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Julie Gray
POV Made Simple
New writers often tend to write in the first person out of habit, unease or intimidation. Should you use an omniscient point of view? A third person limited point of view? Who remembers 8th grade English? What's for dinner already?!
One way to make thinking of point of view less scary is to remember that the point of view refers simply to who is telling the story.
There are four major types of narrative form - or point of view:
First Person
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat but Idi Amin did not seem to notice. "I've eaten human flesh, " he went on…
The narrator is a character who is experiencing only what he or she sees, hears or does. He or she does not know what anybody else is thinking.
Third Person Limited
Giles shifted uncomfortably in his seat but Amin went on. "I've eaten human flesh," he said. Giles felt his stomach clutch. Where was this going, where was this leading? Amin sliced into the gazelle steak. The blood ran red. Giles looked for the exit.
This narrative form uses "he", "she", "they" to describe the characters but only lets us into the head of one or two.
Third Person Omniscient
Giles shifted uncomfortably in his seat but Amin went on. "I've eaten human flesh," he said, thinking with pride of the barbecue he'd hosted last week. Giles turned faintly green. Amin sliced into his steak with relish. He hadn't eaten since morning.
This is the upgraded version of Third Person Limited. Uses"he", "she", "they" to describe the characters and let's us know what everybody is thinking.
Giles shifted in his seat. Amin said "I've eaten human flesh". He sliced into a gazelle steak and the blood ran red. Giles put his hand over his mouth. "Will you excuse me?"
The objective point of view is rarely used in prose but ALWAYS used in screenwriting. It can only infer how characters feel or what they are thinking by their actions.
POV as Narrative Technique
In To Kill a Mocking Bird, which is written in the first person, the narrator is a child. So - how accurate is this story? It is told through the eyes of innocence by someone who is 4 feet tall and ten years old. Is our narrator reliable? If you use first person, you can play with this to great affect. The reader can enjoy many layers of inference and experience through the use of the unreliable narrator.
In one of my favorite books A Confederacy of Dunces, the story is told in a third person omniscient point of view but there are journal entries by our main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, who, while delightful, is a very unreliable narrator. Reilly's journal entries tilt the story toward his point of view and is the glue that holds the story together.
In Ken Kesey's brilliant book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the first person narrator is a secondary character, who is a silent but incredibly astute observer. How different would this story be had it been narrated by Randle Patrick McMurphy instead?
The point of view you decide to use can have a powerful impact on the story.
You can play the characters like a piano - who do you want to bring into focus and for what purpose and period of time?
Know about different points of view - identify them when you are reading and ask yourself why the writer seems to have chosen that point of view and to what effect. Notice the way stories would change completely using a different point of view.


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This is Sunday Suppers, a weekly menu of comfort food favorites meant to be lingered over — with the goal of helping you and your family relax and reconnect.
Even the most positive people can experience a little bit of a droop on Sundays looking ahead at an early wake up alarm and a busy week. It's called the Sunday blues for a reason. That's one of the central reasons to make a nice dinner on Sunday a thing. I know for us, every time we sit down together, even though it takes a bit of timing and effort to lasso the gang together, it's just worth it.
And I always learn something from everyone around the table. That extra time sitting and facing each other (no electronics allowed!) yields dividends. It turns me asking "what's going on for you this week?" and getting the answer "not much" into "yeah, well there's this paper due, and I was going to write it about this one poem, but now I think I want to write it about this other poem…".
Are we solving the world's problems? No way, but I get up from the table knowing something more about the people I shared a meal with than I did before dinner, even if it's what they had for lunch that day, or that there was a lively school assembly with a World War II vet (it sounded very … lively). And I hope my family feels heard, because in our busy, multitasking lives, I might be half listening to something while I unpack groceries, or fill out a permission slip. But on Sundays, I try to shut out the noise, even for a short time, over something delicious.
Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Speaking of delicious, this is one of the best chicken dishes I have made in a while. It also might be one of the prettiest. We'll have to throw our thanks for all of the above to a bit of cream, cherry tomatoes, spinach and fresh herbs. When in doubt, these are ingredients to turn to for color, freshness, flavor and lushness. Or when you want to pretend that you are in Tuscany (or Umbria, or somewhere else in Italy that's really, really good). Serve this over the pasta or starch of your choice — rice, quinoa or polenta would also be great.
Romaine and Slivered Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing
This is one of my go-to salads. The ribbons of very thinly sliced kale soften slightly in the tart, citrusy dressing which make them so much easier to fork up and eat, and the romaine provides a clean crunch. The perfect counterpoint to the lush chicken entrée.
One Pot Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
I'm a big fan of a dessert that can double as a snack later in the week. These super easy to make oatmeal squares filled with raspberry jam (or whatever flavor speaks to you!) are so happy-making. And in the following days being able to cut yourself a little chunk when you need a treat or a pick-me-up is just the nicest thing. A great way to use up that jar of preserves that you picked up at the farmers' market, or that a houseguest gifted you.
Happy Sunday!
Five more Sunday Suppers
- Garlicky roast chicken with shallots and potatoes
- Roast beef with crispy parmesan potatoes
- A Dijon and honey pork tenderloin is the star of this Sunday menu
- A one-skillet Sunday dinner your whole family will love
- A slow cooker supper for busy Sundays
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Flight of Fancy
"Flight of Fancy" explores themes of adolescent attraction, personal freedom, disappointment, and misunderstanding. There is a strong focus on the ego as part of the human experience and the way it disrupts relationships. The protagonist is guided via his perception of supposed "signals" of attraction and acts according to what he believes is expected of him. There is rarely a display of his honest feelings; rather, he often interprets the behavior of his female companion in terms of what the other boys at the school yard have told him. There is a mode of behavior, a template, which he believes dictates female displays of attraction. That mode is of course incorrect, but the protagonist is too young and inexperienced to escape that mentality. This exploration of the protagonist's expectations is relevant today because it speaks to the very human difficulty of establishing stable relationships early into one's life. Due to simple inexperience, a potential relationship can be abandoned or ruined based on perception and a lack of open communication.
The radio is running soft static, the television is flashing hues, smoke is wafting through the air, and our hands are clasping tightly at our knees. Both Jonie and I are smiling ear to ear. Our lips upturned and as precise as clownish paint in an attempt at reassurance. We both know we're somewhere uncomfortable, somewhere we aren't meant to be.
We're sitting in the house behind the Big Lots by the school. It used to be Amelia Earhart's house, but the old man lives here now along with several juicy cockroaches. Since he's been fiddling in the other room in search of his rifle, a handful have scurried around and across the coffee table without the slightest concern, as if this was their natural habitat. As if the owner of the property had never made any attempt at pest control. The wriggle and writhe of their antenna as they nibble at crumbs is enough to make me uneasy, but Jonie appears nonplused.
She's brought us here for research purposes. She's a photographer — or on her way to becoming one. Our final group portfolio project for high school involves creating a presentation board that details some aspect of local history. We've chosen Amelia Earhart as our focal point. To Jonie, taking unseemly photos of freaks in the style of Diane Arbus serves as a way of illustrating how Earhart's neighborhood has transformed since her disappearance, hence the old man. This is the perfect afternoon for this sort of thing, mostly cloudy, dull, and dreary with a splash of sunlight. The subtle shine of this midday light seeps through the ceiling, falling squarely on the AM radio on the end table by the couch, as if by divine intent. The radio space is divinely picturesque and Jonie, driven either by her affinity for spiritual hocus-pocus or out of general discomfort, has been staring at it since we got here.
I, meanwhile, have been carefully studying the living room, my observations sometimes hijacked by Jonie's legs. Of all the days to wear stockings and a sundress, she chose this one. The guys at school say that when a girl does this on a first date, it's a sign that she's interested. But is this really a date? The sour marijuana smoke blended with the rot of the bookshelves suggests no, no it isn't. Same with the soaked rug my feet are resting on and the sloshing sound it makes when I press at it with my toe. The wetness of the rug, what comes out of it when I press, is clear but pungent, like cheese brine. When agitated it ascends into the room, blending with the other smells and somehow making the dirty bowls stacked unevenly in the far corner more appropriate to the atmosphere.
We hear the old man grunting and tossing things around in the other room. Then he stops and shortly after, the door swings open and the old man appears wearing exactly what he wore when he let us in. The metal and plaster brace mounted around his neck undoubtably makes it difficult to put on t-shirts or turn one's head, but a button-up would have been nice. Instead, we are treated to more of his exposed body. His white chest hair flattens as he presses the vintage rifle against himself, examining the barrel.
"Yep, she's a beauty," he says. "This is the real deal, doublya-doublya-two, Gramps brought it back straight from the front lines. Take a look!"
He eagerly hands the rifle to me and I'm surprised by its weight and smooth texture. A gun is the most direct means of extracting the truth, or so I've heard in a movie once. I aim down the sights briefly before the old man slaps the barrel of the gun down and takes the weapon away.
"Woah! Never aim a gun straight ahead. This thing could be loaded! Always aim at the floor. That's rule number one, kid." The old man says with a wink.
My face feels flushed and I hope my cheeks aren't pink. I glance at Jonie's reaction, but find her attention fixed on the old man.
"Nice place you got," she says. "How long have you lived here?"
The old man reaches over to the radio and dials up the static. He inches closer, standing right next to Jonie as he fiddles with the knobs.
"A man doesn't really belong anywhere," the old man says. "It's a trip if you think about it. There are two sides to everyone, body and soul," he pounds the radio, stuttering the static, causing it to blare louder than before. "The soul is the permanent bit," he talks over the noise. "It's the body that's rented, you know? We all just squat and when we gotta fly, we fly!"
"Right on," Jonie nods. "I feel that."
The old man slaps the radio onto the floor, rendering the illuminated side table empty.
"Ah, damn it to hell!" he says, resting the rifle against his shoulder as he pulls up a chair and sits across the coffee table. I call him old, but he has no trouble moving. His lean and limber body is muscular and if his head wasn't full of white strands hanging like thin wires from his scalp, he could be mistaken for someone in his forties.
Jonie inches closer toward the table, keeping her legs tight together.
"Everyone at our school calls you Murry, is that your real name?"
"Well," the old man props the rifle on the ground like a walking stick, examining the barrel. "My name might as well be that. It doesn't bother me. Could be Kevin, or Frankie, or Flanny — whatever. I come and go as I please and I'm not beholden to anyone, I like that."
I turn and see Jonie cycling through the pictures on her camera screen. Her face has turned red at Murry's response and her body is more bunched, tighter into itself.
"You look like a future politician."
Murry's words don't register at first, but when I look up, I see the old man staring straight at me with a kind of stable dissatisfaction.
"Look kid, I've been around a while. Been all over the country and worked at least twelve jobs in LA. I can tell you're trying to snake your way up and into somethin'. You here under false pretenses?"
"You know 'what,' man. Get real. I've played the game you're playing before and I gotta tell you, it ain't gonna work out like you hope."
I feign ignorance, but find myself picking at my fingers, as I do when at a loss for words and desperately in need of a distraction.
"What is your last name though?" Jonie asks and now all eyes have turned toward her again.
"I forget. Smith, or Jones, or Cruz. What's it to you?" Murry says.
Jonie hesitates for a moment and then presents the old man with her camera, its screen displaying an image, the substance of which I fail to catch. Whatever it is, it causes Murry to frown momentarily. He hands the camera back and rests his chin against the barrel of the gun.
"You're pretty good, eh?" he says. "We gonna get this show on the road or what?"
Jonie nods and the two stand up and walk to the other room. I stand up to follow them, but the old man places his hand on my chest, ushering me back down.
"Sorry, buddy. Invitation only," he winks.
"We'll only be a moment," Jonie says and the two leave me alone on the sofa.
As the minutes pass, the light shining through the blinds and ceiling hole wane and dim. The sky takes on a grim darkness, blank as a distant ocean stretched upon a flat plateau. I eventually rise, having forgotten how long it's been and head down the short hallway to the bedroom where the photoshoot is taking place.
I place my ear against the door first and hear nothing. I turn the knob, but the door doesn't give. I knock, then again, and finally the old man's voice comes muffled through the wood.
"Come in."
"It's locked," I say.
"No, it's not, just come in," says Murry.
I turn the knob and press against the door, but it won't budge. The full gravity of the situation dawns and all at once I feel the bits of unease, each part of the apartment that told me to leave, piling atop one another. I'm panting, slamming my shoulder against the door. Each heave cracks with a flat tone, muffled and unalarming. As I brace for my third attempt, the door swings open and Murry catches me in his arms, my face pressing firmly against the white hairs on his chest.
"Guess I must've locked it! My bad!" the old man laughs.
I pull away and he lets go without resistance, amused. Past him, I see Jonie sitting on the futon bed in the middle of the disorderly room. She is looking dejectedly at the floor.
"That's our cue, I think. Your boy here is starting to get riled up!" Murry says.
At this, Jonie quietly stands up and walks past us and into the living room.
"Hey," Murry points at her. "We'll talk again later, kid."
We head down a couple of blocks after passing the school and turn the corner into the small street that Jonie lives on. The neighborhood is quiet, with seldom sounds of distant airplanes cutting through the thick stillness of night. In the black of our unlit street, not a noise radiates, nor a smell rises aside from these momentary reprieves of jet engines and the nib of evening cold.
Jonie and I are walking close together. Neither of us has said anything the whole time. I guess at what to say to break the silence and do my best to control my shivers. I wonder how she manages to keep her body so still and strong in the cold. How it remains so perfectly unaffected and sturdy. I turn to find her clutching the camera to her chest and staring blankly at the sky. This is the perfect moment to ask my question. I open my mouth, but Jonie speaks first.
"It's a full moon tonight," she points up. "It's so big too."
"Oh, yeah I guess," I say.
"The full moon makes people crazy. It's a sign."
"A sign of what?"
"Just a sign," she shrugs. "You know. Just people acting crazy."
In the near distance, the poorly kept front yard of Jonie's house is visible. We crunch the yellow grass along the sidewalk upon approaching her short chain link fence. The house's decaying shingled roof and the aroma of dog shit in the neighborhood do Jonie no justice. She's prim and poised, even as she feebly stumbles with the latch on the gate. Finally, she raises it, pauses, turns, and breaks the silence between us again.
"It makes sense that Murry wouldn't answer my questions. It's the moon, he must have been on edge today."
"What did you ask him?" I say, hoping my irritation doesn't come through.
"He's my dad, I think. See?" She eagerly presents her camera to me. On the screen is a photo of an old polaroid. I can make out a family of three.
"See? It looks just like him," she says.
I pause and a breathless "okay" escapes before I can formulate a better response. I face her, trying to register any signs of annoyance on her face, but her expression appears blank.
"I want to go back tomorrow and get to know him, will you come with me?" She says.
Another long day, with no payoff. The guys at school say that if you don't seal the deal about a month into knowing a girl then all prospects of a relationship are lost. I consider how safe I am then, having spent the last two weeks texting Jonie and now having agreed to spend a second day with her, without properly asking her out.
I gauge the stance, the way she looks at me, and try to understand what she's thinking. I'm trying to decide what I'm thinking when she places her hand on my arm and smiles. Our eyes meet and in her, I see the moon reflected — the one aspect of the night I hadn't noticed.
"Thank you," she says.
"Hold on," I say, stopping her as she pushes the front door open. I try to come up with an excuse to let myself in, but the dread of making a misstep wins over.
"Have a good night, okay?" I smile.
Over the course of the week, Jonie and I make several excursions to Murry's house. At every occasion, the two retire to the back room, leaving me alone with the coffee table roaches. I question Jonie's desire to connect with the man, her desperate attempts to create a relationship with him. If by some chance he is her father, she owes him nothing, he owes her the world. For his part, Murry makes an elaborate show of our every arrival, attempting to entertain us with some trinket or piece of war memorabilia. His focus always seems to be on playing the part of a street-wise historian, someone with an eager desire to educate, but no resources or real value to share.
At each visit, I also question how long this song and dance will continue. I stress at my ongoing involvement and what possible motivation Jonie must have to string me along like this. The wasted time and each lost opportunity for closeness is like another layer of brick cementing our separation. However, every time doubt about Jonie arises, I'm given another reason to continue my pursuit.
On the second day, Jonie hooks her arm around mine. The action leaving me stunned and stiff, unable to react. The day after, she seems friendlier, talking all the while en route from the school yard to the old, battered house. The way she approaches me changes noticeably. She becomes much more vibrant, smiling at the sight of me and even waving whenever nearby. She tells me she's happy with the way things are going with the old man, happy that I've been a friend to her through this process. At first, I feel a genuine closeness growing and this makes me optimistic. But, the thought of becoming too much of a friend occurs to me and so by the end of the week I feel a strong need to pull back, lest I ruin everything I've worked for.
Friday is a particularly long day, being the first day of spring that marks the slow approach of break. We are walking down Jonie's street after our visit to Murry's. The heat radiating from the asphalt and the pungent smell of hot lavender flowers engulfs my senses. Between us is silence unlike what I experienced that first night. The lack of conversation is strange, but not unwelcome. I haven't tried to create distance yet, but the distance has sprung up and I am reluctant to explore its cause. Indeed, I think it might be better to feed this further, so I keep my mouth shut as we walk. When we reached Jonie's fence, she pauses and signals for me to wait.
"Thanks for coming with me," she says, clasping her hands together.
"You didn't have to do that. Do you want to come in?"
This question bolts straight into my gut, forcing its way upward and deep into my throat. I gulp and a million questions, guesses, and statements stampede through my body at full gallop, culminating in a meager "yes," that escapes oddly in falsetto.
Jonie simply smiles and leads the confused mess of me through her front door and into the living room where her mom is lounging on a sofa. I greet her with an awkward wave and a meek "hello."
"Hi," she smiles and returns to her aviation magazine.
"Come on upstairs," Jonie beckons and I comply.
Jonie's room is full of knitted wide-eyed plushies and plastic dolls in elaborate Victorian dresses. Every inch of space, from the porcelain figurines lining her bookshelf to the Native American rug spread along the floor, is vibrant and erupting with jubilation. The colors are disorienting, and the air is stuffy, smelling of heat and old clothing. I feel a strong urge to leave.
"I'm a bit of a grandma," Jonie says, aware of my observation.
"It's a nice room, I like it," I lie.
"Thanks! Do you want a drink, can I get you something? Maybe fruit?"
Jonie goes downstairs, somehow furthering my panic and indecision with her absence. What is the decorum for this sort of thing? What is the expectation? The guys at school say that when a girl invites you into her bedroom, that's a definite sign that she wants it. But despite this security, this glaring exclamation point giving me the "all clear," I can't shake the possibility of failure, the gravity of a misstep. Do I really dare upset the universe with a single decisive moment? Can I even stomach it amid the suffocating smell and the rows of beady, plastic eyes watching me from every nook and corner?
Jonie returns with a full plate of diced strawberries, kiwis, watermelon, and apples. She holds the plate out to me, and I reluctantly grab the smallest bit, a strawberry, and pop it into my mouth. The fruit tastes like wall paste, but I chew and swallow as Jonie takes a seat on her bed. She motions for me to sit beside her and I do, brushing my hand against the knitted orange blanket covering the sheets.
"The more we head to the house, the more convinced I am, but he won't admit it," she says.
"Who?" I focus on the softness of the cover, petting it like a cat to relieve the pounding in my chest.
"Murry. Why would he keep talking to me if it wasn't him?"
"Did you ask your mom?" I say the first thing that comes to mind.
"No, she wouldn't be happy about it."
The guys at school say that the best thing to do is to look for an opening. This is the proper setup, by all accounts, but still no opening appears. I fish for a phrase or utterance that will spark something, anything. A magic syntactical formula to shift the topic away from the old man and toward me. The more thoughts come to my mind, the more discomfort I feel. My gut is fraught with indecision, and to qualm this feeling I let the fatal words escape intuitively almost like a coil propelling outward from the application of uneven pressure.
"What if you're wrong?"
She stops mid-sentence, apparently in the middle of something I've completely missed.
"Yeah, what if you're wrong? I mean, do you actually think he's your dad? Do you know how crazy that is?"
"Well, I —"
"Why do you need this guy anyway? You're strong enough to act on your own. You don't need his advice or anything. Even if he is your dad, what's he supposed to do for you?"
Jonie's attention drifts and she says nothing, apparently upset at what I've said. I continue, unable to stop.
"You don't owe this guy anything. No one owes anyone anything. You should just leave it alone and live your life."
A thought dawns on me amidst the awkward silence that follows. What if there was never an opportunity at all? What if this has all just been a game to her, an attempt at using me like she's used Murry. An attempt at attention or to use me as a creature of comfort, a body to string along and dump her burdens on. Perhaps there could have been some prospects for a relationship, but she got the situation and my desires wrong. The truth dawns on me, I'm not that important, and with this thought I feel a sense of ease wash over, having rid myself of any and all obligation to her.
"I have to go," I say abruptly.
"Oh. Home?"
"Yeah, gotta go home, sorry," I reiterate.
"That's okay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been talking so much. It's getting late," she stands up and leads me downstairs where her mother is still reclining on the couch. As I bid Jonie goodbye under the doorframe, her mother waves absently without looking up.
In 1965 a banker living in New York City, Irene Bolman, was believed to be Amelia Earhart. Despite her denial of the numerous claims and documented evidence to the contrary, the rumor of Earhart taking on a new identity as Bolman grew widespread and generated several books on the topic. Some people cling to their own delusion and defend it for fear of being proven wrong.
I reflect on this bit of history while sitting on my bedroom floor and piecing together the photographs Jonie took of Earhart's house. Within the stack of black-and-white polaroids are shots of Murry in different poses. I examine them one by one, searching for any similarity between Murry and the photo of the man Jonie showed me. With each image I become more convinced that it's best not to fuel Jonie's delusion any further.
I stick the images of the house onto the board with tacky glue, carefully angling each one to be in line with the paper I've written and included in the center. If Jonie had just taken the time to think about the situation more clearly, she could have been here helping me with the project. I squeeze too much glue out of the bottle, covering a polaroid of the old man sitting on his bed with the rifle. I attempt to wipe it, but quickly become frustrated and toss it into the trash bin by my desk.
Returning to my solitary group project, I notice a familiar face in the stack of polaroids. The picture is of me, taken en route to the decrepit house after school. I shuffle through the pile and find more impromptu photos of myself. A particularly striking shot has me standing in profile, staring at something off camera. The sunlight is directly in my eyes and yet they appear wide open, mesmerized by something now mysterious and incomprehensible. I turn the photograph around and find a small heart that Jonie has drawn with a red sharpie.
I had pegged the old man as a late riser, so finding him occupied outside Amelia Earhart's house before school hours took me by surprise. The sun slowly rises above him, illuminating the old RV that Murry is loading up with trinkets and other, larger furnishings. Through the air flows the smell of fresh cut grass and the remnants of early morning fog, but as I approach the RV, the atmosphere changes. Closer and closer the vehicle obscures the sunlight, and the familiar smells of marijuana and rot become ever prominent.
Murry has his back turned and for a moment, I hope he doesn't notice me. In truth, I don't know what to say to him, how to lead him to a confession. I feel though, that I must move forward.
"Hey," I say, but the old man doesn't notice.
"Murry! Hey!"
"What?" The brace still firmly mounted on his shoulders makes it so he has to turn his entire body to speak to me.
"Ah! It's the future president! How you doing?"
"Are you Jonie's dad or not?" The words escape abruptly, but Murry doesn't appear phased at all. He puts his hand on his chin and considers the question before speaking again.
"Well, you know, a man — especially a drifting man like me — is like a universal force. He travels, spreading his good tidings —"
"Are you or not?" I demand. "We've been coming to see you every day for a week now — you owe us the truth. We've earned it."
Murry smiles smugly, as if he had finally caught me in a corner.
"You know, seriously, you should run for public office someday, kid. You have a good way of spinning wrong into right and right into wrong."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"What do you want exactly?"
The question tenses my body tremendously. I hadn't noticed, but I've been picking at my fingers and a mild unease in my stomach is now beginning to culminate into a terrible ache.
"I just want to know if you're her dad or not."
"Nah, kid. You don't want that. Listen, I've played the game you're playing. It doesn't lead anywhere, nowhere you think."
I stay silent, waiting for Murry to elaborate. Instead, he reaches down into the stack of boxes he has beside him and pulls out the WWII rifle.
"You know," he aims down the sights in the direction of the house. "I've never fired this thing, not sure if it even works"
"Why don't you try it?" I say.
"Got nothin' to shoot and no desire to shoot nothin'. I've lived a good life without pullin' triggers, why start now?" He turns and places the rifle inside the RV.
"About the girl," he continues, reaching into his slacks and pulling out a folded piece of paper, "I gotta leave this house. Squatter's life — the need for change never changes! But give her this from me, will you?"
I take the paper and pocket it.
"Don't look at it, you're not gonna find what you want there. Just give it to her, she needs it," Murry says as if pleading with someone down on their luck.
"I'll give it to her."
"Good. Now, I gotta clear out before the cops show up and tell me to clear out faster. Think about the public office thing, really. It would suit you," he climbs into the RV, starts the engine, and drives away, leaving me alone under the heat of the rising sun.
Large groups of my peers are shuffling through the front gate when I finally reach the school grounds. The scene is something akin to a breadline, each person pausing at the table set up by the administrative staff beside the entrance. The staffer sitting at the table checks everyone's clothing, making sure we're all in uniform. After he gives me the all-clear, I scan the masses for shades of vibrant color, easily finding Jonie lounging on a stairway far out in the distance.
I take Murry's note out of my pocket and walk intently toward her. She hasn't noticed me yet and, as I approach, I became increasingly aware of the reason. She's smiling, laughing at something a boy beside the stairway is telling her. He comes closer and up the stairs to meet her. Tall, fair-skinned, bigger than me, the boy's brown hair takes on an almost golden appearance under the light striking the stairs. He lunges, two steps at a time until reaching her and sitting down. She welcomes the company with a warm hug.
Despite my initial intention, I notice that my legs had stopped moving. I stand still and though closer in distance, I'm somehow much further than I had been before. A fire erupts in my belly at the sight of them, sitting side by side. The flame carries upward and once again I feel a deep aching. I look down at the note, partially ajar and crumpled in my fist. Though the letters in the note are legible and the words they form are totally comprehensible, I don't register them. The note is complete gibberish, inconsequential now.
Jonie stands up at the sound of the bell and finally looks in my direction. She waves, but I'm not sure who the wave is meant for, likely someone else. I turn away, taking an alternate route up to the first floor and toward my homeroom. As I come closer to the classroom, I think about all the things I can do after school. Perhaps take a walk, or play video games, or watch something fun on my laptop.
My homeroom teacher smiles as I walk in. I smile back, tossing the moist paper crumpled in my hand into the trashcan. I make my way to my desk, pause, consider fishing the note out. Its words burn in my mind, I try to make better sense of them, but Murry appears instead. The need for change never changes! He echoes through my psyche, the need for change. The second bell rings, I take my seat, and daydream of the approaching break, reveling in the freedom and stillness soon to come.
Samvel Aleksanyan (Sam Aleks) is an Armenian-born, American artist and writer living in Los Angeles, California. Sam earned a Master's Degree in English from California State University, Northridge in 2018. His writing has been featured in The Northridge Review, Spring 2014 issue and the July issue of Pif Magazine. His artwork was featured in the Canyon Voices, Winter 2018 issue and displayed in the Northridge Annual Student Art Exhibit, Spring 2014 as well as in The NOVA Frame and Art Gallery, Fall 2014.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter: @samaleksart


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Sheffield United can now official prepare for the summer and next season, after relegation was confirmed with defeat at Wolves last weekend.
It brings and end to United's two-year stay in the Premier League. An end to a fantastic journey led by Chris Wilder which has, sadly, reached the end in a manner nobody wanted to see.
But the club must move on and move on quickly. A new manager is the most immediate of matters to attend to. A number of names – up to 25 – are said to be in the running for the job.
According to The Athletic this week, that new manager will have raise around £40m in player sales. And that's before any new faces are brought in.
Naturally, that has caused some Blades fans to take aim at Prince Abdullah again. But is selling players really such a big surprise? And is it really the Prince's fault that we have to go down that road?
A look at recently relegated clubs will tell you that it's actually pretty normal to follow such a model.
£40m is easily raised, Sheffield United fans shouldn't be surprised
The figure of £40m, per The Athletic's report, is set given the loss in TV revenue United will see disappear. Parachute payments will offset some of that loss, but the rest will need to be made up. Player sales, then, are inevitable.
But we shouldn't be surprised and this notion that the likes of Norwich, Bournemouth, and Watford haven't done that, is simply untrue.
Bournemouth sold Nathan Ake for over £40m. Callum Wilson joined Newcastle for around £20m, and the Blades signed Aaron Ramsdale up for a cool £18m. Further players on big money also left, with the likes of Ryan Fraser, Jermaine Defoe, and Jordan Ibe departing.
At Norwich, Ben Godfrey left for around £25m, while Jamal Lewis went to Newcastle for about £15m. A quick sum will tell you that's around that golden £40m mark.
Finally, Watford – who could go up automatically – also cashed in. Abdoulaye Doucoure was the big player sale, while the likes of Estupinan, Capoue, and Suarez also departed.
The Blades will likely follow a similar model. Sander Berge will probably leave for around the £30m mark. Other players who'll attract interest from above will be John Egan, George Baldock, and, if fit, Jack O'Connell.
So while yes, it might seem another kick in the guts having to sell a few players, it shouldn't come as a big surprise. United should still have enough in the squad to compete, and with a few additions and a new manager at the helm, there's plenty to be positive about for next season.


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MARTINSVILLE – Tuesday at 1:20 AM, the Martinsville Police Department responded to 313 Clift Street in reference to a shooting. Rasheem Oshea Hairston was found dead at the scene. After officers arrived, they were called to the hospital for a second person with gunshot wounds. Devontae Lee Massey, 23, of Martinsville, had also been shot on Clift Street. Massey's wounds were non-life threatening. Arrest warrants were obtained for Devontae Massey and he was charged with:
second degree murder
use of a firearm in the commission of a felony
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
reckless handling of a firearm
discharging a firearm in the city
The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to contact Sergeant Richard Ratcliffe at 276-403- 5331 or Lieutenant Sandy Hines at 276-403-5328.
MARTINSVILLE – The Martinsville Police Department is conducting an investigation after a gunshot wound victim appeared at SOVAH Health in Martinsville.
According to the Martinsville-Henry County 911 Center, the individual received gunshot wounds to the arm and leg in an incident Tuesday.


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Need an online business idea with very low start-up costs? Start a business using the dropshipping business model.
This beginner's guide tells you exactly what you need to know to start a dropshipping business in 2021.
By the end of this guide you will know all the components of the dropshipping business model and you'll know how to take that first step to owning your own ecommerce store.
Drop shipping is one of the best business ideas I recommend without reservation because it is a proven way to make a sustainable online income.
Let's Get Started
I'm excited to tell you about this model because it is the number one business model that I get asked about. Online retail has exploded over the last 10 years and 2020 was the year that pushed it even harder to the forefront. As an online business owner, I can testify that all of my businesses were more profitable because of the change in lifestyle for buyers across the globe. This is good for you because people are now much more comfortable shopping in e-commerce stores and there is plenty of space for new online retailers.
The Dropshipping Business Model Explained
Let's quickly define dropshipping so we're on the same page.
A drop shipping business is any business that fulfills customer orders by buying the product from a supplier and then has the supplier ship the product to the customer. So for you, there is no warehouse, storage costs, no inventory or shipping costs.
You provide the digital storefront and online customer service. You're essentially responsible for the supply chain management. So if a product is damaged during shipping, you're expected to facilitate the return and have your supplier send out a new one. Your customers rely on you for service and your supplier relies on your as well because they never interact with the customer.
Essentially, a dropshipper just maintains a website and never touches the products. The products are housed in a supplier's warehouse.
In your store, you can have products available from many different suppliers. And here's the great part. When the customer buys a product, they pay you and then you purchase the product from your supplier. You're never out of pocket.
How Much Does it Cost to Set Up a Shopify Store?
The start-up costs for a dropshipping are very cheap. I recommend Shopify as an e-commerce platform because their basic plan is only $29/per month and they have a free trial.
You'll need to buy a domain name which is only about $12 per year. You can purchase a domain name yourself or you can buy and register it through Shopify. I personally prefer to own my domain names outside the platform I'm using for more personal control. Lean Domain Search is a great place to start to brainstorming a name for your business.
Ideally, your domain name should have words in it that your customer would type into a search engine.
For example: Country Kitchen Bistros or Deluxe Portable Bar Store
Having your main store product in your name can be helpful for ranking higher in Google which will bring more potential buyers to your website.
Need some store ideas? This site maintains a list of the top Shopify stores.
You can set up the store yourself or you can pay a freelancer on Fiverr or Upwork to set it up for you. This can cost $300-$500 dollars depending on how many initial products you'd like uploaded to get started. This cost is optional though. You can do all of it yourself if you have the time.
Selecting Your Main Product
Choosing your product line is a fun part of setting up your business. We recommend that you choose a product that you actually like or would buy yourself. Your prospective buyers may ask you about your products before they buy and your enthusiasm may make the difference between getting the sale or not. It's also important to know your nich and your products well. You need to be an expert on what you're selling for the purpose of marketing online and writing about your products in your store.
For your main products, I recommend that you sell higher ticket items. A higher ticket item would be around $500 to $1,000 dollars or even more. There's a reason for this! You pit the same amount of effort into selling a higher priced item as you do a cheaper item. You'll need to provide customer service whether you're selling massage chairs or kitchen aprons. But your profit will be higher selling a $900 massage chair.
Make sure there is a demand for your product by doing some simple Google searches and see who is already selling it. Try to pick products that customers would rather have shipped to their home than go get themselves like a floor to ceiling bookcase with glass doors. When you sell higher priced items you're normally selling to a demographic that will easily spend $1000 on a quality item for their home.
Selecting Accessory Products
Accessory products should compliment your core products. They may be cheaper than $500 but they're something your buyer needs.
For example: If you sell billiard tables you might choose pool cues, balls for various games, or billiard table lighting as your accessories.
Choose a Reliable Dropshipping Supplier
You can have multiple suppliers for your e-commerce store but do some research and make sure the supplier has a good reputation. Being able to rely on your supplier to ship the items in a timely manner to the customer is critical to the success of your business.
Go online and see which suppliers other ecommerce stores in your niche are using. Then carefully check out each suppliers' website.
Your Dropship Supplier Also Picks You!
You'll need to set up a demo store with a few products from your supplier in order for the supplier to approve you to sell their products. Suppliers will want to see that you know what you're doing and you won't mismanage the sale of their product line. Your relationship with your supplier is one of the most important things in your business. You want them to reliably supply the products and they want you to reliably represent their products and deal with customers.
Sales Tax and Company Set Up
Because I'm not an accountant or an attorney I can't offer professional advice on the topic of taxes and company structure for your business but I can tell you what other store owners have done. In the US you will likely be required to collect sales tax from your buyer to remit to your state government. In order to do this, you need a resale certificate that comes from your state. The state requires you to have a Tax ID to set this up so many store owners set up a company as the taxable entity and use their company EIN number. To get all the questions answered for your specific state or country, I suggest contacting Legal Zoom.
Marketing Your Dropshipping Store
Google Ads
When you sign up and use Google ads to advertise your business your product has the potential to show up and the top of the search engine results page. People see your products first and many of them will click through and buy.
Content Marketing for the Dropshipping Business Model
Content marketing refers to the content posted on your e-commerce store. This content is written with the purpose of converting the reader into a customer. You have the opportunity to create product quality product descriptions and product pages, PDF product guides, faq content and more.
Some store owners create a blog at their store specifically for this purpose. Writing about the products you sell makes a potential buyer feel like you are an expert in your niche and it makes them more comfortable purchasing from you.
When you write content that includes the words that people type into a search engine, Google will rank your pages in their search engine and send free, organic traffic to your store. This is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO
Social Media Marketing and Advertising
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok are all great platforms for advertising dropshipping products. You can set up the basic, free accounts for your business and start advertising right away or you can build a following first of people who love your products and share them with others. If you have a hot product that people love you may be able to get an influencer in your niche to share your product. You can also pay influencers a fee to feature your products on their social media channels.
Email Marketing
No matter what kind of online business you have your email list is a golden opportunity to increase your sales. If a prospect has signed up on your email list, that means they are interested in your products. Emails with coupons and special pricing sales can be sent out routinely to your customer list to increase your revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is dropshipping still profitable in 2021?
Yes, dropshipping as an online business continues to grow and be very profitable in 2021. E-commerce activities in general have increased due to government imposed lockdowns and the need for people to work from home. Some at-home workers have started dropshipping businesses on the side as a way to bring in extra income. If their stores continue to grow they may be able to replace their job income and be their own boss.
How much do dropshippers make?
There are a lot of factors that go into a dropshippers income including; how old the store is, how many products they sell and their ability to successfully market their store. The high-ticket dropshippers I personally know that are doing a great job are making four figure and five figure monthly incomes with the five figure monthly incomes from stores that are over five years old. The sales in their stores are trending up each year and other than some brief supply chain issues caused by the 2020 pandemic their stores were more profitable in 2020 than in the previous year.
Can you start dropshipping with no money?
I recommend Shopify, which would only be $29 per month. That being said, if you intend to do the store creation with a free Shopify template and upload your own products, then the platform will be your only cost.
What should I dropship in 2021?
Here are some successful, high-ticket dropshipping niches that I've researched and recommend.
buffets and sideboards, treadmill desks, tiny houses, pub and bistro tables, ergonomic chairs, foosball tables, kitchen sinks, solar panels
Is dropshipping a legitimate business?
Absolutely! This is a valid question because you're selling physical products, yet you don't ever hold or see the physical products. While this appears intangible it's really not. Droppshippers are the middleman in the business relationship. They bring the buyer and the supplier together and take a cut of the profit.
How do dropshippers make money?
When your customer purchases from your store you get paid. You then have to purchase the item from your supplier at a reduced cost. The difference you keep is called gross margin. Once you subtract your business expenses from the gross margin you have your net margin. That's the money you get to keep.
So this is the dropshipping business model explained. With any online business idea you need a solid dropshipping business plan. I encourage you to imagine yourself running an online store and the freedom of lifestyle it could bring you and your family. A dropship business can be run from anywhere and you can set your own hours. You can even hire virtual assistants to run part of the business for you so you have even more free time.
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Dubai of the UAE is a major economic and travel hub. There is a good likelihood you or someone you know has been there.
I am not sure why, but I am just now learning about the rich culture and history of Emirati pearl divers. Long before oil dominated the UAE experience, pearl diving was vital to their economic well being.
May the delightful Emirati's experience God's grace to find the Pearl of Great Price.


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The actor has warned fans of "fried" will be disappointed.
Timur Eremeev
Photo: Social networks
Timur Eremeev won at this stage, the most important victory in court proceedings with alleged relatives on the part of the actor Spartaka Mishulina.
That court dismissed the suit on protection of honor and dignity of the widow of the famous actor Spartaka Mishulina, it became known late last night. "Just inform! In any case, do not gloat and do not celebrate the victory. Everyone would be better if this claim was not at all…" commented the Grand event of Timur. The fans once again admired the tact Eremeeva.
Timur Yeremeyev came to the defense of Karina of Mishulin
Read MORE
Karina is this situation looks from the other side. "The lawsuit was about honor and dignity, and not on the recognition of his son! By law he continues to be Yeremeyev and no relation to our family has not, but those who call it as such, violate the laws of the Russian Federation, although in our country they break all. And while everyone wants to live well… that dismissed the claim just shows how pathetic our society is. Honor, dignity, love, honesty don't exist anymore! Anyone can throw in the media mud at another person, to defame and pull dirty linen and anything it for it will not, unless he is friends with "the force," — said Karina. — We didn't lose, we just started! And break us out of anyone! No dirty, false transmission or incompetent journalists or angry people who are unhappy from not knowing what a love! The power of the truth! And the truth will prevail anyway! Well, Mr. Yeremeyev I wish to successfully fulfill his contract with 1 channel for a few million. I hope he has become happier for a moment…"


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Gone, But Not Forgotten? What The Internet Will Look Like Under SOPA Fearsgiving Week Jesus Approves of Waterboarding Beware of Asteroids
Gone, But Not Forgotten?
What The Internet Will Look Like Under SOPA
Fearsgiving Week
Jesus Approves of Waterboarding
Beware of Asteroids
All links are current as of the date of publication. All content created by the author is copyrighted 2005-2010, except where held by the owners/publishers of parent works and/or subject materials. Any infringement of another's work is wholly unintentional. If you see something here that is yours, a polite request for removal or credit will be honored.
Mr. Obama? Mr. Hayward? It's Still ThereTuesday, May. 25, 2010 3:49 AM
In the wake of a strangely laissez-faire approach to the Deepwater Horizon spill, President Obama is slated to visit California this week and tour a solar power plant.
And as much as I think we need to pursue an aggressive, challenge-based program for alternative energy sources, the usual 'look forward, not backwards' approach of the Obama Administration isn't going to cut it.
Because the Gulf of Mexico is still polluted to hell and back with millions of gallons of British Petroleum's finest.
The problems facing us are considerable, starting with BP's soft-pedaling of the spill's size and output. It took a month before they admitted the spill might be larger than they thought. This includes the '5,000 barrels' figure - which the media dutifully repeated; and, more recently, the 'mile-long pipe' non-sequitur - again, dutifully repeated by the media.
BP also bandied about the term 'fail-safe' early in the disaster, when it's clear there wasn't one. Fail SAFE = containment. Fail HORRIBLY = uncontrolled gushing of oil into the Gulf.
And now that BP has dragged its heels for a month, the problem has gotten bigger. So we're reduced to golf balls and knotted rope, folks. Setting fire to the Gulf. Setting off some kind of explosive charge to seal the breach. Do these sound like anything other than desperate, last-ditch attempts to address a major-league fuckup?
BP CEO Tony Hayward says he's 'devastated' by the spill. Let's be honest, shall we? You're not sorry for the spill, you're sorry it's costing your company billions of dollars.


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The French Open men's singles final is a familiar site for the tennis Connoisseurs. Yes, like others I also thought that it won't be a similar battle while keeping the incredible surge of Djokovic's in mind.
It's World No.1 Rafael Nadal vs. former World No.1 and current World No.3 Roger Federer, they will lock horns on the familiar territory, where Nadal has won on all 4 ocassions,the latest being the 2008 French Open finals.
This will be the 25th meeting between these two greats. The last time they took on each other in a Grand Slam title match was two years back at the Australian Open, where Nadal won his first ever hard court Grand Slam and became the first Spaniard to win the coveted trophy of Australian Open. Nadal leads their overall head-to-head series 16-8, including an all time record 8 Grand Slam finals, where Nadal once again prevailed by winning 6 of those 8 games.
In the semis Birthday boy Nadal stopped Britain's Andy Murray beating him 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to improve his record at Roland Garros to 44-1. Rafa saved as many as 15 break points.
But for Federer as expected Djokovic's is not the one who gives up easily, Federer made 46 unforced errors in a 3 hour 40 minutes battle which he ultimately won 7-6,6-3,3-6,7-6.
Nadal reached his 6th French open final; he has already beaten Federer twice this season.
Nadal is the King of Clay where as Federer is the King of Grass. Their respective dominance on clay and grass was the impetus for the 'Battle of Surfaces 'an exhibition match on half clay, half grass court.
This is Federer's 23rd Grand Slam final and a win for the 29 year Old Swiss will give him Grand Slam no.17, extending his pre-existing record of most ever in the open era. This man has achieved everything in Tennis; a win will put the most glorious of seals on a remarkable career of Swiss Master.
A win for the 25 year old Nadal, will earn him his 10th Grand Slam title and a match for Bjorn Bjorg's record haul of 6 Roland Garros championships. The Spaniard will also retain his no.1 ranking which he might lose to Djokovic if he fails against Federer.
Nadal will start the proceeding as favorite nevertheless, the Swiss maestro appears to have excelled to new heights based on his current progress.Nadal's key advantages over Federer are his court area coverage and his dominance at the slow clay surfaces. But he needs to answer that dynamic Fed-express backhand which freely runs over the opponents.
After slipping out of limelight for a short while, this could well be the Federer's tournament.
The crowd will be hoping for an enthralling five setter game and they are unlikely to be let down.
It's always difficult to choose between these two who will be remembered as the rulers of the World tennis. These moments are rare in Sports. Get ready for another thrilling marathon.


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This movie introducing our stunning and outrageous mature brunette Jay. UK mature babe Jay is headed for a day of public exhibitionism! Birmingham gets to sample the charms of Jay on a warm spring day. Features flashing, public nudity and more outrageous behaviour! We meet up with Jay in a country car park and watch […]
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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the club has acquired defenceman Calle Rosen from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Michael Hutchinson.
Rosen, 26, has appeared in eight games with the Avalanche in 2019-20, recording a pair of assists. In 35 games with the Colorado Eagles (AHL) this season, he has recorded three goals and 12 assists. The Vaxjo, Sweden native has appeared in 16 career NHL regular season games between Toronto and Colorado, registering a goal and three assists. Rosen has registered 83 points (14 goals, 69 assists) in 151 career AHL games between the Toronto Marlies and Eagles. He has six goals and six assists in 23 career playoff games with the Marlies, capturing the Calder Cup with Toronto in 2018.
Rosen was originally signed by the Maple Leafs to a two-year entry-level contract on May 16, 2017. He was traded to Colorado on July 1, 2019 along with Nazem Kadri and a third-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft in exchange for Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot and a sixth-round pick in 2020.


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On March 22, 2020 at 11:10 a.m. the Embassy received reports of the following additional quarantine restrictions applied by the Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) in Tashkent and the immediate vicinity of the city:
- All public transportation in Tashkent has been closed including subway, buses, and mini-bus services. Only those taxis with a disinfection certificate from the GoU are allowed to operate in Tashkent and the immediate vicinity of the city.
- All taxis entering Tashkent city are required to present a disinfection certificate from the GoU.
- All recreational areas in the mountain region neighboring Tashkent are closed including Chimgan, Beldersay and Charvak. As of now, there are no restrictions on personal hiking in the mountain region outside of Tashkent.
- All roads leading to the mountain region neighboring Tashkent remain open, however local law enforcement is known to implement stricter regulations. We have received reports of vehicles being stopped by local law enforcement at Gazalkent bridge.
- All entertainment venues in Tashkent, including restaurants, spas, massage parlors, tea houses, cafes, karaoke centers, computer gaming rooms and others are closed. Restaurant food delivery options are still available in Tashkent.
- Grocery stores remain open to the public.
- All public gatherings to include weddings, large family gatherings and holidays are prohibited by the GoU.
- All secondary schools and higher remain in vacation status.


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The First Art Newspaper on the Net
Established in 1996
Friday, September 22, 2023
Last Week
Bologna is back in business with Monet
Installation view.
Exhibition activity got underway again at
Palazzo Albergati
in Bologna on 29 August 2020, which marked the start of the eagerly awaited exhibition Monet and the Impressionists. Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris: a collection of fifty-seven masterpieces bearing the signatures of Monet and the biggest names in French Impressionism such as Manet, Renoir, Degas, Corot, Sisley, Caillebotte, Morisot, Boudin, Pissarro and Signac all from the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, renowned throughout the world as the home of the great Impressionists.
This is a real first, given that this is the only time since its foundation in 1934 that the Parisian museum has loaned out a corpus of unique pictures, many of which have never been exhibited anywhere else in the world.
Going against the current international trend, as well as being a truly major event in exhibition terms this show also represents a huge challenge during a period still dominated by great uncertainty due to the Covid-19 health crisis.
With the intention of catering to the public interest and relaunching Bolognas cultural offer, five months later the Musée Marmottan Monet and Arthemisia are once again presenting the key exhibition that is being held from 29 August 2020 to 14 February 2021: an unmissable opportunity to explore the development of the worlds best loved movement in painting.
The Comune di Bologna, in partnership with Bologna Welcome, is playing an active part in promoting the exhibition, partly through its Card Culture tool.
Alongside key masterpieces of French Impressionism such as Portrait of Madame Ducros (1858) by Degas, Portrait of Julie Manet (1894) by Renoir and Water Lilies (c. 191619) by Monet, the exhibition also showcases a number of works that have never been seen by the public at large because they have never left the Musée Marmottan Monet. This is the case of the Portrait of Berthe Morisot Reclining (1873) by Édouard Manet, Pont de l'Europe, Gare Saint-Lazare (1877) by Claude Monet and Seated Young Girl in a White Hat (1884) by Pierre Auguste Renoir.
The Monet and the Impressionists. Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris exhibition also seeks to pay tribute to all those collectors and benefactors including the many descendants and friends of the artists in display who, from 1932 onwards, have helped to expand the prestigious collection at the Parisian museum, making it one of the richest and most important in terms of preserving the memory of the Impressionist movement.
SECTION ONE Claude Monet: the origin of the Musée Marmottan Monet collections
Paul Marmottan kept his collections in his home in the 16th arrondissement in Paris. It was opened to the public in 1934 and was named the Musée Marmottan Monet in the 1990s.
The addition of the great masters name reflects the acquisitions made by the museum, which now houses the biggest Monet collection in the world.
This exceptional collection was created in 1940 thanks in part to the donation from Victorine Donop de Monchy, whose portrait painted by Renoir (Portrait of Victorine de Bellio, 1892) features in the exhibition.
The show opens with two of the Monet masterpieces that Victorine donated to the museum: Pont de l'Europe, Gare Saint-Lazare (1877) and Train in the Snow or The Locomotive (1875).
Subsequently, in 1966, Michel Monet, Claudes son and last descendent, appointed the Musée Marmottan as the artists universal legatee, thereby making it the custodian of the worlds largest collection of artworks by Monet.
Michel donated around 100 canvases by his father, whose finest pieces make up the core of the exhibition, together with a bust of Monet by Paul Paulin, which is the only sculpture on display.
SECTION TWO Berthe Morisot at the Musée Marmottan Monet
Back in the 1990s, the Musée Marmottan Monet hosted the first collection in the world of works by Berthe Morisot.
The works were offered to the museum by the descendants of the daughter of Berthe and Ėugene Manet (brother of Ėdouard), Julie Manet. This section features her portrait, painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1894 (Portrait of Julie Manet) when she was sixteen years old.
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In addition to Berthe Morisots masterpieces, the bequest from Annie Rouart (Julies daughter-in-law) includes artworks by great artists and family friends such as Camille Corot, Édouard Manet and the other Impressionist colleagues whose works in the exhibition testify to the earliest stages of the movement.
In this section, Manets Jupiter and Antiope (1856) (inspired by Titians eponymous painting) evokes Berthe Morisots encounter with Claude Monet at the Louvre in 1868, when the two of them were copying masterpieces at the museum.
Next to this is the Portrait of Berthe Morisot Reclining (1876), illustrating her activity as a model. Indeed, she posed for Manet until 1874, the year he married Eugène.
SECTION THREE Painting en plein air
How did the Impressionists contribute to the history of art? How did they differ from their predecessors? What innovations did they hand down to the next generations?
Being an Impressionist primarily means painting from life, getting out of the studio and working outdoors, en plein air. This approach leads to a number of different results. Impressionists paint what they see. By doing so, they deliberately break away from the tradition of religious and mythological painting and from its edifying and idealized scenes. Painting from life also means having to bring equipment with you: an easel, palette, tubes of paint and a canvas. Artists therefore prefer small formats that are easy to transport. They also paint more quickly, because they only have limited time, meaning that the work is executed very rapidly. Last but not least, Impressionists work in the light of day and this is reflected in the colours of their palette. They abandon the dark and gloomy shades of their predecessors in favour of light colours.
In this section, works such as Landscape near Cagnes-sur-Mer (1905) by Renoir, Indian Summer, near Moret-sur-Loing (1891) by Sisley and Outer Boulevards, Snow (1879) by Pisarro illustrate the Impressionists contribution to the history of art and the innovations they handed down to the next generations.
SECTION FOUR Figure painting
In order to ridicule the free and rapid style of the paintings by Monet and his friends, the critic Louis Leroy coined the term Impressionist in 1874, drawing inspiration from Monets famous painting Impression, Sunrise (Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet).
Dedicating their time to studying atmospheric effects on subjects and the landscape, the Impressionists were regularly criticized by those who accused them of not knowing how to draw. However, that was not the case, and this is clearly apparent when we look at their figure paintings such as Portrait of Henri Rouart (1871) and Portrait of Madame Ducros (1858), both by Degas.
Renoir, Morisot and Degas considered drawing to be the very essence of their artistic practice. The line is what brings the subject to life in all its complexity.
Being an Impressionist also meant portraying society as it is, painting a portrait of modern life, as Baudelaire called it.
SECTION FIVE Monet: from Argenteuil to Giverny
Monet was born in 1840 and died in 1926. He spent his entire life immersed in nature, which provided him with a never-ending source of inspiration. During the early years of his career, he set up his easel in Argenteuil near Paris and in Normandy, where he grew up, as well as going on numerous trips around Europe and to the Netherlands. When he eventually settled in Giverny, his garden became the only subject of his paintings.
Should we therefore see Monet as an artist who, rather like a cartographer, describes France and Europe, urban and rural life? No. First and foremost, he seeks to describe light and space: the brilliant light of a spring day in Argenteuil (The Walk Argenteuil, 1875), the rainy atmosphere of a stormy sea in Fécamp (The Sea at Fécamp, 1881) or the reflections of the foliage on the pond in Giverny (The Water Lily Pond, 191719 and 191819). While an approach such is this is undeniably consistent, it still leaves room for development.
When he was a young Impressionist, Monet devoted himself to easel painting, working on panoramic landscapes such as the views of Port-Villez (The Seine at Port-Villez, Evening Effect, 1894). However, he tackled the subject from a different angle in the garden in Giverny. Portraying the fragility of a flower on the immensity of a canvas enables him to depict a space that seems endless, in which the infinitely small encounters the infinitely large, the micro meets the macrocosm (Iris, c. 192425).
SECTION SIX From Monet to Signac
Monets large paintings first and foremost his final work The Roses from 192526 were never exhibited by the artist during his lifetime.
Wisteria (191920) and The Japanese Footbridge (1918) were kept in his salon-atelier and in his studio, while he loved to surround himself by works by his friends in his bedroom.
And he didnt limit himself to pieces by his colleagues. He also purchased some canvases by the Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac from the art dealer Bernheim-Jeune, while others were given to him by Signac himself during a visit almost a pilgrimage to Giverny.
The two artists adopted a different approach, with one being more instinctive (Impressionist) and the other more methodical and scientific (Neo-Impressionist), and yet they both had a shared objective: to glorify light and colour.
Today's News
August 30, 2020
Fossil reveals 'one of the cutest dinosaurs' ever found
Bologna is back in business with Monet
Hindman to offer three days of Asian works of art in September
Heritage Auctions reunites NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas with NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy
At the Met, a promising sign: The 'Hot Dog King' is back in business
'Black Panther' star Boseman dies after private battle with cancer
In his own words: Jacob Lawrence at the Met and MoMA
Nxt Museum, the first new media art museum in the Netherlands, opens its doors
Freud's Vienna private rooms open, bereft of furniture
Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art to present European masterpieces from The Met in 2021
Leon Kossoff masterpiece recreated as tapestry by Dovecot Studios
Artist Nina Chanel Abney launches first AR artwork 'Imaginary Friend' with Acute Art
Yi Gallery opens an exhibition of new works by Lionel Cruet
Digging up graves: an Indonesian community honours its dead
Italian coastguard comes to aid of Banksy-funded rescue boat
The Met Opera's newest star returns, on the small screen
Galerie Urs Meile opens an exhibition of works by Zhang Xuerui
OSL contemporary opens its first solo exhibition with Ane Graff
Finalists selected for the 2020 Betty Bowen Award
Kunstfest Weimar 2020 opens against the odds
New book offers the ultimate insight into the exclusive and avant-garde wardrobe of Myung-il Song
Important Falklands War group of medals to be sold at Dix Noonan Webb
Alice Koller, author of the solitary life, dies at 94
Linda Manz, young star of 'Days of Heaven,' dies at 58
Your Guide to Lesbian Sex Toys
10 Tips for Healthy Lifestyle
6 Reasons to Add Interior Plantation Shutters to Your Home
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There's growing evidence that some of the moldmaking business that fled the U.S. chasing cheaper sources offshore is returning. Moldmakers are not finding enough of a favorable cost differential to offset poor mold performance and the need for rework of faulty molds.
At the same time, advanced machining processes, tooling, controls, and programming have moved the needle on the improvements possible in surface finish, accuracy, and productivity for moldmakers. Shops gearing up to improve their competitive moldmaking capacity are looking to the latest advances in technology that can deliver faster, more accurate and more productive manufacturing of molds. Accordingly, shops are taking a hard look at what processes like enhanced EDM, high-speed five-axis milling, laser processing for additive manufacturing and texturing, and new hybrid cutting tools have to offer to improve moldmaking.
To the familiar alphabet soup of AlTiN and TiAlN coatings for cutting tools, for example, you can add silicon-doped coatings, such as AlTiSiCN, that have a higher hardness, greater resistance to heat and improved wear characteristics for moldmakers machining hard materials. The following targets the highlights of new moldmaking technology.
The U.S. die mold industry has been slower than Europe to catch up with five-axis machining, which is used more for aerospace and medical applications, but U.S. die moldmakers are finding that five-axis machines are very applicable for die mold work, according to Jeff Wallace, general manager national engineering, DMG Mori, Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
"CNC controls are a key component because of the fine surface finishes that are required. You need a dynamic control and one that can handle a large amount of data for the large programs required for large cores or cavities for body stamping dies or door panel dies or for complicated molds like headlights, lens reflectors and lenses for automotive applications," Wallace said.
DMG Mori offers a variety of five-axis machining centers for machining both large and small workpieces, ranging from 6″ to 6-m cubes. Additive manufacturing (AM) machines are available for both build and repair work. The company has expanded its AM lineup with the Lasertec 30 SLM powder bed machine that allows building molds with conformal cooling, significantly improving cycle time for molds and significantly reducing lead times for castings.
"When machining a body panel mold is complete, the mold traditionally goes out for texturing with a chemical friendly," said Wallace. "The Lasertec Shape line of machines puts textures in the molds."
For mold repair, especially for die cast molds that get damaged over time, the Lasertec 3D lays down material like a 3D printer. It can be used for building medium to large sized components in an initial mold build. That capability is especially valuable if the workpiece is complex. Rather than removing a lot of material and producing scrap, the workpiece can be machined on the same platform, eliminating handling.
A hybrid version of the machine, the Lasertec 3D Hybrid, with metal cutting and additive capabilities, features both material removal for manufacturing core cavities and putting the texture on in the same machine. The need for a secondary operation is eliminated, reducing cycle time and handling of the mold, with the result being the reduction of overall production time.
DMG Mori's CELOS control is a common HMI that provides commonality for different CNC controls. There are a total of 27 CELOS apps for planning, preparation, production, monitoring and service to create consistent digital workflows for efficient production. "Users don't have to relearn a new control and we are able to deliver 70-80 percent commonality," said Wallace. "For moldmaking, the Technology Application Tuning Cycle has been developed to allow fine-tuning the machine while cutting the mold. The operator can take speed, surface quality, and accuracy [into account] to make program adjustments on the fly about semi-finishing and finishing."
Traditional mold machining is also improving. For example, the BXi line of bridge-style machining centers from Hurco Companies Inc., Indianapolis, comes in three sizes of three-axis versions and a BXi 40U five-axis model with an BC trunnion table. According to Michael Cope, product technical specialist, the double-column, ladder design of the Z-axis, and the overall machine weight provide high accuracy, improved thermal stability and outstanding surface finish capabilities. Equipped with an HSK dual-contact 18,000 rpm spindle and Hurco's patented UltiMotion technology, the BX40i is designed for high speeds and tight tolerances with roller-type rails on all axes for added rigidity and direct-coupled ballscrews for increased speed and accuracy.
Hurco's conversational programming removes the obstacle of complicated G-code programming and allows the machinist to program the machine. "Today's conversational programming is very advanced. It's easy to learn and use and it's very easy to teach," said Cope. "For shops that are doing 2D or 2.5D work and have a blueprint in front of them, all you need to do is type in the numbers. If that's the kind of work the shop does and it has the blueprint, it's fantastic because it frees up the programmer who doesn't have to write code in any CAM system. I'm able to program on the floor and get jobs on and off very quickly," Cope explained.
"However, if the shop gets mostly solid models from its customers and not paper prints, that's where we see a lot of use of CAM systems," he continued. "We pride ourselves on our versatility. We can do conversational very well, we can do NC very well or we can combine the two together with our NC Merge. For the customer that only gets solid models, our 3D Import allows the customer to bring in an actual solid model into our control, a step file, and program directly from that conversationally."
Advances in EDMs are also enabling more productive moldmaking. For example, advanced features for die sinker EDMs for both the entry-level FORM E die sinker and high-precision, high-end FORM P series from GF Machining Solutions, Lincolnshire, Illinois, are increasing speed, reducing electrode wear and improving productivity.
Eric Ostini, product manager, EDM, explained that the iGAP generator sensor technology that has been added to the FORM E series EDM helps moldmakers use die-sinking EDMs to achieve a smaller, and therefore more precise, spark gap at higher speed. The iGAP varies the spark power from the front and sides of the electrodes as needed. Spark power increases only when necessary, helping preserve electrodes.
Ostini explained how the iGAP sensor works: "We are now able to sense on the electrode whether we're doing a frontal spark or a lateral spark. Frontal means the direction we're burning in and lateral means the sides of the electrode that are causing the cavities. We are able to sense where the spark is occurring and literally turn off any lateral spark that occurs. We can't get them all, but most of them," Ostini said.
"We can burn quicker and keep the gap tighter between the electrode and the cavity, reducing the amount of removal laterally that we have to do to open up the cavity to size," he continued. "We can have an electrode that is almost the same size as the cavity we want to produce, maybe two thousandths undersize per side, and burn straight down into the cavity with just frontal sparking and then do very little orbiting to bring it finally into size. This reduces time, increases cutting speed, and cleans up the cavity—the cavity is so close to final size that we don't have any offset issues."
To maximize electrode utilization in the FORM P series, GF Solutions offers a Smart Tool. "For an electrode that is being used as a rougher, there is a sister tool in the rotary tool changer or other automation that will replace the rougher, if needed, due to wear. The semifinisher becomes the rougher and by staggering the use of the tools, the number of tools that are needed to do a series of mold cavities is reduced," said Ostini.
Moldmakers face the constant challenge of improving machine utilization and cutting tools have a big impact on achieving this goal and helping moldmakers remain competitive, according to Tom Raun, national product manager-milling for Iscar Metals Inc., Arlington, Texas.
So, what's new, you might ask. "We're in the process of developing hybrid tools for milling that are a combination of geometries (taper and large radii along the cutting edge). These hybrid tools, known as barrel cutters, will be a game changer that will improve finishing applications in moldmaking," said Raun.
These hybrid tools work by engaging a huge radius and generating much smaller cusp heights, unlike that taken by ball mills. As long as the surface of the workpiece and the machine tool and CAM programming allow it, the barrel cutter has the capability to work off a large radius, for example, 10″ (254 mm), along the side of the tool. As a result, much larger stepovers are possible.
"A number of CAM systems have developed the ability to program and recognize these hybrid tools; we're seeing finishing operations being reduced by dramatic amounts, like 50 and 60 percent for finishing operations that typically make up most of the production time for moldmaking," said Raun.
Mastercam recently introduced the capability to recognize these special forms and create a toolpath using them along multiple surfaces, overcoming one of the possible bottlenecks of only being able to program one surface at a time and getting these surfaces to blend correctly, according to Raun.
"This can be a huge benefit within the die and mold industry, where programmers often deal with geometries consisting of many tapered or curved surfaces (e.g., core/cavity designs and stamping dies)," he said. "The ability to take a tool, tilt it over and fit it into these geometries while taking much larger steps between each pass is quickly becoming a proven method for significantly reducing cycle times for finishing operations."
When it comes to producing molds with the required surface quality and accuracy, it's critical that heat generated in the machining process is controlled for the long periods of time needed to machine a mold, according to Dante Payva, product manager-milling, for GF Machining Solutions. "We pump chilled fluid throughout the machine base and column to maintain machining stability. On our Mikron machining centers, we have introduced Cool-Core to our 42,000-rpm spindles as a way to control the points where a 42,000-rpm spindle generates a lot of heat."
Cool-Core spindle technology takes traditional spindle cooling, which typically cools the outer jacket and bearings, a step further. Cool-Core chills the rotating shaft of the spindle, which is the central core of the spindle that is in contact with the toolholder and cutting tool.
High-speed, five-axis machining brings some finesse into moldmaking, Payva said. "Conventional milling attacks with an aggressive toolpath and cut. In some cases, you're removing a lot of material and you're adding a lot of heat and a lot of forces to the final part, where with high-speed milling you're removing the same amount of material but in smaller steps and at a faster rate."
According to Payva, investing in high-end tooling can be beneficial with tool life reportedly as much as 25 to 50 percent higher. Also, in some cases, introduction of barrel cutters can complete a part faster. "They remove material faster due to cutter design," he said. "Rather than having a ball or bull nose end mill removing material restricted by the diameter of the size of the tool, the barrel cutter has a longer curvature so that side milling removes more material."
Sometimes it pays to examine new options for machining mold features. For example, Roku-Roku high-speed, high-precision three-axis machining centers and OPS Ingersoll Eagle series five-axis machining centers from MC Machinery Systems Inc., Elk Grove Village, Illinois, offer an option to EDM for machining gates for injection molds.
According to MC Machinery's William Gillcrist, machine tool technology, cutting tools, and CAM packages are making high-speed milling competitive with EDM for direct milling of gates for injection molds using carbide tools with special coatings. The Eagle V5 and V9 models feature up to 42,000-rpm spindles, and the Roku-Roku models, with up to 90,000-rpm spindles, provide more than enough speed to handle the small cutters and surface footage requirements, he said.
Direct milling of the gates overcomes some of the limitations of EDMing, which include generating a recast layer, inconsistent gate shape due to electrode wear, micro cracks on the gate surface and altered layers on the tapered surface of the gate.
"The emergence of high-speed hard milling with machining centers capable of following precise and complex toolpaths at high feed rates has made direct milling cost effective for shops as an alternative to EDM in many moldmaking applications involving hard metal, intricate details, and smooth finishes," said Gillcrist. "There is no accuracy versus finish tradeoff that needs to take place, unlike with an EDM where accuracy declines as finer surface finish is approached."
He recommends using high-end CAM software, high-end cutting tools and toolholders, and a rigid, well-built machine tool for the best results. "A successful milling process is the result of all the elements working together. It involves software creating code, the CNC crunching the code and holders and cutters being able to hold tolerances for hard milling," Gillcrist said.
Lasers continue to carve out niches for the technology in both expected and unexpected ways. GF Machining Solutions' use of texturing with laser ablation has already transitioned from creating leather and wood grain texture for automotive applications to creating geometric patterns for electric and hybrid cars, according to Jon Carlson, product manager, advanced manufacturing. GF Machining has entered into a partnership with 3D Systems to offer a new integrated additive and subtractive manufacturing solution that will include automation and post-processing to provide more efficient workflows for advanced manufacturing.
"Laser are good for geometrics," he said. "If you're trying to drop a film in a mold by hand, it's almost impossible to minimize stress points or pinch points as you go around the 3D shape or contour. Laser texturing, on the other hand, is done digitally on a computer that can compensate for any stretch points and pinch points that might show up. What you see on the computer is what you see in the mold, namely a nice geometric pattern. It's like a giant puzzle that our Smart Patch software feature solves. Smart Patch ensures that the geometric patterns that lie outside of the marking field will be picked up so that no patching is needed."
In addition, laser ablation does texturing and engraving as well as functional texturing for medical applications, and for such diverse applications as serrations in bottle caps for water bottles and putting thread pitch into a mold, he said.
At IMTS, GF Machining announced the partnership with 3D Systems to offer additive manufacturing machines. "When we talk to a customer or end user, we want them to be able to complete a part," said Carlson. "Typically, there is always some type of post-processing that has to be done on a part, including heat treating, die sinking, lasing or micromachining it. We can build the part [via 3D printing] and we can talk about the whole flow of the part, from five-axis milling to putting a texture or engraving on it. Our goal is to be able to fully build a plate with a [single part] or 16 individual build plates [for multiple parts] in one 3D printing."
In the latter scenario, "the customer could take the 16 parts from AM to heat treat to milling." Both companies offer two co-branded models, the DMP Flex 350 with an 11 x 11 x 15″ (279 x 279 x 381 mm) build platform and the new DMP 500 with a 20 x 20 x 20″ (508 x 508 x 508 mm) build platform.
Jeff Johnson, product manager, Mitsui Seiki USA Inc., Franklin Lakes, N.J., believes that his company's Dynamic Power Cutting process has an important role in the future of moldmaking. There are considerable time savings in five-axis machining of hard metals, especially for aerospace applications, that are being achieved.
"There's a big difference between high-speed machining and Dynamic Power Cutting, which requires a rigid machine and a rigid spindle to take a deeper cut at slower spindle speeds. Using the best tools and best programming software available is very important to achieve the best results," Johnson said.
Dynamic Power Cutting, which has been successful in aerospace applications, offers the same benefits to moldmaking, where a predictable process and cycle time reduction are highly valued and sought after. Johnson believes that Dynamic Power Cutting in 3+2 or five-axis machining will be revolutionary in mold manufacturing.
The beauty of five-axis machines lies in the simple fact that you can do more with less—more machining in one setup, less downtime, and fewer touch points, according to GWS Tool Group, Tavares, Fla. This formula (fewer setups + increased metal removal rate = reduced overall cycle time = more profit) is the reason many shops are going to five-axis machines when they replace old equipment (or even sooner if they want to bid on new parts more competitively), according to the company.
Of course, no transition to a process that adds a couple more axes and variables to typical X-Y-Z programming is that simple. First, programming with five axes is more complex and requires additional training for programmers used to only three-axis machines. Another issue is the physical reach constraint that is often created where none was present in a three-axis machining plane. Entirely new toolholding and cutting tools are often needed to avoid collisions.
Something else to consider is that the work materials often machined in the industries most frequently using five-axis machines tend to be more exotic and expensive by nature. From stainless steel and titanium to Inconel and cobalt-chrome, these materials have higher price tags and consume more tooling.
The solution, of course, is finding the right tool—in this case custom tooling that GWS supplies. Tools include barrel end mills, tapered end mills, spherical end mills, and bullnose high-feed end mills.
One caveat from GWS—increased metal removal rates won't happen if you're using a standard ball nose tool. There's just not enough cutting-edge surface area. Spherical-type end mills, however, can take a greater length of cut with each pass than traditional ball end mills. Pivoting the tool and workpiece (which five-axis machining makes possible) brings more of the cutting edge into contact with the part. Longer cutting-edge engagement means a dramatic increase in metal removal rates.
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"Ask a Priest: Do I Need to Confess a Laundry List of Venial Sins?"
Q: I have a question about making a good confession without always going and rolling out my usual "laundry list" of venial sins. Is it expected in confession to list these common sins, i.e., gossiping, pride, anger, not trusting God, etc., especially since they are forgiven at Mass? Or can you confess the one or two that keep popping up in life and/or just go to reconciliation to receive the sacrament for the purpose of receiving God's healing and guidance in your life? Do you have suggestions for making a good confession? – R.J.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: It is good that you want to take advantage of the great sacrament of reconciliation. It is one of the most underused treasures in the Church.
The key sins that have to be confessed are any mortal sins we might commit since our last confession, and any mortal sins we forgot to confess in the past.
As for venial sins, the Catechism in No. 1458 says:
"Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit."
So in one sense there is no need to bring a laundry list of all the venial sins we commit, though it is helpful to mention them. And you will note that the use of the sacrament helps us "progress in the life of the Spirit." This is vital since we are called to holiness.
Now, your suggestion of focusing on one or two recurring venial sins is OK. Perhaps a way to go deeper in your confession is to try to articulate what might be motivating you to commit these sins again and again.
For example, instead of just saying, "I was angry with my sister three times," it might be good to add, "I give in to anger with my sister because I think I harbor a bit of jealousy toward her, or because I fail to see Jesus in her," or "I am angry a lot because I think I have been neglecting my prayers lately."
That kind of introspection might help us go to the roots of problems and dig them out.
Helpful, too, might be Benedict Baur's classic "Frequent Confession: Its Place in the Spiritual Life."
Be sure to ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit before confession, too.
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BOTSWANA – Marvin Shuttleworth, a three-year-old gazelle who proudly describes himself as a centrist, paused while being pursued by a cheetah in order to consider the predator's point of view.
Shuttleworth had recently become leader of his herd following the death of his father, who'd had his major muscles and innards feasted upon by a family of cheetahs, his remains picked clean by scavengers and flies.
After a few weeks of the herd alternately grazing and bolting from predators, Shuttleworth made the unorthodox move to approach a cheetah who'd been stalking them. "I don't subscribe to the 'orange cat bad' mentality," Shuttleworth explained to his herd-mates as he set out. "If you keep your heart open, you can connect with anyone, including those actively trying to kill and consume you."
Shuttleworth approached the cheetah, saying "Hi there! Who's a nice kitty? You are. Let me introduce myself. I'm gaaak!!" as the cheetah threw him to the ground and pierced his long neck with her fangs.
"Our species may have our differences, but we have plenty in common," Shuttleworth said as the cheetah held him with her razor-sharp claws, making his stomach available to her eight-month old cubs, who leapt in, taking ravenous chomps. "If you make the effort to understand the life experiences of cheetahs," Shuttleworth observed, "you can see why… uh… oh boy… I'm losing a lotta blood…"
"Marvin's nuts," said Irene Abrams, a two-year-old herd-mate of Shuttleworth's, as she boinged across the veldt. "Just before this he was trying to get us to hold back from grazing and consider the property rights of whoever owns the grass."
As the family of cheetahs ripped out Shuttleworth's intestines and vultures circled overhead, he remained optimistic. "Negotiations might have gotten off to a rocky start, but I'm sure we can reach a compromise that satisfies all parties, like leaving my hind legs intact."


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Health Screening Clinic
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- If you choose to have a vital sign assessment and/or a primary care office visit, you will be charged for the visit, which will be billed to your health insurance provider. Depending on your health insurance plan, you may be required to pay an out-of-pocket expense such as a co-pay, co-insurance and/or a deductible.
*This resource is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $372,002.00 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The resource is managed by a healthcare organization and does not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.