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Chapter 12 : The Ball
|Rating: Mature
|Chapter Reviews: 6
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A kiss csn ast all nig
You'll have to seduce me,
Nibble and bite.
Sexy Silk - Jessica Cornish
Sydney awoke on Saturday morning with a dawning realisation. The ball was tonight. She had yet to find a presentable dress nor had she yet made any progress with a certain Sirius Black. She knew that she had gotten to him, but she wasn't nearly where she needed to be with him. She knew it was childish of her to play 'the game'; she never had done so before. However, she was unable to deny it. It was thrilling. She swung her legs out of her bed and stood up, the sunlight peeking through the curtains and momentarily blinding her. She regained her eyesight and peered around herself at her roommates. She could partially see four figures lying down in their beds. The occasional snore coming from Diana's bed. Sydney took this as a small triumph, never before had she had the pleasure of getting ready for the day without her dorm mates derisive looks and scornful scoffs.
She smiled to herself in anticipation for tonight. She was determined to let the night start with a bang. Perhaps literally if she got carried away with Sirius. She cackled internally at her pun, allowing her lips to curl up into a smirk as she applied mascara to her eyelashes.
She hadn't even thought of the ball until last night when Lily mentioned it to her and even then she hadn't thought of getting a dress. There was no Hogsmeade trip today either, so it was safe to say that she was well and truly fucked. She would have to liaise with Lily and see whether she had a spare dress. She sighed as she stood back up and walked over towards her wardrobe. She always left things until the last minute, and it always came back to bite her in the arse. She opened up her wardrobe and scanned her 'evening wear'. She did have maybe what could pass as a backup; however they were rather scanty for a ball. She sighed, closing her wardrobe again and slipped her slippers on, not bothering to change out of her pyjamas. She moved down the stairs quickly, hopping from one step to another.
She stepped into the common room and noticed the fire that was roaring last night, still had a few embers that were only just dying. She looked at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room which told her that it was six o'clock. She furrowed her brow in confusion and looked around the room curiously. There asleep on the sofa, eyes puffy and red from what Sydney can only assume to be the result of crying was Farah Bishop, still in school uniform.
Sydney looked at the skinny girl, her blonde matted hair stuck to her face, mascara smudged under her eyes. She debated whether or not to leave her there and to let Farah deal with it herself. Farah certainly wouldn't have woken Sydney. Sydney didn't know whether she felt sorry for the girl or maybe just wanted to see her squirm for a little bit, but she made her decision.
Sydney cleared her throat loudly however received no response from the girl. She kicked the sofa at the base near to Farah's head but still nothing. A sudden thought went through Sydney's head that worried her slightly.
Maybe she's dead.
Sydney bent down to Farah's level and shook her shoulder slight. "Bishop!" she hissed.
Farah suddenly jolted up, wide eyed and accidentally smacked Sydney in the face.
"Ow." Sydney groaned rubbing her cheek.
"Why are you staring at me you creep? Farah snapped defensively.
Sydney narrowed her eyes at her opponent. "I thought that you wouldn't want to be seen down here at this time in the morning," Sydney said curtly "Especially with mascara under those puffy eyes of yours."
Farah looked as though she had swallowed a bludger. Her hard gaze on Sydney softened. "Thanks." She mumbled as she rolled off the sofa and then attempted to wipe the mascara from under her eyes.
Sydney looked at this strange version of Farah, the calm and vulnerable version with curiosity. She knew that her arch enemy was due to throw her defences up again at any point, so she decided not to bother her.
"Why were you crying?"
So much for that theory. Sydney couldn't help but let her nosiness get the better of her.
"As if it's any of your business." Farah retorted flicking her hair.
"Well I don't see any of your friends here to help you out." Sydney stated.
Farah gave Sydney a repugnant look and continued to attempt to brush her hair through with her fingers.
"Well, whatever." Sydney said rolling her eyes, pushing herself off of the armchair she had sat in. "Have fun in your misery."
Sydney headed towards the portrait hole, unsure of where to go as she knew breakfast wouldn't be ready at this time on a Saturday. She just wanted to get away from Farah.
"Maura, wait!"
Sydney stopped in her tracks, slightly worried that she might suddenly be attacked by a wild animal, or Farah, there wouldn't be much difference.
"You're roaming the school like that?" Farah asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Yes." Sydney said, turning to face her.
Farah sighed and looked down at the ground "You wouldn't tell anyone would you." Farah stated. "It's not like you've got anyone to tell anyway, apart from Evans, but no one would believe you anyway." She reasoned aloud.
"Gee, thanks." Sydney said sarcastically, folding her arms.
"James finished it with me last night." Farah blurted.
Sydney was rather stunned at this bit of new information and was suddenly thinking to herself what Lily's reaction to it would be.
"It's so stupid," she said sitting back down on the sofa, her head in her hands, rubbing her temples. "But I actually thought he was a nice guy."
Sydney snorted "That's the marauders for you."
"Why did he have to do it the night before the Halloween Ball?" she said miserably.
Sydney could help but feel sorry for the teary girl in front of her. Even though Farah may have had no soul, it seemed like she at least had feelings. And right now they were hurting her. James had hurt her.
"James can be a bit of a knob." Sydney said, sitting down besides Farah. "But he's a boy, he doesn't realise how much these things mean to girls."
"Now I have to go alone and look like a loser." Farah said, eyes watering again.
"Don't worry, I'm going alone." Sydney said with a small smile.
"Exactly!" Farah cried "I'll look like you!"
Sydney's eyes narrowed at Farah, however she decided to shake that comment off. "If you don't go, then you'll regret it." Sydney said firmly. "Go on your own, have fun with your friends and dance your skinny arse off."
Farah looked uncomfortable. "Thank you."
"For what?" Sydney asked, standing up.
"For calling me skinny." Farah said stubbornly, not mentioning Sydney's help.
Sydney nodded at Farah and headed towards the door once more. "Where are you going to go?"
Sydney thought for a second "I'm going to see my friend in Ravenclaw," she lied "To see if she's got a spare dress."
"You've not got your dress?!" Farah asked incredulously
"Well," Sydney blushed at not being a conventional girl. "I sort of forgot."
Farah looked Sydney up and down. "I might have some dresses that are too big for me from when I was younger that you could have."
Sydney didn't know whether she should have been offended or not by Farah's proposition. She weighed up her options and realised quickly that she had no others. "I suppose that might be easier." Sydney said bashfully.
Farah nodded and walked towards the stairs, whilst Sydney stood. Not knowing whether to follow or wait there. Farah looked around and rolled her eyes. "Are you coming?"
Sydney began to follow Farah up to her dorm and when they stepped inside they were welcomed by a familiar smell of perfume and deodorant which hung in their air of her own dorm. Farah walked over to a big mahogany wardrobe and began rummaging through it hastily, pulling out three dresses. "If you're going for a party look, there's this one." Farah held up a hot pink, tight, short boob-tube dress that clung all the way around the body.
Even Sydney looked frightened at the hot pink mess in front of her. "Err," Sydney said hesitating "Pink's not my colour."
Farah stared at Sydney with a bored look "If you don't like it, just say."
"No thank you." Sydney said simply.
"Okay." Farah threw the dress back into her wardrobe. "There's this one," she said, holding onto a rather long black, simple dress. It was nice enough, but looked slightly like she would be going to a funeral.
"Right," Sydney said looking at it.
"We'll put that in the maybe pile then, shall we?" Farah said as she tossed the dress onto her bed. "If you want my personal opinion, go with this one."
She held up a long, strapless, powder blue dress with a sweetheart neckline, was tight around the torso, like a corset and was embellished with what looked like small diamonds, clustered on the right side of the waist and then spreading across the rest of the torso, reaching the bosom. The bottom half of the dress fell downwards elegantly, the material was light, silky and airy. The back of the dress dipped low and fell to about half way down the back.
Sydney reached out towards the dress and felt the material with her index finger and her thumb. It was smooth and addictive to the touch.
"It would match your eyes."
Sydney looked up to see Farah thrusting the dress in Sydney's direction. The hardened look was back and unforgiving. "Now consider us even."
Sydney nodded once at Farah, rather miffed at her attitude and walked out of the dorm without another word.
Sydney walked from Farah's dorm to her own. Once again, as she stepped into the dorm she was greeted by four girls' reproachful glances and scornful sneers. She managed to get the dress in unseen and hide it in her wardrobe. Not to be unveiled until tonight.
She threw on some casual clothes and made her way, yet again into the common room, where she was welcomed by the familiar redhead.
"Morning Sydney!" Lily beamed. "You're not normally up this early!"
They both began to make their way down to breakfast and Sydney smiled happily at Lily as she wondered what could have possibly put her friend in such a good mood.
Yes, I wonder what..
Sydney smirked to herself as she noticed Lily had a little bounce in her step today. She could've just been excited for the ball but Sydney knew probably as well as Lily, that that wasn't why she was so happy. Sydney chose to leave Lily in her good mood and not to question it.
"Well well," Came a cold and cruel voice. "What's red, white and brown all over?"
Sydney spun around to see a few familiar faces standing behind herself and Lily.
"The Head Girl covered in her own blood."
The Slytherins surrounding Regulus Black laughed and sniggered at the terrible joke just made by the Black brother, himself. Sydney noticed Lily stiffen beside her and cast her eyes downwards.
"What an incredibly funny joke!" Sydney growled sarcastically. "Why don't we go and tell it to McGonagall, I'm sure she'll find it a hoot and a half!"
"Trust a Gryffindor to go running to a teacher." Commented one of the burly boys standing besides Regulus.
"Trust a bunch of Slytherins to pick on two girls." Snapped Sydney.
The boy stepped forward in an attempt to threaten the girls, causing Lily and Sydney to take a step backwards. Sydney whipped out her wand, her eyes narrowed.
"Looks like Blondie wants to play!" said another one of the Slytherin boys.
"Go back to your common room, snake." Sydney spat "Or I will do something that will get me a lot of detentions."
"Sydney no!" Lily hissed, tugging on her sleeve "Let's just walk away." They began to turn their backs on the five Slytherin boys.
"Yes Sydney, love, just walk away." Cooed Regulus Black. "And what happened to the last person in the Maura family who walked away from a fight?" Sydney turned her head to see Regulus Black smirk cruelly at her as he raised his wand. "They died, didn't they?"
Sydney flew around, pushing Lily to the ground as she narrowly missed a hex. She felt like something had exploded from within her and that her skin was on fire, she wasn't even thinking, just flicking her wand at them again and again without uttering a single word. Slytherin boys were flying across the corridor as she whipped her wand arm back and forth, a series of red, white and blue sparks and bolts coming from the tip. She stopped only as she came nose to nose with Regulus Black, her wand pointed at his neck. He looked nearly bored. She glared at him with the utmost hatred.
"Never," she breathed heavily "Talk about my mother again"
He smirked at her, making him look almost exactly like his brother, making her falter only slightly.
"My apologies, sweetheart," he said condescendingly, "I never realised it was a –" his eyes glanced down to her inner thigh. "—Sore subject."
She pushed him backwards and looked at him with disgust as her mind flicked to the scrawled, scar on her inner thigh.
Half-blood Whore
"Go practise your dark arts or something Black," she spat "Stop wasting my time."
He merely smirked at her. "As you wish."
He left their conversation and kicked a few of his comrades to get off of the floor. The majority of the group turned around to glower at Sydney before making off down the hallway.
Sydney walked over to Lily and helped her off the floor, smiling at her as best a as she could. "Sorry," Sydney said regrettably "You get used to attention of this sort when you're someone like me."
Lily looked worriedly over to Sydney "Have you ever tried –" Lily thought about her words carefully "—not attracting so much attention."
Sydney smiled sadly at Lily "If you're talking about stop sleeping with people, then my dear, I'm afraid you're too late."
Lily gave Sydney a questioning glance.
"I haven't slept with anyone since Remus." Sydney explained.
"You had sex with Remus?!" Lily practically screetched.
"Oh," Sydney said, mentally smacking herself "I didn't tell you that, did I?"
"No!" Lily hissed. "When was this?"
Sydney shrugged "Over a year ago."
"I didn't think you were his type." Lily mused.
"Gee, thanks Lil." Sydney said pan faced.
"No, that's not what I meant!" Lily panicked "It's just someone with your reputation, doesn't normally attract guys like Remus."
"Well, to be honest, the majority of people that I've 'slept with'," Said Sydney with quotation marks "Is made up."
"So," said Lily, fiddling with her sleeves. "Who have you slept with?"
Sydney tapped her nose. "Stop beings so nosey Ms Evans."
As they reached the great hall, they sat at the Gryffindor table and Sydney had decided to keep away from her usual meaty breakfast and poured herself some cereal. Lily had pulled two strawberry pancakes onto her plate.
"—And I'll tell you," boomed a voice from across the hall, Sydney and Lily both looked up to see James and Sirius both standing over by the Slytherin table, nose to nose with what looked like Avery, Mulciber and Regulus Black. Sirius looked around the hall noticing how much his voice had carried, he caught Sydney's eye and then looked away quickly, continuing to bicker with his brother in hushed tones.
"Mother wouldn't be happy about this, even if you are no longer a relative of ours." Laughed Regulus, his tone was mocking and offhand, however Sydney noticed the hatred in his eyes and slight annoyance in his words. "Is she your girlfriend?" The majority of the Slytherins laughed along with Regulus. Only the ones that saw Sirius' face knew the smart thing to do was to keep their heads down.
Sirius suddenly grabbed Regulus by the collar and muttered something in a low growl to him. Regulus' eyes looked worried for a second, then he quickly returned to his cavalier manner and brushed Sirius off, shaking his head.
"Walk away Gryffindor," Regulus said uninterestedly looking around the hall. "Before you gain yourself anymore disrespect."
As Sirius and James walked away from the dispute, Sydney began tucking back into her breakfast. She felt a plonk on the seat besides her and looked up.
"People need to lighten up," said Ashley, as she flicked her long, black hair behind her. "After all it is the Halloween Ball tonight."
Sydney grinned. "My thoughts exactly." Sydney looked between Ashley and Lily nervously "I believe you two haven't properly been introduced," Sydney said, her eyes on Ashley.
Ashley looked up at Lily shyly and smiled, holding out her hand "Ashley Phillips," she said, a crimson blush on her face, for which Sydney shot her a questioning glance.
"Lily Evans." Lily said, smiling brilliantly whilst shaking Ashley's hand.
"Speaking of the ball," Ashley said turning her attention to Sydney "I was wondering if you wanted to get ready in my dorm, Sydney?" Ashley said "I know how much it would pain you to be away from your current roommates," She said with a slight smirk.
"Heaven forbid." Commented Sydney sarcastically, smiling at the two girls. "I'd love to," she turned to Lily "Lily, fancy joining us?"
Lily smiled sadly "I'd love to, but I promised Alice that I'd get ready with her," she looked down the hall where Farah and her minions were sitting gossiping "I can't leave her alone with the terrible threesome." She laughed.
Sydney looked towards Farah and noticed that she wasn't taking part so animatedly today in their daily girl bashing session. She was merely picking at her lumpy porridge with a crestfallen look upon her face.
Sydney smiled back at Lily and Ashley, pushing the sympathy she felt for her nemesis away from her with force.
The day had gone by without the drama Sydney had experienced that morning. She felt quite excited for the ball and thought back to her plans of humiliating James, maybe now in front of Lily, seeing as he had ditched Farah.
She didn't know whether she would make him squawk like a goose for a week allow him to violently lose control of his bowels or simply punch him in the crotch, but one of those three sounded like feasibly good alternatives.
Sydney opened up her wardrobe and took the dress from it's hanger and folded it on her bed, ready to take to Ashley's dorm. She grabbed her makeup from her bedside table and placed it in a little bag. She removed the makeup currently on her face, ready to start fresh once she got into the Ravenclaw dormitories.
"I think tonight is going to sort things out for me and Sirius." Sydney could hear Amelia gloating to her friends. "He was acting quite strange last night," she mused "But I'll give him a night he won't forget in a hurry."
Something in Sydney stirred; she felt a little pang in her stomach as she moodily grabbed a bag to place her dress in.
"By tonight he's going to be head over heels for your Amelia!" Sydney heard Nadia squeal. "What are you going to wear?"
Sydney stuck her head out from the curtains surrounding her bed and saw Amelia flick her hair importantly.
"Well," Amelia began, "I think either this black one," Amelia held up a short, black dress with a halter neck that showed a lot of cleavage and a lot of leg. And Sydney thought that she was the supposed tart. "Or there's this one," Amelia held up a purple dress with purple flower straps that probably only just covered her vagina.
Sydney eyed the dresses and smirked to herself. She pulled her head back behind the curtains and continued to pack her items into her bag.
Sydney peeked her head out of the curtains from the bottom of her bed and pointed the tip of her wand at Amelia, whilst said girl began talking about how she should do her hair with the four other squealing girls in the room "Furnunculus" she whispered.
Quickly, Sydney leapt off of her bed, her bags in hand and stalked from the room, happily being ignored by the four other occupants of the room. It wasn't until she closed the door behind her she heard Amelia's voice moan "Oh no! I've got a spot!" Sydney sniggered to herself as she imagined that girl's face in about ten minutes time.
Sydney happily bounced down the stairs and into the common room, she flounced through the room and headed towards the portrait hole.
"What are you so happy about?"
Sydney turned around, still grinning like a maniac, to see a brooding Sirius sitting on the sofa. "Well, it's a good day, the Halloween Ball is in two hours, annoying people are getting their comeuppance," she said sweetly "You know, the usual."
Sirius raised an eyebrow at him to which she smirked and then left the Gryffindor Tower and headed towards the Ravenclaw common room. When Sydney arrived at her destination, she realised that there was little to no way she was actually getting inside as the door knocker came to life.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall," the heavenly voice said "who's the fairest of them all?"
"Uhmm," Sydney mused "Cassandra Vablatzky?"
The door knocker froze once more and the door did not open.
"Ugh," said Sydney, She knocked on the door a few times, however no one came. She decided to make camp outside of the door until somebody came by. It must have been about 15 minutes, which of course, Sydney only guessed as she had been counting the bricks on the stone wall of the castle, until somebody came along.
"Can I help you?"
Sydney's neck snapped up to see Dan Franklin towering above her. He held his hand out to help her up. Sydney clasped his hand and smiled gratefully.
"Thanks," she said "I'm trying to see my friend," She explained "Ashley."
"Oh, okay," he said eying her curiously "I thought you two weren't friends."
Sydney shrugged "I assume we are now."
Dan walked over to the door, where once again the door knocker sprung to life. The smooth, silky voice came again.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all."
Dan looked at Sydney with his eyebrow raised, as though he was questioning her intelligence. "That's an unanswerable question, as beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
"Well reasoned." The door knocker said satisfactorily.
The two walked through the portrait hole and Sydney smiled. "Thanks," she said disappearing up the stairs. "Have fun tonight with Lily!"
Sydney stared at her reflection in the mirror, biting her lip self-consciously. She turned around to face Ashley, who was sitting on her bed.
"What do you think?"
Ashley had her eyebrows raised and her mouth open ajar. "You look so –" Ashley seemed to struggle to think of a word "Different!"
Sydney pulled her ball gown up at the cleavage and shifted around in it. "Is it that bad?" she asked, feeling insecure.
"Sydney, you look stunning" Ashley smiled at her. "It's just such a change from how you normally are." She explained "You almost look like a different person."
Sydney embarrassedly turned to face the mirror again and touched her hair that was in an elegant updo, a few strands of curly hair fell down by her face. It had only taken Ashley the better half of an hour to get perfect. On her left wrist she wore a thin, silver bracelet and wore her mother's engagement ring on her right hand.
"Thanks." She said blushing. "Aren't you going to be late for your date?" She asked, turning back to face her friend.
"Oh, shit!" Ashley said jumping up from her bed and smoothing out her long, black dress. She grabbed her bag and hurried towards the door. She looked towards Sydney. "Are you coming?" She asked.
"No," said Sydney "I think I need a minute or two."
Ashley seemed to hesitate.
"Go," Sydney said with a smile "I'll see you down there."
Ashley smiled uncertainly at Sydney but left Sydney alone in the Ravenclaw dorm. Sydney felt her stomach flip over a few times as she looked at herself in the mirror. Ashley was right, she did look completely different. She felt as though it was too much. She sat on Ashley's bed, gradually regretting more and more agreeing to go to this stupid ball. She fanned her face as she increasingly grew hotter and hotter. It wasn't like Sydney not wanting to mix it up and get nervous at something like this. But she just couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the prospect of walking into the Great Hall, copious amounts of people dressed up to the nines and having fun with their dates. Sydney groaned as she stood up. She hadn't thought about the drawbacks of not having a date. She was so busy trying to think positively about her situation that she hadn't even considered who she could spend the night at the ball with. Lily was off with Dan Franklin, Ashley had her date. Then bam – She was out of friends. How sad.
She gave herself one last glare in the mirror before she walked out of the room and down the stairs towards the common room. It was empty. She presumed everyone must've already been there. She looked around the blue and silver common room and noted to herself how much she could have blended into the room. She seriously considered for a couple of minutes not going to the ball and pretending to be a piece of furniture in the Ravenclaw common room instead. Sydney sighed and made her way out of the common room. As she exited through the portrait hole she noticed that she could hear lots of voices and music echoing throughout the walls of Hogwarts. It made her stomach flip flop once more.
She made her way down the moving staircase, her uncomfortable heels clicking as her feet made impact with the floor. She lifted her dress as she moved carefully down the stairs, being careful not to lose her balance. As she stood outside of the Great Hall she peered in, just to examine the scene in front of her.
The hall looked glorious, there were lit pumpkin lanterns floating just above peoples heads, streamers of black bats and fake blood dripped over the newly tattered curtains. The enchanted ceiling was stormy and filled with streaks of lightening, however it was soundless compared to the blaring music that was being pumped out by the DJ. Sydney had realised that all of this gaping had caused her feet to have a life of their own as she began to walk into the sea of people. She saw a huge buffet filled with sweets and chocolate, toffee apples and all kinds of Halloween treats. Next to the buffet was a drink stand, an extremely large punch bowel was placed in the middle and behind it stood Peter Pettigrew. As Sydney approached it she gave Peter a questioning glance.
"Peter?" she said as though she thought she might have been mistaken.
Peter looked confused for a second but then a look of realisation seemed to dawn on him. He immediately gave Sydney a grin "Hullo Sydney." He said happily. "Want to try some punch?" he held out the ladle.
"That depends," Sydney said eyeing the punch warily.
"Depends on what?" Peter asked, trying and failing to sound innocent.
"On what you've done to it."
Peter grinned guiltily "Only a dash of Fire Whisky."
"No thanks." Sydney said looking around the room, she saw Sirius standing there, near to the seats where he was talking animatedly and laughing with Remus. Whilst their dates gossiped and gabbed besides them.
"On second thoughts." Sydney said turning back to Peter, holding out her cup "Make it a big one please."
Peter smirked "That's more like it." He filled her cup up fully.
Sydney took a mouthful of her orange coloured drink and quickly started spluttering. She looked at Peter accusingly. "Only a dash?" she asked incredulously as the large amount of Fire Whisky she had just ingested burned her throat.
"Well," Peter said with a smirk "Maybe a smidgen more than that."
Sydney continued to knock back her drink as quickly as possible. "So," she said in between gulps "What are you doing behind here anyway?"
"They needed someone to hand out the drinks at the beginning of the night." He explained taking a sip of his own drink "Afterwards, they'll just get a teacher to look after it."
Sydney drained her cup of all remaining dregs and thrust it back at Peter for him to refill. "And they chose you?" Sydney asked, a disbelieving tone in her voice.
"They didn't have many applicants," Peter shrugged as filled Sydney's cup once more. "So I thought I could have some fun!"
"By getting everyone drunk?" Sydney asked, a small, humorous smile on her lips.
Peter handed Sydney her beverage and pointed where Miles Davies was making a fool out of himself falling over his date and stepping on her toes whilst dancing.
"You can't deny that that fun." He said laughing.
Sydney let out a small laugh "I suppose I can't disagree with you there." She said taking another sip.
She looked around the room and saw Lily standing with Dan Franklin, laughing and dancing. He held his arm around her protectively as she sipped on her drink. She looked further around the room in an attempt to spot Ashley. She realised as she gazed at the crowds that many of them were gazing back at her and whispering to one another. She touched her cheek and looked at Peter.
"Do I have shit on my face?" she asked him, confusedly.
Peter laughed with her and handed her another drink, without her requesting it. He looked at her whilst she had two drinks in her hands.
"No," he laughed "You just surprised everyone, I think."
"How?" she asked, taking a sip out of one of her drinks and then the other.
"Well, people may have expected you to dress less classy, shall we say?" he grinned as Sydney rolled her eyes. "But I am pleased to inform you that you scrub up very well Ms Marua!"
Sydney chuckled, enjoying the company of the half-pissed Peter. "As do you, Peter." She smiled at him in his tuxedo; he looked like a younger (albeit tubby) James Bond.
She continued looking for her friend and decided to ignore the stares from the seventh year students. However, she caught the eye of someone unexpected, his grey eyes piercing through hers. She quickly broke eye contact and continued searching through the crowd. She finally found Ashley, standing with her date, looking rather bored as he talked at her.
She excused herself to Peter and made her way over to her Ravenclaw friend, who looked more than happy to see her friend.
"Hello," Sydney said smiling at the pair.
Ashley's date was a rather butch boy; she recognised him from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Perhaps one of the beaters. He had light brown hair and a rather gormless look on his face. Sydney stuck her hand out towards him.
"Sydney Maura, lovely to meet you." she said with a polite smile.
"Zachary Taylor." He said, shaking her hand with an iron vice grip. "I'm on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team."
Sydney flicked her eyes over to Ashley, who now had looked away boredly.
"How lovely." Sydney said rather sardonically, however this went amiss by Zachary. "May I steal your date for a moment?"
"Go ahead."
Sydney pulled Ashley aside and stood nearer to the Great Hall doors. She raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"So your date seems to be going well." Sydney commented sarcastically. "What's wrong?" she asked "Why are you so mopey?"
"You spoke to him!" Ashley exclaimed, obviously frustrated. "All the boy is interested in is Quidditch!"
"I think that's what you get for trying to date a Quidditch player." said Sydney sympathetically.
"Lily doesn't seem to be having a terrible time." Ashley said disheartenedly.
Sydney looked back over to where Lily and Dan were now sitting down, both talking animatedly to one another. Sydney looked at her unhappy friends and grabbed onto her hand.
"I know what you need." Sydney said dragging her through the dance floor and towards Peter Pettigrew. "Once strong drink please, Peter!" Sydney said with a smile. She looked at her empty cup. "On second thoughts," she said sliding her cup across the table towards him. "Make that two."
Peter filled their cups to the brim and handed them both to Sydney who handed one to Ashley. "Here." Sydney said smiling at Ashley. "Bottoms up." They clinked their plastic cups together and then proceeded to drink large gulps of their drinks. Ashley stopped halfway through her second gulp and began to choke on the large amounts of Firewhisky curdling in her drink. Sydney patted her on the back and laughed heartily, snorting slightly as she did so.
"Better?" Sydney asked as Ashley began to regain her poise.
"Much." Ashley replied, grinning at Sydney.
"Right," Ashley said as Peter filled her cup again. "I should probably get back to -- umm --"
"Zachary?" Sydney helped, a small smirk appearing on her face.
Ashley clicked her fingers and smiled at Sydney "That's the one!" She then swerved between the dancing people and made her way back to her date.
"Well, my time is up!" said Peter from behind Sydney, his happy face red. "I'll see you soon!"
Sydney smiled at him as he happily trotted off towards his friends. Sydney eyed the marauders warily as Remus and Sirius welcomed Peter with a glass of punch, thinking something was amiss. One of them was missing. And that person was James Potter. Sydney narrowed her eyes and turned back to the punch bowel filling up her half empty cup. She needed all the liquid courage she could have tonight. She took a sip out of her drink, feeling the last three drinks go to her head slightly and jumped as she heard a voice hiss into her ear.
"What were you looking at, Maura?"
Sydney turned so quickly that she spilt quite a lot of her drink on her hand and forearm. She scowled at her arm before looking up to scowl into those piercing grey eyes.
"Not a lot, it would seem." she snapped angrily as the liquid began to dry on her arm and had become sticky.
Sirius smirked at her and raised an eyebrow "Are you quite sure?"
Sydney was a little taken back by the question, however she quickly regained her snappy attitude. "Quite sure." she lied.
Sirius , in all honesty, looked stunning. Half of the girls in the great hall were gawping at him to much is their dates' dismay. He was wearing a full black suit, however he had taken his jacket off so he was just wearing a shirt and waistcoat and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off the bulging muscles under his tan skin. He leant forward towards her, putting both his hands on the punch table behind her. Her eyes bulged and she was pretty sure he could have felt the heat from her chest due to their close proximity. His smirk grew larger as she held her breath.
"What are you doing?" she hissed viciously.
Sirius suddenly leant back with a cup of punch in his hand. His smirk was becoming more and more smug by the second and it was infuriatingly gorgeous. "Getting a drink."
Sydney rolled her narrowed eyes at him and downed the rest of her drink in an attempt to cool herself down and to make sure that the Firewhisky was taking effect. She brushed past him coolly, putting her hand on his chest as to make him move. As she did so she felt how hard his muscles were under his shirt and how each of them individually were so defined and toned, it made her momentarily lose her concentration and her legs ceased to function. She stood there in the great hall, her hand holding onto Sirius Black's torso and her eyes fixated upon it like some sort of animal.
"They're really hard." she whispered almost inaudiably.
"Can I help you?" asked an amused voice. Syndey was suddenly snapped out of it to see Sirius looking down at her with his trademark smirk plastered across his face.
"No you can't." said Sydney pulling herself away from Sirius' wonderful chest. She suddenly remembered something. "On second thoughts," she said as she spun around and whipped the cup from his hand and walked away with it triumphantly. She looked back at Sirius' confused face with amusement and gave him a sultry wink.
She looked over towards where Remus and Peter were cheerfully talking with one another and their dates and noticed that James was still missing. Sydney scowled to herself realising that James was ruining her plans. She looked the hall once over but her eye never found the scruffy head of James Potter.
She found herself walking towards Remus and Peter a bright albeit false smile on her face. She sipped at Sirius' drink and stopped infront of them.
"Hello boys," she said "You both look wonderful tonight."
"Hi Sydney!" said Remus happily. "You look gorgeous."
Sydney felt herself blush slightly, however she quickly shook it off. "Thanks." she said embarrassedly "Do you have any idea where I might find Mr Potter?"
"James?" said Peter suddenly "Oh, he's on the Quidditch Pitch sulking."
"Uhh-" said Remus shooting Peter a stern look "I don't think that James wants to be disturbed, Sydney."
A dark look swept over Sydney's features. "Well he shouldn't have meddled in my business then, should he?" She snapped rather abruptly before turning on her heel and heading for the front entrance to the school, which lead her out onto the school grounds.
The weather that night was horrendous. The rain hit her face hard and every blow was like a thousand tiny blades made of ice were cutting into her skin. The gale-force winds were whipping the loose pieces of hair around her face to and fro, also causing a few more strands of hair to become loose. She felt her heels start to sink into the ground as she abandoned the gravel pathway and travelled along the grass.
As she got closer to the Quidditch pitch she could see a small figure up in the in the air flying about. She hurried over to the Quidditch pitch as quickly as possible, deciding on taking off her heels and carrying them instead. She could feel her teeth chattering and goose bumps appearing on her arms. Any heat she felt from hers and Sirius' experience was long gone.
She entered the stadium and looked up at the sky; raindrops fell on her face thick and fast. She called out James' name but there was no reply. She called out his name again, louder over the howling wind but it was to no avail. She looked around her for a broom to go and speak with him, but there was nothing but there was nothing but a chest which was most likely filled with the regulatory necessary equipment for a Quidditch match. She opened it and found that the bludgers and quaffle were in there, however the snitch was missing. Sydney looked up towards James and now realised that he was chasing the snitch. She narrowed her eyes at him as to not let the raindrops get into them. She looked back at the chest and picked up the quaffle. She held it in front of her eye line for a while in order to aim. She then brought back her arm and lobbed the quaffle in James' direction. She followed the quaffle and saw that she hit James on the back of the head. She felt a little warm flurry of satisfaction course through her stomach as it collided with him. He turned around quickly. Sydney wasn't able to see his face at such a distance but she assumed that he would be a little annoyed. He started coming into focus as he flew nearer and nearer to her.
He touched the ground and looked at her with no expression on his face. "What?" he asked.
Sydney looked at him thoughtfully. "What are you doing out here?" Sydney asked "You do realise that the ball was tonight, don't you?"
"Of course I do." He snapped "I saw everyone in there having a good time," he grumbled "I saw Lily in there having a great time with Franklin." He spat.
Sydney narrowed her eyes at James angrily. "Get over it." she bit back. James looked rather confounded, as if no one had ever spoken to him like that before. "You think you can complain about your problems when you so blatantly go around making them for everyone else?"
James looked lost. "What are you talking about?" he said scowling.
"You know fully well what I'm talking about!" Sydney roared over the wind. "You just couldn't leave it!"
"Sydney," James said a sad look in his eyes. "If this is about the Quidditch thing--"
"You are not allowed to talk to me about that!" Sydney bellowed "How dare you!" she shouted. "How dare you speak to me like I am nothing!" She pointed her finger at James menacingly "We were supposed to be friends!"
"Sydney I'm so sorry!" James said trying to get a hold of her shoulders. "I made a mistake, a horrible mistake!"
Sydney wrenched herself away from James' grasp "You've seemed so broken up about it!" Sydney spat sarcastically.
"I wanted to make it up to you," James implored "I tried to get you on the team but the best I could do was--" James looked over towards the bench situated next to the Gryffindor stands.
"A Reserve?" Sydney said glaring at him. "You think I'm going to settle for a reserve?!"
"Sydney, I can't just kick someone off the team if they not done anything wrong!"
"Well you've done plenty wrong." Sydney glowered.
"Sydney, there's nothing I can do about Quidditch--"
"Everything's not about Quidditch, Potter" Sydney snarled. "You just can't help making my life hell!" Sydney yelled. "You're selfish, arrogant, pig-headed and disrespectful."
"I haven't done anything els--!"
"Oh please," Sydney said angrily "Davies?" She prompted. There was a dawning look of realisation on James' face. "You couldn't help but play the big man, could you?" she snapped "Or was it just to try and impress Lily?" at this point James looked thoroughly confused. "It was probably killing two birds with one stone," Sydney pushed James backwards angrily. "Impress one girl and humiliate another." Sydney continued to advance on him. "Or maybe it was for yours and your mates' entertainment, a girl's pain--"
"Sydney it wasn't--"
"Don't tell me it wasn't what it seemed." Sydney yelled "As it all seems pretty simple to--"
"It was Sirius!" James yelled over the top of Sydney.
There was silence between the two of them apart from the howling wind and the thud of each rain drop hitting the already sodden ground. It took Sydney a couple of moments before she could even process what James had said, let alone think of a response. She looked up at him, still feeling betrayed by her ex friend.
"Not once have I ever felt bad about myself for what I do, not for one second" she said, her voice cracking. "And then I met you."
She turned on her heel and made her way up towards the castle.
Once she stepped inside she slid her heels on and cursed herself for not bringing her wand so that she could dry herself off. She stepped inside of the great hall, walked halfway in and leant against a wall, trying to catch her breath from the information just given to her and trying to stop her head from spinning with all the alcohol she had consumed.
She looked up to see people shooting her curious glances, most likely as to why she was drenched, however she couldn't care less. As she looked around the hall she saw a certain Sirius Black retreating from the Great Hall and moving towards one of the corridors. Her eyes narrowed at him and she pushed herself from the wall and began marching determinedly towards him. She found herself panting as she attempted to reach him. She was just shot of the Great Hall when she called out.
"Hey!" She yelled after him, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Sirius turned around and looked momentarily surprised. He raised his eyebrow at her as she stormed towards him.
Sydney breathed heavily, putting one foot in front of the other getting closer and closer to Sirius getting ready to give him the yelling of a lifetime. The alcohol in her system spurred her on, giving her an unknown confidence. However, as she got within talking distance she didn't stop there, her legs and the alcohol willed her on. She came chest to chest with the boy and grabbed his head full of hair and slammed her lips against his with full force.
As soon as the kiss came about it stopped. Sydney pulled herself back from the shocked Sirius. His face quickly turned into the most downright infuriating smirk ever. She glared viciously at him. He opened his mouth to say something no doubt arrogant and smug; however he never got the chance. She pulled her hand back quickly and slapped him hard across the face with a deafening blow for the entire Great Hall to hear.
Authors Note: SO .... What do you think?? Was it a cliffy for you or did you clever readers kind of expect it? Let me know what you think as your reviews make my day! Constructive criticism is, of course, welcome!
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Wonderful colourful Majolica hanging wall pocket designed with intertwined leaves, flowers and a pair of mythical animals at the bottom. Typical Majolica colours.
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Vintage & Antique Costume Jewelry and accessories from the late 1800s to the 1980s.
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subset: commoncrawl


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(REPORT) — Americans have been taking to the streets in record numbers since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, but amid that uptick in resistance something else has been rising within the nation's electorate: personal anxiety and stress caused by the nation's new political reality.
According to a new survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), 66 percent of respondents admit feeling increasingly stressed out by the current political climate and prospects for the nation's future.
The APA findings—contained in their Stress In America: Coping With Change (pdf) report—reveal that 57 percent of those surveyed said that politics have become either a "very" or "somewhat" significant source of anxiety in their lives. Meanwhile, 49 percent of those questioned said the outcome of the 2016 election, in which Trump was elected president and the Republican Party gained control of both the House and Senate, has become a specific source of new stress.
On these questions, the breakdown unsurprisingly broke along partisan and ideological lines. "While Democrats were more likely than Republicans (72 percent vs. 26 percent) to report the outcome of the 2016 presidential election as a significant source of stress, a majority of Republicans (59 percent) said the future of our nation was a significant source of stress for them, compared to 76 percent of Democrats," the report notes.
"The fact that two-thirds of Americans are saying the future of the nation is causing them stress, it is a startling number," Wright told the Post. "It seems to suggest that what people thought would happen, that there would be relief [after the election] did not occur, and instead since the election, stress has increased. And not only did overall stress increase, what we found in January is the highest significant increase in stress in 10 years. That's stunning."
Prior to its 2016 poll, the APA explained, "top stressors for the American population remained steady, with Americans being most likely to report money, work and the economy as very or somewhat significant sources of stress in their lives."
However, as the election took center stage in the spring of 2016, APA's member psychologists began reporting that their patients were increasingly concerned and anxious about the political climate. It was this trend that spurred the group to make specific inquiries about how national politics were impacting stress levels for Americans.
While the group conducted surveys and collected data last year during the campaign and after the election, it was a new round questions posed to Americans last month, subsequent to Trump's taking office, that fueled the latest findings.
"From the appointees to the executive orders to the laws that have just been proposed … it's hard for me to see a bright future for my family, which in turn causes me a great amount of stress," Bryanna Zoltowski, a 40-year-old mother of two from Macomb Township in Michigan told the Detroit Free Press.
"I'm afraid," Zoltowski said. "I really am afraid. I'm scared for the future of my kids."
Are you feeling stressed? Earlier this month, the Huffingpost Post reported on ten things therapists and psychologists recommend when it comes to de-stressing around politics.
This work by Common Dreams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
The post Survey: Majority Of Americans Increasingly Stressed About The Country's Future appeared first on MintPress News.
This BBSNews article was syndicated from MintPress News, and written by Jon Queally | Common Dreams. Read the original article here.
This BBSNews article originally appeared on MintPress News.


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Discussion in 'New Talent & Track Reviews' started by Nacon, Nov 19, 2011.
my facebook page:
nice, i like this
i think the hats sound a bit distant though
Great tune, really digging the intro and the 2nd part, tho im not rly a fan of the 1st drop.
nice saw u on lifted forums too
nice time signature @ di second part
Thanks guys!
Separate names with a comma.


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As a kid I constantly felt different. In some cases I felt exceptional to individuals and in some cases I felt inferior. Extremely hardly ever did I relate to people as being on the very same world. As my dependency selected up throughout my teens and 20's I ended up being persuaded I was different.
Choose The Most Reliable Substance Abuse Counselor In Denison TX 75020
If you do not have insurance, you should look into state protection. This is provided to low-income locals, however you may certify even if you consider yourself middle-class. Your income and medical expenditures will be taken into account, and if you certify, a lot of or perhaps all of your costs will be spent for. You just have to check out the requirements for your state, and then use.
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The average age of unaccompanied homeless individuals is 51 while the average age among adults in homeless households is 28, the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness reports.
All drugs are addictive to a particular degree, even coffee. Getting kids on drugs back to truth ought to be our primary objective. For instant assistance you can get in touch with the hot line for substance abuse treatment at 1-800-662-HELP.
Prop T is a regulation that would modify the City's Administrative Code. However, technically, the City Charter controls the budget procedure. So, unless you change the Charter, there is no requirement that the loan mandated by Prop T will be provided. Remember though, that we have other financing requirements created simply by regulations (the Firehouse Act and Care Not Cash) that, while not lawfully binding, constantly get moneyed because no on desires to be the jerk who declines to fund a publicly backed effort. So, that's a long method of stating: due to the fact that it's not a Charter modification, it's not set in stone like a Charter set-aside, but if backed by the voters, it will likely efficiently be a set-aside.
Denison Texas 75020 Substance Abuse Counselor: Can Drug Addiction Be Treated?
If you've not skilled regressions yet, you most likely will, and you might even experience periodic unfavorable ideas or even depression because you are feeling you do not actually have a hold on your own life. I suggest, depending on the abuse you're addicted to, that hold might be truly hard, so.
Miles was launched in April 2011 after serving 3 years for a heist conviction. She has actually given that been jailed numerous more times and now remained in Logan Correctional Center given that Dec. of 2012.
In Closing
A DUI legal representative has the task of assisting you to resist this type of charge. At the very same time, he or she can also deal with you to decrease the risks you have of getting the worst possible penalties and fines. You can even win your case and keep this type of charge off your record long-term.


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Surfing Australia High Performance Camps
23 December, 2013 - TEAM: Twelve frothing grommets have taken to the skies as part of the inaugural Chippa Wilson Surfing Australia Pro Surfer Camp. One of the...
Sorry, your version of Internet Explorer is too old to view SurfersVillage.com properly.
Why not try Chrome instead.


text:
|Reviews for Needle and Thread
| Eternal Skies chapter 1 . 10/20/2009
heh, i loved it
nice way of describing the action of sewing. maybe it talks about something else but if it does then i don't know what.
fav lines:
"The mirror climbs up the ladder
Up and Up and Up and Up
I hear the chains of it clang
With my foot as it escapes
Out of my mouth so it breathes
I tremble as I tighten the seams"


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Enroll in a registry or get more information.
More than 2,400 hospitals and over 8,500 outpatient providers worldwide participate in one or more of the ACC's ten registries, forming a comprehensive network of cardiovascular care providers committed to ensuring evidence-based cardiovascular care, improving patient outcomes and lowering health care costs.
The ACC's NCDR offers the following registries:


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NEWPORT County arrival Byron Anthony is hoping to make his Blue Square Premier Bet debut for his hometown club against Hyde today at Rodney Parade (3pm).
Defender Anthony, 28, has penned a deal until early January and admits joining the Exiles is a bit of a dream come true after being released by Hereford in the summer.
"For me it was always something I wanted to do, I was very determined it would happen at some point, I have always hoped to play for County," said Anthony, who was a trainee at Cardiff City.
"I've had good times as a Football League player, 11 years and, though I want to continue playing at the highest level, this move comes at the right time.
"A year ago I wouldn't have wanted necessarily to come back, but the club is clearly going places and are top of the league for a reason.
"And with our infrastructure and our support, there is definitely the potential to be a Football League club and that's what we are all determined to achieve.
"There is so much potential at this club to push forward and I want to play my part.
"I'm 28, I've got plenty of experience and can't wait to get going."
County boss Justin Edinburgh also completed the loan signing of AFC Wimbledon forward Christian Jolley in a busy few days.
Meanwhile in the other direction negotiations are also under way with unnamed clubs for transfer-listed trio Jefferson Louis, Ryan Charles and Jake Harris, all three players having already attracted interest.
County remain top of the table despite two defeats in their last three games.


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Kristen Stewart: "I Can Get Clumsy Around Certain People"
Kristen Stewart is never going to be totally comfortable with the fame game.
In an interview conducted before her July 17 cheating scandal, the Twilight star, 22, opens up to British Vogue about her image -- and admits she understands why people criticize her for seeming aloof, detached, and unimpressed with celebrity.
PHOTOS: Kristen's fling with Rupert
"I know if you haven't thought about how you want to present a very packaged idea of yourself, then it can seem like you lack ambition," the On the Road actress explains. "But, dude, honestly? I can't. People expect it to be so easy because there you are, out there, doing the thing that you want and making lots of money out of it."
But confidence doesn't come that easy, she insists. "I'm not that smooth. I can get clumsy around certain people. Like if I were to sit down and think, 'OK, I'm really famous, how am I going to conduct myself in public?' I wouldn't know who that person would be!"
PHOTOS: Kristen and Rupert's road to scandal
Ready or not, Stewart -- who was caught cheating on boyfriend Robert Pattinson with her married Snow White and the Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders, in mid-July -- will have to face the spotlight's glare once more as she makes her first red carpet appearance Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival to promote On the Road.
The actress has been keeping a low profile in the wake of the scandal, splitting her time between a friend's home and her parents' Los Feliz pad.
PHOTOS: Rob and Kristen's romance
"She isn't sleeping and she stays up all night crying," a source recently told Us Weekly of Stewart, who is desperate to get back together with Pattinson, 26. "She's close to a total meltdown."
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Kristen Stewart: "I Can Get Clumsy Around Certain People"
We Recommend
- Mar. 23, 2018 See Duchess Kate's maternity style with baby No. 3
- Mar. 23, 2018 These 35 stars were born into wealthy families


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coming down all the way from seattle, cathy and mike, we're pretty stoked to be shooting in sf. the shoot started off normally, with some shots in on the street and inside city hall. then all of a sudden a large group of thirty bikers came rolling down the street right in front of us. and then a whole battalion of tree huggin' bicyclists came down on us like a biblical plague. it was most likely the group, critical mass, that likes to ride around the city stopping traffic and encouraging people to get out of their cars and use clean energy to transport themselves around. it was awesome to be in the middle of that and to take pictures.
as if that wasn't enough excitement, we then ran into two cute dogs. i love having dogs come into the shoot! we then finished off the shoot in the mission district. fun times. can't wait to shoot this good looking couple again at their wedding!


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SMC Basketball: Bender sees a new Hope in big game
Joe Meixell | Wednesday, November 30, 2005
When Saint Mary's hosts Hope College tonight in its first conference game, Belles coach Steve Bender knows his team cannot afford a repeat of its previous outing.
"We absolutely have to come out playing hard this time," Bender said.
That's because Saint Mary's fell behind 24-2 to Carthage Saturday, in a start Bender called "pathetic." The Belles never regrouped, and Carthage sailed to a 63-45 victory.
Hope, the defending MIAA champion, is undefeated at 2-0 as it enters Angela Athletic Facility for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
Bender said in addition to starting well, his team must shoot better to have any chance at winning. On Saturday, Saint Mary's shot 17 percent in the first half.
Bender, who is now 1-3 in his first year as Saint Mary's head coach, called the young season a "roller coaster" for the Belles. He said, in spite of the rough start, the team needs to "keep going forward."
And despite the poor record, he said the team has been improving in practice and must translate that progress into game situations beginning tonight.
Bridget Boyce and Alison Kessler lead Saint Mary's in scoring, averaging 14.8 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Bender also predicts solid contributions from freshmen Erin Newsom, Nicole Beier, Calli Davison and Emily Light, who all logged at least ten minutes of playing time against Carthage.
With the added contributions of some of these underclassmen and the steady guard play of Boyce and Kessler, Bender believes his group will show it can compete with the top teams in the league.
"We can't back down against [Hope], or they'll have their way with us," Bender said.
The game, which is the Belles' first against a league opponent, will be played at the Angela Athletic Facility at Saint Mary's on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
After Hope, the Belles face North Park University Friday . They return to league play next Wednesday and Saturday games against Adrian and Alma, respectively.


text: Hi Netters, <odda at my-deja.com> schreef in bericht news:8v0vvm$g4r$1 at nnrp1.deja.com... > Hi Olivier, > > The reason for taking two different linkers with two different primer > binding sites is that during the ditag pcr step ditags with the same > linker sequence can not be (efficiently) amplified. After the > denaturation step, instead of annealing to the primers, they can also > anneal to the second linker in the same single-stranded ditag molecule > and form a loop, but will not be amplified by Taq Polymerase. > Just check this by ligating Linkers to each other to form Linker 1 and > Linker 2 homodimers and a Linker 1 - Linker 2 heterodimer and PCR > amplify them. You will see, that only the heterodimer will be amplified. Not necessarily. I have done that, and in my case there was amplification of homodimers, albeit at lower levels. But suppression of amplification was far from impressive. I have fiddled around with PCR conditions, and was surprised that, when using AmpliTaq Gold in its commercial buffer, this suppression was nearly complete as opposed to a PCR using AmpliTaq in the exotic SAGE buffer. [...] Bas basjhj at baserv.uci.kun.nl


text:
DGX-1 Is Nvidia's Deep Learning System For Newbies
April 6, 2016 Timothy Prickett Morgan Whenever companies that sell compute components for a living get into the systems business, they usually have a good reason for doing so. There is a delicate balance between addressing a market need quickly and competing with your own channel partners Intel, AMD, and several ARM server chip makers have walked, and Nvidia is toeing that line with its new DGX-1 system for deep learning. The DGX-1 is not just a server, but a system, and this is a key differentiation that might not be obvious from the way it was presented during the opening keynote at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose this week. The DGX-1 is not just a way that early adopters can get their hands on Nvidia's latest "Pascal"…
Link to Full Article: DGX-1 Is Nvidia's Deep Learning System For Newbies
DGX-1 Is Nvidia's Deep Learning System For Newbies


text:
Mervin Monroe (also known as Tattoo Parlor Guy) is the proprietor of the The Happy Sailor Tattoo Parlor in the Springfield Mall.
In Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, Bart decides to get a tattoo and is able to trick the Tattoo Parlor Guy into believing he is old enough to get a tattoo. He was able to almost complete the tattoo before Marge pulled Bart away. He got a heart and the word "MOTH" on Bart's arm; all he needed to complete it were the letters "ER".
He appears briefly in Flaming Moe's and A Star is Burns, when Kent Brockman is getting a tattoo during the Eye on Springfield intro.
- He has one known relative in Springfield, Marvin Monroe.
- He slightly resembles and is possibly an early version of the Comic Book Guy due to them both being overweight, both having a blue shirt and both having a tiny bit of facial hair.
- Episode – "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
- Episode – "Flaming Moe's"
- Episode – "A Star is Burns" (archive footage)
- Episode – "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily"
- Episode – "Sweets and Sour Marge"
- Episode – "The Wandering Juvie"
- Episode – "The Food Wife" (Grand Theft Scratchy cover)
- Video game – The Simpsons Game (Grand Theft Scratchy cover)
- Comic story – Box Office Bingo


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In many cases our clients provide product training to ensure we understand their brands.
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 17, 2014
In today's struggling economic climate, business economists have been reviewing the value of hiring an outside marketing agency, and have concluded they are not financially beneficial for businesses. NYCS is an outsourced sales and marketing firm who heavily rely on businesses, throughout New York, to hire them for their marketing services.
Following research which has triggered negative reviews of outsourcing, and belittles the value of marketing agencies, it has provoked NYCS to defend the significance of outsourced marketing agencies.
The article of concern for NYCS, titled 'The Limits to Outsourcing: Beware of the Consequences for Market Success!' was published on The World Financial Review on 15th January 2014. The article was collaboratively written by university professors, Massaki Kotabe, Michael J. Mol, Janet Y. Murray and Ronaldo Parente. The four professors claim that, although outsourcing has its benefits like lowering the firm's breakeven point and improve its return on investment, in the long term outsourcing can diminish market performance. The professors' state that, "increased outsourcing leads to an increase in transaction and bureaucratic costs to a point where these start to exceed production cost gains."
Colin Moore, managing director of NYCS claims that outsourcing marketing agencies doesn't need to be costly. Despite the negative reviews by many that agencies are disconnected from brand's core values, NYCS point out the guaranteed higher return on investment their company offers clients. The firm offer a policy where their clients only pay for the results NYCS produce, making them excellent value for money. Colin Moore says, "In many cases our clients provide product training to ensure we understand their brands. We then represent those clients through direct forms of marketing and actually guarantee results – something our clients love about our outsourced marketing services."
NYCS believes that outsourcing an agency for marketing can indeed be a very smart decision for businesses. Colin Moore suggests that it's all about doing the right research. NYCS defend the benefits marketing agencies can offer businesses, claiming that it brings more experienced people and more focused campaigns, which leads to high sales conversion rates.
NYCS urge businesses not to believe the negative reviews about outsourcing a marketing agency. The firm is a leading example of why outsourced marketing companies can be extremely beneficial, and NYCS boasts an excellent track record for their services. NYCS in Manhattan is a solution for businesses looking to boost their weekly sales targets and build their customer base. The firm will continue to defend the quality and efficient services outsourced marketing agencies can offer, despite its negative reviews.


text:
Sgt Grit Newsletter - 04 SEP 2014 In this issue: • Sea Bags Never Arrived • H&L and Tabasco • The Life Of A Marine
Flags Family Member Ka-Bars Auto Headgear Jackets ALL CATEGORIES
Marines Stainless Steel Tumbler
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Sgt Grit 239th Marine Corps Birthday T-Shirt
Sgt Grit 239th USMC Birthday Commemorative Spinner Coin
239th Marine Corps Birthday Shot Glass
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Staff NCO Dress Blue & Duty Waist Plate
NCO Waist Plate - Eagle, Globe and Anchor Dress Buckle
Set of Dress Blues Buttons for Enlisted
1-1/8" Enlisted Blood Stripes
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Stainless Steel OD Green Field Utility Knife
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Take a look inside our newest catalog.
Print this newsletter Newsletter Archives
Sgt. Grit,
I found this drawing that was like all the other cartoon like drawings of Wars and Marines. I thought maybe your readers might like to see what Marines thought like back then. Note the M60 Machine Gun on his shoulder and the Fierce Eyes and the way he carried Grenades.
He's walking in Mud like we spent a lot of time doing during Monsoon season. I don't know who drew this but he did right by us.
GySgt. F. L. Rousseau, USMC Retired
In reply to Brown Side Out, Green Side Out.
When I went into the Marines (Sept. 1959) the new rank structure was just getting started.
We had the M1 and BAR, hence the crossed rifles on the new chevrons. Since then we have gone through the M14 (I was on the Troop Test Program for this), the M16 (that got a lot of Marines killed in Vietnam), and a lot of new shooting irons since then that I can't keep up with. And there will be more to come.
When the Marines went from the M1903 Springfield rifle to the M1, the Rifle Expert Badge was changed to depict the M1, which is still in use.
In talking to some of the new generation of Marines, when asked what rifles are depicted on the chevrons? They don't know, (some few do).
I would like to suggest to the Uniform Board a change to the Rank Chevrons. Instead of the M1, replace it with our first Musket and phase it in over a three to five year period.
When I was designing the logo for the Marine Corps Tankers Association. When the tankers all wanted to be the tank of their era, like the M4 of WW II, or the M26 of Korea, or the M48 of Vietnam. I proposed the Renault 6 Ton of the 1920's as that was the first tank used by Marines. This ideal was accepted.
See Iron Horse Marine.
Lloyd G. "pappy" Reynolds 1959-1963 and 1966-1970 Infantry and Tanks
Good morning,
Reading your fine article on the returned cover, prompted me to write the following. I was discharged 4/15/65 from the Brooklyn Navy yard. I shipped 2 sea bags with 5-1/2 years of memories plus all uniforms etc. I shipped it by railway express, to be sent to my home in Penn. If you guessed... it never arrived you were right. There has never been a week that goes by that I don't think of all I lost. I'm happy that fine Marine at least got his cover after all he went thru. Thank your for your time.
Jim Logan 1831xxx
Make Sgt Grit your one stop shop for all of your Uniform Supplies such as medals, ribbons, and mounts. Mounting orders may take up to 7-10 business days to ship.
Cut-off date for ribbon/medal mounting for this year's ball is October 24th.
This one goes out to all of the Marines of my generation. Do you ever run into these old guys wearing an old utility cover or an Eagle, Globe and Anchor on their ball cap? I see them almost every day where I work. They're usually bent over, walk really slow, or in a wheel chair. The Devil Dog in me wants to snap to and salute these men every time they walk by. Almost every old salt I meet has held the rank of "gunny". Whenever I talk to one I don't feel like a Marine at all. I laugh, I cry, and always get excited when I hear their stories.
I had the privilege of sitting out front of Walmart the other day for almost two hours talking to an old breed gunny. He was 88 years old and told me stories from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. This man had seen it all. He had done it all. I didn't think a man that old could operate a smart phone, but he whipped it out and started showing me old black and white photographs he had taken snapshots of from his photo album. Despite his age, he still had that commanding look about him that he had sixty years ago. When he told me stories about his boot camp experience I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Recruits were sometimes literally beat into shape. There was no crying home to mama. There was no court martial hearing for the DI. That's just the way it was. They were allowed to use whatever measure to make a man out of you. I was begging the old gunny for more stories but it was time for him to go home. I can't wait to see him again.
I just finished a book about the greatest Marine in our Corps history, Lewis "Chesty" Puller. If you haven't read MARINE! The Life Of Chesty Puller then drop and give me twenty you Marine impostor piece of SNAFU sh-t! If you want to know why Marines are so feared the world around then read that book and you will understand why. That old salt knew what a Marine's job is. He knew why God created the USMC. We weren't made to look pretty. We were made to fight and kill until there is no more enemy.
These old Devil Dogs I talk to all the time have the same fighting spirit in them that Chesty had. The Marine Corps is still tough and I'm proud as a game rooster to have served in my beloved Corps. But what we need more than anything is that Old Breed spirit. Marines, we've sung about it in our cadences. "Gimme that ole Marine Corps Spirit. It was good for Smedley Butler. It was good for Dan Daley. It was good for Chesty Puller, and it's good enough for me!" If we let some of our leaders have their way, they'll to everything they can to water down our bull dog fighting spirit. Not on my watch! Marines, let's teach our off spring and those around us wanting to join the Corps that the only thing that will keep America strong and alive is that Old Breed Marine Corps attitude. We are the best and we always will be as long as we remember, love, honor, support, and do our best to imitate the Old Breed.
In the meantime, get some, Marines. GET SOME!
Semper Fi, SSGT. Robert O'Briant '03 - '11
Just another Marine piping up about H&L. When we loaded our CH-46's for flight, at KyHa, we always made sure we had as many C-rats that we could pack on board; just in case. It was always the same when it came time to "debrief" and clean up the bird... H&L was the only ones left! I never could figure out why no one wanted them; through a careful and scientific application of Tabasco sauce (lots), anything tasted good. Usually it was about 5-6 hard shakes and mix them up. If you had been in country long enough, you already knew how to breathe without inhaling through your nose. That trick worked great to subdue the "taste" of those things.
Between the Tabasco sauce and peanut butter we were able to salvage anything that was even remotely palatable long enough to get it down! How many of you out there opened your boxes and found Lucky Strike greens in there? I found 2, both date stamped 1945! They only lasted about 3 drags before they vanished, too dry for 20+ years! BTW I still have about 30 C-rats tops that were given to me after I used them for "postcards" to mail home. Remember "FREE" in the upper right hand corner? Surprisingly, not one of them has a cancellation mark on the FREE! Semper Fi! (and we didn't OORAH! in '64).
Bill Wilson GySgt. Then and forever a Marine!
Sometime in 1967, 2/9 was in the midst of a Viet-Nam 90 day field trip. Some stupid supply officer in the rear thought we were setting in instead of making a sweep. For some unknown reason he sent out ammo and concertina wire on our night supply chopper. No Food - No Water. The ammo and wire were blown up when we saddled up the next day and started humping. The clouds moved in and no choppers for supply. Due to this we had no food or water for 5 days. Not a fun time. It is strange but when you have no food all you can think of and talk about is food; steak, mash potatoes, gravy, steak, hamburgers, fries, steak.
I found a small flat stone and put it under my tongue, shucking on it for moisture. One day a platoon from another unit passed through our unit and I was able to scrounge a can of something off one of the Marines. Back then we shared things. I believe there were seven of us at the time. I retrieved my plastic spoon, which I kept in its wrapper in my shirt pocket. The can was opened and passed around as we each took one spoon full, put the spoon back in the can and passed it to the next guy. When it was all gone I got my spoon back and we passed the can back around again. This time we each got to run our fingers around the inside of the can once. That was the best meal ever. A day or so later we hit a stream and I drank three canteen cups of water before I ever thought about any purification tablets. By this time I was very close to just pe-ing in my canteen.
We finally got resupplied with C-rats and it was like Christmas and Thanksgiving all in one. When we got back to the rear, I think it was in DaNang, the meal waiting for us was unreal. We heard a Lt., a Master Sgt., and a Gunny "ambushed" an army supply truck at a stop sign and told the driver they were never there and he needed to leave the area. We had steak, mash potatoes, gravy, mushroom sauce, vegetables and best of all MILK. All the milk we could hold. I slept good that night. The case of beer I "liberated" was even better.
I was always willing to try something. I borrowed a Corpsman's emblem, broke off the be-be guns on my chevron and turned it upside down. Shazam... I was a Corpsman. I went to the area where they hung out and picked up my daily ration of beer. While I was in their area I was called Doc and I kept my fingers crossed that no one was brought in for me to treat.
The only thing I regret is that when I returned to The World and college, someone stole my Zippo and my rock.
John Halpin 2/9 '66-'67
OK but if you ever get into a real fire fight, find the nearest Marine and give him your ammo.
(Vol #9, #1)
While driving around we noticed a quaint little restaurant that we decided to try out for lunch. It was just what we thought it would be and served very good and inexpensive food. While eating, Mary and I planned our strategy for the afternoon. I had not told you - that during the enrollment process Mr 'B' had been asked "When do you wish that Mary be permitted to leave the campus?" His response was "Whenever she chooses." They then said "Earlham suggests that a young lady be accompanied by one or more others and we shall abide by your wishes. She cannot change this." He gave this very little thought and replied "She may leave only when accompanied by a U. S. Marine Sergeant by the name of Harold Freas; that is spelled F-R-E-A-S." I don't know what they thought of this but that is how they put it in her file. (As you can guess, this caused her considerable problems down the road. I had absolutely no idea of when I would be back at Earlham - if ever - and she was on campus until that requirement was changed. She could not go into Richmond to buy personal items or gifts.) So, she would have to ascertain before she officially checked in if she could leave the campus afterwards. When she asked they looked in her file - and asked me for some identification. I produced my USMC ID and my driver's license. Then they told Mary "You can leave the campus with this gentleman, but you will be asked to show your IDs again at the gate." When she found out what courses were available we went back to 'downtown Richmond'. I checked into the Richmond Hotel for two nights. That was an old, established facility where my Dad and I had stayed several times. Mary liked it. We returned to the restaurant where we had lunch for our dinner and went to the movies afterwards. Then we returned to the hotel to call it a day.
Friday morning we had breakfast in the hotel dining room. And I told Mary of a big surprise I had for her for later that day. We were going to the 'Hollyhock Hill' restaurant in Indianapolis for dinner. This was a restaurant the likes of which were among the '100 Best Restaurants' in the entire United States. I had eaten there several times when one of my brothers worked in Indianapolis and when my Dad and I went to the Indy 500. It was about 75 miles from the hotel but well worth the trip. We skipped lunch and started for the 'Hollyhock Hill' a little after 2:00. Again we were passing through a really beautiful part of our country. Mary said "The more I see of this area the happier I am that I am going to Earlham." She could see from the exterior of the restaurant what an unusual place it was. When seated she said "I really love the outfits the waitresses are wearing. They remind me of those worn in Williamsburg (Va)." I could plainly see that she was already enjoying herself. I could not get her to order anything with alcohol in it and she reminded me that I was doing the driving. We had a very nice dinner and desert. We took our time; were there almost two hours. It was about 6:00 when we started back to Richmond. She was all snuggled up under my arm - as usual - for the return trip. I asked her if she cared for anything else before we turned in for the night. She said "NO!"
'til the next issue. The old, real old, real, real old (85) Master Gunny.
Harold T. Freas, Sr.
A decorated Marine and former 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Combat Veteran, has been held in Mexican prisons since 31 March 2014 for accidentally making a wrong turn that led him to the Mexican border. Recently re-locating from his home in Florida to San Diego, CA, for treatment for PTSD – Sgt Tahmooressi had his belongings in his POV to include his personal firearms. With no way to turn around, once he arrived at the border he informed the Mexican border patrol of the situation and that he had his personal firearms in his possession. He was then arrested on weapons charges and was taken to Tijuana La Mesa Penitentiary. After many verbal and physical threats, abuse, and being subjected to poor living conditions – Sgt Tahmooressi was moved to El Hongo Prison in Tecate. His trial is ongoing.
Sgt Tahmooressi's family, both by birth and Marine Corps wide, have been working diligently to get him released. As Marines we know that more can, should, and needs to be done here at home and in Mexico. Check out how YOU can get involved by visiting the website: http://www.freetahmooressi.com/.
Semper Fi! Continue to carry on until our Marine is back home!
Sgt Grit
Yo Grunts, time to saddle up. Don't forget your bug juice and two extra bandoleers. Point Man out.
I never met General Bruno Hochmuth but I remember the day his chopper crashed into the river and he did not make it back. There was a right nasty little firefight going on and we always speculated that the General was watching it from his Helicopter. I remember it vividly because we also killed a waterboo that afternoon and it cost all of us $5 to papasan. Not a lot of money now, but in 1967 combat pay was $65 a month. Roughly 2.50 a day so that was 2 days pay. H-ll of a way to remember the highest ranking Marine that was KIA in the Nam.
Semper Fi to us that are left and TAPS to those who have gone on ahead.
Ron Shouse Nam Class of '67/'68
Last February, I was sitting on a bench in the shop area of Alachua, Fla., waiting for my wife to tour an antique store. I was wearing my cap with Marine Corps insignia. A fellow about my age crossed the street, saw my cap. He was wearing a Corps T-shirt. He said, "Oh, you are an ex-Marine, too?" I said, "Ain't no ex, buddy." He grinned and said, "You got me. I know once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi." I Semper Fi-ed him back and we shook hands." The Corps lives forever."
Darrell Simmons PFC, VMF-144, 1952-53
Also, I'd like to expand on a story that Gunny Rousseau wrote about the Stoner rifle. I was in K/3/6 in 1965 when we test fired the Stoner. We even qualified on the range that year with this weapon. It had many uses, as it converted to six different weapons. It could be used as a sub machine gun, carbine, rifle, automatic rifle/magazine fed, automatic rifle/belt-fed and a machine gun tripod mounted remotely operated. We never had any problems with this weapon. I'll never understand why it wasn't adopted for use in Viet Nam.
Semper Fi, Ray Kelley
I have a high school friend that lives in Napa with her husband, a Superior Court Judge.
Lynne was telling me of the damages to her home; the broken Waterford Crystal; the toppled bookcases; the spilt food; etc... etc... and to the city of Napa, and it's buildings. Her husband joined the conversation for a minute, or two, and said: "Denny, I have to tell you this... I have a collection of very old, leaded, miniature military men. (A very e x p e n s i v e collection. My Grandmother started collecting these objects for me when I was just a little kid). During the earthquake, my glass cabinet fell over, and my collection ended up in a pile on the floor. All of my Army, and all of my Navy men had their arms, legs, and heads broken from their bodies. But, Dennis, I wanted you to know that not one of my Marines was damaged."
My comment to him was: "Well, duh."
Semper Fi, Denny Krause Sgt USMC '62-'68
As a Retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant with 27 Years from WWII through Vietnam I have had my share of Experiences some Pleasant and some not so Pleasant. I know some of you are going to look at some of my stories with closed eyes and ears but that's okay, I had the experience. During the Korean War a group of us were transferred to a rear area at Masan, Korea. This place was so far back some Army Dude had started a VFW Bar where a guy could get a Bud or Schlitz instead of the Local beer. While in this Bar and while enjoying our beer we were interrupted by something going on at the doorway. It seems a Leper dug himself in and wouldn't leave until he got the amount of money he wanted. The VFW bar was the only place where you could go to the bathroom sitting down, you have to be an old Asian hand to remember that.
We were in a local Bar, one time, nearby was some Korean Army guys having a drink, one had hung his belt, holster and pistol on the end of the seat which was near to me, so I sneaked the pistol onto our table, we took it apart, to remind him to be a bit more careful with his weapon. When I pulled the magazine out I found the top round was in backward, he wouldn't have been able to use it if he needed to. He jumped up soon and looked around and found his pistol on our table field stripped. The bowing and apologies were constant.
As some of you know, Korea at that time fertilized their field with human waste, we had orders to not eat any food at Korean restaurants. The benjo's had half steel barrels at the bottom and daily a guy came along in his Honey Cart emptying the barrels, which were emptied into Rice Paddy's, the stench was unbearable. Missions had the additional problem of dodging the rice paddies as they had narrow paths between them that had to be traversed without falling in.
Ah! The Life of a Marine.
Maj. Lawrence Rulison
View the link below and look for 3Bn, 25th Marines.
He was an EX-officer and listed as WIA.
USMC Historical Monograph - Iwo Jima: Amphibious Epic
Sgt Grit,
January 1967 to February 1968, I was with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Lima Co., 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squadron. This is my recollection of time in country. I would like to share it with my fellow Marines who served with me if any of you are still alive.
You can contact me at jam.sny[at]cox.net.
Jim Snider Semper Fi
When did Marines quit responding to a hale and hardy "SEMPER FI" with "GUNG HO"? with the turbid "uuhhraah" borrowed from our distant relations, the Army. I am an old Marine ('62-'68). I remember that "GUNG HO" was the affirmative answer to any group query such as "Do you Love the Corps?" We answered direct personal questions with the time honored "Sir, Yes Sir".
Ray Ginter USMCRD San Diego June '62 until... 1st Marines 3rd Marines, 4th Marines Done Sgt. of Marines '68
(Vol #9, #2)
When we entered the hotel - and were crossing the lobby - the desk clerk asked if we would like to have a TV - without cost - for the evening. Mary and I looked at each other and both said "Yes" at the same time. We had never seen a TV program before. He said they would bring one to our room in time for the evening programs. It was rolled in on a cart. It was huge with only about a 10 inch screen. It was a GE that had 8 to 10 control knobs and 'rabbit ears' on top. There was no antenna in the wall. He plugged it in and adjusted it as best he could. The best reception he could get was on CBS (There were only four networks back then - ABC, NBC, CBS and Dumont) We saw the Perry Como Show and a very funny comedy show that I seem to recall was named 'Mama' and then the picture went bad. We did not want to fool with it - and could not tell which knob turned it off so we just pulled the plug from the wall. We had to get some shut-eye. Mary had to check in at Earlham before 6:00 PM the next day. It would be our last day together - at least until Thanksgiving - if then. We wrapped our arms around each other - as usual - and went to sleep - for the last time until who knows when. Mary had to choose her courses - at the last minute - and then get them approved at the admissions office. And then I would have to leave her. Except for my time at Parris Island - and the month of July 1950 - we had not been apart for more than two weeks in the four years that we had been going together. September 9, 1950 was bound to be a really bad day.
On Saturday morning we got awake and looked into each other's eyes. She said "Well, this is our last day together for quite awhile - and I don't want to check in at Earlham until the last minute. We must make the best of it." I said "First things first. Where would you like to go for breakfast?" She replied "The Hollyhock - if it was not so far away." I said "They do not serve breakfast - so that is out of the question. Next?" She replied "Down in the dining room." We got up to shower. She went first. I asked "What would you like me to wear today?" She replied "I don't care what you wear now, but I would like you to wear your uniform when we go to Earlham." I asked "Dress Blues or summer?" She replied "I think it is too hot for the blues." After I showered and shaved I put on my civilian clothes (That is all I had worn all week long). We went down for breakfast. We took our time and discussed our plans for the day.
After breakfast we went for a slow walk around the downtown area; went into a few shops. We were holding hands most of the time. When it came time for lunch we returned to the same place we had eaten at twice before. Then we returned to the hotel to rest. I said to her "You know, none of the students will know of your 2 year hiatus between high school and Earlham - and they will not know of your 'Supermodel' status - unless they happen to connect you with a Prince Matchabelli ad - but they will soon see that they have a raving beauty in their midst. And you know what will happen then; they will be all over you - like flies in the barnyard - just like when I spotted you at Rancocas Valley H.S."
'til next week. The old, real old, real, real old (85) Master Gunny.
I'm writing about the passing of Perry Gossett. He was in D/1/3 in 1966-67. Perry passed away due to cancer. He was in weapons platoon, in Rockets. May he rest in peace.
Semper Fidelis... Ray Kelley
Would like to hear from anyone who served on Hill 300 in 1967 or Headquarters FDC.
I just returned home from the annual 1st MarDiv Assn reunion, more importantly the 1st Recon Bn Assn reunion. It was great seeing my comrades in arms once again. This year, the Sgt Grit PX was directly across the passageway from the 1st Recon harborsite, so we had excellent access to all the Corps merchandise and your staff. What great folks! David was especially engaging and came over to the harborsite to visit a couple of times, also had dinner with us Friday evening and made some gear donations for our fund-raising auction. Bravo Zulu to Sgt Grit and your great staff!
Semper Fi - John Clary, Sgt, 1st Recon Bn, '67-'69
On the article about the herringbone cover not being issued since 1940's... When I was at Parris Island in the 1950's that olive drab cover and herringbone utilities with metal buttons were being issued. Also K-rations from 1943 were issued in the field. I know I wore them and ate the rations. Enjoy all the articles in your newsletters.
Cpl.E.Heyl 1612xxx
Re Proposed uniform changes: Just as long as they don't bring back swagger sticks... And I wonder how many boots will salute LCPLs with those brass chevrons.
Kent Mitchell, Stone Mountain, GA Cpl USMC 1956-62
Bowman's Bandits, Nam '67/'68, 13 Cent Killers.
Never have so few killed so many.
Sgt. D. Peltonen 1st Marines Semper Fi
Making a bet with a Senior Drill Instructor on the rifle range? Playing cards with same? In the 60's? WTF is wrong with this picture?
Gerry Zanzalari 2206xxx Corporal USMC 1966 - 1970 PISC June 1966 - September 1966 RVN 1968 – 1969
Sgt Fuzzy asked where was our favorite chow hall... (Mess Facility), for many years I had thought it was my Mess Hall at 'B' Battery, 2nd LAAMBS in Chu Lai where I cooked for 88 men in '68; but I now believe it was at Henderson Hall while I attended Embassy School in late '68... because we ate on plates and I didn't have to cook it.
Mark Gallant 3371 (cook) '66-'69
"Sgt, Fuzzy" asked about favorite chow halls. DLI/WC at Monterey - Not just the first time with actual plates, but the ONLY place I heard phrases like "how would you like those eggs?" or "rare, medium, or well done?" The army ran the place with civilians.
Pete Dahlstrom , '68 - '74
Great newsletter - as usual.
Earl Needham Clovis, New Mexico USA Platoon 3041 MCRD San Diego 1977 MATTS 902 NAS Memphis 1977 H&MS-14 MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina 1978-1981 H&MS-36 MCAS Futema, Okinawa 1980 Cherry Point Skydivers
Philip of Macedonia in a message to Sparta:
"You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city."
Sparta's reply: "If."
"The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid of many counselors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail." --Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America, 1775
"If you were not there, you could not understand. If you were there, it is impossible to explain." --Unknown
"They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live." --LtGen. John Kelly
"Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people." --Thomas Jefferson
This isn't the end of the newsletter... to improve delivery we've shortened the version that is sent to your inbox, so read the rest at our website! Next story: Under My Tongue...
"You're more f--ked up than a soup sandwich!"
"What is you're major malfunction t-rd?"
"The smoking lamp is lit, for one cigarette, and one cigarette only... and I'll smoke it."
Gung Ho! Sgt Grit


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text: Hi Haojian,On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 10:21:25PM +0800, Haojian Zhuang wrote:> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 5:48 PM, Samuel Ortiz <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote:> > Hi Haojian,> >> > On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 10:04:03PM +0800, Haojian Zhuang wrote:> >> This driver provides registers and IRQ of PXA3xx chips to the ds1wm driver.> > I see why this is needed, but I really think the ds1wm driver should be> > converted to a regular platform device. The MFD driver below is just adding a> > useless middle layer between your platform code and the ds1wm one.> >> I'm OK to use the regulator platform device for ds1wm driver except> for one concern.> ds1wm driver is designed for mfd cell driver. I need to update it as> regulator platform> driver first. cell->enable() / cell->disable() is used to enable clock> for ds1wm driver.> So I need to change the API from cell->enable/disable to clk_enable()> / clk_disable().> > But the key issue is that there's no common structure for clkdev. Now> clkdev is only> designed for deeply machine depend.> > From my view is that we need a common structure for clkdev. Then mfd driver can> get benefit from this. Some client driver can be written as regulator> platform device.> And mfd driver can use them seamless. What's your opinion?I may be missing your point, but what is preventing you from calling the clockAPI from drivers/w1/masters/ds1wm.c, the same way you're calling it from thispatch ?Cheers,Samuel.-- Intel Open Source Technology Centrehttp://oss.intel.com/


text:
Cesare Prandelli has warned Italy not to get complacent after scraping a win over the Faroe Islands. "We're not Barcelona."
An early Antonio Cassano goal was enough to secure the 1-0 away victory last night, although Gigi Buffon was twice saved by the woodwork.
"We are not a solid team and have to work on this," said the Coach as he returned to the Peninsula.
"I didn't sleep much last night. I watched the game back, but we don't have to start everything from scratch. Some performances can help a team realise its limitations.
"We got into the box six times and kept exchanging passes in there. When you are in the right position, you've got to shoot. In the penalty area you go for goal and not to walk it into the net.
"On Tuesday I will make few changes against Slovenia, so the line-up will be similar to the one seen in the Faroe Islands."
Prandelli had said he wanted the Azzurri to adopt Spanish-style football based on technique and passing.
"Many in the media say we are like Barcelona, but I certainly don't. We are not Barça and I'm glad you finally realised that.
"It's possible that by talking about them too much, we risk getting big heads. Barcelona have been playing in a certain way for years, whereas we are just starting the journey and don't get together to train very often.
"Let us look for our own path rather than to copy someone else's."
See the latest Serie A predictions and betting tips with Eurotips.co.uk [11]


text:
The denim short is the perfect piece to usher in the warm summer weather. Denim shorts have always been an indispensable staple for summer. They go with pretty much everything—from slouchy tees to a crisp button-up. That's why we rounded up a bunch of stylish ways to wear these summer must-haves.
1. Didn't think denim shorts could look classy? Think again. Channel Beyonce by adding a colorful tweed jacket and a pearl necklace.
2. Denim shorts are the perfect choice for a causal and effortless outfit for a day of exploring the city on your bike. Slip into a cuffed pair and pair with a white t-shirt and light-weight scarf for a simple, timeless look. (image)
3. One of our favorite ways to wear denim shorts is bohemian/rocker style. We love them paired with a chic blazer, fedora hat, and open toe sandals. (image)
4. Take a cue from Ashley. Style a destroyed pair of denim shorts with a sequin cardigan, fancy clutch, and red lips. We love seeing a casual staple dripping with fancy elements.
5. Mix a frayed pair with animal print booties and a silk blouse. All eyes will be on you in a daring outfit like this.
6. Give denim shorts a feminine twist like Kendi. Stick with a neutral colored blouse and flirty heels in order to keep the flirty feel alive.