CONGRATULATIONS Democrats and Progressives. You won, and you won big. Do not allow any narrative other than one of a big successful fruition of hard-fought campaigns. Nationally, we won the House and netted at least seven governorships. We elected an unprecedented number of women. We made a statement in Trump’s ethno-racist America by electing two Muslim women. We turned at least 6 state legislatures blue. Three Red States demanded the Medicaid Expansion to Obamacare. Several states voted in favor of recreational marijuana and medical marijuana and an increased minimum wage. After our step backward with Donald Trump, we have taken many steps forward.
Our mainstream media continues to “group think” and work as a staged production. They decided that Stacey Abrams, Andrew Gillum, Beto O’Rourke, and Bill Nelson were the bellwether for Midterm 2018. We would have loved for every one of them to win. But in the grand scheme of things those were acceptable and probable losses. I live in Harris County Texas. While Beto O’Rourke lost our statewide race by a few percentage points, his energy activated our Latinos, Millennials, GenZs, and others for a clean sweep of virtually all positions of consequence in the county. These positions have a direct impact on every Harris County resident’s everyday life. As an example of our success in this very diverse county, the most powerful politician in Harris County is now Lina María Hidalgo, a woman, a Latina, an immigrant from Colombia who paid her dues with her grassroots service. (I’ve interviewed here several times (http://bit.ly/2yJ6drJ).
So, folks lets lift our heads. Let’s not succumb to a narrative that attenuates the sweetness of our success. We have activated populations that were either apathetic or thought they did not make a difference, or that no one cared about. Again, you won, and you won big. Now work to make it not only lasting but growing. Our work has just begun.
Hereford Cathedral Library. The library was formally established in 1611, but the cathedral’s manuscript collection dates back to the medieval era. It is still a working library, and is notable for its collection of chained books (a common practice in the early modern era), and is the only library of this type to survive with all of the chains, rods and locks still intact. The chained library contains 229 manuscripts, mostly medieval, and the earliest book in the collection, the Hereford Gospels, is from around 780.
So apparently my sister has had a fake girlfriend for the last like two years
Thanks for asking.
So the other night I’m sitting in bed studying or watching Netflix or just being a lazy bum cause I was sick, I don’t remember exactly, but Sam comes in and joins me in my bed.
“Kee,” she says eventually. “I need to tell you something cause it’s gonna come up at the karate party, and I need you to know so you don’t act weird.”
And I’m like “Okay? Why is something coming up at the karate party? Why do you think I’m going to act weird? Why does this matter? You’re not even in karate.”
And she’s like “Yeah, but Eliza is.”
So I’m trying to figure out what the heck she’s talking about and I’m like “So? What do you think we do at karate parties? Tell our best friends’ deep dark secrets?”
And she laughs and is like “No, but I’m gonna be there as Eliza’s plus one.”
And I’m like “What? We didn’t get a plus one. What are you talking about?”
And she’s like “Yeah, but you’re allowed to bring your significant other and your kids if you have them, right? I’m coming as Eliza’s significant other.”
So of course I’m like “What? Since when are you and Eliza dating?”
And she rolls her eyes and is like “We’re not. It’s fake.”
So from what I got, this is the gist of their “relationship”:
Once upon a time in grade 12, Sam and Eliza figured out a way to scam the system of conditional plus ones on invitations. If you pretended to be dating, you could bring your best friend to anything that significant others were allowed to come to.
They’ve never kissed or done anything more than hold hands and refer to each other as “my girlfriend” on their dating adventures, and their “dates” are limited to parties where the chances of someone who knows they aren’t actually dating are low. Apparently they’ve got a lock down on being each other’s plus ones to weddings, at whatever point they start getting invited to weddings that aren’t just them tagging along with their parents and weddings are super fun so they want to maximize the number of weddings they get to go to.
Their “anniversary” is around Halloween, since the first time thy tried their loophole was for a Halloween party for some club that Eliza was in.
So yeah. I guess last year while Eliza was at uni with me and Sam was in a college in our hometown, there were quite a few times that Sam drove down and stayed at Eliza’s dorm for the weekend just because there was some party or event or whatever that Eliza was allowed to bring a significant other to and “Kee, it’s ridiculous. Why wouldn’t you bring an extra person if you’re allowed to? It’s like they’re just begging people to find this loophole. We’re basically geniuses. We get like twice as much free food.”
Apparently the only reason I haven’t been told until now is because Sam thought I’d judge her or make it into a big deal or something, and there really wasn’t any reason to tell me because there hadn’t been a situation where I’d also be there.
Until the karate party.
Because Eliza’s in my dojo and I was also going to be at the karate party.
So I had to swear on my eventual degree that I was not going to tell our parents or anyone else because “this is top secret, Kee. It’s need to know only, and Mom definitely does not need to know” and to be chill about it at the karate party.
“So,” Sam asks, leaning back against my pillows. “Who’re you bringing to the karate party.”
“No one. I’m not dating anyone.”
“Lame. You should get a fake relationship. They’re great.”
So anyway their “dating” at the karate party was basically the same as their regular relationship. They sat next to each other. They shared food from each other’s plates. It was pretty funny watching them field questions about their relationship though.
“So how long have you known each other?” “Oh, since kindergarten.” “That’s so cute.” “I know. We were both pretty cute when we were kids. I don’t know what happened to Eliza.” “Please. I’m still adorable, and you know it.”
There’s this one dude in the dojo who’s been in a bunch of classes with Eliza and they’re friends outside of karate too and he shows up late to the party and is all “Sam! It’s great to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you!” Because apparently Eliza’s told him about her “girlfriend”? According to her, he doesn’t know it’s fake, and I’m kind of confused and Sam also looked kind of shocked that he expected her to be there so idk what’s going on there.
But yeah. That’s the story of my sister and her fake girlfriend. I’m sure they’ve got some funny fake-date stories but I don’t know them yet.
A couple other things:
Sam and Eliza have been best friends since kindergarten and Eliza’s family lives just up the road from mine back home, so Eliza is basically another little sister to me
I don’t actually know either of their sexualities. I’ve never actually seen Sam when she’s got a crush or is into someone and we were never really into fawning over celebrities or anything growing up, so I don’t know who she’s into. I do know she’s never been on an actual date outside of her fake dates with Eliza and that she hasn’t had her first kiss yet.
And, considering I don’t know my sister’s sexuality, I feel like it’d be a little odd to know Eliza’s since, as far as I know, she also hasn’t actually non-fake dated anyone either. Factoring in the group of kids they went through high school with, I’m really not surprised about any of this. There really weren’t any good dating candidates there.
That all being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them were bi or day or anything, or if this was just them failing at transitioning from friends to more. They would honestly be a cute couple if they were into girls and wanted to date each other. So I approve, if that’s the direction this ends up heading.
People from the events they’ve gone to as dates keep asking about them and they’ve been keeping up the charade whenever they run into these people or otherwise talk to them (why it wouldn’t be easier to just be like “oh we broke up actually” I don’t know but I had to swear I wouldn’t judge so this is just me stating facts and not judging lol) so apparently they’re going to have a photo shoot in a pumpkin patch for their two year anniversary??? so they can send these people pictures??? and I think as apparently the only person in on this secret I’m pretty sure I’m going to be roped into being the photographer??? which all could be seen as a little extra, but I’m not allowed to judge.
Honestly this whole thing is ridiculous but I’m legally not allowed to judge but I never swore against waiting for the inevitable moment when this is going to blow up in their faces hilariously
Life, once again, succeeding at being both less dramatic and much weirder than fanfic.
One of these days, they’re going to end up getting fake-married, just to keep up the charade, and so that they can go on a fake honeymoon together, and I really want an update when that happens.
I mean tbh it’s quite possible haha. My sister keeps complaining that our cousin is taking too long to have her wedding because she really wants to go to a wedding and why don’t we ever get invited to weddings? So that plus the amount of free gifts you get from getting married could theoretically make this the next step in their plan haha. Or at least fake engaged so they can have wedding showers and then call off the wedding and never return the gifts haha
Please report back in like 1-5 years depending on how bad this slow burn is
my god this is better than any fake dating fanfic i’ve read so far
Madara had siblings too. (I made myself sad, but I enjoyed working on it.) If you look, you can see all the spots where I didn’t bother, but! This is the first thing I’ve posted in a while that doesn’t have lines except in the little bits of shading that are there. ♡
He said he had four brothers (and I decided that there was a sister as well), and you can only see the foot of the last one…
There’s Madara, hanging out with a bottle of something strong, and the ghosts of the past.
I grew up hearing the phrase “you never stick with anything, what’s the point” a lot. I’ve always been attracted towards seemingly disconnected interests, and gone through phases of being really into something. But eventually my interest would fade and I would move onto something else.
Or at least that’s always how it’s been phrased for me, by others. Now I realize that my interest for the old thing didn’t fade so much as my interest for something new outshined it, and that’s vastly different.
I was always made to feel bad about it, with every abandoned endeavour I was told I needed to stop starting things if I wasn’t going to stick with them. I was told I was wasting time and money picking up these random interests and abandoning them after a year.
So eventually, I stopped picking things up. I told myself “what’s the point, I’m going to give up in a year anyway”. Even worse, I started dismissing every new interest, because I had no way of knowing if my interest was “real” enough or just another passing phase. I stopped trying new things, I stopped looking up stuff that piqued my curiosity, and having chronic depression made it really easy to leave everything on the dirty floor of neglected ideas. The more they piled up, the more depressing it was. All these things that could be nice, but I just can’t take care of them.
I realize now how bullshit that kind of thinking is. So what if I stopped doing karate after a year? That’s one more year of karate than most people I know. And in that year I learned discipline, I learned to listen to a teacher, something I had never done before in all my years of private education. I learned the true meaning of respect, that it’s something you do out of faith at first and maintain as it’s reciprocated, not something you do blindly and regardless of how you’re treated.
It gave me the foundation for the determination and grounding I needed to practice yoga. Another year. Not enough to be good at it maybe, but again a year more than most people I know and a year that is not lost, but gained. I learned balance, I learned to listen to my body, I learned how to let go of emotional tightness through physical stretching.
And then iaido, only a few weeks because I couldn’t afford to keep going. The year of yoga I had done a couple years previous had given me a better starting point than the other newcomers to the class. I already had balance, I had strength in my legs and I had better posture. In those months I learned the importance of precision, the true definition of efficacy, the zen state that is incessant repetition.
Did I practice long enough to get good at iaido, and yoga, and karate? No. Of course not. It takes years to become proficient and decades to master any of those things, but I learned other skills and those skills were an invaluable part of my growth both spiritually and emotionally. Likewise for my forays into painting, sewing, graphic design, film. I’m a photography student now heading into my second year of school, and every single second of practice I have in those other disciplines has given me more experience in those areas and made learning easier.
Skills carry over. They intersect and connect in ways that are sometimes unexpected. Nothing is ever lost, experience is never a waste of time or worthless or stupid. Allow your focus to wander, reflect on what you learn, and consider how you can keep using it in other aspects of your life. Stop telling people their interests aren’t worth their time.
‘A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one’
^^^^The real jack of all trades quote if anyone’s i interested.
For a week I was super into making LED arrays.
For a few months I was really into costume makeup.
For a year I was into sewing clothes
For a few months I was into sculpting and molding and casting
I’ve always had a sustained interest in animals, but the hyperfocus on birds in particular made me very familiar with feather formations.
Couple months I loved the idea of engineering moving sculptures.
Add all that together, and hot diggity shit, that’s some SOLID basework for making costumes, cosplay, and other impressive props.
—–
For a week I was into welding and took a welding class.
A year of interest in woodworking and fiddling with the tools means I’m fairly good at that as well.
Add that to the engineering from earlier and the focus on balance and stable structures means I can make my own furniture – Couches, shelves, desks, just give me the material and tools and I can make it happen.
—
Brief interest in business law meant two classes taken in college, and an accidental qualification for a business degree.
Those same classes let me point out some serious litigation bait in a friend’s startup company.
—-
A wide array of interests means I also have a TON of little nitpicky facts about how the world works, which translates into amazing immersive writing.
I know how it feels to use a chisel, and the delicate precision of electronics. I know the smell of forests and barns and old yarn being put to use again. The bloody smell of a freshly slaughtered chicken, and the anticipatory fear moments before skydiving.
The pattern of a bad weld and a good one, and the careful calculation of load bearing walls when building underground.
Anyway, this world is HUGE and really cool. Why on earth would I want to stick to learning ONE thing, when there’s HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of things I could learn?
For anybody still struggling with this, I highly recommend this book:
Hot take: Westley is way too dramatic and Extra ™ to not be bisexual.
He can fence with either hand, if you catch my drift
By this logic, which is utterly impeccable, so is Inigo.
Of course he is. That was the most flirtatious sword fight in cinematic history. You could literally cut the sexual tension with 2 swords.
*slams the reblog button so hard* This, THIS is the kind of content I want to see!
I remind you he convinced a notoriously murdery pirate captain to keep him alive via a Scheherezade Gambit, the specifics of which we never do learn about.
Hazel Scott playing two pianos at the same damn time with ease
Hazel Scott was a musical sorcerer and a civil rights hero. She:
was admitted to Julliard at 8.
was performing in top venues by 16.
pioneered “swinging the classics” and made the equivalent of a million dollars a year doing it.
was the first person of color to have their own national TV show.
went to Hollywood but refused to be cast as a “singing maid.” Demanded and got control over her casting, her wardrobe, and how footage featuring her was cut.
refused to perform in segregated venues and led charges for integration in several northern cities, notably Spokane.
She was brought down by the House Committee on Unamerican Activities, and has been largely forgotten. But she was a sorcerer, and a hero.
As a piano player I just want to point out a few things:
– the basses are on the left, the highs are on the right. Easy if she’s playing just one at the time as she’s always facing it. But!
– when she plays the two at the same time, she had to reverse the motion of just one hand for that specific point in time and go against what the usual muscle memory is saying.
– the cool contrast of negative-coloured keys on the left piano? Nice aesthetic touch, eh? But yunno, if you train your brain to associate specific colours with specific things, and then reverse it, you again need to break the conditioning. Imagine driving a car and seeing a STOP sign written in green and then GO written in red. And a lot of pianists associate the black and white combo with specific placement of tones.
So. Not only was Hazel Scott a genius, I also suspect she had a non-standard neural connections to be able to do that and not fry her brain.
Four dogs, two cats and maaaybe a fox. (Didn’t see much but the flash of its eyes and the movement of brush, but it was in a spot where I see them fairly often.)
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