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OP-ED | Taking Stock of Last Week's Results, And Whatever Happened to Tom Foley?
by Jason Paul | Nov 15, 2013 5:38pm
() Comments | Commenting has expired | Share
Posted to: Election 2010, Election 2013, Election 2014, Town News, Opinion
A few weeks ago I pointed to five things to watch for in this year's municipal election results. The election last week did not generate a large wave in one direction or the other. There was a slightly higher turnout than in 2011, but nothing that broke the bank.
Mayor Mark Boughton's gubernatorial ambitions got a boost from his very strong performance in Danbury, winning re-election by over a two-to-one margin. Democrats won in three out of the four towns I highlighted as potential pickups for them at the executive level. They won Stamford, Norwalk, and Norwich and lost in East Haven.
Yet they experienced shocking losses in New Britain, Meriden, and Ansonia that I didn't see coming. West Haven was not the site of a stunner as the Democrat on the ballot won. West Haven is where I thought the Republican might have a chance because the incumbent was running as a write-in after losing the primary; the Republican got crushed anyway. Both parties had wins and losses that are more likely attributable to local factors than to an over-arching theme for the next election.
That brings us to this week and the question of what exactly is going on with Tom Foley. I am on record saying that Foley will be the Republican nominee for governor in 2014. All the factors still line up in his favor: a spilt field, lots of money, friends, and name recognition.
Since his exploratory re-announcement in September, however, we have been treated to a fundamentally different Tom Foley than the 2010 model. I know that it is blasphemous for me, as a Democrat to say this, but Tom Foley ran an absolutely great race in 2010. He was able to make himself seem non-threatening and not overly Republican, while also damaging Malloy. He came incredibly close to winning. If anyone can find an errant word he uttered or a personal mistake that he made in 2010, please show me. I don't know of any.
But in 2013, the perfectly scripted Tom Foley seems to have completely disappeared. Instead, there is another Tom Foley who is making wild ethics allegations; claiming, without any proof, that his last election was stolen; and taking the most right-wing position available on the unpopular government shutdown.
All of this presaged Foley's first ad, which features a New York Post front page calling then-New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio a communist. The somewhat tongue-in-cheek text then says Foley will save the state from Gov. Dan Malloy, who has policies similar to de Blasio's, making Connecticut a good place to flee from New York in the new de Blasio regime.
In another forum, Foley also told the heart-warming story of how he had been a New York City "refugee" from the Dinkins era.
What could possibly inspire such an ad? Foley chose to attack a man who was just elected mayor of the nation's largest city by a margin greater than three-to-one. Yes, it was obviously more of a video press release than a serious ad buy. Yet questions remain: once you get beyond the New York Post caricature, what exactly is Foley's problem with Mayor-Elect de Blasio's message? Does Foley think income inequality is a non-problem? Or does he think a tax increase on the wealthiest to pay for universal pre-kingergarten would be a disaster?
More importantly, why is Foley launching his first ad in a way that ignores the four-fifths of the state who don't pay any attention to the New York media market and thus don't even know what Foley is talking about?
The fact is that a small number of people who make up the fiscal elite are not thrilled with de Blasio and his 99-percent campaign. But is Foley's idea that the state of Connecticut should adopt policies to cater to this dissatisfied elite, a group who may or may not leave as a consequence of the new mayor? That is madness.
It is as if Foley thinks he's running for governor of Greenwich. Although that is likely to keep him popular with his friends, it is not likely to win over the swing voters he needs. Most Connecticut voters would have chosen de Blasio over Lhota, too.
Foley seems to have learned the wrong lesson from 2010. He held himself in check during the last election, letting the voters read into him what they wanted. Rather than realize he almost won because of the effective use of this straightjacket, Foley now seems to think the straightjacket cost him the election, and he appears to have tossed restraint aside. We now see the real Tom Foley, and he is not the kind of person Connecticut elects to statewide office.
All of this would be good news for Dannel P. Malloy, except for one thing: Foley has been behaving so badly that he may have put his nomination in jeopardy. This is still a complicated matter. Despite all the flailing, Foley remains the front-runner. He benefits from having not one, but several challengers: Boughton, John McKinney, Toni Boucher, and some others.
Foley's name recognition advantage, combined with all the friends he made running statewide last time, makes it very hard for him to lose a race in a multi-candidate field. At this point it is hard to see who, between Boughton and McKinney, would step down, particularly because a primary win would give either man a solid chance against Malloy. All of this is cause for the governor to be smiling. If he is re-elected, the question we will be asking is, whatever happened to Tom Foley?
Jason Paul of West Hartford is a partner in a campaign consulting company called What's Next. He is also a student at the University of Connecticut Law School.
Tags: Jason Paul, election 2013, Election 2014, Tom Foley, Dannel P. Malloy, Mark Boughton, John McKinney, Toni Boucher, dh
(6) Archived Comments
posted by: LongJohn47 | November 15, 2013 7:07pm
Foley is an empty suit, which should have been apparent to anyone who closely followed 2010. What wasn't clear then, but certainly is now, is that he's also a loose cannon. My money's on McKinney for the nomination, with the election up for grabs.
posted by: robn | November 17, 2013 12:35pm
The GREEK is right. Foley's bizarre behavior wouldn't get him elected at this moment. The electorate has a short memory though and a polished campaign manager could pull it out of a nosedive. Remember that the last election was Malloy 49.5%, Foley 48.9%. Any idiot could wheel enough corpses to the polls to swing such a tight margin (if Foley lets him, that is).
posted by: Commuter | November 17, 2013 2:05pm
Agreed, LongJohn47. Smart money is on McKinney to get the endorsement of the party, Foley to contest by capitalizing on the activist base in the primary, for example the gun nuts, some of whom would vote Malloy before McKinney.
Boughton is the wild card, with a substantial base in the western region of Republicanland and statewide experience and contacts in the last election. He's also the most talented retail politician in the republican field.
Dark horse Boucher most likely ends up a constitutional office candidate, probably for Treasurer. The Democrats can only dream that outlier Mark "proto-Christie" Lauretti runs and becomes the nominee for governor.
Kudos for deftly pivoting off the ill-advised course set on your last piece Jason, and on some well-made observations on Foley.
posted by: LongJohn47 | November 18, 2013 12:36am
McKinney certainly has alienated the gun rights people, but none of them would ever vote for Malloy. I'm not sure they'd support Foley, either, but they'd certainly give him a look if he took up their issue.
Good point about Boughton's party connections from the run in 2010. The Ds can only pray for his candidacy. His anti-immigrant pro-life views will help wake up the sleeping masses in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport and bring them out for Malloy.
posted by: Stan Muzyk | November 18, 2013 4:21pm
It's much too early to speculate at this point. Have patience, Jason. However, you covered the waterfront nicely—at this early stage of the game. Do not agree with LongJohn's "short-tempered slams at Tom Foley." However, coming from a liberal Democrat—he can only count suit's in Tom Foley's closet—as he does not care for and will obviously not really vote for any of the the three possible GOP candidates for governor. He likes McKinney only for conversation—and fears Foley by calling him "a loose cannon."
posted by: Stan Muzyk | November 18, 2013 5:19pm
Commuter; You agree with LongJohn and reflected his slam at Tom Foley "by taking a shot at Shelton's great Republican Mayor Mark Lauretti—describng him as as "proto-Christie."
Flattery will get you nowhere, Commuter—as you missed you missed your bus.


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It's that time again. Time for another Crazy Cooking Challenge. I have had so much fun participating with all the amazing bloggers in our quest for the ultimate choocolate chip cookie, the ultimate macaroni and cheese, the ultimate fudge recipe, the ultimate mashed potatoes and now the ultimate chocolate cake. Wow! That's a lot of ultimates. =o) But chocolate cake? Yes, please.
You may have noticed I don't make a lot of cake recipes. My kids aren't huge cake fans. My daughter just licks off the frosting and my son isn't too interested in cakes. But pound cake? They LOVE pound cake. I think it's because it isn't as sweet. I'm not sure. But we love it!
After making Trisha Yearwood's Chicken Casserole and loving every single bite of it, I knew I had to make this amazing looking pound cake when I saw it over on Heidi Bakes. Trisha didn't disappoint me with her casserole and Heidi comfirmed that it was pretty darn tasty.
This recipe was taken from Trish Yearwood's cookbook, Georgia Cooking from an Oklahoma Kitchen. A co-worker of mine has this cookbook and let me borrow it a couple of days ago. Oh man! There are quite a few new recipes added to my to do list now. =o)
Trisha Yearwood's Chocolate Pound Cake
Source: Georgia Cooking from an Oklahoma Kitchen
* 3 cups all purpose flour
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 3 cups sugar
* 5 large eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 2 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a bundt pan.
Sift together dry ingredients and set aside. (I'll confess, I never sift anything. Is that bad???)
In a mixer, cream butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Alternately add flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour mixture. Add the vanilla.
Pour into your bundt pan and bake for 1 hour.
You want the toothpick to come out not clean. Otherwise it will be over done. Does that make sense? Don't over cook!!!
Let cool in the pan for about 1 hour on a wire rack. Flip upside down and continue to cool on a wire rack. Be careful when you flip. You could end up with this =o(
But we "righted" it and let it cool.
This pound cake is wonderful!!! When I make it again (which I definitely will!) I'll cook it at 325 for about an hour and 15 minutes rather than 350. The flavor is wonderful! It's a dense cake that isn't too sweet (so you can eat 2 pieces) but is sweet enough so it tastes like a treat!
Now are you ready for the fun?! Thank you Tina (from Mom's Crazy Cooking) for hosting this fun and delicious party!


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We seem to live in an age of rapid technological innovation, from smartphones to driverless cars. So how come growth is so low and productivity so stagnant in the major Western economies? That is one of the paradoxes of contemporary capitalism unravelled by Phil Mullan in his new book, Creative Destruction: How to Start an Economic Renaissance.
Of the hundreds of economics books published since the financial crisis began, this is the most important and insightful in making sense of the travails of 21st-century capitalism and pointing towards a possible escape from the stasis Mullan calls the 'Zombie Economy'.
Most commentators see that 2008/2009 financial crisis or 'credit crunch' as the start of our tougher economic times: the beginning of falling or flat incomes for many, with increasingly insecure employment symbolised by zero-hour contracts and so on. The crisis precipitated by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we are routinely told, was the point at which the Western economies switched from optimism and an upward trajectory to the 'New Normal' of low productivity growth and 'secular stagnation'.
Mullan, an economics commentator whose writing has provided the backbone of spiked's coverage of these issues, rejects this short-term and superficial view of the problem. Instead, Creative Destruction situates the current economic malaise in the 'longest Depression', which has been afflicting the West since the postwar boom ended in the early 1970s. As Mullan demonstrates, that was when capital investment rates began to taper off and productivity growth started seriously to slow, hindering the West's capacity to create new sectors, industries and decent jobs.
Far from being the start of a new age of economic crisis, then, the financial crash of 2008 marked the dramatic end of a long period when Western economies used ever-expanding debt to compensate for and cover up the decay in their productive capacities. The crash served to lay bare the underlying problems that had been worsening for decades. Since 2009 the debt economy hasn't gone away – in fact borrowing has continued to grow in most areas – but overall it has been much less able to camouflage the era of depression.


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"...A million tommorrows
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~ "Today"
~ Randy Sparks
New Christy Minstrels
A man paddles through a magical like
sunflare during a summer golden hour
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The lake's namesake is Frederick Leaser,
who in September 1777 with his farm team
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to Allentown where it was concealed
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Post vote to
Research reinforces the importance of an effective teacher in moving students to new horizons or closing the achievement gap for students behind their peers. Unfortunately, Texas lacks a state policy for identifying, developing and retaining effective teachers.
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Lastly, SB 4 establishes career pathways, to ensure our best and brightest educators have opportunities to excel in their profession while remaining in the classroom. Too often our most talented teachers pursue career advancement opportunities outside the classroom.


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Office of Student Affairs & Services
University of Toronto Scarborough


text: Gary, This particular streaming radio station generates .asf files. That's what's so crazy about the thing. I believe I will uncheck the box to create .m3u files, though there are some .mp3's that play just fine and I just ignore the .m3u's listed with those before I delete both after hearing the show. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary G Schindler" <garys5462@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <blindreplay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 4:09 PM Subject: [blindreplay] Re: Handling Output Files When The Conversion Dosn't Go Smoothly Hi Pam, I am wondering if something in Replay Av got checked to make M3U files. these are for MP3 playlists that have links to a file in them for a player like Winamp. if the files would be for windows media player they would be wax or asx or even wmv. it sounds as though you are attempting to record podcasts. most of the streams aare real audio or windows media 9 type, 22 to 35 kbps. I can't think of a reason you would be getting an M3u file. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pam Drake" <pamdrake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "blind Replay" <blindreplay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 1:48 PM Subject: [blindreplay] Handling Output Files When The Conversion Dosn't Go Smoothly > Recently I have come across some entries in the Replay Recordings folder > where I can find no .asf or .mp3 files, but only .m3u and .cab files. I > trued opening a .m3u file to look for the recoding itself, but could not > find a way to do it. I suppose I should have coped it to Notepad,but > didn't > do it. I did find a number of .cab files and am not sure how to handle > these. Of course this begs the question of why the recordings and > conversions didn't complete correctly. This drive is getting rather full > and I have deleted a number of old broadcasts and try to remember to > delete > each as soon as I'm finished with it; but it is not a dedicated drive and > shares space with many other files. I'm wondering if the scarcity of > space, > only a couple of gigs or so, has anything to do with the problems I'm > having. The problem largely seems to affect recordings from a certain > site > which streams with Media Player; though I have seen some .mp3's there. > Should I try converting to .mp3 after recording has been completed? I'd > like to maintain the ability to listen in Media Player, but for the most > part these are not to be kept permanently so MP3 would be an option over > not > having the recording at all. > > Any help would be appreciated, including strategies on working with the > output files that have been created. > > Thanks in advance. > > Pam > -- To unsubscribe: e-mail blindreplay-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in subject To contact list owner: e-mail blindreplay-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


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cytogenetic technologist
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus.
1. chromosomal.
2. pertaining to cytogenetics.
cytogenetic technologist a clinical laboratory scientist who carries out diagnostic testing, including culturing, harvesting, staining, photomicroscopy, and chromosome analysis. Academic programs preparing practitioners are approved by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences; certification is through the National Credentialing Agency for Medical Laboratory Personnel. The address of the Association of Cytogenetic Technologists is P.O. Box 15945-288, Lenexa, KS 66285 (telephone 913-541-9077). The address of the National Credentialing Agency for Medical Laboratory Personnel is P.O. Box 15945-289, Lenexa, KS 66285 (telephone 913-438-5110).
cytogenetic technologist
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text:
TRIBUTARIES 'Cool on a Spool' Promotion
Winner Larry Scott shares his perspective!
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Scott, a 9 -year Tributaries veteran, was shocked to hear the news from Tributaries' Representative Michael Pupo of Bay Marketing who was attending the exposition Friday night. "When I saw the caller ID from Michael at 7:15 pm on a Friday night, I knew something was up, but never thought it would be something like this," said Scott. "He told me I won a car and I had to have him repeat it several times since I was so surprised. I had never won anything anywhere close to this magnitude and of course I was thoroughly thrilled and appreciative."
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Two men were charged with murder Saturday in what police alleged was an arson-for-profit scheme that led to the deaths of three firefighters battling a Logan Square blaze.
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At UPS, sustainability is at the core of all we do. It's a commitment to our customers and our employees. It's the responsibility we have to the communities we live in, as well as to the planet we live on. Learn more by downloading UPS's 2011 Corporate Sustainability Report.
Related sustainable brand story on MNN: For companies, sustainability and innovation often go hand-in-hand


text: Cinnamon tea is not a traditional variety of tea and instead it is simply the addition of cinnamon sticks or powder to tea. The preparation is called cinnamon tea. Cinnamon extract has effects which are similar to tea and hence comes under the category of medicinal tea. Nowadays it is commercially available in the form… Read more »


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Club starts on September 12, 2018
Wednesdays • 6:15 pm
AWANA is a global, nonprofit ministry committed to the belief that the greatest impact for Christ starts with kids who know, love, and serve Him (Jesus Christ). It offers a fun, proven approach for early evangelism and discipleship. Scripture-based programs and exciting games promote Bible literacy and help kids develop lifelong faith in Christ. A recent national survey found AWANA to be as important to our alumni's spiritual foundation as all other church activities combined. Among alumni who participated in AWANA programs for at least six years, 92.7% still attend church at least weekly as adults! That's results, and that is why AWANA is important to Jerusalem Baptist Church.
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Nightly Schedule
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Special Events for
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Marco Rubio's campaign is denying a second report suggesting that the Florida Senator is considering dropping out of the race before the Florida primary.
Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino reported today that Rubio's donors told him that the Florida Senator would suspend his campaign, unless there's a positive poll for his campaign.
Top @marcorubio donors say barring a positive poll, the Senator will suspend his campaign prior to the Fla primary.https://t.co/IRJSkevDD0
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) March 9, 2016
"I know for a fact this report is 100 percent false," Rubio communications director Alex Conant responded on Twitter after Breitbart News questioned him about the report.
Recent polls show Rubio losing by double digits to his rival Donald Trump, after losing four states on Tuesday.
But Conant challenged the notion that Rubio would drop out of the race ahead of the primary. "Marco will be on debate stage tomorrow and 100 percent committed to winning Florida," he wrote.
Earlier this week, Conant also challenged a report from CNN citing advisors who suggested that the Florida senator should drop out of the race. "100 percent false," Conant said, appearing on CNN to debunk the report.


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The finite element method is a very versatile method for any kind of boundary value problem. It was first extensively used in engineering as a tool for structural analysis, but it can also be used for heat flow, fluid and electrodynamical simulation to name some fields.
The underlying principle (as the name implies) is the discretization of the domain of interest into simple connected elements like triangles, rectangles, tetrahedrons or dozens more possible types. Then the physical property (force, velocity, temperature…) is evaluated at the nodes, or vertices if you look at an isolated element, of the resulting mesh. Between vertices, for example inside the volume of a tetrahedron the variable is interpolated.
Now in structural dynamics the elements represent actual physical elements with a mass and a volume (or area in 2D). In comparison to rigid bodies, usually more than one element makes up a body. Consider for example a box:
It can be described by two triangular finite elements, or four smaller rectangular elements, or any other mesh covering the box. As a rigid body the box would be described as a … box. So why use these elements if a 'one element' formulation is sufficient? Because finite elements offer a number of physical properties which just cannot be described efficiently by a rigid body. For a real time simulation the most important properties are elastic behavior, permanent deformations and breakability.
But how are these elements actually formulated? To illustrate how finite elements are described consider a system of two masses connected by a spring.
This is a two node one dimensional element.
The spring's elongation is linearly proportional to the applied force:
where δ ist the elongation, k is the spring constant which describes the spring's resiliance to deformations and u stands for the displacement from the initial positions of the masses. In equilibrium the two forces at the nodes are opposite to each other.
The forces can be expressed by the previously found relation:
And these two formulas can be written as a matrix equation:
The matrix is called the stiffness matrix K and it contains the material and geometric characteristics of the element. In this simple case it is just a 2×2 matrix but the more complicated an element becomes the size of the matrix can easily reach 12×12 or even bigger sizes.
After finding the description for one lonely spring the next step is to formulate the connection between several elements. So another spring is connected at the right node of the first spring. It has the same stiffness matrix K and subsequently a similar matrix equation, but with a new force and displacement variable for the third node.
The two stiffness matrices must be combined to form a global stiffness matrix. For this simple example it looks like this:
Where the upper index denotes the element the force stems from and the lower index the node number.
This basically describes the whole procedure behind a finite element formulation: the stiffness matrix is formulated, the mesh generated and the global stiffness matrix is computed. These steps are all done before the actual simulation in which the matrix equation is solved for u, the global displacements. This is done by calculating the inverse of K,
which depending on the size of K can be an expensive computation and generally is one reason (the other being high memory requirements) why the finite element method is rarely used for real time physics engines which should be as fast as possible.
But none the less for few elements it is still fast enough to be useful. Hence after all this introduction it is time to present an implementation. The following demo is a dynamical simulation of a bar consisting of 16 triangular elements (click on flash & press space to start the simulation):
This seems at first sight fun to look at but useless, however this finite element method should be integratable into motor2, which would give the best of both worlds. A fast physics engine for rigid bodies and the possibility to simulate deformable (and possibly breakable) objects.
Besides, this is a perfect candidate for using PixelBender since it involves heavy math crunching on big matrices, which doesn't make sense for the current Box2D iterative impulse solver. Meanwhile Michael is working hard to release the next motor2 version soon, and once it's done we hope to expand motor2 with finite element capabilities.


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Here it is. A new year upon us. A fresh slate. A chance to right our wrongs and blaze new trails. To teach our children or our nieces and nephews or our some-day littles that they are perfect just the way they are. But not without the dash of pain and torture that it takes to get to that so-called "perfect just way they are" place. So today, we're breaking down the painful beauty rituals that us ladies partake in every day and offering a few milder remedies for looking and FEELING your very best in the New Year. #beautyisNOTpain
So many things about heels, really. There's the blisters, the foot pain, the falling thru the grass and potentially ruining said heel, the balance factor that comes into play after a few or five cocktails. Well, for this high heel lover, SoleMates basically has me covered from beginning to end.
I use their heel protectors when I know I'm going to be outdoors. I use their blister blockers when I buy a pair of new shoes and I use their shoe essentials for extra comfort. After all, you often lose the fat in your feet that protect your stems as you age and this spring chicken isn't getting any younger. But the total heel transformation that I've had since discovering SoleMates has been pretty epic.
Whether we're talking lasers, waxing, tweezing or threading...any time you pull hair out of your skin by the root, well, it's going to hurt like a mother. So you have a few options.
Have a cocktail or two. It will help or at least help make you laugh while crying. Rub numbing lotion on the area 30 minutes prior to the session. We hear this one really works. Or just skip it all together because A. full eyebrows are a thing and B. even if studies show that guys like a little less hair down there than God gave us, we did our own study (by asking our husbands) and it appears that he's going to take what he can get when he gets it. So there's that.
For anyone that has ever sat down and endured the tedious application of hair extensions you know that it's not as fun as it sounds. Although to be honest, it doesn't really sound fun so that's not an entirely accurate statement. While hair extensions can do WONDERS for your look, it's a commitment, it takes time and there is a certain level of discomfort and/or pain involved.
Instead? Check out of FAVORITE line of extensions ever that can be quickly clipped in and that I've worn over and over for various photoshoots or nights out with the girls. Made of real hair with gorgeous colors that you'll love, they are the best out there and worth every last penny.
I got Botox for the first time a few months ago. It was good and bad at the same time. While it didn't really hurt that much upon injection, I could actually "feel" my forehead for weeks after. Which is a weird and not-so-pleasant sensation that I didn't love. Fillers are another ballgame entirely and from what we understand, they aren't necessarily a walk in the park.
So what can we do instead, aside from just allowing ourselves to age gracefully? Well, a few things. None of which have the same insta-ish impact of Botox, but all of which have pretty rave reviews.
Botox: Use Frownies, wrinkle treatment patches that you adhere to your face where they "re-educate the underlying muscles to assume a wrinkle free appearance."
Fillers: If the filler is going into your lips, try using peppermint oil instead as a natural plumper. If you're wanting to find an alternative to facial filler, try one of the products that beauty companies are sinking millions into like L'Oreal's Revitalift line or Indeed Lab's Fillume Moisturizer.
And keep your eyes on the idea of taking collagen supplements for wrinkle reductions OR preventative moisturizing targeting wrinkle prone areas with intense moisture before the wrinkle fully forms. Total Beauty also ranked 8 products that they think work better than botox so there's that too.
Here's the only thing we're going to say about dieting. We all do it. And it always sucks. Our resolution for the New Year is to find peace with food. To ditch the diet and instead adopt a whole life approach that leaves room for ice cream and pizza but that sticks primarily with food that fuels us to actually FEEL good rather than just look good.
I know, it's a cop out tip but it's probably the most important of the bunch and the one to which we need to stay the most sane. The end.
While the results you can get from a good facial peel are often well worth the pain that goes into them, I made the decision after having my first daughter that I was not at all interested in the whole Beauty is Pain mantra thus I've been on an 8 year hunt for ALL good alternatives.
Well, the good news is that 1. many chemical peels are nearly pain-free these days despite the scary sights you might see upon asking Dr. Google (want proof? google Vampire Facial) though that doesn't mean totally pain free. Even the at-home versions do warn about a burning sensation.
Alternatives? Pineapple and Lemon juice have skin-nourishing enzymes and natural citric acid (respectively) that will leave skin feeling fresh and renewed. And if you want to get a little more aggressive without getting too aggressive, try Dermaplaning - basically a small scalpel that gently scrapes the top layer of skin off (often to get those pesky peach fuzz hairs but another benefit being that it sluffs off the dead skin to reveal the gorgeous layer underneath) Sounds scary but we've heard great things and not one person experienced pain. My bestie, who runs the amazing Glow Medical Spa in Savannah says that it's in their top 5 most requested treatments!
You know those girls that say they prefer the comfort of thongs to regular ole undies. They are lying. Or they've been wearing thongs for so long they don't remember what real comfort feels like. So for those of you that embrace the granny panty but don't want the dreaded VPL (visible panty line), here are a few options...
One, go commando. Though as PantyGate on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills proves, that too has its own set of problems.
Two, go for a seamless style like these from VS or the No Panty Line Promise line from Jockey. Which probably will still show a subtle line but it won't be as intrusive as the standard fare.
Three, just skip straight to the Spanx. Which leads us to the next pain point.
I am a self admitted Spanx addict. In fact, when I do public appearances, I used to wear two layered on top of each other until I realized that my knees were looking a little chubby seeing that the skin had nowhere else to go but north or south (just kidding...sort of). That said, while I know in my heart that I will never stray from shapewear, I totally get that it's not everyone's cup. Instead, you can focus on buying clothes that make you look amazing rather than relying on the undergarments to do all of the heavy lifting. A few quick tips?
-Buy clothes one size up then have them tailored to fit. And on that note, be mindful that even though you fit into a size 6, the 8 looks ten times better and makes you look 10 pounds thinner. So take your ego out of the number.
-Wear high waisted pants. I love my high waisted jeans because they keep my belly in check without any additional support needed.
-Embrace the season's trend of tone on tone...blue tops paired with blue jeans, black slacks paired with textured black sweaters. Tone on tone creates an elongated effect that is so slimming.
-Rock a cute coat. Always a good thing.
-Embrace the fact that you are GORGEOUS with or without curves.
Whether we're talking push-up bras, skinny painted on jeans or Hervé Leger inspired bandaid dresses we are starting a movement to ditch clothes that just plain hurt. But here's a little secret before you go overboard with the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. You ready? MOST of the time, clothes hurt because they don't fit properly!
Solution? Finally get yourself fitted for a bra. Find a really good tailor. Buy clothes that have room to breathe. It's that easy, people.


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SLOVANSKÝ DŮM is an elegant, multifunctional complex with a total rentable area of 22,573 m2. It is divided between class A offices (10,978 m2), conference and banqueting halls (1,203 m2), a shopping gallery and restaurants, including summer gardens on the complex's ground floor and in the basement (5,169 m2), a multi-screen cinema (3,655 m2) and luxury flats (1,568 m2).
This mix of services makes SLOVANSKÝ DŮM an ideal place for companies looking for a prestigious address in combination with the quality services that are needed for formal and informal meetings that have an influence on business success.
for lease
Slovanský Dům is a place where top-quality business facilities are combined with smart elegance and the location's reputation


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SpongeBob, Dora, TMNT, Umizoomi and Winx Club products from Jay Franco
Jay Franco and Sons looks to be getting into the world of Nicktoons! Partnering up with Nickelodeon, Jay Franco will soon be home to lots of products and accessories based on the various Nick icons you've come to know and love. The items and product lines will include bed sheets, blankets, towels, toothbrushes, cups, and so much more. More importantly, the characters featured will include Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Team Umizoomi, Victorious, and the newly acquired Winx Club and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Look for the new themed items as early as this coming spring.
Latest posts by ToonBarn Rob (see all)
- ToonBarn Presents the Top 20 Scariest Cartoon Characters - October 29, 2016
- Ben Affleck Batman and Batmobile hits the intrawebs - May 13, 2014
- Ben 10 Omniverse: Rise of Heroes - February 1, 2014


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- by Sandy Schaefer
- – on
- in Trailers
Director Niels Arden Oplev and Swedish actress Noomi Rapace - who collaborated on the Swedish-language adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - reunite for the American neo-Noir thriller Dead Man Down, drawing from a script penned by Fringe co-showrunner and writer J.H. Wyman (whose previous feature-writing efforts include the Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts action-comedy The Mexican).
A new featurette offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the filmmaking process. That includes interviews with Oplev and Rapace discussing how Dead Man Down serves as a fitting thematic followup to their Dragon Tattoo adaptation. Meanwhile, cast members Colin Farrell (Total Recall (2012)) and Terrence Howard (Iron Man) voice their approval of Oplev's directing style and focused approach.
Here is the official synopsis for Dead Man Down, followed by the poster:
Niels Arden Oplev, the acclaimed director of the original 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' makes his American theatrical debut with the new action thriller, 'Dead Man Down.' Colin Farrell joins the prestigious team as brave enforcer Victor, right hand man to an underground crime lord in New York City. He seeks to avenge the death of his wife and daughter caused by his boss. When his employer is threatened by a mysterious killer, Victor also becomes detective. Victor is seduced and blackmailed by Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), a victim turned avenger whose intense chemistry leads them spiraling into payback delivered in violent catharsis. The film co-stars Academy Award® nominee Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper, from a screenplay by J.H.Wyman (Fringe).
For more, check out the official Dead Man Down trailer.
Dead Man Down opens in U.S. theaters on March 8th, 2013.
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Yawning, Erin sat up in bed and stretched the sleep out of her young body. Standing up, she was glad to see she wasn't stiff and sore anymore. After Saturday night's crazy strap-on orgy, she had awakened gimpy. All day Sunday, her thighs and back had cursed at her when she moved. She was worried last night's activities would only make it worse. Luckily, she seemed to have recovered.
Remembering her experiment, the little tattoo on her hip, she held her breath and pulled her panties down. She was relieved to see smooth skin but also kind of disappointed not to see her cute tattoo. Maybe she'd get one for real when she was older.
She slipped into her robe, then gathered fresh underwear. Humming YMCA to herself, she headed for the bathroom for a shower. With the water running, she stripped out of her clothes and turned to the mirror for her daily puberty check. All thoughts of looking for changes in her developing body fled her mind when she spotted the heart-shaped pendant on its silver chain.
After meeting Natty in the Place of Locked Doors, she was surprised that anything could still shock her, but seeing that necklace dangle around her neck made her gasp.
"How," she asked, touching the pendant to make sure it was real. It was solid under her fingertips. Reaching behind her, she undid the clasp and removed the necklace. She set it on the vanity, stared at it like she half expected it to disappear. When it didn't, she had to wrench her eyes away so she could take a shower.
The whole time she was soaping up, she couldn't stop thinking about the necklace. So wrapped up in thought, she almost forgot to wash her hair. Laughing at herself, she finished her shower, dried off, and slipped into clean panties. Back in her robe, she picked up the necklace and went to her room.
As she changed into her school uniform, she kept stealing glances at it. Where it sat on her desk, it gleamed like a talisman with magical powers. Considering where it had come from, that wasn't too far from the truth.
Dressed, she slipped the necklace into her pocket. Ashley and Mindy had to see this.
She couldn't even wait for lunch, went to find the girls at their lockers when she made it to school. They saw how excited she was, let her lead them to a corner. They recognized the necklace right away when she pulled it from her pocket. Ashley's eyes grew so wide they were threatening to pop out of her skull and Mindy gasped in surprise.
"That's the necklace Natty gave you," Ashley said, excitedly, "How?"
"I don't know. I woke up wearing it," she said, grinning.
Mindy reaching out to touch the necklace. She looked like she expected her fingers to pass through it, even though it sat in Erin's upturned palm. A confused smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at Erin and said, "It is warm."
"Well, its been in my pocket," Erin said, frowning.
"I thought it would be cold," she said, grinning sheepishly, "or my finger would pass through it like it was a ghost object. Isn't that how it always happens in the movies?"
"Pretty much," Ashley said.
"It feels just like a necklace, as solid as anything else," Erin said.
"Only it is from the Place of Locked Doors," Mindy said, grinning, "the afterlife. It proves things can be brought back from over there. It isn't one way. This connection between our world and the Place of Locked Doors is a two-way street."
"That is kind of creepy, isn't it," Ashley said, rubbing her arms, "I was okay with being able to think things over there. I'm not so sure about the other way around."
Erin nodded, smiled at her friend, "Yeah, it gave me chills thinking about it.
"We need to get to class," Mindy said, glancing at the clock.
"Can you two come over later? I think we need to talk about this," Erin said, showing them the necklace one more time before putting it in her pocket.
"It isn't the only thing we need to talk about," Ashley said, laughing.
"A digital photograph and some writing on a page in a notebook is one thing," Ashley said, holding the necklace in her hand, "but this is something else. You brought a solid object over from the Place Of Locked Doors."
Erin nodded, looked at Mindy. They were in Erin's room, gathered on her bed. The Black Lingerie Chronicle- as Ashley liked to call the notebook full of observations about the Place of Locked Doors- was open between them.
"Then there is the studio apartment and butt load of cash under this place, but we'll have to come back to that," Ashley said, shaking her head.
"I wonder if the video we made is down there," Mindy said, looking from girl to girl, "It is a possibility, right? I guess, anything is a possibility now."
Grinning, Erin said, "Last night was crazy."
"Yeah," Ashley said, laughing and shaking her head, "if the parental types ever saw that video…"
"Right," Mindy said, running her thumb across her throat, "it wouldn't be pretty. Which is why we need to make sure it isn't down there."
"Mom and Dad don't know about the basement, yet. If there is a video, it is safe for now," Erin said, then pointed at the necklace, "I'm more concerned about that."
"Why this? The video could have us grounded forever."
"Remember when Ashley made her coin analogy about the Place of Locked Doors," she said, looking at the redhead, "pointing out that fooling around over there could have negative consequences. Well, isn't anyone else a little freaked out about being able to bring this here from over there."
"It is a little unnerving, yeah," Mindy said.
"Ashley, how many horror movies involve bringing something evil back from the other side?"
"A bunch," Ashley said, then looked down at the necklace, "You think this is evil?"
"No, it is just a necklace," Erin said, then, "but if it can be brought over, then…"
"Oh," Ashley said, her eyes widened, "You are worried about something creepy, crawly finding its way over."
"I just don't want to be the one who brings it over," Erin said, then laughed, "I don't want to have to say 'My bad' when some demon is chewing on people."
Laughing, Mindy said, "You think that is a possibility?"
"Probably not," Erin admitted, grinning.
"What I want to know is why the necklace? And why now," Ashley asked, frowning down at it.
"What are you thinking about," Mindy asked, looking at her.
"How did Erin bring this back? She obviously didn't mean to."
"I was wearing it when I flipped back over," Erin said, shrugging.
"Yeah, but you didn't show up in the black lingerie after the orgy, did you? Or your boots after that second time with Natty?"
"Well, no," Erin said, frowning.
"So, why the necklace?"
"It was a gift," Mindy said, looking at it, "sentimental value, maybe?"
"Could be," Ashley said, then shrugged, "I guess it is pointless to wonder. How can we prove any theory we come up with, anyway?"
"It isn't pointless to wonder," Erin said, patting her thigh, "Never stop wondering."
"Then there is the Wolf Box," Ashley said, pointing at the jewelry box, "What are the odds of Erin seeing that box and getting it as a gift? It has to be astronomical, right? A box that belong to a girl now dead for fifty years suddenly comes back to the house she lived in, to the girl she has been, well, communicating with. It doesn't seem like a coincidence."
"So, what are you saying?"
"There seems to be more at work here than we know about. Almost like there is a… plan. Or am I getting paranoid?"
"Maybe a little," Mindy said, drawing a look from the girl, "doesn't mean you are wrong. It is one helluva coincidence."
"Natty is proof that there is life after death," Erin said, looking at Ashley, "And the Place of Locked Doors proves there are forces at work we don't fully understand. So, who is to say there isn't a plan?"
Ashley groaned, rubbed her temples, "God, I have a headache, now."
"Shit, why am I so nervous?"
Ashley sat on the couch, grinning as she watched her step-sister pace back and forth. Loren was so self-assured most times but when it came to Beth, she was a mess. Her girlfriend was due to arrive for dinner at any minute and the teenager was nearly freaking out.
"You are wearing a rut in the floor," she said, laughing when Loren gave her a dirty look. Still, the teenager sat down, tucked her dress under her knees.
"It is going to be fine. Beth is a perfectly lovely girl, sweet and pretty. Your mom is going to love her," Ashley said, then laughed, "she might embarrass the hell out of you, show Beth some embarrassing pictures of you as a kid or something. I'm pretty sure that is a part of her job description."
"Oh God," Loren said, laughing, "I hope she doesn't get the photo albums out."
"Better knock on wood before you jinx yourself."
Loren rapped her knuckles on the coffee table, then jumped when the doorbell rang. She looked at Ashley, then at the door. Taking a deep breath, she went to the door, opened it. Ashley looked around her, saw Beth standing in the open door. She wore a simple yellow dress, her hair pulled up in loose twist. Ashley thought she looked nice with her hair up.
Apparently so did Loren, her eyes wide at the sight of her, "Wow. I've never seen you in a dress before. And the hair!"
"Don't get used to it," Beth said, smiling at her reaction. She gave Loren an affectionate squeeze and a quick kiss.
"Loren," her mother called from the entrance to the living room.
Loren took another deep breath and Beth's hand. She closed the door behind them, turned to give her mother a nervous smile, "Mom, this is Beth. Beth, my mom."
Her mother crossed the room, smiling, "Beth, it is nice to meet you. Welcome to our home."
"Thank you, ma'am," Beth said, smiling in return, "and thanks for inviting me to dinner."
"You are more than welcome. You look very lovely," she said, looking her daughter's girlfriend up and down, "I love that dress."
"Thanks," Beth said.
"Dinner isn't for another thirty minutes," she said, then gave Loren a look, "You are welcome to hang out in the living room."
Loren laughed, getting the point, "Yes, Mom. I remember the speech."
"Good," she said, leaving the room.
When she was gone, Loren said, "So far, so good."
"I think we are okay. I've dated girls whose parent's pretend to be civil but really didn't approve of their daughter's sexual orientation. Your mom doesn't strike me as one of those types," Beth said, taking her hand.
"Do you two want the living room," Ashley said and they blinked at her. She laughed, realizing they had forgotten about her.
"Sorry, Ashley," Beth said, grinning sheepishly.
"Yeah, you were lost in each others' eyes," she said, making them laugh, "I'll go upstairs if you want to be alone."
"We wouldn't want to kick you out of the living room," Beth said.
Getting up, Ashley said, "That is a yes. No problem."
"Thanks," Loren said, meeting her eyes.
"Don't mention it," Ashley said, then to Beth, "I like your hair up. You look very nice."
"Thanks," Beth said, smiling sweetly.
"You really do," Loren said, receiving a kiss for the comment.
It was Ashley's cue to leave. She left the lovebirds in the living room, went upstairs to her room. Flopping on her bed, she thought Beth was probably right about Loren's mother. She was going to be fine with her daughter dating Beth.
Staring at the ceiling, she wondered what her dad would think if she brought a girl home for him to meet. Then she wondered where that thought had come from. While she had a blast being with the girls, loved fooling around with them, the thought of dating a girl was a new one for her. Did she want to date one?
She didn't know.
Shaking her head, she got off the bed and went to her desk. Booting up her computer she decided to research Vonage for Natty. Like she had thought, it was telephone service over the internet. She cringed when she saw it required a monthly fee. Since Natty didn't have a credit card and Ashley didn't, either, Vonage was a bust.
She sat back in her chair, thinking. She wasn't ready to give up, yet. While Vonage didn't pan out, there might still be a way to get phone service to the Place of Locked Doors. She got an idea and used Google to search for products similar to Vonage. She was a little disheartened when most seemed to have a re-accuring monthly fee.
Then she found one that seemed like it might work. It was called Magic Jack and came with a year's service. She found it at Walmart, for forty five dollars. Then she got really excited when she saw she could buy more service in store. No need for a credit card.
Picking up her phone, she called Erin. When she answered, Ashley said, "I need seventeen bucks."
"I recommend getting a paper route," Erin said.
"No, I found a way for Natty to make phone calls," Ashley said.
"I didn't know she was trying to," Erin said, then laughed, "What, does she need to order a pizza?"
"Ha ha," Ashley said, laughing anyway, "Don't you think it would be cool to be able to talk to her at anytime."
"Huh," Erin said, then, "Actually, yeah. What's the money for?"
"I found this thing called Magic Jack. You can use it to make phone calls over the internet."
"Over the internet… Hey, that might actually work. What, is it like Vonage?"
"Yeah, but without a monthly fee," Ashley said.
"Are monthly fees bad," Erin asked.
"Not if you have a credit card," she said, laughing, "Do you, because I don't."
"Um, no."
"So no Vonage."
"I'm in. I still got some birthday money to blow, anyway."
"Great. I've got to call Mindy and bum seventeen bucks."
"Okay," Erin said, laughing, "Bye."
"Bye," Ashley said, ending the call. She called Mindy.
"Hey," the brunette said, when the call went through.
"I figured out how to get phone service to the Place of Locked Doors but I need seventeen bucks from you."
"I'm fine, thanks for asking, Ashley. And how are you," Mindy said, making Ashley laugh.
"Sorry, I'm a little excited. We could be talking to Natty on the phone if this idea of mine works."
"Are you serious?"
Ashley told her about what she had found. The brunette was intrigued, agreed to kick some money in for the Magic Jack.
She had just hung up and was staring at her computer screen when a knock came at the door. Getting up, she answered it to find Loren grinning at her.
"It's time to eat," Loren said.
"I'm coming down," she said, closing the door behind her.
"And Ashley," she said, giving her a smile, "thanks for giving us some privacy. You know, earlier."
"How's it going so far," Ashley asked, returning the smile.
"Better than I hoped," she said, laughing, "Mom has stayed in the kitchen, left us alone."
"You know," Ashley said, grinning, "you are about to be trapped at the table with her. Now comes the questions as she gets to know your girlfriend. Are you ready for this?"
"No," Loren said.
"Good," Ashley said, laughing, "I like when dinner comes with entertainment."
"Oh God," Loren said.
Her step-mother had made lasagna, probably her best dish, and Ashley's mouth was watering from the smell of it long before she made it to the dining room. Entering the room, she saw fresh salad and garlic toast. Her stomach let her know it was time to dig in.
"This looks wonderful, Mrs. Connors," Beth said.
"Thank you, Beth," she said, smiling, "Let's eat."
The food really was excellent, actually kept everyone quiet and happily chewing for a while. Loren looked like she might get a reprieve but she wasn't that lucky. About half way through her plate, her mother found time to start asking questions.
"Do you go to school with Loren, Beth," she asked.
"No ma'am," she said, "I go to Southern High."
"Then how did you meet?"
Beth glanced at Loren, who shrugged and said, "At a party."
Beth glanced at Mrs. Connors, waiting to see if that would cause a problem. It didn't. Her mother only gave her a sad smile and shook her head.
"I didn't have to sneak out for this one," Loren said, seeing the shake of her head, "It was the block party a few years ago. We got to talking that night, then I ran into her at the mall a few months later. We started talking again. Then she asked me out."
Beth smiled at the memory, "You were a mess back, then. Scared to admit you were a lesbian to anyone. I had to ask you out three times before you said yes."
"It is a good thing you are like a pit bull with a bone," Loren said.
"Loren," her mother admonished, "That isn't nice."
It was a waste because Beth was grinning at Loren. It must be an inside joke between them. Her mother caught the grin, then smiled. The love these two girls had for each other was plain to see.
"We've been dating ever since," Loren said, looking at her mother.
"Sneaking out of the house, worrying me to death," her mother said.
"Sorry about that," Beth said, a sheepish grin on her face.
"We actually had to nail her window shut, she kept sneaking out," Ashley's dad said, his first contribution to the conversation.
Blushing, she said, "I know. She was sneaking out to see me."
"Ah," he said, nodding with a hint of a knowing smile on his face, "Well, you are welcome here at any time, Beth. No more sneaking around. However, there will be no funny business under my roof. You two aren't allowed to be in Loren's room together."
Ashley laughed when Loren's face turn the same shade as the marinara sauce on the lasagna. She was a little surprised it was her father who got the first barb into Loren.
"So do like teenagers used to do," he said, grinning, "find somewhere to park and fool around."
"Dear," Loren's mother said, her eyes wide in shock, "Ashley's at the table!"
"Disregard that last statement, Ashley," he said, looking sheepishly at his wife.
The look on her step-mother's face was priceless. Ashley about fell out, she was laughing so hard.
"Did you really just tell my daughter to go park somewhere and make out?"
"Come on, hon," he said, laughing at her, "be realistic. They've been together for more than a year. I'm sure the thought has more than crossed their minds."
"I know that," she said, exasperated, "I'm not in denial. I just can't believe you actually said it. With Ashley at the table, no less."
"Don't worry about me," Ashley said, grinning, "It'll at least three years before I can park and make out with anyone."
"Help me, Jesus," her stepmother said, rolling her eyes to the heavens, "the girl is going to take after her father."
Her father held up his hand and, grinning, she gave him a high five. Everyone at the table laughed, even her stepmother.
"Do you see what you are getting into, Beth," Mrs. Connors said, motioning around the table, "It isn't too late to run."
"I think I'll stick around," she said, grinning at Loren.
"Good," she said, smiling, "I haven't seen my girl smile like that in a long time and she hasn't stopped since you walked through the door."
"Yeah, I love her, too," Beth said, still looking at Loren.
"Aah," Ashley said, grinning.
"Shut up," Loren said, laughing.
Yawning, Erin sat up in the dark, kicked off her comforter. She glanced at the alarm clock, saw the the green numerals read five in the morning. Shaking her head at the ungodly hour, she thought about going back to bed and doing this tomorrow. It would still be really early tomorrow, too. Groaning, she committed to doing it today.
Still, half asleep, she got out of bed and went to her desk. She found her camera where she'd left it last night.
To free up as much space on her memory card as she could, she'd transferred a bunch of photos onto her computer ahead of time. The only thing left on the camera were the pictures of her and Ashley modeling the lingerie they had found in the closet behind the closet in her parent's room. She didn't think it would be smart to put those pictures on her computer. She didn't know if her parents were monitoring her computer use or not, but it wasn't worth the risk. Deleting them would have been a smarter option but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
After all, that had been a crazy night and the photos were treasured memories.
Before leaving the room, she slipped into a pair of flimsy shorts and a t-shirt. She figured getting caught sneaking around the house at this hour would be bad, but getting caught in just her panties seemed worse. Then again, she could say she was just sleepwalking, out for a stroll in her underwear.
Shaking her head, she decided the modest approach was better.
Putting her ear to the door, she listened for footsteps in the hallway. Not that she'd be able to hear them above the thundering of her heart. The adrenaline was flowing and had washed away the remnants of the sleep that clung to her. She was wide awake now and jittery with a nervous energy.
She took a deep breath and told herself to relax as she opened the door. Even if there was someone in the hallway, she wouldn't be busted. She could just hide the camera with her body and go to the bathroom. The real danger didn't come until she was downstairs, where she really didn't have an excuse to be at this time of the morning.
The hallway was deserted. The sounds of the shower coming from the bathroom told her she needed to hurry. Her father was already up. Up on her tippy toes, she snuck down the hallway, then the stairs. She was mindful of the ones that creaked, which she had memorized before going to bed. She got a small thrill of success when she made it downstairs silently.
She went straight to the alarm panel, powering on the camera as she went. It seemed to take a lifetime to go through its start-up routine. She swore it hadn't taken this long last night. The wait didn't do anything for her raw nerves.
When it was finally ready, she put it standard video mode, set the zoom to max. She set it on the ledge of the cut out, angled it so that when her dad punched in the disarm code, it would be captured on video.
Hopefully, she thought, crossing her fingers.
She turned to go back upstairs when something dawned on her. Turning back, she saw the glare of the viewfinder had lit up the cut out like a neon sign. Her father would have to be blind to not notice it.
"Shit," she said, thinking fast. She'd have to scrub the mission if she couldn't contain the brightness of the display. Looking around the living room, she tried to find something to use but nothing in sight would work.
"Come on, think," Erin said, her pulse racing. She was nearing panic mode, ready to snap up the camera and run back upstairs, when an idea came to her, "Tape! I need tape!"
She ran to the laundry room, nearly going down hard as a throw rug skated out from under her, but some how stayed up and moving. She found the roll of blue painters tape left over from her father's last renovation attempt, ran back to the camera. She put a piece of tape over the display and it cut the glare way down. Grinning, she added a second layer for good measures, then set her spy camera back up.
Another trip to the laundry room to return the tape, a moment to fix the rug that had tried to kill her, and she was headed back upstairs.
No sooner had she cleared the stairs did the door to the bathroom open to a billow of steam. She froze like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. Sure she was busted, she watched her father emerge from the bathroom in just a towel. He spotted her out of the corner of his eye.
"What's up, kiddo," he said, friendly like not suspicious, "Need the bathroom?"
Trying not to show her relief, she nodded.
"Knock yourself out. I'm finished, anyway," he said, turning into the master bedroom.
Sighing with relief, she walked on rubber band legs to the bathroom. Turns out, she hadn't lied to her father, after all. After that close call, she really did need to go. As she sat on the toilet, she started to smile. The smile became a nervous giggle she had to clamp a hand to her mouth to contain.
Finished with the bathroom, she went back to her room. Looking at the alarm clock, she saw she could squeeze in another hour of sleep if she laid down now. Problem was, she was way too jazzed up to get back to sleep now. Like it or not, she was up for the day.
Still, she had an hour to kill. A slow grin spread on her face and she went to her closet. Pushing her clothes to one side, she found the pressure points on the back wall. The grin grew wider as the panel slid aside, revealing the tightly rolled lingerie that took up every inch of the void in the wall. Panties, bras, bustiers, corsets, high heels and boots, costumes and nighties. So much inappropriate lingerie and all of it fit her like a glove, like it was made for her.
Actually it had been made for Natty, but she and the dead girl were the same size.
She toyed with the thought of putting on something sexy but in the end she just grabbed the glass dildo. Like the lingerie, this sex toy had belonged to Natty. It was thinner than most dildos, meant for her younger body.
Erin ran to the bed, flopped on her back. Grinning, she shucked off her shorts and panties, tossed them aside. As an after thought, the shirt hit the floor, as well. Naked, she giggled, feeling the nervous excitement coursing through her young body. It was kind of dangerous, doing this now.
A flush of heat blossomed between her thighs. When she slipped the cool shaft of the dildo into her sex, she was ready for it. It slipped deep, made her moan as it filled her. It wasn't as big as the strap-ons had been but still felt big inside of her. She grinned, thinking about Ashley and Mindy using their new toys on her, shivered at the memory.
She kind of wished they were here now.
Sighing, she started thrusting the toy in and out, her hips rolling up to meet each thrust. She closed her eyes, enjoyed the feel of it biting deep into her. Her free hand teased her breast, made her nipple ache sweetly.
Her body writhed with a mind of its own and she had to bite her lip to stifle the cries that wanted to slip past her parted lips.
The hand slip from her breast, down her belly, to torture her tender clit. The one, two punch of the thrusting toy and her massaging fingers drove her body wild. Such wonderful sensations were washing through her. She couldn't completely bite back the animal sounds of enjoyment she was making.
Hopefully, no one was in the hallway, she thought, those little noises getting louder as her excitement grew. Her breathing was getting ragged, her heart thundering in her chest. She had herself in a state, knew it wouldn't be long before she came.
Sure enough she felt that beautiful tension enter her young body, felt it welling up like pressure in a balloon. It kept building and building until surely she must explode. Then she did, her body stiffening and her back arching off the bed. A startled little gasp escaped her as her body shuddered through a climax. Then the tension slipped from her and she collapsed like a wet rag to the bed. Sweaty, gasping for breath, she smiled in the dark, stretched to keep the wonderful feelings ebbing through her body.
"I should start every day like this," she said, laughing.
Glancing at the alarm clock, she saw she still had forty minutes to kill. She thought about doing it, again, but changed her mind. Naked, she took the dildo back to the closet, closed up the hidey-hole.
She booted up her computer, slipped into her robe. Sitting at her computer, she checked her email, saw she had two new emails. One was from Natty and the other was a friend request notice from Facebook. She was curious about the last one, but she opened the email from Natty first:
Hey, Erin. Ashley set me up a Skype account if you want to try it sometime. I did it with a girl I met on Facebook. It is kind of cool. We could talk face to face.
Erin grinned, wondered what the Facebook girl would think if she knew she was talking to a ghost. She sent the girl a reply, saying she'd have to set up an account but she'd like to Skype sometime.
Logging into her Facebook account, she saw a familiar face trying to be her friend. She recognized the girl from Natty's page. Her name was Caroline, the request said. She was cute, had braces. Shrugging, Erin clicked Accept. Then Erin wondered if this was the girl Natty was Skyping with.
She made a mental note to ask the girl next time she saw her.
Glancing at the clock, she saw she hadn't killed much time. Thinking about Natty's email, she went to Skype's website, downloaded the program. While it installed, she sent Natty another email saying she would Skype with her later, if she wanted. When it was installed, she set up an account, then turned her computer off.
It was about time for her to 'get up', so she gathered her things for a shower. Finished, she swiped on a little eyeliner, some lipgloss. Like she'd hoped, putting on makeup was getting easier with repetition. Satisfied, she went back to her room, changed into her school uniform. Combing her hair and pulling it into a ponytail, she smiled at her reflection. She looked and felt like a million bucks.
Downstairs, she made a simple breakfast of a bagel and a glass of juice, noticed her mother engrossed in some early morning talk show. Shaking her head, Erin had to grin. She ate her bagel and finished her juice. As she was leaving the kitchen, she made sure her mother was still involved with the show, then made a beeline for the camera in the cutout.
With it in hand, she ran upstairs to see if they had gotten lucky. Peeling the tape off the display, she stopped the video and rewound until she saw her dad in the frame. Finding the link cable to her laptop, she powered up the computer and put the video up on the screen. The quality was pretty good, better than she had hoped. She could clearly see the display on the alarm panel. She found the part of the video where her father entered the code, laughing triumphantly when she could clearly see the numbers he pushed. On a sticky note, she wrote down the code, then deleted the video. Powering her laptop and camera down, she grabbed her backpack and ran downstairs.
Her mother looked up when she came into the kitchen, motioned to the TV and said, "Can you believe this stuff?"
"Not really," Erin said, laughing, "Ready to go?"
"So, it really worked?"
"You sound surprised. It was your idea," Ashley said, laughing.
"True. Still, I wasn't sure it would," Mindy said, grinning sheepishly.
They were sitting at the lunch table, actually eating for once. Something was wrong; the food wasn't half bad.
"This is actually pretty good," Erin said, taking a bite of her spaghetti.
"I know. Weird, right?"
"I didn't see Mrs. Mendoza on the serving line," Mindy said.
"Yeah, it was a new lady," Ashley said, then looked up, "Do you think that is why the food is better?"
"Could be. Mrs. Mendoza didn't seem like the kind of person to care too much about people liking her food."
"Think the parents complained," Erin asked, glancing at the serving line.
"You mean got her fired," Ashley said, frowning.
"Yeah. Maybe we'll have this new woman from now on."
"Could be the start of better food at lunch."
"Think we are that lucky?"
"Who knows."
"Can you believe the party is this weekend," Mindy said, changing the subject, "only three days away."
"I know," Ashley said, grinning.
"Anyone else a little nervous now that it is getting close," Mindy asked, looking from Ashley to Erin.
"A little," Erin admitted, laughing, "It isn't even the sneaking out part, I'm nervous about."
"We are going to a party for eighth graders," Ashley said and the girls nodded, "Carrie is a cool chick- Trisha, too- but…"
"Yeah," Erin said, laughing, "We are going to stick out like sore thumbs."
"So this is Skype," Ashley said, smiling at the screen. Natty grinned back, winked. Laughing, the redhead said, "Amazing, isn't it? We are talking face to face in real time across two planes of existence. No Ouiji board, no seances. Just good old-fashioned conversation."
"It is amazing," Natty agreed, then said, "So, this is what 2015 looks like?"
"Let me give you the tour of my room," Ashley said, slowly spinning the laptop so Natty could see her room.
When she was facing the redhead again, Natty grinned and said, "Nice room. It is definitely you. Not as science-fictiony as I'd have thought."
Laughing, Ashley said, "We don't have flying cars, yet, either."
A knock came at the door and Ashley glanced over her shoulder at the door, then back at Natty, "Hold on. Someone is at the door. I'm going to minimize your window."
She went to the door, opened it to find a slightly disheveled looking Loren standing in the hallway. She wore yoga pants and a baggy t-shirt, looked curiously out of sorts. She favored Ashley with a look that was hard to read.
"What's up," Ashley asked.
"Can I come in for a minute?"
"Um, sure," Ashley said, stepping aside so she could enter the room, then closed the door.
Looking around the room, Loren asked, "Who were you talking to? I heard another voice through the door."
"I was Skyping with a friend," Ashley said, sitting on her office chair, "So…"
"I just spent three hours on Google," she said without preamble, then laughed nervously, "I had… had to be sure I wasn't crazy."
"You can diagnose that on Google now," Ashley asked, laughing.
"Smart ass," Loren laughed, shaking her head, "The crazy story you told me about the girl in Erin's dream… I didn't think you were lying to me. I have to admit the story intrigued me. I did some digging, researched death's in Erin's house. I figured the girl who showed Erin the hiding place had to be a ghost and probably died in the house."
Ashley's eyes widened in surprise. When she and the girls came up with the story to tell her, she never thought Loren might do something like this. At best, she figured her step-sister wouldn't believe her. Apparently, not only had she believed her, she had researched the whole story.
"I didn't come across any stories about a woman dying next door but I did find a story about a girl committing suicide some fifty years ago," Loren said, her eyes locking on Ashley's, "In Erin's bedroom, no less."
The redhead's pulse quickened as she realized Loren had stumbled onto Natty's story, whether by pure accident or some innate detective skill. Loren saw the recognition in her eyes and she sighed, some of the tension leaving her body.
She took a folded up pieces of paper from her pocket, unfolded them. Ashley expected her to pass them to her but she didn't. Instead, she said, "I was reading the article, thought if anyone would be a ghost it was this girl, Natasha. The poor girl was put through so much."
Looking down at the papers in her hands, she said, "There was a photo of the girl at the bottom of the article. Such a pretty girl. Had this beautiful, warm smile you couldn't soon forget. Which is why I recognized it right away. I'd seen it before."
Stunned, Ashley asked, "You had?"
"Yeah. I was bored, checked out your Facebook page a few days ago," Loren said, handing her one of the pages. It was the article, in grainy black and white was the photo of Natty. The second page Loren handed her was a print out of a photo on her Facebook page, one of Erin, Mindy, Natty and her smiling at the camera, the one they had taken after the orgy in the Place of Locked Doors.
"Is it her," Loren asked, looking at her expectantly. She looked almost painfully unsure of herself, "Is that Natasha Bronsky in that picture? Tell me I'm not going crazy."
Ashley couldn't see any point in lying to her, so she nodded, waited to see how her step-sister would react.
"Jesus," Loren said, sitting heavily on Ashley's bed. She wiped a hand across her mouth, then asked, "How? How can she be in this picture with you three?"
"That would take a while to explain," Ashley said, grinning at the dazed look on her face, "Assuming you believed me."
"So, this Natty you all slept with," Loren said, shaking her head in wonder, "Is actually this dead girl, Natasha Bronsky? You had contact with her?"
Ashley looked at her for a long moment, then said, "I want you to meet someone."
She restored the Skype window. Loren gasped, her eyes so wide they were in danger of falling out of her head, as she stared at the grinning dead girl on the screen. She laughed at her reaction, felt for her.
"Loren, this is the Natty," Ashley said, grinning, "dead girl extraordinaire. Natty, this is my befuddled step-sister, Loren."
"It is nice to meet you, Loren," Natty said, laughing, "Ashley has told me a lot about you."
"Jesus, fuck," Loren said, laughing in amazement, "It is really her. You are really Natasha Bronsky."
"You can call me Natty, my friends do," Natty said, smiling.
Ashley watched the doubt leave her step-sister's face as the girl smiled. Ashley had to smile herself, knew it was the smile that made it real for Loren.
"How? How can this be real?"
Still smiling, Ashley said, "Natty, love. I think I need to cut this chat short."
"Okay. It was nice meeting you, Loren."
"You, too," Loren said, sounded kind of dazed.
Ashley closed out of the program, then turned to her step-sister, who was looking at her expectantly. Smiling, she said, "Are you ready for a crazy story?"
"No," Loren said, laughing, "Tell me anyway."
Going to her radio, she started some music. Loren looked at her quizzically and she grinned, "Some of the details of this story… I don't want the parental types overhearing."
Loren shook her head and laughed, said, "Oh."
Pulling her desk chair in front of Loren, she started talking and didn't stop for the better part of an hour. She told Loren about Erin's dream of Natty in the black lingerie and the hidey-hole; about Erin's first sexual encounters with Natty in the Place of Locked Doors after trying the lingerie on; about her own experience with Natty after she, too, tried on the lingerie. She told her about Natty being trapped in her old room, unable to open any of the doors, but Erin could. She told her about Erin taking Natty outside of the house, about walking in a completely different era of time. Ashley told her everything.
For the most part, Loren listened in stunned silence, only asked a few questions. When Ashley wrapped up her story, she simply said, "Son of a bitch."
Laughing, Ashley said, "Erin and I warned you it was crazy, that you wouldn't believe us if we told you."
"Yeah, I get that now," she said, laughing, "If I hadn't seen that girl on your computer screen…"
"It's alright. I barely believe it sometimes and I lived through it."
"It is a lot to take in," Loren said, absentmindedly playing with the drawstring to her pants, "I don't even know where to start."
"This is useless," Mindy said, closing her textbook.
She couldn't focus on her studies, her mind wanting to wonder. She had made the mistake of checking her email before doing her homework and all she could think about was the message she'd received. It had been from her old babysitter, Sarah.
The teenager and Mindy had a tangled past, had become lovers when Mindy was just eight years old. Mindy's feelings for her were a confused mess and she doubted any amount of therapy could sort them out.
Now, she was coming into town for the weekend. Mindy had thought she was getting over the girl- woman now, but the email had stirred up old feelings. She'd left for college this summer, leaving a void in Mindy's life. Luckily, she'd found Erin and Ashley, who had helped dim the memory of laying with Sarah on the very bed she was stretched out on now. She thought she was getting over her, but all it took was one email to mess with her heart all over, again.
Sighing, she got off her bed and went to her desk. Opening her email account, she read the message, again:
Hi, Mindy. I'm going to be in town for the holiday weekend and I'd really like to see you. I know it isn't the right thing to do. I tried to stay away but I can't. I miss you so much. I know I'm a horrible person but I still need you. I'll understand if you never want to see me, again. You have every right to hate me for the things I did to you. I wrote and deleted this email a dozen times, trying to convince myself not to send it. If you are reading this, I guess I did give in and send it. If you want to see me, it is completely up to you.
Sarah was right; she had every right to hate her. The girl had taken advantage of her, manipulated her into a sexual relationship. She was so good at that, had Mindy all but begging to be used.
Problem was, she didn't hate the girl. In fact, she loved her. Just thinking about seeing Sarah, again, had her a horny, distracted mess. Before closing her homework, she had read the same paragraph three times and still didn't know what it was about. All she could think about was the babysitter's tight body moving against her own.
She wished Erin or Ashley were here, someone to distract her from her own thoughts. Glancing at her phone, she thought about calling them but it was late. Sighing, she closed her laptop, sat back in her chair.
It really was late, after eleven, and she needed to finish reading the chapter in her textbook so she could get some sleep. Seeing her old teddy bear, Mr. Buttons, she smiled. It had been a gift from Sarah for her ninth birthday. She had shown Mindy how the bear could keep her company when the babysitter wasn't around and she was horny.
There wasn't much she could do about her feelings for Sarah, but, maybe, if she did something about her horniness, she might get her homework finished and be in bed by midnight.
Getting up, she picked the big, plush bear up and looked at him. How many times had she abused the poor guy? Hundreds? Thousands?
"Feel like one more romp, Mr. Buttons," she asked, grinning, "for old time's sake?"
She took the bear to the bed, then stripped out of her sleep shirt. In just her panties, she straddled the plush toy. A flush of heat spread between her thighs as she remembered all times she used to do this. She grinned as she began to rub against Mr. Buttons. The bear had a big shit eating grin on his face and she liked to pretend he was enjoying what she was doing to him
"Do you like that, Mr. Buttons," she said, sighing, "Do you like it when I rub against you like this?"
The bear just grinned at her. It made her laugh.
She moaned as it started to feel really good. She rocked her hips back and forth, grinding her tender sex against the bear. The soft fur tickled her bare thighs, made her shiver. She had her hands on his chest, absentmindedly played with the buttons on his vest that earned him his namesake.
Her eyes closed and she thought about the first time she did this, humped her teddy bear. Sarah had been sitting on the bed with her, wearing just a pair of panties. She had her hand in her underwear, her fingers thrusting in and out as she watched the mildly embarrassed Mindy strip out of her clothes and crawl atop her new stuffed animal. The fur had tickled her thighs then as it did now. She began to undulate her hips like Sarah had shown her, her nine year old body flexing and rubbing against Mr. Buttons. How good it had felt had surprised her and she was soon moaning and sighing, her little back arched in pleasure. Sarah's eyes had been hot on her and Mindy could feel her excitement as she watched. The hand in her panties was working feverishly, the teenager straining to come. Then she did, her body going wild. The girl had grinned, moved to Mindy. She put those fingers to her lips and Mindy knew what she wanted, took them into her mouth to taste the girl with her tongue. Sarah moved behind her, her hands roaming over her body as she continued to rub against the bear. She had come so hard, her thighs squeezing the stuffed animal like a vice.
Mindy kind of wished Sarah was here now to touch her because, while it felt nice, rubbing against Mr. Buttons wasn't getting her as excited as it used to. She needed something else. Her eyes went to the dresser and she sighed and got off Mr. Buttons. She grinned, wondered if he was still grinning now that she wasn't rubbing her body against him.
She pulled the second drawer from the bottom all the way out and sat it on the bed. Velcroed to the back of it was her strap-on, the one Ashley had bought for her. Releasing it, she took it to the bed, stretched out on her back. She pulled the crotch of her panties aside, eased the dildo inside her ready sex. She bit her lip to stifle a moan as she began to thrust it in an out.
Glancing to her left, she saw Mr. Buttons watching her and she laughed, "Perverted old, Mr. Buttons. I bet you wished you could do this to me."
She was just being silly, talking dirty to her stuffed animal but she blinked when it gave her an idea. Easing the toy out of her pussy, she moved to the naughty bear, slipped the straps of the panty onto his stubby legs. She adjusted it until Mr. Buttons had sprouted a red penis.
"Why, Mr. Buttons," she said, feigning shock, "Is that for little old me? You are a truly naughty bear, Mr. Buttons."
He grinned at her.
Reaching out, she grasped the dildo, began running her hand up and down it, "Is this what you want, you naughty bear?"
She straddled the bear, eased down on the dildo. She moaned thickly as it slipped deep into her, filled her up.
"You are so big, Mr. Buttons," she said, still having fun with this. She bent down and kissed him.
Slowly, she moved up and down on the shaft, moaning. It felt delicious as it moved inside of her. She grabbed his paws, put them on her hips like he was helping her. Laughing, she moved his paws all over her body. It actually felt really nice, his soft fur tickling her skin. She kept doing it, sighing.
"That feels good, Mr. Buttons," she said.
Her pace quickened as her young body got used to the dildo's size. She put a knuckle in her mouth to stifle her cries as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through her. It didn't do much good, her excitement getting harder to contain.
"Oh, God," she moaned, arching her back. The dildo was hitting all the right spots, was driving her body crazy.
She cupped her breasts, teased them until she groaned. Pulling the bear into a sitting position, she pressed them against his grinning face, rubbed them back and forth. His fur tickled her nipples, made her groan, again.
"Fuck me, Mr. Buttons," she said, giggling excitedly. Using the 'F' word sent a naughty thrill through her twelve year old body and she said it, again, "Fuck me!"
Mr. Buttons was kind of a lazy lover, just laid there and let her have her way with him. Mindy laughed at the thought.
Her pneumatic body moved faster and faster as she strained toward release. Her mouth was slack and she was gasping for breath. A sheen of sweat had broken out on her body from her efforts.
She gasped, feeling an orgasm building up inside of her. Looking down at the grinning bear, she moaned, "I'm going to come, Mr. Buttons. Oh, MR. BUTTONS!"
As she cried out his name, she stiffened with an intense orgasm. It shook her to her core, left her a trembling mess. She hugged the bear, his red penis still buried in her girlhood. Staying like that a long moment, she enjoyed how delicious her body felt after her orgasm, sighing contentedly.
Finally, she sat up and grinned down at the teddy bear, "That was amazing, Mr. Buttons. I take it from your grin, you thought so, too."
Laughing, she eased off of him, stretched out on her back. Staring up at the ceiling, she fell asleep wondering if Sarah would have played with herself watching her fuck Mr. Buttons this time, too.


text:
- Written by THE BELLEFONTAINE EXAMINER STAFF
The Bellefontaine High School drama department and Dodds Wealth Advisors hosted a Comderella Princess Tea Party on Saturday mornng at St. Patrick Church's Makley Hall in conjunction with the school's musical presentation of Cinderella this past weekend. FRONT PAGE PHOTO: Cinderella, forefront, played by BHS senior Brooke Turner, twirls Tonya Price, 4, of Bellefontaine, while Prince Charming, played by junior Parker Neeld, left, dances with Olivia Grasley, 5, of Bellefontaine. ABOVE: The wicked stepsisters, played by Morgan Badenhop, left, and Emily O'Connor, right, prepare friends, Isabella Titus, 6, left, and Alivia Campbell, 6, to play the game Pin the Mustache on the Stepsisters. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | REUBEN MEES)