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Kobolds and Lights in Derbyshire July 19, 2012Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
Beach is particularly proud of this one. It came from the pen of a spiritualist and relates to an experience c. 1860.
It is now some few years since, being in the neighbourhood of a lovely valley called Dovedale, in the County of Derbyshire, England, I heard my kind host and hostess, Mr and Mrs Hart, expatiating upon the singular phenomena they had witnessed in the cottage of an old labourer (then passed away to the better world), called Clamps; I think, if I recollect right, he had worked for Mr. Hart, who was interested in the mines adjacent to Dovedale. My friends informed me that Clamps had resided for over fifty years in a ruinous old farm-house, only a small part of which was habitable. The place was on the edge of the mines, where the old man in his youth and prime had worked, and where, as I believe, he died. During his long residence of half a century in this place, old Clamps and his associates were accustomed to see strange globular lights, which year in and year out would come and go with all the familiarity of household ghosts. Mr Hart, who was somewhat of a sceptic on the subject of my 'spirits' [author a spiritualist of sincere but rather tedious type], as he termed it, declared that if Clamps's lights were spirits of 'humans', they must have been those of deceased lamplighters or gas men—for they never appeared by day, and generally chose the long winter nights, or particularly dark evenings, for the periods of their visitations. Old Clamps called them his 'glorious lights', and was very particular about returning to his shanty early every night, so that he should not miss seeing them. They came out, or seemed to come, as my friends alleged, from a firm wall, fashioned of rock, and the blocks so solidly cemented together that not a crack or cranny could be discovered. They generally came from two or three to seven or eight in number. Mrs. Hart said that one very cold winter's night she saw as many as ten of these lights. They seemed to fill the little room, and hovered about the fire as if gratified with its pleasant warmth. 'They came,' said my informant, 'out of the wall, some about two feet from the ground, others as high as three feet, but none more than four, and all remained the same height during the time of their stay.' They shook, trembled, or fickered the whole time, as if they were quivering with fear or cold. They had been seen for years and years, longer, indeed, than the memory of the 'oldest inhabitants' of that region could trace them, except the venerable octogenarian Clamps, who affirmed they had always been there as long as he could remember. Their coming was generally preceded by crackling sounds, or direct knockings, and many of the neighbours declared they saw the figures of little men… 'black as a coal, and polished as a boot.' One of the neighbours, a woman who had often visited the cottage of Clamps with her children, described the appearance of the little men as being short, chunky, destitute of hair, polished all over, and bearing about the region where the heart lies in human beings a large globular light about the size of an ostrich's egg. It was this light, she said, 'which the folks saw', and it was by this light that she and her children saw them. She added, they did not walk, but jumped about, and their incessant restless motions caused the flickerings which the lights always exhibited. My friend Mrs Hart always beheld the dim outline of little figures accompanying the lights, but the distinctness with which these creatures were seen seemed to depend upon what in our philosophy we term mediumistic endowments. Other forms had been seen at Clamps's, such as dogs, horses, and even wild beasts, but as the cottage was inaccessible to horses, and no other animals of any kind were kept or known to frequent that neighbourhood, these accounts were set down to superstitious exaggerations.
I might fill a volume with the stories related to me of this region, and the matter-of-fact narratives which many of the most intelligent of the miners and their families furnished me with seemed beyond gainsay or denial. Shortly before my visit to that section of country terminated, my friends the Harts proposed to give me an opportunity of witnessing for myself some of the marvels they had discoursed about. They told me old Clamps had passed away; that the cottage he had inhabited had been tenanted for some years by a very decent family of poor peasants, but as the children grew up the elder members of the family, fearing the continual manifestation of preternatural sights and sounds would make them 'skeary' and superstitious, had at length moved away, and the place had been abandoned. It was the opinion of the few labourers who had been accustomed to see and had grown familiar with Clamps's 'glorious lights', that they. would never come out except a fire was lighted there; and as the place was deserted and very far remote from other inhabitants, my friends proposed to take me to a still more distant neighbourhood, and one where, as they knew by experience, my curiosity might have a good chance to be gratified. Starting early one fine October morning we drove about ten miles from home, intending to visit the mines, which commenced about the end of Dovedale Valley, but terminated in the direction my friends pursued. Arrived at a wild and most romantic glen, we left our horses and carriage at a poor tavern called 'The Miner's Rest' perched on the very top of the mass of rocks which reared up their craggy heights like sentinels guarding the entrance to the charmed region. Our path was continued for more than two miles aping a rough road broken out of fallen trees and crumbling rocks by the wheels of the heavy wagons used for conveying the mineral from the mines. A more wild, weird, and toilsome journey I never in my life undertook, and in truth I became so fatigued during its progress that we had some doubts whether I should be able to muster strength enough to accomplish our pilgrimage. It was twilight before we gained our point of destination, and glad enough I was to see the glowing fires of what looked more like a little encampment of gipsies than a village, although it was really dignified with that title. My friends guided me at once to a hut more pretentious than the rest, and introduced me to a family who had formerly been servants in their household. It consisted of a man, his wife, mother, and two fine lads, all of whom were employed in different ways in the adjacent mines. As we stated that we had only come to inspect these mines, and that the lateness of our visit was occasioned by the difficulties which attended our journey, the good, hospitable people were at once apprised of the necessity of providing us with some accommodation for passing the night. The women, after busying themselves to provide us with some boiling water for our tea – for we had carried provisions with us – agreed to retire to a neighbour's hut with their boys, whilst the father, who was on duty in the mines, left us soon after we arrived. The shanty was to be at our disposal, then, during the night.
Mr Hart was to be 'stowed away' in a cave at the back of the house, hewn out of the rock, and filled with sweet, fresh hay, for the use of the horses employed by the miners, whilst a rude but clean bed was assigned to Mrs Hart and myself. When all was done the women piled up the logs on the hearth, where a cheerful fire was burning, and prepared to quit us. Just as they were bidding us good night, the logs, which they had arranged with some care, suddenly tumbled down and rolled over and over on the floor. Deeming this a mere accident I took no notice of it until I observed, whilst Maria the miner's wife, was in the act of replacing them, several small, glimmering lights flickering over the wall against which the logs were piled. This might have been the phosphorescent light occasioned by the decay of the wood, I thought; but lo! the logs were no sooner piled up again than down they toppled, and that apparently without any cause. I then observed significant looks passing between the mother and daughter, and an evident disposition to linger and make some explanation as yet unspoken. At this moment a succession of loud knockings was heard on the wall at the back of the room, which I should say, by-the-by, was of stone, and little more than a cave, having been partly formed out of the solid rock. 'Is not that some one knocking?' I inquired, 'perhaps it is Mr. Hart. We had better see what is the matter.' 'No, ladies,' said our hostess, with some hesitation, 'it isn't anybody – that is, no one in particular; it's the way of this place.' 'But what, then, is the way of the place?' asked Mrs. Hart, merrily, and with an evident wish to encourage the poor woman. But before they could answer, down came the brushes on the wall, the frying-pan, and sundry other things that bad been hung up on shelves and hooks. The rude door shook violently, and knockings now resounded from every side of us in quick and irregular showers. 'The wind is rising,' said my friend; 'I fear we shall have a stormy night.' 'Don't be skeary, ladies,' said our good hostess, encouragingly, 'but I s'poose as how I'd just bett say them's not the wind, but just the little hammerers; you knows who, marm,' she added, nodding mysteriously to Mrs. Hart. 'Oh, yes! I know all about them, Betty,' said my friend, addressing the mother; 'they won't hurt us, but they seem rather rough to-night. Don't they like our being here?' 'Lord love ye, marm,' replied the old woman; 'it's all along of they's joy to see ye that they're making this to-do. I think they be mortal glad to see the young lady. Only look'ee there, marm!'
I did look, and there, to my astonishment, and I must confess with a thrill of deeper awe than I could account for or control, I saw a row of four lights as large as the veritable ostrich's egg which adorned the mantle shelf of the humble shanty. These lights were directly behind me, and I did not see them till, attracted by the woman's explanation, I turned round and faced them. They were bright, globular in form, vapoury in substance, and nebulous, thickening towards the centre, and deepening in colour almost to a dull red. The faint outline of a miniature human form appeared in connection with each light. They were of different sizes; none of them, however, were higher than four feet. They jumped up and down, and threw out something which resembled hands toward me, and as they moved the lights danced and shimmered. These wonderful things at length retreated into the solid wall behind them, and the place where they had been was illuminated only by the light of the wood fire. For two hours the women (who stayed with us at our earnest request.), Mrs. Hart and myself, watched for the reappearance of these spectral lights in vain. In the interim the knockings continued, and a. few stray gleams like stars shone out from the other side of the apartment, but immediately vanished. A kitten which was attempting to sleep in the warmth of the cheerful fire, would raise its head at the sounds of the knockings, and occasionally make a dart at the shimmering lights, which, as if perceiving the animal, would retreat quickly back into the wall. I repeatedly passed my hand over these walls to ascertain if they were damp, or whether any chinks were there from which phosphorescent emanations could proceed. The walls were dry, solid, and smooth, and whilst I was pursuing my examination the knockings would thrill the solid stone beneath my very hand. At the expiration of two hours an exclamation of the elder woman called my attention to the hearth, where two large globular lights were hovering midway between the floor and the table, and just above the little kitten, who, with back and tail erect and eyes gleaming fiery red, manifested the most pitiable signs of terror and amazement. Once again, and this time far more distinctly, I saw the little men I had before but imperfectly beheld. They were grotesque in shape, with round, shining heads, destitute of hair, perfectly black, and more human about the head than the body. I saw their faces, and recognised a sort of good-humoured expression in them, and saw them throw somersaults several times as if for my amusement. A strange duck with each little head ended the performance, and then they sank into the ground made of planks laid down upon the rock of which the house was built. 'There,' cried the younger woman, 'they won't mislest ye again, ladies. When they goes down, they never comes again the night. It's the end of their game to sink down like that.' The woman was right. Though at our entreaty both mother and daughter remained with us all night, sleeping soundly, curled up on shawls and garments, and though we, lying awake, and – must I confess it? – shivering and trembling from head to foot, kept our eyes open, straining them in every direction, and with bated breath and ears sharpened by fearful anticipation, listened until we could hear the deep silence of that long, long night—we neither heard nor saw any more of the 'little hammerers'. The morning came at length. Oh! what an age it was coming! Mr. Hart joined us as we were waiting for the morning meal. He had heard knockings, be said, but concluded it might be the re-echo of the labourers' hammers from the mines so close to us. The miners were not at work, and no hammering came from them, our host told us, with a significant smile at the rest of his family.
The adventures of the night were now recounted and talked over. They were not strange, nor even alarming to the miners. The two lads declared they had 'fine fun with the hammerers' lanterns,' though they acknowledged they had never seen the little men, but plenty of others had, they said, and 'they wouldn't part company with them for nothing.' for they were famous guides to the spots where the richest lodes of metal lay. The women, too, spoke of their appearance with indifference. 'They came often,' they said; 'and though they cut up now and then, throwing things around like, they were only in fun, and never did any harm, except to the animals they had.' They thought somehow they did not like dogs or cats, for they couldn't keep any; they either ran away or died suddenly. They didn't expect, they added, to keep this kitten long." I agreed in this opinion, for, judging of the terror the poor little thing displayed on the previous night, I was not surprised to find it moping in the morning, and averse to touch the food the boys prepared for it. I found, although these lights and knockings were common enough in the mines at times, they only seemed to come at special periods, and did not frequent or haunt any other house than the one we visited, and that of old Clamps, many miles distant. There seemed to be many evidences that these apparitions, be they what they might, either attached themselves to or made themselves manifest only in the presence of mediumistic persons. The family we visited were far too ignorant to understand anything of mediumship, although they were not unacquainted with the idea and theory of 'ghost-seeing'. They were not afraid of their well-beloved 'little hammerers', but they were all 'terribly scared' by the occasional manifestations of a spiritual character, which they narrated to me with a simplicity which impressed me with a conviction of their veracity. I have never seen this family and never visited that region since. My experiences, however, in this connection, do not begin nor end here.
What is going on here: drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com
39 July 2012: Amanda suggests these could perhaps be Earthquake or Earthlights. Here's a few links that might be of interest: cowflipper, fortean-times, pauldevereux, indigogroup, earthlights, inamidst and jimolight. Invisible writes: I sat here, mouth agape, at the Kobolds of Derbyshire. This tale has it all: Spook lights/earth lights/orbs, kobolds/fairies/apparitions, plus classic poltergeist moves in the rappings and household items being thrown/falling. If this was being reported today you'd find investigators trying to communicate with "sentient orbs" and the ghosts of dead miners with perhaps a nod to Michael Persinger's earth lights/portal areas/temporal lobe epilepsy triggered by magnetic fields in the mines. The truly advanced investigator might suggest hallucinatory gases seeping out of the rock a la Delphi. And, because of the regularity of the phenomena, Dovedale would become a major ghost tourism destination. Thanks Amanda and Invisible!


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March came in like a lamb and is going out like a pretty well-behaved lion in my neck of the woods. The weather has been pretty perfect this month — some days we're wearing shorts and flip flops, other days we're bundling up and wearing boots with leggings. It's pretty fantastic. March was a BIG month for me behind-the-scenes…I was able to see my parents almost every weekend, I managed to throw Alex a mini-surprise party without him guessing, I made some great connections, I retrieved most of my plants from Alex's parents' house…this month pushed me to become more of an adult and tested my nerves when some curveballs were thrown my way. I wouldn't say that I'm glad it's over, but I will say that I'm happy that I was able to use all of my One Little Word™s from previous years (focus, brave, finish) to help guide me this month. I'm super tired but I have too many things that are so close to being finished that I'm not going to stop just yet. I'll just keep sleeping in my car at lunch :)
In case you're a new Campfire Chic reader, I like to list out the posts from the past month in one handy place. This is it.
- Stuck in your cubicle when you'd much rather be out exploring? Check out these awesome podcasts
- I went camping with strangers from the internet (again!) and it was awesome
- My challenge to you: explore your city this weekend and photograph the art you find
- I listed 28 things I want to do before I turn 29
- My Currently List and Around Here
- The plan for Project Life® for this year (I go from birthday to birthday) and plenty of PL pages
- Journaling tips for non-journalers
- Learning from mistakes made in the outdoors
- Kat from Ramble Kat Ramble shared 6 tips for your first spin class
Things I FINISHED this month:
- Submitted a guest post to Fabletics
- Secured 2 interviews with bloggers I admire
- Moved my desk to a different part of our apartment
- Caught up to the current season of Grimm
- My #30Lists and the challenge
- Attachments (aff. link) – A fun book that one of my girlfriends at work and I decided to read because we essentially do what the two main characters do
- The Son of Neptune (aff. link)- I'm behind in this series and I'm determined to get caught up

subset: commoncrawl


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Ten days had past. Ten, long and tedious days of trying to rouse the pinkette into doing something, if not anything, to signal that he was at least functioning properly was starting to wear on Kaito's patience. On the weekend, he had stayed with Robert, trying to get him to go outside and enjoy the day. When that didn't work, he insisted on the two of them playing videogames. And even that didn't work, leaving the taller teen to sigh heavily at the time. Now they were in school and nothing else seemed to have changed. The hazel-eyed teen was as quiet as ever and the dark circles under his eyes were becoming quite troublesome.
"Hey, Harukana?" Said person came to a halt and slid his gaze upward. "Did you complete the assignment Mrs. Tarris gave us in Chemistry?" Kai asked, doing all he could not to shiver under the vacant stare his classmate was giving him. When no reply came, and the pinkette continued down the hall, the grey-eyed teen sighed mentally after regaining his composure. "Hey, wait!" he called as he went to catch up. "I'll let you copy at lunch, alright?"
Turning towards the lockers, Robert rifled through his bag before withdrawing a few textbooks to exchange. "That's not necessarily," he replied quietly as he pulled out his Math and Chemistry books before placing the other two away.
"C'mon, Rob, you can't afford to fail." Hazel eyes drifted his way before the smaller teen closed the locker and headed down the hall, bag slung over his shoulder in a haphazardly way. "Robert," Kai called, gritting his teeth afterwards when the pinkette did not, stop, turn, or reply verbally. Skipping his own locker, he hurried down the hall to snag the back of his friend's gakuran. "Will you knock it off? You can't keep walking around like a zombie!" Hearing fabric rustle, he bristled the moment Robert slipped out of his top to walk freely in his undershirt. "Harukana."
Fisting the discarded top tighter, the taller student followed behind the departing party until he was close enough to get a hold of the back of his shirt. Finding a nearby restroom, Kaito pushed the door open prior to dragging Robert in behind him. And nudging the pink-haired male further in, Kai shut the door behind him before blocking the only exit as he folded his arms.
"You need to snap out of it, Robert."
"Kai, do you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?" The purplette unfolded his arms. "I mean, really; you must have some kind of complex issue. You go on and on and on, acting all high and mighty like you know what's best for me," Robert said as his gaze wandered the bare, white walls. "Jeez, just shut up already. So what if I walk around like a zombie? I'm not hurting anyone and I'm pretty sure you're just-"
"You're just…cranky because you haven't eaten yet," Kaito said, walking forward to present the teen's uniform top.
"Just shut-"
"You're…just cranky because he usually fixes you something, right?"
Hazel eyes went over to stare at the top presented before looking at the one holding it. Seeing how dark eyes were directed towards one of the sinks, Robert took the article of clothing and pulled it back on. Noting the retreat of the purplette, Rob sighed as he focused on his schoolmate.
"Kai, I'm s-" Scrubbing a hand down his face, the pinkette sighed aloud. "It's just that he hasn't-and I can't…"
Placing a hand on the smaller student's shoulder, Kaito gave a warm smile as hazel eyes peeked from between thin fingers. "It's ok," he said.
"But I just said all those mean-"
Removing his hand, the taller teen held it up to hold off whatever else the shorter one was about to say. Instead, his smile only seemed to broaden as he said, "It really doesn't matter, Rob. There's no need to apologize to me. Besides, ya know me quite well so those words are probably true."
"They're not!" Robert shouted, making his friend drop his hand back to his side. "I didn't-"
"It's fine," Kai said, interrupting the other. "It's ok, really, Rob. I'll take it as a wakeup call to tone it down a bit, alright?" He chuckled at the fretful stare thrown at him before patting his friend on the shoulder once more. "Don't go beating yourself up." The pinkette looked down. "Hey, c'mon." Looking up at the sound of footsteps, Robert watched as the purplette headed back to the door, pulling it open. "C'mon, Robbie."
"Where are we going?" he asked as Kaito ushered him out.
"Just come on," came the reply.
Sitting beneath the tree, Kaito sighed mentally as Robert stared off vacantly. Not seeing any food in front of the smaller student, Kai presented his own lunch and placed it before him, gaining the other's attention.
"It's yours," Rob said as he went back to staring at the school's courtyard. "You eat it."
Sucking his teeth, the purple-haired teen rose to his feet, gaining the other's attention once again. "Eat it," he said. Robbie's eyes went elsewhere. "Robert, you're going to make yourself sick if you don't eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Eat the food!" The one in glasses looked up to see dark grey eyes glaring at him. "Eat it," Kai said jadedly, gaze softening. "I know it's not going to be five star quality, like the things he made, but you really have to eat something."
Looking up at his friend for a few more moments, Robert dropped his gaze to view the lunch he was given. "Fine, I'll eat," he murmured as he picked up the sandwich, "but what are you going to eat now?"
He shrugged. "I'll get something from the cafeteria," came his reply as he began to walk away. "And more than half of that sandwich better be eaten by the time I get back."
Looking up from the food he was currently holding, Rob watched as Kaito shot him a glance over the shoulder, eyebrow raised in an expectant manner. Bringing the sandwich up to his mouth, he took a bite as the purplette smiled before walking into the cafeteria.
Inside, Kaito crossed the crowded and bustling cafeteria, looking between the lunch lines and vending machines. Fishing through his pockets, he walked through the chattering room as he pulled out his wallet, opting to just grab a bag of chips and a bottle of juice. Bypassing a throng of talking students, he came to a halt in front of the machine to pull out his money.
"Did you hear about the Tanner kid?" Pausing in his actions for a brief moment, Kaito glanced over his shoulder to see a small group of students talking. "You know, Robert's boyfriend?"
Rolling his eyes, Kai returned to counting his money.
"He hasn't been seen in a while. I heard he went to jail."
"Well, I heard he went to court and they found him guilty."
"I heard he got the death sentence."
Kaito grimaced at that as he put his money in, glad that he had left his friend outside in the courtyard. Selecting his beverage, he stooped down to retrieve the bottle as soon as the first speaker began again.
"Neh, I heard that they actually concluded that tape to be a hoax."
"A hoax?!"
The girl shrugged her shoulders as Kaito moved over to the other machine to pick out a bag of chips. "Yeah, I mean, who could pick up a dumpster? I mean, really? That's just not possible! Besides, the video was all hazy and it was so dark, even with the enhancement given by the news. Clearly it was amateurish at best."
"I don't know…"
"C'mon, in the time that he's been here, he hadn't caused any trouble. If anything, he doesn't seem like he'd be the one to kill someone."
One of the guys shrugged. " Who knows? Some people can snap, ya' know? Maybe he was one of those people."
"Oh, oh. Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde!" the other girl piped.
"Yeah…sure…" the first girl said.
"Anyway, as much talk as that tape has gotten, do you think he'd even return to this school?" the male asked skeptically. "I mean, really? If it was me I'd transfer. Maybe move away from embarrassment and probably to a place where no one would know me. Start fresh, ya' know? Furthermore-"
A hush soon settled upon the conversation, leaving Kai to look over his shoulder, suspecting he had been caught eavesdropping. His ears then picked up on the increasingly peculiar silence that had befallen the entire lunchroom. Eyes flitting about the silent room, the purplette's sight focused on the closing doors at the far end of the room.
Turning completely, Kaito heard hushed voices talking amongst themselves as he continued to look about. And as he stood there, glancing to see that the group he had been listening to disperse, his sight shifted as the students standing moved out of the way in an uneasy fashion. Seeing how the seated students squirmed uncomfortably in their seats, Kai arched a brow until he caught sight of what everyone had gone still over. Soon after, the purplette's other eyebrow shot up.
Walking around, face expressionless as ever, was the alleged killer that had held the school in a buzz for the past ten days. Dull, crimson eyes scanned about the room slowly, not really focusing on anything in particular as the raven rubbed the back of his neck. Taking note of the fretful stares, the teen went to turn to leave before he caught sight of the purplette standing on the opposite end. And knowing that the people around him would simply move, he headed towards the teen.
Holding his own ground, Kai lowered his brows and composed himself before the android came to a stop before him. "Ace-"
"Where is he?" he asked.
"Where have you-"
"Where is he?" he asked again, not leaving any room for an argument or change in subject. "Where is he, Kaito?" Grey eyes narrowed on the red ones. "I missed him…a lot, ok?"
Heaving a sigh as the PDA looked elsewhere, eyes trembling in their classic fashion; Kai scrubbed a hand down his face. "Outside," he replied, knowing that the other was focused on him once more. "Beneath the tree as usual when it's lunch time." The purplette turned to retrieve his chips. "He should be there…eating a sandwich."
Standing upright, it didn't take long for Kai to spot the PDA walking through the parting mass of people. Tucking away his wallet, he then proceeded forward, only to be cut off by the swarming crowds of questioning students that were too fearful to say anything when Ace was present. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the purplette wished the rest of the student body would just leave him alone about his brief conversation after lunch, if not school for that matter.
Looking up from the sandwich he had taken four bites from, Robert watched as other students flocked to the windows and the doors leading back into to building. He was a bit curious to what they were all looking at but he opted to stay seated. Pulling out his phone, he glanced at the time, seeing how he still had another twenty minutes in his lunch period.
Setting the food aside, he drank some of the water before rifling through his bag, pulling out his notebook as well as pencil. Reaching over, he picked up the text book and work Kai had left out for him. Opening the book, Robert flipped through the pages, ignoring how quiet the chatter around the area had gotten. Picking up the pencil, he brought his knees up to rest the notebook on them before picking up the work his friend had done. Hearing the faintest sound of grass being stepped on, he lifted his sight from the book for a brief moment prior tofocusing on the words printed once more. And not hearing any words, the pinkette sighed, guessing Kai was studying what he had eaten.
"Kai, I just…wasn't that hungry, ok?" he muttered as he jotted down a few equations. When nothing was said, Robbie furrowed his brow as he turned a page. "It was good though." He continued to work, hoping for some kind rebuttal. "Kai-"
Looking up, hazel eyes watched as the tall, violet-haired student made his way past the rest of the encircling students.
As he continued forward, confusion made itself known across the pinkette's face. Watching as smoky eyes drifted off to the right, Rob turned his head a bit to the left to see a seated raven with red streaks sitting beside him. Turning his head completely, the teen gawked at the android as he turned to face him, dark red eyes as vacant as ever, before a smile began to stretch across his handsome face.
"A-Ace?" he stammered, cheeks flushing a shade that almost matched his hair.
"Hey, Robbie."
"Did you miss me?" the PDA asked as he tilted his head at a slight angle. "I missed you a l-"
Arms wrapping around his shoulders had burgundy pools lighting up as the pinkette hugged him tighter, resting his head just below Ace's chin. Pulling the arms off his shoulders, Ace set them down at Robert's sides prior to sliding a finger under the teen's chin, raising it. Head still tilted in its original angle, the android blinked as hazel eyes started to tremble.
Shifting his gaze, the raven focused on the hand resting gently on his cheek before following it as it moved up to his forehead. Feeling his hair being brushed aside, he sat still as fingers ghosted over the area that had obtained the bullet wound. Opting to stay quiet as the pinkette slid his hand down to feel along the PDA's side, in attempts to locate the stab wounds or any other injuries, Ace's hearing was met with the sound of a relieved sigh.
"You…you were gone f-for ten days…" Robert muttered as he looked up at the android's face. "D-did they…hurt you?" The red-eyed teen shook his head slowly. "Are…are you sure?"
"I'm fine," he replied, giving a breathtaking smile. "It's nice to see you a-"
A small, chaste kiss had the project falling silently as he watched the smaller student pull away. Dark eyes shifting to regard the gasping crowd for a brief moment, Ace then focused on the bashful teen that had went back to hugging him again.
"I'm so glad you're back," Rob murmured. "I missed you so much."
Looking out the window as it continued to rain that Friday afternoon, Kaito turned his attention to the row of red rubber balls lining the center court after the coach blew the whistle. Opting not to run forward to grab any as the rest of his team did, he glanced over to see the raven staying back as well, his expression holding nothing but boredom; the same look when he was not with Robert.
It had been that way for the past two weeks since the PDA's return. He wasn't laughing and he wasn't being obnoxiously showy like he had been when he had first started attending the purplette's gym class. If anything, it appeared that he had closed himself off, not bothering to do anything unless a trigger was present.
Red eyes shifted to stare at the player a few paces away. Eyebrow arched when nothing else was said, Ace turned his head slowly to pin the pinkette's best friend with a blank stare. Being matched with the same look, anxiousness not even present in the grey eyes, a slight smirk pulled in the corner of the raven's mouth. Watching as Kaito's gaze shifted, the PDA held his hand up and out, catching the ball that was meant to hit him in the side. Not bothering to look at the thing, he then threw it back before walking towards the purplette.
Sidestepping a few more of the round projectiles thrown his way, Ace finally came to a stop, smirk still in place as he caught the latest ball thrown at him. "What is it, Kaito?"
Watching as the raven threw the ball back, hitting one of the opponents on the other side, Kai noticed something different. Seeing how the android had narrowed his eyes to a slight degree, he took a step back, putting space between them as well as avoiding one of the balls. Catching another, Kaito threw it back before watching the PDA walk around him, coming to a complete stop in front.
Stepping to the right, the purplette watched as Ace followed suit. "What?" Kai asked exasperatedly. The PDA shrugged one shoulder. "Then move." The small smirk upon the black-haired teen's face grew. "Move!"
"Ok," Ace said as he stepped aside.
Glaring at him for just a moment, Kaito then faced forward before catching a glimpse of red. From there, everything just went dark.
"No head shots!" the coach shouted before blowing the whistle, pointing at one of the students from the opposing side. "You're out!"
"Well, if that's the case, he's out too," the raven stated as he tapped Kai in the shoulder with his shoe.
Hurrying over, the gym teacher stood beside Ace as the rest of the students gathered around to stare at the downed player. Noting the reddening, circular imprint left on the teen's face, the coach pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at the player that had thrown the ball.
"I expect to see you in my office after you take Neroma to the infirmary."
Watching as students parted to give space, Ace knelt down to give assistance. "I'll help too," he said as he sat the purplette up.
With the help from the other, he managed to get Kai onto his feet before his help ran into the gym's office to grab the wheelchair stationed there. Waiting, Ace lightly tapped Kai on the cheek until he started to come around.
"Wha-?" Bringing a hand up slowly, Kai rubbed his nose before jerking his hand away. "Damn it," he murmured as he felt a thin stream of blood trickling down to his upper lip.
"I got the chair."
Looking towards the wheelchair, Ace adjusted the arm draped over his shoulder. "He's conscious enough to walk, right, Kai?"
"Mnn…yeah, I guess," he replied, pressing a finger against the line of red.
"Kai, hey, I'm real sorry."
Tilting his head in the direction of the voice, the violet-haired teen nodded. "It's fine," he said, "just a bit of blood." He winced at the sting and growing pain. "And headache."
"Go to the nurse," the coach said.
"Ok, ok," he said, slowly making his way to the door.
"I'll go too to make sure he gets there ok," Ace piped in as he hurried after the purplette.
Opening the door for the both of them, the PDA escorted the injured teen out before glancing over his shoulder at the sound of the door closing. Content with being alone in the halls, he followed behind Kaito, sliding his hand through his dual-colored hair.
"Who fixed you?"
Looking over his shoulder, Kai gave a long sideways glance at the PDA. "Who. Fixed. You."
"What's it to you?" Ace asked as he walked by, using one hand to tilt the purplette's head back. "And keep your head up, you're going to get blood everywhere."
Lowering his head, Kai covered his nose with one hand as he tailed the departing android. "Where did you go?"
"Again, what's it to you?"
Gritting his teeth, wincing as he did so, Kaito grabbed the back of his classmate's shirt. He had expected the other to stop, even look over his shoulder to give a menacing stare, yet he was not expecting the PDA to turn, grab his wrist and push him against the wall. He winced again at the sudden movement of having his hand held above his head.
"Let go."
"Why?" Ace asked, steadily squeezing tighter on the wrist he had captured.
Uncovering his nose, Kai reached up to free his hand though that was simply captured by the other and held up as well. Looking up at his bound hands then at the ones holding them, grey eyes flitted between the pair before focusing on the out of place grin that was on Ace's face.
"You know, I really don't like you," the purplette stated as he looked up at his captured hands again.
"Oh, really?" The smile broadened. "Well, that's a shame because I really like you."
Grimacing at the remark, Kai shifted to at least right himself. When that didn't go as planned, he looked back down to face the raven. "I don't like you."
"And why is that?" he asked, squeezing hard enough to feel the other's bones shift and rub together. "Is it because I have your hands above your head or was it because I let you get hit in the face with the ball?" Ace chuckled. "That was actually kinda' funny." Kai scowled. "Is it because I'm-"
"It's because you had Robert worried about your uppity ass." The PDA's smile faltered. "He wouldn't do anything; homework, play videogames, eat for that matter." Looking up at his hands as he felt his bones grind together, Kai's lip curled up. "Let go of my wrists, Ace."
"Think I'll break them if I don't?" he asked, grin growing again. "Worried that-"
A knee to the gut then a foot catching him in the chest had the PDA staggering back. With his hands free, Kai rubbed his wrists gingerly before wiping away the drying blood on his face. Eyes glued on the raven that had doubled over, the purplette took a step forward.
"Who fixed you?"
"What's it to you?" Ace questioned as he stood up, meeting the other's gaze. "I mean you said-"
"Who. Fixed. You," Kaito asked, enunciating each word, bringing a slightly manic grin to the android's face.
"Because whoever did did a shitty job," Kai snapped. "Not only are you uppity, you're a hazard to everyone, including-no, especially Robert."
Lightly rubbing the reddened area of his face, the purplette winced prior to walking down the hall. He stopped when he heard footsteps walking behind him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw no one but, as he turned around, he came face to face with a pair of narrowed, crimson eyes.
Hearing the slightest sound of fabric rustling, the purplette took a step back, bracing himself against the leg that was swung his way. Foot connecting with the side of his forearm, Kai slid back a few inches before his arm fell back to his side, dark eyes glaring daggers at the PDA before he straightened, knowing that good chances were that his bones were fractured.
"I don't like you."
"You've told me that," Ace replied.
"Good, that means you were listening," Kaito said, "so keep doing that. I don't know what the hell they did to you while you were gone but I'm watching you." Touching the tip of his sore nose, he winced at the lingering sting before walking around the PDA and down the hall. "You slip up and Robert gets hurt in any way, physically, emotionally, or mentally, I'll personally find a way to get rid of you permanently."
Watching as the infuriated teen walked away, readjusting the band that kept back his long, violet strands, Ace gawked for a brief moment before a slight smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. By the time Kai had rounded the corner, a manic, face-splitting grin was on the PDA's tan face. Even as he heard the faintest sound of ringing in his head, it didn't falter.
Sliding two fingers behind his ear, the android leaned up against the wall and stared up at the ceiling as he heard the sound of ringing again. "Hello?" he said, a smile in his voice.
"You sound rather...chipper?"
The red-streaked raven ran a hand through his hair before focusing on the lights above. "That's because I just had an encounter with the most interesting person ever."
"And why do find this person 'interesting'?"
"He yelled at me," he replied giddily. "Hell, he threatened me even." Red eyes then lowered to stare out at the wall ahead. "This might sound crazy but, I think I might be in love." Processing the words, the PDA erupted into laughter as he remembered the purplette's heated gaze. "Ha, I think I might've fallen in love with Kaito!"


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I just released a surprise album on Bandcamp! SURPRISE!!
Hari Kondabolu's "New Material Night Volume One" documents a night of me working out jokes in a small theatre in San Francisco. Expect unpolished jokes, unexpected twists and turns and tons of raw, nervous energy. And yet somehow…I believe this hour (even though it was recorded on an iphone) is well worth a listen.
ORDER IT HERE: https://harikondabolu.bandcamp.com/album/hari-kondabolus-new-material-night-volume-1
You can find my first two, proper, albums "Waiting for 2042" and "Mainstream American Comic" here: http://www.killrockstars.com/artists/hari-kondabolu


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INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George scored 26 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 108-98 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.
David West had 17 points and Lance Stephenson added 13 to help the Pacers beat the Hawks for the second time in three meetings this season.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points, shooting 5 for 7 on 3-pointers, and Lou Williams added 18 points for the Hawks, who have lost six straight.
The Pacers went on a 12-2 run in the third quarter on a basket by West, two 3-pointers by George and a dunk and layup by George Hill to give Indiana a 73-54 lead early in the third.
The Pacers put the game away when Ian Mahinmi converted a three-point play and Danny Granger hit a 3 to take a 101-82 lead.
After the Pacers jumped to a 19-point lead in the third quarter, the Hawks scored seven straight. Korver hit a 3, Jeff Teague made two free throws, and Williams had a layup to make it 75-63.
West gave Indiana an 80-67 lead with two free throws before Atlanta scored six straight.
Mike Scott, Williams, and Paul Millsap each scored baskets to make it 80-73 with 1:55 left in the third.
Atlanta's injury woes didn't get any better.
WASHINGTON — Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 10 assists as the Toronto Raptors broke open a close game in the third quarter and held on for a win over the Washington Wizards.
Five Raptors joined Lowry in double figures, including Amir Johnson, who returned after missing two games with a sore right ankle. He scored 14 points.
The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who have won three straight, also got 14 from DeMar DeRozan and Greivis Vasquez.
John Wall led the Wizards with 22 points and Marcin Gortat added 18 points and 11rebounds.
PHILADELPHIA — Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games with a victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers.
Irving, selected MVP of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday with 31 points and 14 assists, played only 23 minutes in this rout.
Dion Waiters had 13 points before leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter. Luol Deng also scored 13 and Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (21-33), on their longest winning streak since an eight-game run in March 2010. That was LeBron James' final season in Cleveland.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Al Jefferson had 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Kemba Walker scored 22 points and Josh McRoberts added 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bobcats extend their lead over the Pistons to 1 1/2 games for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Jefferson reached 30 points for the sixth time in nine games.
The teams conclude home-and-home set in Charlotte on Wednesday night.
Andre Drummond, coming off his MVP performance in the Rising Stars game last Friday, had 16 points and 22 rebounds for Detroit. However, that wasn't enough to overcome a terrible shooting performance by his teammates. Interim coach John Loyer dropped to 1-2 after replacing Maurice Cheeks last week.
MILWAUKEE — Brandon Knight overcame a bizarre foot injury, scoring 18 points and making two free throws with 5.5 seconds left to seal the Milwaukee Bucks' victory over the Orlando Magic in a game between two of the NBA's worst teams.
Orlando fell to 3-24 on the road. Despite snapping a four-game losing streak, the Bucks have lost 19 of 22 overall.
Knight played 34 minutes despite slicing his foot open on a baseboard while stepping out of his bathroom shower Tuesday afternoon. He missed 10 of 13 shots from the field but hit all 12 of his free throws.
Arron Afflalo scored 21 points and Nikola Vucevic added 19 for Orlando.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Conley scored 22 points in his return after missing seven games with an ankle injury, Mike Miller added a season-high 19, and the Memphis Grizzlies weathered New York's second-half rally to beat the Knicks.


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As young women and men, many of us feel like we can take on the world. Many of us feel that no matter what our parents, our teachers, or any other adult of consequence wants to tell us…we know what's better. We know what we want, and we know how we'll get it. What we didn't know when we were young was that life promises to hand us an education. The only question, is whether that education will be granted us the easy way, or the hard way.
AN EDUCATION is the story of Jenny (Carey Mulligan), a schoolgirl growing up in London in 1960. She is in her final year of high school, and working hard to gain acceptance into Oxford. She struggles with Latin, plays the cello, and secretly yearns to be a French beatnik. Y'know – normal teenage stuff.
One afternoon, she is waiting out a particularly brutal rainstorm, when an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) pulls up in a sporty Bristol. He rolls down his window, and claims to want to save her cello from any further water damage than it might have already suffered (Great opening line – donchathink?). Moments later he is offering her a ride home, and introducing himself. His name is David, and he very quickly becomes an admirer.
However, Jenny's parents are slightly overbearing…especially her father Jack (Alfred Molina). He has a talent for making gentlemen callers feel pretty darned worthless. What chance does a suitor like David have? a pretty good one it would appear, as David is clearly not only courting Jenny…but her entire family. And if his knack for pushing her curfew is any measure, the courtship is going well.
While her friends and parents are fully behind her budding romance, the resistance comes from her teachers. English professor Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) and headmistress Ms. Walters (Emma Thompson) urge Jenny not to wade too deeply into the water, since they have seen more than one girl get swept away in the current of love. Unfortunately their lessons are competing with weekends in Paris, and nights of fine music and food. What chance do they have at guiding an impressionable young mind in love?
As a film, AN EDUCATION is a remarkable achievement. From its stunning opening credit sequence, to the apropos poetry of the closing song's lyrics, it is as close to a perfect film as I have seen in a long time. Carey Mulligan is luminous in her performance. With her every word and glance, she embodies a young lady who is both tempted by sophistication, and too smart to be completely seduced by it. Through the course of the film, she must embody everything from an mousy bookworm, to an Audrey Hepburn-esque beacon of grace. To Mulligan's credit, she achieves it all with ease.
After Carey Mulligan, the most memorable performance comes from Alfred Molina as her somewhat overbearing, often opinionated, yet easily seduced father Jack. Molina gives Jack both an authoritative and bumbling quality, and such duality is difficult to achieve. Like many fathers, he wants nothing less than the best for his daughter. Where Molina really shines, is when it seems like the best has come calling for his daughter in the form of David. He wants to hold fast to his sternness, but cannot help but wear an expression of excitement. Matter of fact, the way Molina plays these moments, Jack seems almost more excited by David than his own daughter.
The film is a tremendous achievement for both writer Nick Hornby and director Lone Scerfig. This is only Hornby's second screenplay, but he is a literary icon having penned such novels as About a Boy and High Fidelity. I'm happy to report that he has brought his talent for everyman introspection to this adaptation of an essay written by Lynn Barber. He has taken her melodic temptation and given it lyrics, to the point where it tempts us all. At first you'll wonder how such a clever girl can be wooed by the charms of a stranger. When you hear Hornby's words coming out of Sarsgaard's mouth, you'll understand.
Lone Scerfig, a Danish director best known for ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS has officially arrived thanks to her work on AN EDUCATION. She composes every shot with the luminance of a pre-Raphaelite painting, and pushes every actor to their deepest level of honesty. She leads us down the path in such a way, that when Jenny stands before her headmistress questioning the worth of an Oxford education, we actually feel a momentary urge to back her up and demand answers ourselves. Quite simply, Scerfig's guidance of her actors, and glorious photography is some of the best directing I've seen all year.
AN EDUCATION is a story about what happens when you bet on the wrong person – specifically when you bet big. Jenny stakes it all on the world David offers. He might indeed be able to scoop her up and carry her over the threshold into a life of champagne and caviar…the question that AN EDUCATION begs of Jenny, is whether she should surrender everything else she might ever want to that. Should Jenny take her pile of chips – her schooling, her family, her independence – and place them all on the part of the board David offers?
The point isn't whether or not one will find themselves at such crossroads – it's almost mathematical certainty that everyone will at least once. The point is, whether we make the right choice or the wrong, do we learn from it. Over and over, fate wants to teach us lessons in life. fate's lessons never occur in a classroom, and can't be unceremoniously ended by a bell at three pm. When fate decides it's time to teach us something, the tricky part is whether or not we open ourselves up to such an education.


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SoundTRAX: ROCKY IV
Happy Black Friday everyone! We have a special Rocky IV SoundTRAX to get you pumped for your undoubtedly busy shopping day! Listen, love, and bleed America.
Email Me: email@example.com Twitter: @MickJoest
Mick Joest —
I started out as a loyal reader of Geektyrant before emailing Joey one day about the potential of writing for Geektyrant. Now six years later I'm the managing editor of Gametyrant.com and still living the dream and giving my opinion to the geek masses! Geektyrant is my life, and I hope that shows in everything I do!
@G33kyMick // firstname.lastname@example.com
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Being a WFHM
That's my silly little acronym for Work From Home Mom 😉
A month in, how's it going? By and large I think it's going well. It took me some time to get used to it and get into my groove but this past week was great. I was extremely productive both at home and work. Work has, of course, been absolutely crazy but I do see an end in sight!
What does being a WFHM look like?
- I have a dedicated office space at home where I go to work everyday from around 8 to 5. It's downstairs and when the sitter is here, she is upstairs or outside with Lucy.
- I have a sitter that comes on Mondays from 7:30 am – 9:30 am, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 7:30 am – 1:30 pm. On Tuesdays, the sitter goes to my sister's house so Lucy goes there during that time.
- I have a webcam set up so that all of my colleagues can see me at meetings that guarantees that I get out of my PJs!
As you can see, I have help 20 hours a week and the other 20 hours Lucy is here. Around 8 of those hours, however, Lucy is napping. But there are 12 hours a week (it feels like longer than that!) where I have to work and take care of Lucy. This largely works out fine. The only issues arise when I have a conference call scheduled for times that Lucy is here. That makes it a bit more challenging! I'm quickly becoming a master of the mute button.
I have blocked Wednesdays out as a "No Meeting Day" but will occasionally have to have a meeting that day. I've also blocked 30 minutes for naptime everyday. That allows me to get Lu down without worrying about a meeting getting in the way. It's nice that Lucy is at my sister's on Tuesdays since that is my heavy meeting day and I don't have to worry about her squeals of delight (she REALLY likes the sitter) interrupting the call.
When I'm working and Lucy is here I make sure to have a lot of fun activities for her to do. She plays Legos, colors, practices her ABC's, uses sidewalk chalk, and generally plays with her toys. The backyard is right outside my office through a sliding glass door so she can play outside while I'm in the office-I keep a close eye on her though and she stays close. On Wednesdays, when I have her all day, I move the operations upstairs to the dining room table so that Lucy has full access to her toys, food, and whatever else she needs. This past Wednesday, I needed to really concentrate for about 30 minutes and I put on Super Why!. I sort of felt bad but then I realized that 30 minutes of educational tv a week is not going to hurt her.
The pros?
- I get to see Lucy so.much.more.
- I can get MUCH more done at home in a shorter amount of time. I'm able to concentrate here as my old office space was an "Open" plan (no walls or cubicles, just desks in a big room). I get things done much quicker at home.
- I can throw a load of laundry in or take a break and do some cleaning. On Friday I needed a break so I steam mopped the floors-it was awesome. I can also go for a walk with Lucy or take her to the park on my "lunch break".
- I have NO commute-that frees up 2 hours in the day for me!
- I'm here for deliveries or service people-easy scheduling.
The cons?
- I don't really get a break. When I worked in the office, I got a sort of mental break from Lucy. I don't really get that now-with the exception of Tuesdays.
- The house gets messy! While I can take a break and clean up, on the days when I'm really busy I just don't have time to add another task to the day- Lucy's toys are everywhere and I don't have time to really clean the kitchen. I hate a messy house and I DESPISE a messy kitchen. No worries, it's clean by the time I go to bed!
- It's hard to turn off. It feels like people have access to me at all times and I need to be better at setting boundaries. It's not odd for me to send an email now before my morning run at 6 am.
- Traveling is much more difficult now. I have to arrange care for Lucy during the times that I normally have her. In my old world, she just went to daycare.
- I have to figure out every.single.thing she puts in her mouth. I miss daycare breakfast, lunch, and snacks! The sitter does feed her but I have to have easy and nutritious options available at all times.
- I forget to eat. I'm so busy with both work and Lucy that eating completely falls off the radar until I'm starving.
Being a WFHM is like a strange mix of working Mom and SAHM. It's the best and worst of both worlds. I'm loving it so far but I am having some growing pains.
I hate that the house gets so messy but I'm trying to learn to chill. I also just joined The Y (which is AMAZING BTW) and they have childcare there. I pay $18/month and I can take Lucy for 2 hours a day as long as I'm in the building. What I foresee happening is dropping her off, working out, and then sitting in their cafe and working for about an hour. I won't do this everyday but I think it will be a sanity saver on Wednesdays.
So, there you have it. It IS working out! I think I'm a much happier Mom now that this is my set-up. I worked out everyday this past week (something that hasn't happened since I got pregnant with Lu) and we got to go to the pool twice at the end of the day. Plus I get to snuggle, play, and giggle with my most favorite little girl in the whole world!


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Probably my favourite herbaceous Aralia - this is a relatively small (to about 3ft tall) Asian species with striking bloomy black stems and new growth, attractively veined leaflets and elegant wide branching inflorescences.
Extremely choice and still rare. Needs a cool moist spot but otherwise easy to grow.
3L pots ~ £9


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Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and Maryland women's basketball All-America Alyssa Thomas have been named the ACC's top athletes for the 2013-14 academic year.
Winston, who quarterbacked Florida State to the league's first national championship since 1999, won the 61st Anthony J. McKelvin Award as the ACC's Male Athlete of the Year. The redshirt freshman was named on 22 of 41 ballots in the voting among members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald was named on four ballots to finish a distant second in the voting.
Thomas, meanwhile, won the 24th Mary Garber Award as the ACC's Female Athlete of the Year after earning her third straight ACC Player of the Year recognition and leading the Terrapins to the women's basketball Final Four.
The 6-foot-2 forward, who was drafted fourth overall in the WNBA draft by the New York Liberty, finished with 15 votes to edge out Virginia soccer star Morgan Bryan (10 votes) and Duke golf ace Celine Boutier (eight votes).
In addition to becoming only the second freshman ever to win the Heisman Trophy and leading the Seminoles to a perfect 14-0 record, Winston also took home the Davey O'Brien and Manning awards after throwing an ACC-record 40 touchdown passes and leading the nation in passing efficiency.
He also made 24 relief appearances for FSU's baseball team while recording seven saves and a 1.08 earned run average with 31 strikeouts in 33⅓ innings.
Thomas paced Maryland in scoring and rebounding with averages of 19.0 points and 10.9 boards per game while leading the nation with four triple-doubles. She finished her standout college career with 2,356 points to surpass Juan Dixon as Maryland's all-time leading basketball scorer (male or female).
The awards are given in memory of distinguished journalists from the ACC's geographic footprint. McKevlin was a sports editor in Raleigh, N.C., and Garber, of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, was a pioneer as one of the first female sports journalists in the nation.


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A Conversation with Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls is the New York Times best-selling author of the 2005 memoir, "The Glass Castle," which has sold more than 3.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, has been translated into 22 languages and is being made into a movie by Lionsgate. A former gossip columnist and writer, she published "Half Broke Horses" in 2009, a novel based on the life of her maternal grandmother. Jeannette will speak at the annual Women's Philanthropy Fund with the Amarillo Area Foundation on Nov. 27. She currently lives in Virginia with husband and fellow writer, John J. Taylor.
Amarillo Magazine: I must ask, have you been to Amarillo before?
Jeannette Walls: Yes I have. I love Texas! My grandmother is from Texas. She was a real Texas gal. The legend is that she slashed my mother's tires so that I would be born in Texas. But that didn't happen. I guess I'm a little bit of a Texan!
AM: You grew up destitute, essentially homeless, aimlessly roaming throughout the United States, "skedaddling" as you say. Your parents neglected you and your siblings. I think it's safe to say you were robbed of a childhood.
JW: It's interesting. It's a matter of perspective, isn't it? We sort of were neglected… In some ways I was, and in other ways I feel I was incredibly blessed, that my parents were there for me in a lot of ways. They certainly weren't there in terms of the material things, the food and clothes, but I think I was given an incredible education in a lot of regards… I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't read. We read the classics, astrology, we read about history – we had these incredible discussions. When you say robbed of a childhood, I suppose in some ways, yeah, I never had a care-free childhood, I never had a childhood where you assume you are going to be taken care of. You learn early on to take care of yourself. And I consider that a gift, if you see it that way. And that's the way I choose to interpret it.
AM: How were you able to continue to love and believe in your parents? Do you harbor any resentment toward them?
JW: No. My parents are certainly flawed, but that's their issue and not mine. My mother can't take care of herself. How can I expect her take care of me? When she was left on her own, she became homeless. It's not about me. A lot of people have asked me if my mother's mentally ill, and I really don't know the answer to that question… There are people with much, much tougher childhoods than mine… Everybody has a story, you're not isolated, you're not alone. You're not the only one who was embarrassed by your parents, or understand the way the world was working, or believe other people would understand. People are smarter than what I gave them credit for. They do understand.
AM: How long did it take for you to write "The Glass Castle?"
JW: I tried a number of times when I was younger, in my teens and 20s and 30s before throwing it all away. When I was 40, I set in earnest to really try and tell it, and I wrote the first version in six weeks and spent the next five years rewriting it… That's what I spent five years trying to recapture, and to be honest about what it really felt like, going back there and reliving these emotions. And being honest, and I don't mean not lying, because I never tried to pass myself as a Rockefeller, but really confronting these very complicated, sometimes contradictory emotions of admiration and shame, of love and disdain, and try to reconcile them.
AM: Was it therapeutic and healing? Or did it stir up buried bitterness and anger?
JW: It was the most therapeutic, cathartic thing I've done in my life! It really changed the way I see the world. A very wise man once said, "Secrets are like vampires. They can suck the life out of you, but they can only exist in the darkness, and once they are exposed to life, they lose their power." And I find that to be so true. The process of writing it was excruciating. That was really difficult… That's one of my missions in life now is to encourage people to confront their demons from their past. I think so many of us run from them. The thing is, when you run from them, they will chase you… If you are willing and able to stare it in the eye, it might be the best thing to have going for you.
AM: Your mother seems quite at ease with "The Glass Castle."
JW: Yea, oddly!
AM: Was your father alive when you published it?
JW: My father was not. No.
AM: What do you think his reaction would have been?
JW: I don't know if he would have been as accepting of it as she is. You can accuse my mother of many things, but being a control freak is not one of them. She disagreed with my perspective on a few things, nothing I'd written, but, "I don't see things that way. And you must write the truth as you saw it." And I think that's pretty amazing.
AM: Did you ever believe your father would build you the glass castle?
JW: Oh yeah, when I was younger I did.
AM: When did you realize that wasn't going to happen?
JW: Sometime when we were living in West Virginia. When we started putting garbage in the hole my brother and I had dug as the foundation for the glass castle. It became stunningly clear when I was 13. I think I knew earlier, but I was clinging to this false hope because I had nothing left to cling to. Then around 13, I realized this isn't going to happen is it. If anybody is going to worry about my future, it has to be me, because my dad's not going to.
AM: I'm curious to learn about how you ended up where you are today. You went from a dilapidated shack without plumbing to Park Avenue? Describe that path.
JW: I originally I thought I would spend a lot of the book about that, and I didn't. It's a familiar story, the quintessential story, the… American dream. It didn't strike me as that difficult. The great thing about having a truly crappy childhood is challenges don't seem like a big deal. When I moved to New York City, my oldest sister and I had this plan. We got her there first. I had been babysitting and one of the people I had been babysitting for wanted me to go to Iowa. I said instead of me, take my older sister. Then my brother followed, and my kid sister followed. I worked three jobs, morning job, evening job and weekend job, and I paid the bills. Then, I got into a high school that had internships instead of classes. It was an alternative high school and I got a job at a newspaper. It seemed easy and miraculous compared to my childhood. If you pay the bills, the lights stay on! The cops don't chase you; the house doesn't catch on fire. It seemed calm, organized and orderly then all of a sudden, Mom and Dad showed up! Mom and Dad followed us to New York and life became chaotic again. I tried to pretend they didn't exist, but when I was working at the newspaper, and the editor came to me and said, "You need to go college. I was initially hurt because I thought I was getting fired. I was very naïve and said, 'What's the best college in New York?' And he said Columbia. So I called Columbia, and said, "Hello, I'd like to apply there. They said, "We don't accept women… You can apply to Barnard College and take classes." It never occurred to me that I could never get into a good college… Scholastically I was so blessed. There were so many times our parents sat down with us and we asked questions and my parents would not respond to us. They would pull out some book and Dad would lecture me on it. They gave me a good education. Perhaps even a spectacular one, considering.
AM: How did you fit in the culture of New York and a prestigious college, and how were you able to hide your past?
JW: Well, it wasn't that difficult to hide my past. I just kept quiet about it. I didn't talk about it and people didn't ask. Since I wasn't born in West Virginia, it was pretty easy to relearn the accent… As far as the culture and all that, luckily now I don't have to try to pretend; I can order off the French menu with the proper accent! With the clothes, it's not that difficult – you just go to Barney's and buy some black dresses. People just assumed I started dating this guy on Park Avenue and we ended up getting married. I went to Barnard. People just assumed I had this upper-crust background. I just kept quiet about it. Here's the funny thing: I think there are so many like me out there… My story is not unique. It is not unique at all. What I think is unusual is for whatever crazy reason I decided to tell it. The great thing about having told it, it's not about the sales or rewards, it's given a lot of people a different perspective on their own story… I hope that's what my story has done, that it's made people who've never gone through this sort of thing a little more sympathetic to those of us who have, and for those who have, to be a little bit more sympathetic to ourselves.
AM: Let me ask you about the opening scene of "The Glass Castle." You saw your mother digging through the trash as you sat in a taxi en route to a party. You didn't attempt to help her, and maybe she wouldn't have wanted your help. At that moment, had you already planned to write a memoir, or did that experience set in motion writing the book?
JW: It gave me the kick in the behind to tell that story. Before, I just ended up throwing it away.
AM: Let's talk about your journalism career. What sparked your interest in this industry?
JW: I've always been an observer and I've always been an outsider.
AM: What was your first journalism job out of college?
JW: I got a job between my freshman and sophomore years at New York Magazine basically as head pencil sharpener, the gopher, coffee shuffler. I worked there through the summer and through the rest of my college years, and they hired me once I got out of college. While I was there I became the assistant to the business and finance reporter... I was working for Dan Dorfman, we went to USA TODAY together, and I started writing about business and finance and marketing. Then I got hired back at New York Magazine to do a column called the "Intelligencer." It was called a gossip column but it was really about movers and shakers, people like Donald Trump, the media world, and I thought I would hate it, but I actually loved it. You had to be a real scrapper and it was right up my inner yard dog, and I stayed there for seven years, and then I went over with the editor to Esquire. I worked there for a year, and then I wrote my first book. Then I went to MSNBC, online and on-air and I started doing items there on movers and shakers. I got a couple of thousand hits. Then I did my first Britney Spears item and I got two million hits. So the dye was cast and I started writing about celebrities!
AM: Living in poverty, has that made you more grateful for your lifestyle as opposed to those who just stumbled upon star status or were handed a successful family business?
JW: I will never take a toilet for granted! I'm much more grateful. It's a blessing to come from poverty. I'm so lucky.
AM: Tell me about your family. Are you close with your siblings?
JW: I'd been out of touch with my youngest sister until I finished the ["The Glass Castle."]. She had the toughest time. And one of the wonderful things about writing this story is we're back in touch. She lives in California, but we talk very regularly. My oldest sister Lori is still in Manhattan and we also speak regularly. She's an artist and my brother is living in Brooklyn, and he's a school teacher, and we're very, very close. He's a rock. I adore him.
AM: What's it like being married to a fellow writer?
JW: Oh my God, it's such a blessing. People ask me if it's weird being married to a writer. But it would be weird being married to a non-writer! John is a God-send. He completely understands. He was the one who wanted me to tell my story, not just encouraging, but cracking the whip over me. He found my story literally incredible when I first told him details of my past. He made a confession: "I thought you were making some of it up." Then he met my mother and said, "OK."
AM: It's been reported "The Glass Castle" is being adapted into a movie.
JW: It is with Lionsgate, and they did "The Hunger Games." The woman who starred in that, Jennifer Lawrence, she's slated to star in it.
AM: That's very exciting! What do you think it will be like for you to see your story on the big screen?
JW: I'm optimistic that they will stay true to the story and that's all I really care about. It's a peculiar thing when somebody else takes charge of your story. They're all pros and they know what they're doing. I'm very optimistic… [Jennifer Lawrence] is an amazing, amazing actress and the producer says she's a real smart cookie.
AM: What's next for you? What are you currently working on?
JW: I just finished a book, actually. I just handed it in [in October]. It is fiction and it's about two sisters with an unstable mother who get into a situation over their heads because of their home situation. They try to take on more than they should.
AM: On Nov. 27, you will visit Amarillo for the Annual Women's Philanthropy Fund Event with the Amarillo Area Foundation. When did public speaking become a facet of your career?
JW: It was a little bit by accident. I did not expect "The Glass Castle" to be a hit. I thought when people read, it would incite ridicule and contempt and it would disappear. It's funny, shortly before the publication, it actually leaked to a fellow gossip columnist what it was about, and I was a little outraged… But she said, "Hey, wait a minute, Jeannette, this is what you do for a living!" The tables turned… So I thought, 'Once the book comes out, I'll go back to my job.' The irony and hypocrisy of pursuing other people's secrets while I was hiding my own did not escape me and I justified it in all sorts of ways. But once the book came out and I was communicating with people on it with a level of honesty, it was a little peculiar to continue writing short, snarky paragraphs about celebrities. On a couple of occasions, celebrities pulled me aside and said, "I just read your book and it really resonated with me because," then they would reveal things about themselves, and I realized "I can't do this any more. I can't go around writing these sarcastic paragraphs about people. I started getting calls from universities and charities, "would you please come and address our crowd?" My gosh. Could I actually quit the day job and do this? I was really wrestling with it because it was a good job. This opportunity presented itself from left field. The number of people who've told me it helped them with their story, it's what I love doing. I write an article every now and then, but I'm not a full-time journalist any more. I've never been happier. Life is very good.
AM: Why did you want to be a part of this event in Amarillo and what do you hope to offer audience members? How will you motivate them?
JW: The event first of all, it sounds spectacular and I'm really honored to be a part of it. One of the issues I want to address is confronting your past. Everybody faces challenges and hardships, so one of the things I talk about is turning what seems like a hardship or disadvantage to your advantage, to see things from a different perspective. One of the great things about having a childhood with more than my fair share of difficulties, is you realize how tough you are. So many people say to me, "You're so strong. You're so resilient. I could have never made it and do what you did." Of course you could. I'm flattered, but I did what I had to do. I hope to get that across to people, too, to not only accept your past, but embrace it, and find the gifts in it.
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eHarmony is having another free communication weekend, this time starting Friday, November 16th and running until the end of Monday, November 19th 2012. As is pretty common, this "free weekend" is actually four days free allowing you to try communicating with your matches on eHarmony.
There is also a free week happening a eHarmony Canada for this .
As I discuss often with these free events, the free weekends and other free time from eHarmony are a great reason to create a free profile if you haven't already. This year we've seen free events around most holidays, and we're following this pattern this month with Thanksgiving in the US. However, during October, eHarmony also gave one day a week free across the entire month. The free one day events last month made having a free account beneficial because they were alerting of the free event only a few hours before it began (and they email you this if you have a profile created)
Finally, be aware of the rules for free events at eHarmony. Based on the pattern this year, I'm expecting us to see some more free time handed out this December around the holidays…but time will tell!
Best of luck to all who give it a try!
Sign up at eHarmony to try the free weekend.


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In the event that you need the solid and lovely skin, then you ought to switch to the best skin care products which will furnish you with the sparkling skin. Dealing with your skin is exceptionally paramount. You ought to never disregard the issues identified with your skin. When you venture out of your home, you generally need that you ought to search your best for that you ought to have the ideal skin. For having the ideal skin you ought to take fitting care of the skin, which is exceptionally vital with the assistance of the skin care products.
Each one has different skin
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You will get the best skin care products according to your skin sort however there is no insurance that the products which you utilize will give you the best comes about. There are sure focuses that you ought to keep in your brain when you want to purchase the skin care products. You ought to first consider your skin care propensities. The skin care products will furnish you with the craved come about however it is imperative from your side that you ought to take after the regimen that is given to you.


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Knoxville (WVLT) - Several people are without a home today after an overnight fire destroyed several units in a housing complex.
Captain Darrell Whitaker of the Knoxville Fire Department says crews arrived to East Moody Avenue around 2 a.m. Thursday to find the complex engulfed in flames.
Captain Whitaker says residents inside were woken up by one of the apartment residents, after he woke up to find flames coming down from his ceiling.
Fire officials say everyone did manage to make it out, and that no one was hurt in the fire.
The Red Cross has stepped in to help residents.
Officials say the fire is still under investigation, and they are not saying whether or not it is suspicious.


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CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Karmasphere™, the leader in Big Data Analytics, today announced it will showcase its big data workspace for SQL analysts at Strata '13. More mainstream companies are realizing the business potential of big data analytics to deliver more personalized and relevant products and experiences for their customers. Karmasphere makes big data exploration of Hadoop possible for a much broader set of people who already use SQL. Karmasphere's technology is designed from the ground up to support Apache Hive and HQL - the defacto SQL interface for Hadoop data.
For data-driven companies, finding and acting on big data Insights is about helping teams of people more effectively collaborate. Through its web-based social interface, Karmasphere users collaborate by setting up projects, inviting diverse project team members, and sharing and re-using each other's work. New features to further enhance usability, self-service analytics and collaboration include:
- 30 New Hadoop-Compliant User-Defined Functions and Parsers - New plug-n-play functions range from simple moving average functions to advanced data mining algorithms requiring multi-factor queries such as Naïve Bayes Classifier and Graph Analysis algorithms. With these additions, Karmasphere offers more than 250 pre-packaged functions and parsers.
- Search and Browse Asset Repository - Karmasphere has added the ability to search and browse all analytics assets in the Karmasphere environment, including Hive tables, queries, pre-packaged functions, parsers and more. Reuse of these assets reduces time to market for big data projects.
- Enhanced Ingestion Engine –, A wizard-based interface makes it even easier to access big data sources such as Oracle, MySQL, Teradata and many others.
"Our goal is to give teams of analysts an easy but powerful way to explore their data and effectively manage their insights and assets using the skills they already have, without getting locked-into proprietary approaches," said Manish Jiandani, Karmasphere's Sr. Director, Product Management.
Karmasphere is the first collaborative big data workspace for self-service analytics without IT involvement. Its end-to-end, automated workflow, designed specifically for data analysts, provides support for data ingestion, data cleansing, provisioning Hive tables and running and scheduling queries. In addition to developing their own analytic functions, analysts can use Karmasphere's extensive suite of pre-packaged functions and parsers for Hadoop to quickly analyze data. Karmasphere also offers an Open API for integration with business applications.
Karmasphere will demonstrate the latest version of its big data workspace at the upcoming Strata '13 conference, booth #308, February 26-28.
About Karmasphere
Karmasphere unlocks the business potential of Hadoop so companies can deliver more personalized and relevant products and experiences to their customers. The Karmasphere Collaborative Analytics Workspace brings the power of data science to business analysts using SQL and automated big data workflow including data ingestion, data cleansing, table provisioning and running and scheduling queries in a self-service model without reliance on IT. Its social, web-based interface allows everyone who works with big data to more easily collaborate and share resources. Open and based on Apache Hadoop standards, Karmasphere leverages existing analytic skills, integrates with traditional BI and existing applications and supports leading Hadoop distributions including: Amazon Elastic Map Reduce, Cloudera, HortonWorks, IBM and MapR Technologies. Learn more at http://www.karmasphere.com


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Andy Burnham, Home Office minister in charge of the ID card scheme has sent a letter to colleagues (1.2 MB pdf), which proports to be a "detailed note about the costs of the Identity Cards scheme."
It's actually nothing of the sort and goes nowhere near providing a detailed account of the costs. What it does do is heavily misrepresent the LSE Identity Project report, which has been such a thorn in the government's side on this issue. For example, he states that "The LSE also added an inflated £1 billion marketing budget..." There is simply no such allocation in the LSE estimates. This is a complete fabrication on Mr Burnham's (or, more likely, his advisers') part.
What is really interesting, however, is what it doesn't say. It does not provide detailed costs as it claims. Also, following Simon Davies' letter to the Prime Minister threatening legal action for defamation if he or his ministers continued their ourrageous claims that Davies was a biased, sole author of the LSE report, Mr Burnham's letter does not include a repetition of the slur.