the tracker finally replied. That was the only reason that he could think of for the question. Rock N Roll's not so subtle glance at his cards and slight grimace seemed to confirm his suspicion.
"Okay…it was partially a badly implemented tactic," Rock N Roll admitted, folding his cards. "But still…are you trying to lure in women with that look, or what? Because I've seen you turn quite a few female heads around here since you ditched your other duds." Spirit's lips twitched up into a genuine smile.
"Well…that's not the intention...and I'm hardly the only male Joe who turns heads around here."
Rock N Roll conceded that for a moment. He watched while Gung Ho, Spirit, and Jinx now battled it out for the contents of the pot. Jinx's lips quirked up into a smile, before she decided to continue her teammate's inquiry.
"I mean, there's that luscious, shiny, well brushed hair," she grinned. "Your hair looks better than most women's hair." The ninja deftly reached out and managed to snag a strand of the tracker's hair and hold it up for inspection.
"Ooo…and it's even soft too," she cooed. A round of snickers greeted her pronouncement. Spirit responded by scooting his chair about a foot in the other direction.
"You know that's not going to stop her," Breaker told him. Spirit silently agreed, especially when Jinx playfully scooted her chair a foot towards him.
"I've had long hair ever since you've known me," the tracker finally sighed. He was still puzzling over the sudden interest in his looks, but chalked it up to boredom. The Jugglers were playing havoc with the Joes' funding again, which meant that field missions were being kept to a minimum. Everyone was irritable.
"Yeah, but you've always had it tied back or braided so that it doesn't get in the way," Rock N Roll pointed out, backing up Jinx. "Face it, long hair is kinda a liability in battle. Even Scarlett ties her back."
"It's part of the reason that I have short hair," Jinx nodded. "Plus long hair is a bitch to comb."
Spirit thought about how to respond to that. On some level, they were right…but he had a right to make a change every now and then, right?
"I got tired of braiding it," he finally said, which was true. "And I've tied it back a few times out in the field, if it got in the way." The tracker saw his teammates think that over for a moment. Judging from the smile on Rock N Roll's face, the machine gunner wasn't quite done with his questions.
"Okay….okay…" the blonde conceded. "But that's not most of the time…I mean, no offense, but you kinda look like some model from a L'Oreal commercial."
Spirit blinked and stared at his teammate, unsure whether to be annoyed or flattered by the comparison. To be truthful, he was starting to get a little irked at the invasion of privacy. He'd always worn what he'd like, regardless of anyone else's opinion.
"I just got tired of my old uniform," he explained stiffly. Spirit forced himself to relax, as his teammates hadn't actually said anything that wasn't of mild curiosity. Due to the colorful variety that the Joes wore, changes in uniform usually made people curious.
"Freedom! No!" Charlie suddenly blurt out, seeing his eagle prepare to lunge at the Doritos again. The eagle hunched down on his perch and ruffled his feathers. Spirit wondered if he was going to have to put the bird outside or in his cage. The pot was apparently proving to be too tempting for the greedy eagle.
"You've gone through three changes of uniform now, mon ami," Gung Ho piped up, once Freedom had settled down again. He studied his cards a moment, before deciding to fold as well. "You went from the blue shirt and khakis to the green jumpsuit, before going for the black bodysuit."
"And you didn't wear the green one very long," Jinx pointed out.
"So seriously, are you trying to get chicks or something?" The last question was from Rock N Roll.
Spirit studied the group, while trying to decide if he was going to dignify the last question with an answer. It was at that moment that Jinx suddenly turned in her chair and swatted at something.
"Timber! What the hell are you…don't bring that in here!" she yelled. Rock N Roll looked down at the wolf and suddenly backed away. Spirit silently thanked the Great Spirit for the distraction. His romantic life, or lack of, was frankly a private affair.
"Seriously, what the hell is that?" Breaker asked, leaning forward. "Is that a dead rabbit? Where the hell did he get a dead rabbit? What's he even doing in here anyway?"
Finally curious, Spirit bent down to look under the table. Timber had curled himself up underneath the table and was gnawing on a mangled mess of fur, blood, muscle tissue, and bones. Spirit's sharp eyes also picked up blood spots across the floor, marking out a clear, Timber trail.
Breaker leaned his face into his hands and groaned.
"He's…really going to eat a rabbit…under our table…during our poker game."
"Where's Snake?" Gung Ho asked. "Timber's not allowed in the Pit very often." The Marine didn't seem fazed by the intrusion, but Breaker, Jinx, and Rock N Roll were obviously annoyed.
"Hell if I know," Breaker responded, looking at Jinx. The female ninja shrugged and nudged at Timber with her foot.
"Go away Timber," she told him. The wolf growled slightly in reply.
"Ooookay…" The ninja wasn't about to annoy a barely tamed wild animal. "How about we just pick up the table and move it?"
Chairs were scooted roughly out of the way as the five Joes stood up. Gung Ho picked up the table, while the others grabbed chairs and miscellaneous snacks. Rock N Roll tucked the combat helmet under his arms. Very soon, the poker game resumed on the other side of the recreation room. A perturbed wolf stared at them for a long moment, before standing up with his prize in his mouth.
"Don't you dare, Timber!" Jinx shouted. "I don't even know how the hell you got in here!"
The wolf stared at her for a long moment before slinking back out of the room. Where he went next was anyone's guess.
Breaker soon won the first game. He pocketed the money and gum, but shared the snacks with his teammates. The communications officer offered a Dorito chip to Freedom. It disappeared in an instant.
"Please don't get him started," Spirit pleaded. "I had a hard enough time getting him to not eat the chips."
"Sorry," Breaker apologized. The Joe sighed when Freedom scooted closer to him and stared expectantly at the bag.
"Yeah…shouldn't have started that," he admitted. He passed one more chip to the eagle, before quickly hiding the rest. Breaker held up two empty hands to Freedom.
"See?" he asked. "No more." Freedom tilted his head and stared quizzically at the bearded Joe. He seemed to be saying "I don't believe you."
"Freedom," Spirit said sternly. "Behave or you're going outside."
Freedom settled back on his makeshift perch with a sulk.
"So…are you trying to get a girlfriend?" Rock N Roll asked again, between a mouthful of Skittles. "Or get laid at least?"
Spirit flashed him a slightly irritated look. If he was trying to get sex, there were much better ways of going about it, in his opinion.
"I didn't change my outfit as a ruse to find a girlfriend…or sex…" the tracker responded with some exasperation. "Why are you so interested anyway?"
"Because I'm bored," Rock N Roll admitted. "And curious. Besides, if that outfit does work…I may try something similar to get a woman."
Jinx bit back a snort and covered it with a light cough. Breaker, with great wisdom, decided to continue staying out of the conversation. The computer technician shuffled the cards and looked around at the others.
The silence ticked by for a few seconds, before Rock N Roll decided that silence equaled "dull."
"So is it a mid-life crisis or something?" he asked innocently. "Mainframe had his a few months back when he went through that Flash Gordon phase…"
"I'm not going through a…" Spirit began, but was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Joes' residential psychiatrist.
"Who's going through a midlife crisis?" Psyche Out asked. The four Joes twitched slightly and wondered how they had failed to notice the man's approach. The slim blonde looked at them with an expression of mild disinterest, which Spirit didn't trust in the least.
"No one is," the tracker denied flatly. Psyche Out raised a disbelieving eyebrow at Spirit before shrugging his shoulders.
"Right…" Dr. Kenneth Riche responded, not believing the tracker. He hefted his heavy pile of paperwork and studied the five Joes, who had all adopted an aura of "We're perfectly fine and sane…please go away." He shook his head at the body language of his teammates and wished once again that he could get them to relax around him. Lifeline and Doc had no problem getting the others to let down their guards.
"Anyway…I'll be in my office if Mr. Midlife Crisis changes his mind," Psyche Out said. "Oh…" He paused and decided that maybe tossing a peace offering would get them to relax.
"Flint's in a particularly…special mood right now. I'd avoid crossing paths with him, if I were you." Kenneth Rich nodded his head in goodbye and continued on his original task of taking the long route to his office. Shortcuts didn't afford him the opportunity to monitor his teammates for any potential issues.
Once the military psychiatrist was out of earshot, Spirit turned a fierce glare on Rock N Roll. While he respected Psyche Out and understood that his duties demanded this sort of monitoring, he was still irked. The machine gunner gulped slightly and waived his hands in protest.
"Dude! I had no idea the shrink was there! Honest!"
Spirit grumbled under his breath, but turned his gaze towards the wall and made himself calm down. After all, he himself had completed a bachelor's degree in psychology during his brief stint as a civilian. He knew why Psyche Out insisted on meetings and evaluations. That didn't mean he had to like it though.
That probably explained why Charlie had chosen to go back into the military, rather than pursue a career in what he had studied in college.
Breaker cleared his throat and attempted to break the slight tension.
"Anyone up for another game?" he asked, shuffling the cards.
Gung Ho shrugged in reply. "Ain't nothin' else to do right now."
And so, the poker game began anew.
"You know Spirit…" Jinx said after a while. Her mouth twitched in a near smirk, so very like that of her cousin Storm Shadow. "If you are looking to get laid, I overheard a few of the female greenshirts complimenting your ass."
Spirit covered his face with a hand and sighed. He was starting to get more than a little irked at the invasion of privacy. Whether he had sex or not was his own business.
"I already told you, I'm not…"
"So you already have a girlfriend?" Jinx asked with feigned innocence.
"No, I…" Spirit trailed off before he could add "don't." He glared at the ninja, knowing full well she had just manipulated him. That annoyed him even more. The tracker gritted his teeth for a moment, before deciding that his teammate wasn't being mean spirited…just annoyingly curious.
"Why are we even talking about my sex life anyway?" Spirit sighed. His eyebrows had a sullen crease to them.
"Or lack of," Gung Ho piped up. Spirit turned a stoic glare on his friend, which caused the Cajun to hold up his hands in defense. Etienne immediately gave the other man an apologetic look. He knew that Spirit was intensively private.
The other Joes seemed to take the hint and shut up about the tracker's private sex life.
The poker game eventually ground to another halt, this time with Rock N Roll winning the game. He gleefully slid the odd assortment of candy bars, money, and chewing gum to his side of the table. The blonde machine gunner held up the boot strings, which Breaker had thrown back into the pot, before tossing them at the nearby bald eagle.
"Have at it, Freedom."
Freedom gave him a piercing look and proceeded to ignore the pieces of string.
"Piiicky," Rock N Roll muttered. Gung Ho laughed and reached over to scratch the bird's chest. Freedom lifted a wing and craned his neck. Spirit merely shook his head at his pet.
"Spoiled rotten," the tracker said.
"You spoiled him rotten," the Cajun shot back.
"I did no such thing," Spirit denied. "I know you slip him treats when I'm not around." His roommate immediately pointed to himself and shook his head, as if to say 'Me? Never!'
"Oh!" Rock N Roll remembered suddenly. He popped open a pack of gum as he grinned. "Speaking of female admirers…I overheard Firewall say something about Spirit too." The tracker's head whipped over to stare silently at him. Jinx raised a slight eyebrow, while Gung Ho snickered not so subtly under his breath.
"What…did she say?" Spirit asked carefully. His muscles had tensed up slightly. Rock N Roll scratched at his beard, oblivious to the other man's sudden tension.
"I think she said that Spirit looked…bishawnen, was it? Or was it Beeshownen?" he asked, still puzzling over what exactly Firewall had said. Jinx blinked before cracking a smile.
"Bishounen?" she asked.
"Yeah! That!"
The female ninja doubled over in laughter, while four pairs of male eyes blinked in puzzlement. Spirit in particular was hunched over slightly, feeling uneasy. He hoped that "bishounen" wasn't something bad. Did Firewall think poorly of him?
"What is a 'bishounen?'" Charlie Iron Knife finally dared to ask. The other three men leaned forward, curious to know as well. Jinx wiped her eyes and regained her composure.
"Let's see… I think I know that word," she responded, adopting a clinical tone. "Bishonen, Japanese noun. Refers to a beautiful man. Object of pop culture fascination. Typically depicted with long hair, tight pants and an enormous . . ." She leaned forward with a sudden leer and Spirit's face flushed a deep red.
"Fan base," she finished coyly, poking the tracker in the chest.
Gung Ho let loose a guffaw before placing a friendly arm around Spirit's shoulder. The tracker was doing his best not to look at any of them, feeling somewhat embarrassed by his reaction.
"D'aww…he's blushing, Kimi," the Marine told Jinx. "Ah've never seen him blush before."
"I'm not…" Spirit began to deny, before sighing again. "Why do I put up with all of you?"
"Same reason we put wit' you," Gung Ho responded cheerfully. "Cause we're all…dammit!"
Freedom, ever the opportunist, had seen fit to snatch a bag of M&Ms out of the Marine's hand. The eagle fluttered off the chair before either Gung Ho or Spirit could catch him. By the time that Charlie cornered him on the other side of the room, Freedom already had devoured half the plastic bag and a good many of the chocolate candies.
Spirit managed to maneuver the remnants of the bag away from his pet before sighing.
"If you get sick Freedom, it's your own fault."
The eagle made a tiny "kukuk" sound and drooped his tail feathers.
Unbeknownst to the Joes, two Greenshirts huddled together in one corner of the recreation room. The taller one, an army ranger who Beach Head had dubbed "Tweedle Dee," leaned his head forward to whisper to the shorter and stouter "Tweedle Dum." Beach Head usually distinguished between them by bellowing "Dee" or "Dum." Sometimes he didn't even bother and just shouted "Tweedles! Two hundred pushups, NOW!"
("See…Ah can get all literary and shit," they had overheard Sgt. Major smirk once to Lady Jaye.)
"Are you sure?" Dum asked. He was a former member of the FBI swat team. The Greenshirt nervously ran a hand over his close shaven, blonde hair. Dee waived off his concerns.
"Look…Sgt. Scarlett and Sgt. Snake Eyes both told us that we needed to practice our stealth training. Remember our homework assignment?" Their hand-to-hand combat trainers had seen fit to give them "homework," after mercilessly beating them into the floor mats.
"They told us to practice on each other," Dum corrected. His eyes nervously flitted back to the poker game, which seemed to be winding down for good. "They never said anything about practicing on a seasoned Joe."
"That's why this is so brilliant," Tweedle Dee told his teammate pompously. "It will impress our instructors." And he was all about impressing his hand-to-hand combat instructors. "Plus you heard what the other Joes said…Spirit's long hair is a liability in combat. It will let us test the theory and show him, when it's not a life or death situation, that they're right. It's for his own good." In the mind of the ranger, it was perfect. They could one-up a Joe, impress Sgt. Scarlett and Sgt. Snake Eyes (or any of the ninja, for that matter), and teach Sgt. Spirit a valuable lesson. It was a perfect brown-nosing opportunity.
Tweedle Dum frowned doubtfully.
"I'm still not sure this is a good idea…"
Dee snorted in reply. "Come on man, we're not going to be made full Joes if we don't take calculated risks. Nothing is going to go wrong with this. It's too perfect…"
And so, they began making plans.
"Ah swear spook, Ah'd better not see a spot of blood, fur, bones, or guts ANYWHERE in this base!"
Spirit carefully avoided the danger zone near the intersection of the living quarters and the recreational area. Beach Head was currently towering over and bellowing at Snake Eyes, who was vigorously scrubbing at the floor with a tooth brush and some rags. A bottle of disinfectant was next to the obviously grumpy ninja.
Charlie Iron Knife was a brave man…but he wasn't suicidal. The tracker carefully took a detour around the two men and decided that he could wait half an hour or so before going to his room. He thought for a moment and decided to head down to the commissary. It wasn't dinner time yet, but that didn't mean that he couldn't run reconnaissance on what Roadblock was supervising for dinner.
When he arrived at the commissary, however, he found that Roadblock was employing two ninja as guards. Both Storm Shadow and Jinx were sitting self-importantly in front of both entrances to the kitchens.
"Sorry Spirit," Storm Shadow told him somewhat apologetically. He pointed to the huge sign on the door, which stated "KITCHEN PERSONNEL ONLY! NO JOES, NO GREENSHIRTS, AND NO PETS!"
"He bribed you?" Spirit asked, somewhat jealous. Charlie privately admitted that he would gladly be bribed by Roadblock to guard the kitchens.
"Not bribery," the Arashikage master denied. "Arashikage can't accept bribery. Now payment, on the other hand…." Storm Shadow held up a few rice balls that Roadblock had made specifically for the ninja.
"Same thing," Spirit noted. Storm Shadow shrugged and popped part of the rice ball in his mouth. Charlie admitted defeat and turned to head back out of the commissary. He hoped that Beach Head and Snake Eyes would be gone by the time he got back to the living quarters.
"By the way…who's the girlfriend?" the ninja asked nonchalantly. Spirit's head whipped around to stare at the other man.
"What?" Charlie asked.
"That's the newest gossip going around the rumor mill," Storm Shadow replied. "That, and you're going through a midlife crisis. Thought you should know."
"Thanks," Spirit replied. Internally however, he was irritated. It would be one thing if he actually had a girlfriend…which he didn't, though he wouldn't object to finding one. What irritated him was the invasion of privacy, especially since any Pit gossip that involved the possibility of sex always got a little…explicit.
He sighed and decided to ignore it for now. There wasn't anything he could do to stop the latest rumors and he'd honestly have better luck teaching Freedom to tap dance. Spirit left the commissary and took his time walking back up to the next level of the Pit.
When Charlie arrived back at his original destination, he was relieved to see that Beach Head was absent and that Snake Eyes was now at the opposite end of one of the recreation rooms. In fact, Spirit noted, the ninja was bent down in the very location where Timber had disrupted the poker game the previous day.
The ninja seemed to be trying to clean blood out of the carpet and must not have been having much luck, because Airtight and Scarlett were both trying to give him advice.
"Try mixing dish detergent and water," Scarlett suggested. "That's what my mom always did when one of us dripped blood in the house."
"How much blood did your family drip?" Airtight asked her.
"Well, we did run a dojo…so there were the occasional accidents…"
"Nevermind," the Joes' CBR expert replied, shaking his head. "If you really want to get it out Snake, you need to use ammonia and water. You know Beach is going to come back in here to make sure that nothing is visible."
Spirit debated whether or not to bypass the conversation, but he was somewhat curious about how bad this particular bloodstain was. Besides, it was in his best interests to find out what the best way to remove blood was, in case Freedom would ever pull a similar stunt to what Timber had done.
And knowing the gluttonous bird, it was a valid concern.
The tracker was halfway over to his teammates, when he sensed movement behind him. A split second later, someone grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked down hard. What happened from that point was simply a matter of reflex.
Spirit twisted out of his attacker's failed attempt at locking his arms, pivoted one of his feet, and landed a hard blow on a man's nose. All Charlie saw was a blur of the other man's red hair, before the greenshirt fell backward with a loud thud. The next thing he saw was an unconscious greenshirt sprawled on his back, with drool and blood seeping out of his mouth.
"One punch! One punch!"
Charlie flicked his eyes over to another greenshirt, who was quivering a few feet away. The unknown greenshirt kept looking down at his teammate and then back up at Spirit.
"One punch!" the greenshirt stuttered again, backing slowly away from Spirit.
On the other side of the room, however, a somewhat similar, yet different reaction was taking place.
"One punch! One punch!" Airtight repeated, doubled over in laughter. "Oh my god! That was glorious!"
Spirit ignored his teammates and focused his ire on the other greenshirt.
"I hope you have a good explanation," the tracker said icily, his words dripping with anger. The greenshirt shook his head no and stepped back a few more feet.
"One punch," the greenshirt repeated, this time with a whisper.
"One punch!" Airtight laughed again, this time pounding on the back of a couch. "Oh God, I hope we caught that on the security feed."
Somewhere near Airtight, Charlie could hear a loud, feminine "Bwahahaa!" A glance in its direction showed Scarlett bent over an armchair, with tears running down her face. Snake Eyes' shoulders were moving up and down with silent laughter.
Spirit turned his attention away from his teammates and glared hard at the blonde greenshirt, who seemed to have been the accomplice to the man still drooling on the floor. It was at that moment that Clutch and Covergirl walked in.
"Hey everyone," Clutch greeted. "How's it going…" he paused and stared in Spirit's direction. "Uh…is that a greenshirt on the floor…"
"Is he dead?" Covergirl asked. "Do we need to get Doc?"
Spirit ignored the motor pool personnel and continued to glare silently at the still standing greenshirt. The shorter man backed up another step.
"Well…." Charlie asked, still staring at the blonde.
"I'm sorry sergeant," the conscious greenshirt stuttered, still backing away. "I told him it was a bad idea, sergeant. Ohmygodpleasedon'thitmetoo."
"Wait, what?" he heard Clutch ask at the same time the greenshirt was stuttering. The mechanic's voice now came from Airtight's direction.
Spirit chewed on his lip, but decided that thrashing the younger man wouldn't do any good. Instead, the tracker nudged the unconscious greenshirt with his boot.
"Spirit belted him," Scarlett answered in the background.
"Get him to the infirmary," Charlie ordered the greenshirt. "Then go report your actions to Beach Head."
The greenshirt's face paled even more. It was a wonder, Spirit thought with some satisfaction, that the man didn't piss himself then and there. However, the blonde summoned enough courage to walk trembling to where Charlie stood, pick up his teammate, and get out of the recreation room as fast as possible.
"Spirit belted him!" Covergirl shouted loudly. "And I missed it?"
Charlie snorted softly in disgust, before massaging the back of his head. His scalp still hurt from the hair tugging. Nearby, his teammates were still preoccupied with the failed sneak attack.
"One punch!" Airtight repeated, reenacting the story for a grinning Clutch. Covergirl, meanwhile, continued to gape after the retreating greenshirts.
"Spirit belted a greenshirt and I MISSED IT?"
Beach Head rubbed at a migraine that was threatening to tear his skull apart. He stared down at the aptly named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Dee lay on the infirmary bed, still unconscious. Dum cowered nearby. Wayne Sneeden idly wondered how the man had made it from the FBI swat team to the Greenshirts.
Well, the man hadn't washed out yet…
Yet. Beach Head was sorely tempted at the moment.
He looked down at the medical report in his hands and recognized Lifeline's handwriting. The slim medic had scrawled "attempted suicide" as the reason for Greenshirt Tweedle Dee's current state.
"What happened, Dum?" Beach Head asked, wryly noting how appropriate the name was.
"Dee…pulled Sgt. Spirit's hair, Sgt. Major," Dum stuttered.
"And why did he pull Spirit's hair?" Beach Head braced himself for the inevitable, convoluted logic that was going to follow. The Greenshirt didn't fail his expectations.
"It…was supposed to be a sneak attack," the former FBI agent began to explain hesitantly. He gulped and continued. "The other Joes were telling Spirit that his hair was a liability in combat…especially when not pulled back."
"And so you two just decided to attack a seasoned Joe?" The disbelief in Beach Head's voice was evident. Lifeline had been correct in his analysis of "attempted suicide." Dum's face flushed slightly before he responded.
"Well…Snake Eyes and Scarlett told us in hand to hand training that we needed to work on our stealth…"
"On each other," Beach Head corrected. The greenshirt flushed again. Wayne sighed and resisted rubbing at his migraine.
"And what happened when Dee jumped Spirit and pulled his hair?" the ranger drawled. He watched as the greenshirt's eyes flickered down to his unconscious teammate and back at him. Dum's face had paled again.
"Um…he beat the shit out of Dee, Sgt. Major," the greenshirt responded. Beach Head's mouth twitched slightly. While he had half a mind to kick Dee and Dum out then and there, it was slightly possible that they had learned their lesson…
"And what did you learn?" Beach Head asked. He was greeted by a long moment of silence, then….
"Hair pulling is not a viable combat strategy, Sgt. Major," Dum answered. And even more quietly, a now conscious Dee also managed to answer haltingly.
"Don't pull Spirit's hair, Sgt. Major."
Beach Head tapped his foot and turned his glare from Dum to the somewhat conscious Dee. By the time he was done bellowing at both greenshirts, his migraine was doing somersaults in his head. Dum was pumping out pushups when Lifeline appeared out of his office.
The slim medic silently handed Wayne a glass of water and two Aleve.
"Thanks," Beach Head muttered.
"You looked like you needed it," Lifeline replied. "What're you going to do with them?" Beach Head smirked at him in reply.
"After I fill out the incident report?" the ranger asked. "I'm going to let Spirit pick the punishment."
The two Tweedles whimpered in reply.
Psyche Out managed to corner Spirit after the next morning's PT session. A mud covered Charlie found himself caught between the door to the lavatory and an equally mud covered psychiatrist.
"I think you're due for an appointment," Kenneth Rich told him. Spirit glanced around for a way out, but the Joes nearest him scooted out of the shrink's path as fast as possible.
"I'm fine," Spirit told him. "Really."
"You beat up a greenshirt," Psyche Out replied, raising an eyebrow. "In light of your other issues."
"I have no other issues," the tracker said firmly. "And he pulled my hair!" He was still annoyed about that.
"Well…" here the psychiatrist paused a moment. "I'll grant you that Greenshirt Dee obviously has some suicidal issues that we need to resolve. That still doesn't excuse your excessively violent reaction."
Spirit stared at the other man. Excessively violent? He had been attacked and had reacted like any well-trained, special ops soldier would have done. If anything, Dee had gotten off lightly.
Maybe this was why he hadn't stuck with psychology.
"I reacted out of instinct," Spirit told him. And I was perhaps a little pissed.
"Fourteen hundred today in my office," Psyche Out said. "I've already penciled you in."
Spirit swore silently while the shrink walked off. Now he didn't have any choice about it. If he "accidentally" didn't show up to his appointment, Psyche Out would complain to Flint until the warrant officer was annoyed enough to hunt Spirit down and order him to make up the appointment.
No, he would have to go…as much as he wanted to find a reason to not show up. Charlie sighed and looked down at himself. Beach Head had made sure that the newest tunnel on the obstacle course had been filled with mud. It was going to take forever to get clean.
He was feeling less irritated by the time he exited the blissfully hot shower. The Pit was the only military base he had ever served on which had regular, hot water in the showers. Spirit dumped his muddy clothes in a clothes hamper and resolved to head to the base's laundromat later that day.
The day passed by with a bit of a blur. Hawk announced that he'd managed to convince the Jugglers to restore some of the Joes' budget, which meant that they could resume more missions. This resulted in raising the morale in the Pit. An excited buzz pulsated wherever Spirit walked as Joes anxiously awaited being sent back to the field.
Spirit's good mood, inspired by Hawk, deflated slightly after his meeting with Psyche Out. He again reminded himself that the psychiatrist was just doing his job and that he was only interested in Charlie's well-being.
The tracker glared sullenly ahead of him and tried to forget that he had another mandatory appointment with Psyche Out in two days. He passed by a sign which said "Second level," and paused when he heard ACDC music and a familiar, female voice humming along to it.
Charlie discretely peeked into the electronic communications room and found the Joes' newest computer technician hard at work. Firewall was sitting cross-legged on a chair and typing furiously away at a keyboard. A large, coffee mug with the strange words "Buffy" inscribed on the side caught his eyes briefly, before they turned back to the young woman. Her raven hair had been tied up in a messy ponytail, which trailed down the back of her tan neck.
The tracker thought back to the poker game and debated asking Firewall about the "bishounen" comment. He threw that thought away a moment later, not wanting to embarrass his teammate or himself. His next thought was to say hello or to ask if she wanted to get coffee with him.
In the end, Spirit decided that she was too busy and didn't need to be interrupted. After all, fobbits were a strange and mysterious lot and seemed to object to whenever their concentration was broken. Or, at least, Mainframe and Breaker often bitched when that happened.
If he had also lost his nerve…well, Charlie wasn't about to admit that.
Spirit had gone a few feet down the hall when he heard a chair squeak and footsteps walk quickly towards the doorway. A female voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Oh hey! Was that you Spirit?"
Spirit turned to look at the woman in the doorway. She had a friendly smile on her face and a new coffee stain down the front of her shirt.
"Hello Firewall," he greeted politely. "I…didn't want to interrupt you." She smiled brightly in reply and stretched her arms. The computer technician then rubbed her neck.
"Jeez…I'm still sore from yesterday's PT…let alone today's…"
Spirit merely nodded his head and avoided saying that he wasn't really sore. Firewall was still playing catch up with the rest of the Joes on her physical conditioning. Charlie didn't think that she would react well if he accidentally said something that would remind her of that.
"Anyway," Firewall said, pausing to look up at him. "I really need a break and some more coffee…want to come with me?"
Charlie stared at her, somewhat astonished. Unable to find his voice, he merely nodded his head yes. Spirit wasn't really sure why he was having so much trouble saying a simple "Yes, thank you." After all, she was a fellow teammate.
Finally, he forced himself to say something.
"So…who or what is a Buffy?" he asked lamely. Firewall blinked with surprise before smirking. She looped an arm around his and tugged the tracker in the direction of the commissary. Spirit willingly followed along.
"I'll tell you if you tell me who this mysterious girlfriend is," she teased. Spirit felt his face warm suddenly in response.
"I…don't have one," he explained stiffly. "That's a rumor."
"Oh yeah?" Firewall asked.
"Yes. I'm…quite single."
There was an awkward pause. The former hacker broke it a moment later.
"Tell you what…" she smirked up at Charlie. "I'll show you who Buffy is when we're both off duty tonight." This time it was Spirit's turn to blink at her. Something made his mouth agree to meet Firewall later that evening, even though he had no idea who this Buffy person was.
The snickers under Firewall's breath as they walked to the commissary didn't help either. However, Spirit didn't mind it too much or find the snickers particularly alarming. In fact…they sounded rather…nice.
Later that evening, Spirit found himself sitting through the opening music of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He decided that in the future, he would view Firewall's snickers as a prelude to possible doom.
But even so, he didn't mind that much.
"So…she's a high school cheerleader…and she kills vampires?" Charlie asked cluelessly.
"Yep," Firewall replied. Her lips quirked up into a smile.
Author's notes:
First of all, I want to thank Totenkinderm for several things: offering suggestions for this story (such as Lifeline's "attempted suicide note and Jinx's explanation of bishounen), offering editing suggestions, and for introducing me to the Spirit/Firewall pairing. Neither of us have really written about this ship yet, so this is my first official debut of the Spirit/Firewall ship, even if it's only hinted at in this story. She also suggested the title of this story, which I struggled to come up with.
I also want to thank willwrite4fics for the suggestion that someone pull Spirit's hair. I'm also thankful for her portrayal of Beach Head and Lifeline, from which I am borrowing for my own characterization of them.
The Justice League International scene that I paid homage to in this story was the infamous "One punch! One punch!" scene where Batman knocked out Guy Gardner/Green Lantern with one punch. I even made Tweedle Dee a red head. Scarlett hopes that you enjoyed her rendition of Ted Kord/Blue Beetle's "Bwahaha" laugh, which while it doesn't happen in this particular scene, does happen at various points in the comics.


text:
So, what do you think?
Shawn Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 15:45
Everything looks brilliant to me, except for the shoes. I especially love the jacket, tie and trousers combination!
Nate Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 15:49
Great effort for 150 bucks! Love that jacket. Good fit all round. Nice ps too. Can't get on board with the shoes though sorry bud.
Rick Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 17:05
Nice look, if i were you i would have the shoes recolored into a more even tone
Timothy Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 18:16
I love it, you look fantastic!! Great fit, beautiful colours and exceptional pattern mixing!! Really like the jacket's pattern.
I think the shoes look a bit too distressed for this outfit and you'd have been better served with something else. Those shoes would probably work better with something more casual like jeans… (though even then probably not my thing, but that's personal)
Solid 5 stars nonetheless, bravo!
Mr Dan Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 18:39
Job well done, definately flawless!
Sherlock Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 19:47
I'm with the majority here.. brilliant use of colours and textures, bad shoes.
Maarten Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 20:40
Damn, nice look Wale! And I have to agree with the others.. Not a fan of your shoes here.
Wale S. Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 22:02
Thanks for the feedback guys. Frankly was on the fence about the shoes myself as I do normally wear them more casually.
Most people will tell you not to take this thing too seriously but I'll admit freely that I think long and hard about how I get dressed. Here I struggled a bit with footwear choice so I'd welcome some thoughts.
Timothy Says:
March 11th, 2014 at 23:56
I think anything from a chocolate brown to a very dark brown would work well with the jacket, shirt, tie and still have enough contrast against those trousers. Given the outfit I think anything would work, oxfords, derbys, monks… I'd go with calf skin but you could probably even make suede chukkas work.
I can't tell if your jacket is blue or charcoal, but if you happened to have shoes in that colour, then those would definitely work as well.
If you want to go with shoes that are any lighter, then you have to change your trousers. But I wouldn't because these are perfect.
Giampi Says:
March 14th, 2014 at 11:59


text:
Understand, I am not trying to be the mythical gadfly here. But when people start talking about rules or criteria, I look to see who the criteria intends to exclude, and who will actually be excluded.

Exclusion tends to splatter and spread, affecting people that it wasn't intended to affect.

- Reverend Mik

[censored]

--- On Tue, 10/9/12, Mitchel McAllister <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:

From: Mitchel McAllister <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] access control improvements
To: email@example.com
Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 2:50 PM

The point I want to get across is that if there is criteria to be applied, then everyone involved needs to know what that criteria is.

I'm currently in the space. I'm not alone here, there have been 8 or more people here at one time. Yet when the buzzer goes off, I am the only person to let people in. And I am near the back of the space right now.

I can think of a few people I don't want to let in, because of the melodrama they bring, or the fact they refuse to clean up after themselves, etc. I certainly don't want to be responsible for their behavior.

Yet, if I apply that criteria, then I have made a decision that they have nothing to contribute. I have made the decision that they don't belong here. I'm not comfortable with making those kinds of determinations, especially regarding people I have never met.

Here's another point: for every person on this list, there is almost certainly at least one other person on the list that dislikes them or wishes they wouldn't come to the space. As Erik said last night, if you're not pissing off at least one person, you aren't trying. It's the nature of personalities.

The concept of controlling access to the space is, on the face of it, not objectionable. However, when we get down to cases and reality, then it begins to break down.

- Reverend Mik

www.prismandink.com

--- On Tue, 10/9/12, Rachel McConnell <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:

From: Rachel McConnell <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] access control improvements
To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 2:41 PM

Mik, yeah, your own criteria. If someone asks to be let in, and you choose to let them in, this means you found them acceptable by whatever criteria you think is good. If you don't think they are appropriate for NB, don't let them in. Someone else may have a different opinion, and then the other person may choose to let them in. This does in fact end up as people in the space applying "their own criteria in an arbitrary manner". It's an indication that the system is working. Excessive consistency is an indication that it's not.

Seriously there is *NO* official policy of any kind at NB. "Be Excellent" is the only guideline. Use your own judgment, consider other people's points of view, apply your brain. Be the kind of person you want everyone else to be. This is not how the world in general works, true; but shouldn't it?

Rachel1.0

On 10/9/12 2:37 PM, Clarence Beeks wrote:
> On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Mitchel McAllister
> <firstname.lastname@example.com <mailto:email@example.com>> wrote:
>
> 'm interested in hearing what the criteria for "acceptable" users is.
>
>
> Unacceptable: Cretins who steal stuff and ruin it for the rest of us.
>
> Acceptable: People who don't.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> firstname.lastname@example.com
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
_______________________________________________
Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
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text:
This bodybuilding trophy is another fabulous addition to our line, and features a contemporary design in an elegant double biceps pose.
This piece would make a great overall champion trophy at your next bodybuilding event, or an even better gift for your favorite lady bodybuilder!
Big on style, she's even bigger in size, measuring almost 18 inches high by 8 inches wide by 7.5 deep and weighing 7.5 pounds!
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To obtain your shipping costs on this sculpture, just add the item to your shopping cart, and the shipping calculator will appear on the next page.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions, and don't miss seeing our entire collection of Bodybuilding Sculptures and Trophies!


text:
- Application Hosting
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text:
McCarthy seeking perfect pair
Mick McCarthy is still to decide who his best strike partnership is as Wolves push for promotion.
By Chris Burton
Last Updated: 13/12/07 12:06pm
Mick McCarthy is still to decide who his best strike partnership is as Wolves push for promotion from the Championship.
With the busy festive period approaching, McCarthy is well aware that the next few weeks could make or break Wolves' season and that he needs to find the right mix.
A combination of injuries and inconsistency has forced the former Republic of Ireland manager to continually rotate his forward line so far in this campaign with varying degrees of success.
Stephen Elliott is the club's top scorer so far this term with four, whilst Freddy Eastwood and Jay Bothroyd have only three apiece. Andy Keogh, who is also in the reckoning for a starting spot, only has one and McCarthy admits that he is puzzled by the problems currently being experienced by his strikers.
Partnership problems
"We want to try and get a settled pair up front. No partnership has set the world on fire," he said.
"At the start of the season I thought the main pairing would be Keogh and Elliott. I thought they would be the best partnership but Keogh is still not fully there yet from his operation.
"I thought Bothroyd was excellent on Saturday against Burnley after coming back from a two-week lay-off. Elliott put in a great shift as well and stood up well, taking the penalty with aplomb under a lot of pressure."


text:
The "Bibbity Bobbity Bubble" Skirt
I am a little late to the Colette Pattern party. But this past weekend I finally pulled out my Beignet pattern. And I just know that this particular pattern will be getting a lot of attention in the near future.
My original plan for participating in these challenges was to curtail the number of complicated dresses I have a habit of sewing.
Unfortunately, I haven't been so great about sticking to that resolution.
But this week was the perfect opportunity to get back on track.
Without a doubt, the skirts that I have sewn get the most use. So my reality check was to create, you guessed it, a skirt. This particular print is a bit over the top, so it will probably not get as much wear as a solid colored skirt, but I am very excited to have found a skirt pattern that I love.
• The Facts
⁃ Fabric: Upholstery Cotton; Bemberg lining; cotton for facing
⁃ Pattern: "Beignet" from Colette Patterns
⁃ Year: Contemporary
⁃ Notions: 12 Buttons
⁃ Time to complete: One weekend
⁃ First worn: July 26, 2012
⁃ Wear again? Yes!
⁃ Total price: ~ $25.00


text: > I've been having problems getting my inn to work correctly, and today I found >out that the active-file isn't getting written to the disk after it's changed, >so I have to do ctlinnd reload active "". I applied an earlier patch from this >list which should make it do msync() when the active-file changes to it, but >it doesn't seem to have helped. > > Is there anything to do besides tell it to not use mmap() for the active file You need to add an msync() call to the INN code where it syncs the active file (don't remember where, exactly). The idiot INN author refuses to put this into his code, because he says only "broken" systems need it, and he isn't about to cater his code to broken systems. Email from a wide variety of users might modify his disposition. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael L. VanLoon firstname.lastname@example.com --< Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free un*x >-- NetBSD working ports: 386+PC, Mac, Amiga, HP300, Sun3, Sun4, PC532, DEC pmax (MIPS R2k/3k), DEC/AXP (Alpha) NetBSD ports in progress: VAX and others... -----------------------------------------------------------------------------


text:
You are here
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Search found 11 results
- (-) Remove Fresh Fruit & Vegetables filter Fresh Fruit & Vegetables
- (-) Remove Decoratives filter Decoratives
With little flavor and porous texture, the leaves of the grape plant are an ideal vessel and textural component that will reflect the flavors of the ingredients within. When it comes to stuffing them, the options are limitless, try anything from ground meat to nuts, dried fruit and more.
The leaves of the jade palm are wide, spaced out, and cover more area than other palm variety leaves. Utilized as garnishes or decoration, their size makes them ideal for using whole to dress a table or serving platter, usually paired with banana leaves and other local plants.
These smooth, blade-like leaves vary in hues of green, orange, yellow, purple, pink and red and are glossy and malleable, lending them to wrapping foods for cooking preparation, as they are inedible. Use for wrapping fish before steaming or grilling, or to form a pocket or boat as a mold for custards and puddings.
Aromatic and attractive, the leaves of the lemon plant have a glossy finish on one side, and matte on the other, making them a very versatile decoration. They also can be used to infuse flavor when steeped, wrapped around food to be steamed or grilled, or even as kindle for grilling.
The Italian Ruskus foliage is a wonderful as decoration and garnish with a long shelf life. Use these to decorate plates, tables, or floral arrangements with ease.
Ruskus foliage is a wonderful as decoration and garnish with a long shelf life. Use these to decorate plates, tables, or floral arrangements with ease.
This Korean herb, related to mint, has a flavor similar to anise with a cinnamon-like kick and come in green and red coloring. Red leaves are often used for pickling, especially ginger, and green leaves can be used in sushi, as a garnish, or added to soups.
This vivid, green leaf is easily identified by its unique black specks and tastes just like a fava bean. Delicious eaten fresh or cooked, pair these leaves with Italian and Mediterranean dishes.
These large leaves have a strong, identifiable flavor similar to eucalyptus and anise. It works well to enhance the sweetness in salsa, tamales, and seafood dishes.
These bright green leaves with prominent stems provide smoky, fruity flavor to their accompaniments. Use them fresh and cleaned to wrap seafood, meat, fruits, and cheeses, to retain moisture and infuse with flavor.


text:
That's the message from Sen. Betty Little, who just put out a slightly "Evita"-ish press statement about Jim Tedisco's ascendency in the race for the 20th District:
"I am disappointed that I did not receive the nomination to run for the 20th Congressional District's open seat. But, I have no regrets in seeking the nomination, and am very appreciative of the tremendous support I received from so many people.
"As I said late last week when the vacancy occurred, my hope was that I, along with each of the Republican candidates, would have the chance to meet with each of the ten committees and present my reasons for running.
"I was pushing for an open process that allowed the rank and file committee people, who do a lot of hard work on behalf of candidates each year, a chance for greater involvement. That did not happen, but it is now important that we support the nominee and win this seat."
* For those of you who took Spanish in high school: That's "No, I Regret Nothing," the big hit from legendary French chantoozy Edith Piaf.


text:
SFS-Q Student Profile
The curriculum in SFS-Qatar allows for the development of a core set of skills sought after by employers in a wide range of occupational settings.
A sample of representative skills and abilities which students develop while they are in SFS-Qatar are the following:
Global Awareness
- Knowledge of current affairs
- Understanding cultural contexts & Sensitivity to cultural differences
- Ability to apply differentiated knowledge in diverse contexts
- Comprehension of world players, relations, dynamics, and networks
- Ability to see the big picture with a special attention to vital details
Critical Thinking Skills
- Synthesizing themes from diverse sources
- Ability to interpret social and political data
- Integrating of theory and practice
- Understanding complex factors within problems
- Perceiving patterns/structures
- Comparing/contrasting interpretations
- Assessing cultural differences and conflicting viewpoints
Communication Skills
- Public speaking
- Presenting written information clearly and concisely
- Ability to express multiple viewpoints
- Analytical writing & Editing
- Summarizing and presenting information
Research Skills
- Research design, implementation and evaluation
- Examination of theory
- Ability to utilize various online and print research resources
- Defining problems and formulating and assessing hypotheses
- Gathering and analyzing information
- Using and analyzing original resources
- Interpreting data objectively
- Evaluating evidence and results
- Reading critically
Team Work
- Working with others, one-to-one and in groups
- Setting goals and delegating group members' roles
- Group project management and leading work groups
- Developing feedback mechanism
- Reaching consensus-based decisions
Did you know that SFS graduates from Georgetown, Washington DC campus, hold/have held some of these positions?
- Deputy Bureau Chief at CNN News Washington, DC
- Partner of DC Area Law Firm
- Producer of ABC's Nightline
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- President of the United States
- Interested in our students? Learn about our Internship Program.


text:
The Myth of Multi-Tasking
Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by Cham Tang in Articles
At first glance, the concept of multi-tasking seems like a great way to save time…images like these spring to mind:
- being on the phone while cooking up a storm,
- sleeping while listening to a subliminal CD on "Fluent french in 30 days",
- The dynamo secretary that's whizzing around on her computer chair, knocking off tasks like a demon.
However, problems arise when we try and do more than one thing…but really shouldn't. This leads to the REVERSE of what we're trying to achieve >> saving time.
So when should you multi-task? When the activity you're doing can be done on auto-pilot, you can then add another one.
- Should I drive my car while making a phone call? Well, if you're not a learner, then yes!
- Can I check my inbox while procrastinating about something else? That's inefficient! You'll do a better job if you set aside some devoted time for procrastination later!
Why is Multi-Tasking a Myth?
Read these 2 questions (without trying to answer them).
- What was the first movie you saw as a child?
- What is 17 times 8?
Now, go ahead and answer BOTH questions at the same time.
The human brain can only focus on one thing at a time…computers too. Even when multi-tasking occurs in a computer, it's really switching back and forth between tasks so quickly, that it "looks" like it's doing two things at once.
Multi-Tasking vs Laser Focus
Let's say it's 2pm, and you have 3 tasks left before 5pm. Each of these tasks takes approximately 1 hour:
- Writing a report
- Solving a tricky problem
- Calling 5 people for work (that you're not looking forward to speaking with!)
Multi-tasking means that you'll get on the phone and dial. While you're on hold, you'll start writing the report. Then you'll get sidetracked by the phone conversation. You hang up the phone, send that follow-up email, go back to the report and then dial again!
By 4pm, you still have not completed any tasks fully. In the back of your mind, you're also thinking of how to solve that tricky problem. You're a bit stressed about it, and power through because you have "so much left to do".
End result: Finish at 5:15pm with a bit of stress along the way.
Laser focus means you fully devote your time and attention to writing the report. This gets finished at 3pm. Then you start calling people. While on hold, you may brainstorm ideas on solving the tricky problem (since being on hold is auto-pilot for you…well, I hope so anyhow!).
End result: Finish at 4:45pm without much stress at all.
The moral of the story? Focusing on one thing at a time is quicker and less stressful...with the exception of things that can be done on auto-pilot.
4 Responses to "The Myth of Multi-Tasking"
15. Sep, 2010
great blog thank you
02. Oct, 2010
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- Lucas
06. Oct, 2010
I am doing research for my college paper, thanks for your excellent points, now I am acting on a sudden impulse.
- Laura
18. Dec, 2010
great post, thanks for sharing


text:
"Is CVS still open?" He's looking for yogurt. I don't talk about how weird it is that he was just at a meeting with the President, and now he's having to figure out late night convenience store dairy options like the rest of us chumps. Shouldn't he have returned radiating light and carrying two stone tablets?
"I think it's closed, sir -- Walgreens is 24 hours, though." A nod of acknowledgment as he takes a phone call, at which point my duties shift from convenience store expert to seeing eye dog, signaling when to pause at street corners so that he can focus on his phone conversation without having to worry about oncoming cars. (Later he will gleefully tell me that CVS was open -- and that its yogurt selection is far superior to Walgreens. A massive control officer fail from which I never fully recover.)
I personally consider myself to be a poor staffer -- too much introversion, too much fear of disturbing hierarchy, too little attention to detail... Too much love of closure that makes each schedule change feel like a near moral crisis. It's unlikely you'll be told what's needed, so you search around for ways to be helpful. Keeping food and water on hand. Having notebooks and pens ready. Sending in clearances. Tracking down room numbers. Screening calls. There's a lot of that last one. He wants to talk to you (truly), but he doesn't have time. You're stuck talking to me. I'm dreadfully sorry.
Plus, at a certain point, staffing takes on an air of ridiculousness. Is printing schedules and lamely offering the latest media roundups really helping in any way? Compared to the mounting crisis, it seems small and obsequious. I formatted a paper for him. That was probably the pinnacle of my usefulness. He seemed grateful.
Maybe the value you add is just being around and willing to serve. Maybe that's all this line of work boils down to in any case.
And I'm developing a list of all the 24 hour convenience stores near State, in case anyone wants to know.


text:
Four Dubai cops promoted for saving patient's life
Four Dubai Police personnel will be promoted in appreciation of their "act of kindness" after they rushed to donate blood to a patient in one of Dubai's hospitals.
UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has given the order for their promotion.
Dubai Police Commander General Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said the four policemen were in a routine patrol when one of them received a message on his mobile phone, appealing for donating blood to a patient in Rashid Hospital.
The four policemen are Sergeant Jamal Abdullah Faraj, Sergeant Yousif Ahmed Hassan, Corporal Ali Mohammed Al Jazz and Corporate Mohammed Abdel Safi.
After reading the message, the policeman called the operations centre for permission and rushed with his colleagues to donate blood to the patient without asking about her nationality, religion or colour. Their blood helped save the patient's life, he said.


text:
Albeit the implications are pretty terrifying, being able to fly a drone would still be pretty cool, right? You're the commander of a flying death-dispensing robot. Find a man at the age of twelve who did not want that as a job title. And if he still wants it, the Air Force is hiring, since nobody wants to pilot a drone.
The problem is essentially this: If you become a drone pilot, you will never be anything else, because it will eat your life and career. Why? Because sending out death robots has become really popular in the military. Combined with the fact that adrenaline junkies get bored with playing video games pretty quickly, there's a mounting drone pilot shortage:
One of the factors behind the shortfall is a high rate of attrition among drone operators, which is three times higher than for traditional pilots, it said. Another factor is the intense tempo of operations for drone missions over the past decade. The constant drone flights mean operators, unlike their counterparts, lack the time for additional education and training to attain a higher rank, undercutting their career prospects, the author wrote.
It makes sense: People don't generally join the Air Force to not fly planes, and anybody who's played Microsoft Flight Simulator knows that actually flying a plane via computer can be a bit boring if you're not really, really into it.
However, the problem with this is that it means the military will eventually start looking into completely automating these things, which would mean we would have flying death robots that can think and make independent decisions. That doesn't seem like it would end well. Hey, Air Force, maybe consider recruiting more porky nerds? We know some guys who'd probably fly Predator drones for bragging rights!


text:
Latham is a world leader in pool manufacturing using advanced techniques and composite materials to make superior swimming pool and spa shells that are in high demand everywhere pools are sold.
1. The initial mold of the pool before the manufacturing process.
2. The primary application of Gel Coat (standard color) or other finishes that they offer.
3. Vinyl Ester Resin is being added to provide greater impact resistance and optimum blister protection.
4. Latham's unique Ceramic Core is applied to add greater stiffness to the pool walls along with providing enhanced water resistance.
5. The final stages of every Viking pool includes the application of Resin and Hand Laid Fiberglass
6. The finished pool is ready for shipment and installation.


text:
Herberg de Waard van Ternaard
De Groedse 3,
0.4 km
(North east Friesland)
Score of 34 reviews: 8.8
Herberg de Waard van Ternaard is a hospitable hotel with an interior full of atmosphere. It is established in an authentic Frisian countryhouse, and is furnished with wood and marble. The inn was decorated by Pilat & Pilat. The hotel has a car park, a restaurant, a garden and an outdoor terrace on the lovely village square, where you'll be able to soak up the rays of sunshine. Ternaard itself is a beautiful village with friendly residents.
You'll be given a warm welcome at the inn, and will sleep soundly in the wonderful beds. Each room is unique and tastefully furnished with a combination of natural materials. Your culinary needs will be met with excellence at Herberg de Waard van Ternaard. The food is outstanding and entirely organic. Seasonal ingredients are skillfully prepared, with produce mainly stemming from the local region; sometimes even farmed exclusively for the inn. Fish is delivered daily. You can lunch or dine at the restaurant. The elaborate breakfast consists of fresh, home-baked bread, and a large selection of sweet and savoury fillings.
Hergberg de Waard van Ternaard is situated in a historic building dating from 1860. This former inn lies on the village square. At the inn you can hire bikes, and there are various lovely cycling and walking routes in the area. You can cycle around the Lauwersmeer national park, and enjoy the vast landscape. You can also explore the area by boat or go sailing on the Lauwersmeer lake. A trip to the islands of Ameland or Schiermonnikoog is also recommended.


text:
Diva-dirt.com is reporting that former WWE Women's Champion Mickie James has signed with TNA. The report notes that the October 7th edition of TNA Impact, which is a live show, could be her debut date with the company.
Have a news tip? Attended an event and want to send a live report?


text:
Thanks for sharing this card with us, Elena!
"You do exist!" by Elena
Thanks for sharing this card with us, Elena!
24 comments:
oh, that is darling!ReplyDelete
How funny! Elena has a great sense when using stamps and creating scenes.ReplyDelete
Love it - pretty funny! Love the background.ReplyDelete
HILARIOUS! Elena is a genius! What a great scene! I love the kraft background with the white stamping and the embossed hills and the vellum word bubble!ReplyDelete
ha ha ha ha!!! amazing!!!! it's hilarious!! love this so much!!ReplyDelete
This card is amazing! I love it! ♥ReplyDelete
What a wonderful way to start a day...a good laugh. Love Elena's card and using a gnome for Santa.ReplyDelete
very cute! thanks for sharing!ReplyDelete
This is so cute.ReplyDelete
This is so awesome! ♥ReplyDelete
Really cute card! Love the background and mistletoe hemp cord.ReplyDelete
- Dorina DOctober 25, 2013 at 12:01 PM
So very clever and cute. Love the sentiment and how well all the different sets work together. Great job.ReplyDelete
This is adorable!! What a great use of all these sets.ReplyDelete
So funny. Thank you for sharing.ReplyDelete
This is so darn cute!!ReplyDelete
Love this card, makes me smile.ReplyDelete
Such an awesome card--love her idea! :)ReplyDelete


text:
Monday, August 1, 2016
Review: Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schneider
Published by Disney-Hyperion on 03 May 2016
Genres: Adolescence, Contemporary Romance, Emotions & Feelings, Family, Love & Romance, Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance, Young Adult
Pages: 291
Format: ARC
Source: Book Expo (BEA-ALA-et al)
Buy on Amazon|Buy on Audible|Buy on Barnes & Noble
Place(s) Traveled To: Seattle Washington // Honolulu, Hawaii
First Line(s): The condom must've broke. Her words, not mine.
SUMMER OF SLOANE by Erin L. Schneider was one of those books I was really looking forward too because I knew several people who had read it and loved it. This wasn't an over-hyped book and the synopsis made it seem like it was such a me book that I was eager to give it ago. The start of SUMMER OF SLOANE was fabulous and everything I was hoping that it would be and more. That is until around the 75% mark where this book made a complete 180 and left me wondering WTF I just read. There was so much potential for SUMMER OF SLOANE and there was already a lot of drama in the book without the story going where it went. Those last final bits just pushed it too far over the edge into the ridiculous and had me wanting to toss the book across the room.
Sloane is a likeable enough character who is dealing with a lot. Like seriously, her best friend and boyfriend not only hook up behind her back but they also end up pregnant. Sloane does what any self respecting girl does, she yells at her friend and punches her boyfriend in the nose. Sadly she doesn't know how to through a punch and ends up breaking her hand in the process. She then plans to spend the summer with her mother and twin brother in Hawaii trying to get over the past and figure out who she is without the two people who meant the most of her. Two people who refuse to give her the space she asks for and who badger her constantly to forgive them and take them back because losing her friendship is too much for them to bear. That's right folks, the faux-BFF and Ex-boyfriend never really apologize or take responsibility for the shitty things that they do and only care about how Sloane's ignoring them makes them feel. Oh how I wanted to slap them both a hundred times over!!!
But Sloane is doing ok without them. She has her brother, she has her summer friends in Hawaii and she also meets Finn who may just help her forget her terrible ex. These are the parts of SUMMER OF SLOANE that I loved and connected with. They are the parts that had me rapidly turning the pages as Sloane discovered who she was without being part of the trio that she was back in Seattle. Finn was a great character and I loved how he and Sloane where together. Then SUMMER OF SLOANE took a dive off the crazy train and went from being a great book to me wondering what the heck I just read. There are misunderstandings which happen often enough in books but its how these characters react to them that had me reeling. Rather than talking they make these grand assumptions and then think that cheating is the answer. Because it worked so well when it happened between Sloane's ex and her faux-bff. *insert eye rolling here*
I get that these characters are teenagers and maybe their actions make sense to that demographic but its not something I was able to get behind. Mainly because I've been cheated on in the past and its not something that can ever accept as being a way to solve a problem. SUMMER OF SLOANE is a book that I wish I could stop at a certain point. That part where I was still emotionally invested and loving every word. The ending of SUMMER OF SLOANE was just a mess that almost ruined the entire book for me. I became annoyed at all the characters and the payoff just wasn't worth much of what came before. I did think that SUMMER OF SLOANE was well written I just wish it hadn't introduced all that WTF-ery into the story. While SUMMER OF SLOANE isn't a book that works for me on every level I do see the appeal of it and know of many a person that I can recommend it to as I know they'll enjoy it more than me.
Click here to add From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Val Thomas to Goodreads. (Click here for my review.)
Click here to add My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatick to Goodreads. (Click here for my review.)


text:
Brochures, Flyers, Leaflets for DeskProto
DeskProto brochure
You want to CNC machine a 3D model but do not know how?
DeskProto can help! ...
Download the A4-size DeskProto flyer (970Kb)
123waxring brochure
You are jewelry designer, and have just finished a new design in your favorite 3D CAD program (3Design, JewelCad, JewelSpace, Matrix, Rhino, ...). Now you need a wax model for investment casting ...
Download the A4-size 123WaxRing flyer (600Kb)
Old DeskProto brochure
DeskProto is fast, it's safe and it's very easy to work with.
Enter the world of really rapid prototyping now ...
Download the old A4-size old DeskProto flyer (200Kb)
PDF Reader
Visit the Adobe website


text:
Product information
|Dimensions (approx)
|A Height
|88.0 cm
|34.6 inch
|B Width
|206.0 cm
|81.1 inch
|C Depth
|97.0 cm
|38.2 inch
|E Seat Height
|98.0 cm
|38.6 inch
|F Seat Depth
|93.0 cm
|36.6 inch
|G Arm Height
|70.0 cm
|27.6 inch
The Jamesy sofa collection would add a modern touch to any living room, combining sleek designs and contemporary chrome feet.
With a range of modern fabric colours, each piece is complete with vibrant cushions and fibre filled seat interiors offering extra support and comfort. Available in the collection are a range of corner sofas, two sizes of standard or scatter back sofas, three styles of chairs and a coordinating footstool.
Fibre filled seat interiors come as standard and foam seat upgrades are available when placing your order.
Make the Jamesy sofa collection even more affordable and take advantage of our 4 years interest free credit offer, 0% APR representative.
- Sofas available as standard or scatter back
- Corner sofas available
- Sofas manufactured in the UK exclusively for ScS
- 20-year frame guarantee
- This product has removable feet