text:
Both facilities cater to travelers who have First Class tickets -- either on the Acela or in Sleeper Car accommodations on Amtrak's long-haul lines -- as well as Select Plus members of Amtrak's Guest Rewards program and members of Continental Airlines' Presidents Club.
Beyond that, there is little consistency.
In Chicago, for instance, the Metropolitan Lounge is a grand facility that can seat hundreds, with multiple televisions, soda fountains, and comfortable chairs in a mahogany-paneled setting. New Orleans also boasts a Metropolitan Lounge; it is small room with a tube television and a couch, plus a coffee pot.
The ClubAcela facilities, which can be found in Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, also vary in terms of quality:
- The 30th-Street Station ClubAcela in Philadelphia occupies what was once a passenger lounge during the golden age of rail travel, with elevators to the track and views of concourse.
- Union Station's ClubAcela in Washington D.C. is less impressive but offers East and West exits directly to the tracks from which Acela trains leave, bypassing lines.
- In New York, where the grandeur of the old Penn Station has given way to an underground 70s-era shopping mall vibe, the ClubAcela is off to one corner, and passengers heading for their trains need to join the main passenger waiting lines to reach the tracks.
Of course, every lounge does offer a few basics, including reasonably comfortable (if evidently used) armchairs and couches, television, and coffee. And since Amtrak doesn't sell ClubAcela memberships, passengers can rest assured that whatever lounge facilities are offered are meant to augment their ticket accommodations rather than stack up as benefits in their own right (the way that airline lounges do).
But as we move into the second decade of the twenty-first century, and America wrestles with upgrades to its aging rail infrastructure, one does have to ask: could we get some consistency in the lounge amenities?


text:
After Elimination the night before, Corey immediately wandered off to bed, feeling a mixture of emotions. He was sad to have let Roskva go – he would miss his new friend – but also sure that the decision he made was the right one. And as he drifted off to sleep, he thought of the two women remaining, and wondered how he ever would choose between them.
Shrewdly, Namika suspected that Corey might feel this way, and hoped to give him a little push in the right direction – the "right direction" being her direction, of course. And so she waited until she heard his snores from the hallway, and crept (as usual) into bed beside him as he slept.
She slipped gingerly under the covers, careful not to wake him. Her nightly "bonding ritual" had worked for her (more or less) so far, and as she touched her chilly toes to his warm feet, she felt certain it would only bring them closer.
Meanwhile, somewhere far away in the great expanse of the mansion, Jessamine also climbed into bed, none the wiser to her third wheel status.
Oblivious to the shenanigans going on two floors above her, she dreamed peacefully of what the next few days would bring.
On the morning of Day Sixteen, Corey is the first to wake. He is startled at first to find Namika in his bed, but truthfully, he's gotten used to her night-time company. He looks down at her pretty face, sleeping peacefully, and smiles.
Nonetheless, there are only two days left in this competition, and today, Corey will leave Namika behind.
The next two days will consist of 24-hour overnight dates with each of the remaining women. This time, all bets (okay, most bets) are ON – woohoo is now allowed, and the "ask to be girlfriend" interaction can be initiated by Corey only, IF he rolls a whim to do so. The only thing that is still not allowed is engagement.
Since Corey wakes up with a whim to flirt with Jessamine, I take this as a sign that her date should come first. He immediately flips into a confident mood, perhaps working himself up to his impending date, and goes off in search of breakfast.
Namika rises soon after, and she has rolled two whims for Corey – one to "be friendly" and one to "flirt." But today is not her day (my goal is to fill Corey and Jessamine's needs and immediately send them to their destination), and besides, Namika is feeling energized and heads directly for the treadmill. She jumps on and begins to run in a show of feigned nonchalance – no way in hell will she let anyone see her nervousness, or her heaven forbid, her jealousy.
When Jessamine finally wakes, she is in a flirty mood, but it lasts only seconds (wonder what she was dreaming about!). She is feeling happy, at least, and I send her off to tend to her needs bars before her overnight date will begin. This includes giving her a new outfit (Namika will get one, too), since I really like styling the women and decide this last date should be their last chance to put their best foot forward.
I send Corey to the computer to plan his date with Jessamine, and the two of them are promptly swept away to the surprise destination.
Alone in the house, Namika lets out a groan of dismay.
The stress has finally caught up with her, and she breaks out in a rash of unsightly hives. She scratches at herself, desperate to soothe the incessant itching, but all she can do is pray that it's gone before tomorrow.
When Corey and Jessamine arrive at their destination (Chinese-Asian Village by Zita1966), Jessamine stares in wonder at the beauty and charm of their surroundings. She loves the outdoors, but the first thing she wants to do is hug Corey (autonomously), and when he heads directly inside, she follows him there.
They chit-chat a bit (gloominess, dollhouses…you know, the usual), and Corey rolls a whim to kiss Jessamine. I order him to initiate a kiss, but first I send them outside to take advantage of the beautiful scenery of this location.
Corey doesn't let the grass grow under his feet, and he goes in for the kill right away. To his (and my!) surprise, Jessamine shoves him off in disgust! I think she's still mad at him for the Roskva incident, or maybe she's just playing it up a little bit. If we know Jessamine by now, we know how she loves drama.
Poor Corey is humiliated, but Jessamine seems oblivious. She whips out her camera to document his embarrassment, and I wonder what kind of sociopath this girl really is.
Jessamine quickly moves on, laying down to take in some cloudgazing (solo) and Corey just watches her awkwardly.
But when Jessamine stands back up, Corey can see from the look on her face that she's feeling inspired – and now, so is he. Corey decides to take another chance on that kiss, that maybe she'll be more receptive after pointing out the heart-shaped clouds in the sky.
And luckily, he's right.
By now Jessamine is hungry, and Corey's fun meter is declining a bit. They both head inside, her to find lunch, and him to the television. After she eats, Jessamine settles into the couch, sliding into the spot just beside him. She opens – strangely – with a joke about divorce.
Corey doesn't make too much of it, though, because he laughs and rolls a whim to compliment Jessamine on her appearance. It seems her new outfit has elicited the desired response.
Jessamine, feeling flattered and sufficiently adored, rolls a whim to embrace Corey. He's back in her good graces now, it seems.
But Corey needs to use the bathroom (terrible timing, Corey!), and Jessamine finds her way to the computer (located in the master bedroom) in his absence. She must do some major soul-searching while she stares at that computer screen, because she rolls a whim to "ask Corey to be boyfriend." Ironically, Corey has rolled a similar whim – to "ask someone to go steady," but without a specific name, Jessamine is plum out of luck.
Corey does roll a whim to hug her, though, and so I send him to initiate the friendly hug interaction. In the bedroom. As soon as Corey sees that bed, he flips into a flirty mood.
Corey takes this as a sign. He (autonomously) whispers seductively to her. No coincidence, I think, that they're standing two feet from the bed.
But instead of inviting her to join him between the sheets, Corey lays it on thick with the romance. He's a gentleman, this one.
In the middle of this cutesy little interaction, they're startled by the ringing of a cell phone. Corey feels his buzzing in his pocket, and impatiently glances at the screen, and grimaces.
Anything important? Jessamine asks.
Not at all, he replies. It's no one.
He shoves the phone back in his pocket. Now, back to the task at hand.
But the spell, for the moment at least, has been broken. Jessamine is still feeling inspired from her cloudgazing earlier, and enthuses animatedly about the outdoors. She's talking about her favorite kind of flower when suddenly, she sways, dizziness overtaking her.
Corey steadies her, concerned, and asks if she's okay. Maybe it's the stress, like Namika, or maybe she's coming down with something, but there's no way Jessamine is going to ruin this date because of a little cold. She squares her shoulders and smiles broadly. And then, on a whim, she asks him to join her outside for a little stargazing.
Afterward, Jessamine rolls a whim to be mischievous with Corey, and so (naturally) she dares him to streak. What's the harm in getting a little peek of the goods? she thinks. And Corey, who is no stranger to exhibitionism, strips down to his birthday suit and goes for a leisurely run.
Jessamine, watching from afar, thinks she could do worse. A lot worse.
But as she heads back inside, Jessamine feels a bit faint again.
She gathers herself yet again. She doesn't want Corey to see her like this, and sure enough, by the time he rejoins her, she's back to her normal self.
To really drive the point home, she even breaks into song, serenading a smitten Corey, who listens happily with stars in his eyes.
But when time comes for bed, Jessamine doesn't head for the master bedroom.
Leave 'em wanting more, that's her motto. She climbs into a twin bed, alone, leaving no room for misinterpretation.
She closes her eyes, but she doesn't fall asleep. Instead, she waits. She waits until she hears the door creak open, until she hears his heavy footsteps on the wooden floor, and the rustle of the sheets as he climbs into the twin bed beside her.
She smiles, and she's right to. Because Corey has chosen to sleep, his broad frame crammed into a tiny twin bed, not to sleep with her, but to merely sleep next to her.
The following morning, Jessamine wakes first. She jumps out of bed, and tries not to wake Corey, but he hears the squeak of the bed, and blinks away the sleep.
She looks beautiful, he thinks. Especially in those cheeky little underwear! He immediately rolls a whim to compliment her.
There are only a few hours left in this date, and Jessamine intends to make it count. She sure loves being admired, because once Corey has sufficiently complimented her beauty, Jessamine rolls a whim to embrace him.
Corey flirts autonomously, and Jessamine compliments his appearance, telling him she likes his taste in clothes.
They chat happily until the gnawing in their hungry bellies gets the better of them, and they take off in separate directions in search of breakfast – Corey wants pancakes, while Jessamine is in the mood for shish kebabs.
They sit down to breakfast together, however, and they chat and flirt as they eat.
After breakfast, there are only two hours before Jessamine and Corey will return to the mansion. Corey makes his way outside, where he hopes to take in some last-minute cloudgazing, but Jessamine has other ideas (I notice there's a "kiss Corey" interaction in her queue).
Corey settles into the grass, but Jessamine beckons.
With only minutes to spare, she leads him all the way up to the third floor – to the master bedroom with the double bed.
It's here that she kisses him, and when she does, she melts.
His kiss elicits a physical reaction – Jessamine is on fire, her skin burns to the touch. She is thinking about rocket ship woohoo, but glances sideways at the bed and decides that it will do.
She pulls away from Corey, and watches as concern registers in his eyes.
Jessamine looks down at her arms, covered in spots, and realizes – she wasn't on fire. She's sick, and the bug she's been fighting has caught up with her. Embarrassed, she frowns, but Corey just tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, and whispers, Come on, now. It's time we get you home.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Sports Champs with Filipino Roots/
The five-year dominance of Manny Pacquiao in boxing has undoubtedly impressed upon the consciousness of sports fans everywhere the competitiveness and ability of the Filipino athlete. As a result, other star athletes with Filipino roots, though they may compete for another country, are likely to be recognized as representative of their ethnic heritage, such as Fil-American swimmer Natalie Coughlin or Australian-Filipino golfer Jason Day. This is a significant source of pride and great consolation for Filipino sports fans especially because the national sports program of the Philippines has not produced a champion at international competitions and the Olympic Games.
The athletes featured here have all succeeded at the highest level of world competition. We are featuring them to celebrate the fact that there flows in the Filipino the blood of a champion.
Featured are boxing champions Manny Pacquiao, Nonito Donaire and Ana Julaton; swimmer Natalie Coughlin; golfers Jason Day, Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin; basketball coach Erik Spoelstra; baseball pitcher Tim Lincecum and Paralympics champion Raymond Martin. Not included because their photos were not available to us are: Olympic gold medalist gymnast Kyla Ross whose mother is Filipino Hawaiian; Olympic medalist and World Champion ice speed skater JR Celski, whose mother Sue Sabado has roots from Baguio City; and Filipina African taekwondo champion Paige McPherson.
Ana Julaton
Ana Julaton is the first Filipina American to win a world title in women's professional boxing when she wrested the Super Bantamweight World title in Sept 2009 in just her seventh fight. Her aggressive style, hard punching power and winsome smile makes her a very popular sports personality in the San Francisco Bay Area. The granddaughter of an Ilocano who served in the U.S. Army, Ana was an amateur boxing gold medalist and has publicly advocated the inclusion of female boxing in the Olympics.
Erik Spoelstra
Filipino American Erik Spoelstra is the basketball coach who masterfully guided the Miami Heat to the NBA World championship. The son of Elisa Celino of San Pablo City, Laguna, Erik is the first Asian American head coach in all the four major U.S. sports leagues (basketball, football, baseball, hockey). He was a high school- and college basketball star at the University of Portland prior to becoming a basketball coach.
Jason Day
Filipino Australian professional golfer Jason Day finished back-to-back in second place at the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open--a rare feat—that earned him recognition among the top ten golfers in the world. As a teenage phenom, he won the Australian Junior Championship, the World Junior Championship and became the youngest golfer, at 18, to win a tournament in the U.S. PGA tour. After his Irish father died in 2000, Jason's Filipina mother enrolled him in a golf academy and pushed him to develop the 'killer-instincts' to win tournaments.
Natalie Coughlin
No other American female swimmer has won more than 12 medals in three Olympic games, but Natalie Coughlin collected three golds, four silvers and five bronzes at the Athens, Beijing and London Olympics. She was recognized as World Swimmer of the Year and three times as U.S. Swimmer of the Year. Her mother is half-Filipina, and her grandmother hails from Cavite. This swimming star loves lumpia and halo-halo.
Tim Lincecum
Tim Lincecum, star pitcher for the two-time World Series champions of baseball, the San Francisco Giants, is amusingly nicknamed "the Freak" because of his unconventional and quirky delivery of the ball. That complex but effective pitching style has earned him, not once but twice, the Cy Young award, baseball's highest honor for the best pitcher of the year. Tim's mother is Becky Asis, a Filipina from Hawaii. Her father came from Mindanao, her mother, from Batangas.
Jennifer Rosales
Jennifer Rosales is a World Cup champion and the first Filipina to ever win in the U.S. Ladies Golf Tour. Representing the Philippines with teammate Fil-Am Dorothy Delasin, she won the annual team golf tournament among nations in the 2008 Women's World Cup of Golf. Growing up in Manila, Jennifer won the Philippine Ladies Amateur Championship in five successive years.
Dorothy Delasin
Dorothy Delasin is a Fil-American champion golfer who won the World Cup (with Jennifer Rosales) and four tournaments in the U.S. LPGA tour including the Samsung World Championship. Taught by her father Arsenio, who was a golf-driving range attendant in Daly City, California, Dorothy became an amateur standout and won the U.S. Junior and the U.S. Women's Amateur championships.
Nonito Donaire
Known as the Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire, Jr. has captured world titles in four weight divisions and is currently the reigning World Super Bantamweight Champion. Known for his quickness, hard punching and intelligence in the ring, he is rated among the top five elite boxers of the world. Born in Bohol, Nonito grew up in General Santos City and took up boxing when he moved to California where he became an amateur star, winning gold medals in three U.S. National Championships and in the U.S. and International Junior Olympics. He was recently named Boxer of the Year by ESPN.
Raymond Martin
Paralympics world champion Raymond Martin was born with arthrogryposis, no flexibility in all body joints from neck to ankle, and his triumph provides an awe-inspiring tale of grit and willpower. The 18-year-old Filipino American, a freshman at the University of Illinois, took all of 14 years to manage to turn a door knob, yet in one week last summer, he won four gold medals in each of his four wheelchair track races in the T52 category (limited body function) at the London Paralympics. Raymond, who admits to favoring sinigang and tocino in his diet, was named the Paralympic SportsMan of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee for 2012.
Manny Pacquiao
Undoubtedly the most widely acclaimed Filipino athlete internationally, Manny Pacquiao was recognized as the best boxer in the world, pound for pound (or among all the weight divisions), having won world titles in seven different divisions, which is unprecedented in boxing history. With his aggressive do-or-die style, dramatic wins and down-to-earth persona, his celebrity appeal has transcended national boundaries, making him a global Filipino icon. Pacquiao's star was tarnished recently when he lost to archrival Juan Manuel Marquez by knockout. He has parlayed his fame successfully in Philippine politics, becoming a congressman representing Saranggani province.


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While I'm waiting for my new E85 fuel level sender to come in, I thought I'd work on a build thread since I've pretty much lurked here all I could.
First, a little car background:
I'm partial to old school turbo Dodges and Neons - I've owned 2 turbo Dodge Daytonas, a black 1995 DOHC Sport Coupe Neon (big kid go-kart!), a 1998 DOHC Espresso, the black 2003 R/T, and now this. I lived in NB for a short while, so I didn't get to keep my Neons during the move(s) - a thing I regret. My ultimate dream was to have an Omni GLH but I've been forbidden from owning something that ugly.
Apparently I was such an awesome husband that my wife and her friend decided to drive to Winnipeg to buy me an SRT-4 (sight unseen, less shitty cell pics) for father's day a few years back. When I found out about this idea, I wasn't going to stop them although I was a little worried I'd get a pile of beat on snot to deal with when they got back.
I've wanted one since they came out, but when I was... 18 (math, bah!) the insurance was more than the payments so we ended up buying an '03 R/T which was pretty fun for what it was. The insurance on my SRT nowadays? 500 bucks a year. Much better.
Anywho, they ended up finding one about an hour out of Winnipeg that was recently inspected. The girls weren't much of car experts, so I walked them through a few basic things to check. There was a CEL for a misfire (I wasn't worried about that) but the tires were bulging with the cords showing, and she said she was pretty sure the rear struts were blown. Sold?
I made them buy new tires before they came back, but being in the middle of nowhere meant choices were limited. I ended up with the hardest set of Dunlops money could buy. It's like Tonka tire plastic, I shit you not. But they were safe.
Behold the pinnacle of Neon-ery!
RR strut mount sounded like death, changed it.
HIDs were removed. They actually almost caused a fire in the multifunction switch (also changed due to meltage).
eBay intake had the bracket torn off, creating a hole. Welded it back on.
eBay intake also did not have silicone couplers - they melted. Bought new ones from DC.
Both sets of lower control arm bushings were gone, swapped them over to urethane.
Boost solenoids were just dangling there so I ziptied them to the shitty intake.
Cylinder 1 misfire - checked plug wire resistance - throw "racing" plug wires in the forest.
Fixed 13,232 boost leaks. And then one more.
One outer tie rod was shit, and one ball joint.
The clutch had one summer left in it. I had to drive it pretty easy by the end of the summer, but I was in the process of building a house (for the sole purpose of housing my Neon of course) and needed to get that dealt with first.
You bet your ass I changed the clutch the second the floor coating was dry in my garage.
The fork was really the problem here. It was a modular clutch, and I didn't care enough to cut it apart to see how the disc looked but I bet it had more life in it. Swapped in an ACT-HDSS with their streetlight flywheel, new pivot ball, new clutch fork, etc... I was in a hurry to break it in before Terrace Bay, so it became the DD for most of the summer again. This clutch would hold slightly less than the bottom end, and I'm probably never touching it so it seemed like a good choice.
- - - Updated - - -
Then came the leashless suicidal dog. He decided to chase after a deer on River St, looked at me, looked at the deer, paused, then went for it. I stopped in like 5 feet but just ended up clipping his head.
He died.
I also heard the deer he was chasing jumped a chain link fence and was maimed. The lesson here is to LEASH YOUR FUCKING DOG. I wasn't too upset at the owner at first - I killed his dog and felt bad. If his dog was just a bit hurt it would've been a different story - I would've bitched until he coughed over some dough for a new bumper, but I figured the guy just suffered the loss of a pet, and my repair wasn't going to cost more than a few hundred bucks so I expressed my condolences and moved on. I felt bad for the guy.
Turns out my bumper cover is rare. Rare as fuck. Breeny's said they could find a used one; I laughed. I said every SRT-4 in a salvage yard has front end damage. They insisted they had one. They led me on for almost 2 months until I finally bought a new out of Florida for about 600 bucks that took forever to come. Lakehead wanted 1200 in town!
In hindsight I'm kind of fortunate I had a disposable bumper cover on when I went to Dragfest - I scraped the badboy on everything I could find, including the tow dolly quite badly.
Here's the swap of the bumper after I got my uncle to paint it.
I couldn't put those blacked out fogs back in. One was damaged, and I sure as hell wasn't going to mess up a brand new one to make it match!
I also found more wiring issues involving the horn (you don't wanna know) and the remainder of the HID harness when I took it off.
- - - Updated - - -
By this point, the car didn't have much in the way mods. I had a tuner, a wideband, and an oversized intercooler. I suppose the ACT clutch counts too.
It's time to actually make some speed improvements.
First thing I did was install a 2-step (my 60' times SUUUCKEEED for slicks), with a WOT box (really cool). The WOT box cuts the ignition when you depress the clutch, allowing you to shift without blowing off. Best money I spent on this car.
I also need to address the fuel. I decided to go E85 because it's easy and there are a lot of canned parts and tunes available to make it work. Most people throw a return line in, and a 1:1 regulator, but since I'm never going built bottom end, my max power won't require a return line w/ 1025CC injectors.
I bought this pile of joy last week:
I'll be modifying my canister to make use of a Corvette FPR, installing a Walbro 255, and rewiring my fuel pump. I'll explain the process as I poke at it over the next few days.
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So when I bought the inTune, the first thing I did was take the laptop down the Expressway for a few pulls. I immediately hate Thunder Bay gas.
This was before I touched anything, and was the very first log with my wideband. The knock starts at around 4k because it leaned out pretty bad (12.5), so I added fuel there (and beyyooonnd) noticing that my duty cycle is leaving me lots of room. Keep in mind the tune was written for 93.
A handy chart for these cars
Hard limits the computer sets to avoid nuking your injectors.
After fuel was added, I ultimately had to pull timing in the upper RPMs (I wanna say 3-5 degrees). When I got it to a usable state my injector duty cycle was out of the comfort zone, but within a few percent of the maximum allowable values in some spots. Serious cars probably like to keep their duty cycle under 85% (depends on who you talk to) but since my motor was essentially all stock there weren't going to be any surprises. At the car's worst, it was at 93%. Scary, but meh at the same time.
Still, it turned out that was about as hard as I could play.
For Dragfest I was able to add a few degrees of timing back, but it was still slightly retarded running a bit of C16 with my piss gas.
Keeping all that in mind, my fuel system was the the next weak link.
Unfortunately, I parked the car with a quarter of a tank. The first step was to start a fire... or to empty the gas tank. Why not both, using my patented gas-bong method!
- - - Updated - - -
15 minutes later and the deed was done.


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Monday, February 22, 2010
Review: Kimber 4PR/8PR Bi-Wire Speaker Cables
I never thought I would be writing a review on speaker cables as differences between wire is a contentious issue. I've never been one afraid of disagreement, but in all honesty I've never heard any change I could honestly attribute to interconnects or speaker cables. And really, in my heart of hearts, I didn't want to hear differences in cable. The thought put fear into my wallet, not to mention my engineer orientated brain.
As part of recent system finalization, I've decided to replace the old Canare Quadlink speaker wire. I did this for several reasons. I had a fear that the spades could short against each other in the tight confines of the Threshold amplifier and I also wanted a bit longer reach than the six foot length afforded. My Magnepan 1.6/QR speakers can also be bi-wired, removing the metal straps between the high and low inputs. With that in mind, I ordered an eight foot pair of Kimber Kable 4PR/8PR Bi-Wire speaker cables terminated with bananas.
Upon arrival, I removed them from the supplied packaging and was impressed by the construction quality. Though the 4PR / 8PR cables are Kimber's most budget cable, the termination and braiding job was well done. The 4PR consists of four brown and four black conductors braided together to make a 14awg cable. The 8PR is built the same way with eight cables per leg, producing a 10awg cable. I removed the Canare wire from the system and also removed the hi/lo straps from the Magnepan speakers. Installation of the Kimber cable was a breeze as I used the 4PR set for the tweeter and the 8PR set for the woofer panel. I then settled down to give my system a quick listen.
Initial impressions were certainly interesting and not at all what I expected. At this price point I expected no change at all, but was instead greeted with a brighter but edgier treble. Bass extension also seemed deeper, perhaps the 10awg cable helping with the high amount of current I use to drive the Magnepan speakers. Deciding some more break-in may be required, I let the system play in the background in the evenings while I worked out.
A few days later, I had time for some further listening, which revealed the Kimber 4PR/8PR to be one smooth cable. There is a warm coherency from top-to-bottom and the bright edginess of the treble disappeared. The speaker drivers, a slightly strange term to use with Magnepans, seemed to now play as-one. The lowest bass, never a strong point on the Magnepans, was better too. Though the differences were not staggering compared to the old Canare, the changes were still audible.
So there you go - my prejudices once again have been shattered. I never thought solid-state amplification could cut it and now I'm hearing differences in cables. I think part of the reason for this change comes from finally having a better front end, revealing speakers and a certain amount of stability. Before, I was always trying new amplification (often DIY), speakers and moving to different rooms. Such circumstances clouded my ability to discern subtle changes as the amount of given variables were too high. Now once I get the chance, I will be willing to spend the dough on some even more expensive cables. Somewhere I hear my wallet screaming.
preamp: Threshold FET-10/HL
phono preamp: Threshold FET-10/PC
amplifier: Threshold S/500
analog: VPI HW19 MkIII - Rega RB300 with Incognito wiring - Dynavector 10x5
speakers: Magnepan 1.6/QR
speaker cable: Canare Quad
Interconnects: Cardas Crosslink and Belden


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(Reuters) - The board of U.S. hotel owner LaSalle Hotel Properties LHO.N on Wednesday sided with Pebblebrook Hotel Trust's (PEB.N) takeover proposal, ditching a $4.8 billion all-cash offer from private equity firm Blackstone Group LP (BX.N).
LaSalle said its board determined that Pebblebrook's unsolicited proposal received on Aug. 21 constituted a "superior proposal", ahead of a shareholder vote on the deal on Thursday.
Pebblebrook has offered 0.92 of its common shares per LaSalle stock, with an option to receive $37.80 per share in cash up to a maximum of 30 percent in aggregate of the consideration.
LaSalle, which owns Park Central San Francisco and Westin Michigan Avenue, also said it had sent a notice to Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) to terminate its previous merger agreement, under which the private equity firm had agreed to acquire LaSalle for $33.50 per share.
A person familiar with the deal told Reuters last month that Blackstone had decided against raising its offer. If LaSalle reaches an agreement with Pebblebrook, Blackstone will walk away with a $112 million breakup fee.
Last month, shareholder advisory firms Glass Lewis & Co and ISS recommended that LaSalle shareholders oppose the Blackstone deal.
LaSalle shares rose 1.3 percent to $35.50 in aftermarket trade, while those of Pebblebrook were up 1 percent at $38.49.
Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva


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Well, I got to play around in Sims 4 Demo and it was really quite a strange thing and takes a bit of getting used to. I don't know if my mouse is being dodgy but i found the sliders kinda awkward and annoying , pulling areas i didn't want to put by mistake. But i'm sure after a few creations that goes away. I had fun creating, a sorta sim self. I obviously need more practice ha! :')
I'm kinda casual on a day to day basis. This is so me. Comfy style ,everyday.
I couldn't really find a formal suitable for me but when creating CC i will fix that :)
Athletic...if you count going for walks as athletic...then ok hahaha :)
I really love this kinda style, long cardi and a shimmery top with leggings and gladiator sandals.
This is profile view, the sliders came in real handy here to make the nose and chin, i have a bit of depth in my nose tip and a longish narrow nose
Ta-daaa! Its mise!
Overall , hmm it looks better than i thought, i do like the shine on the hair, the skins are nicer than that of sims 3 and the clothes quality is second- to -none but the hair in general...hmm its not as lego looking as bad as i first thought but improvements can be made by our excellent hair creators out there.
Oh and i cannot BELIEVE they left out eyelashes! Again!! What human does not have eyelashes on their lower eyelids!! O.o


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Hey Team! Can you believe it's May already!? Where does the time go? It may be May already but it's our favourite time to workout here at TWP Fitness. The sun is shinning but we're still not quite in that scorching Okanagan heat which makes it the perfect temperature to come get your sweat on! We absolutely love having those bay doors wide open with that cool, spring breeze flowing through the gym!
As we head into those hotter Kelowna months, we thought we give a few tips so that everyone has a fun, safe Summer here at TWP!
This first tip may be obvious but it is one of the most IMPORTANT; water, water, water… Staying hydrated is so important throughout the Summer, especially while working out! Our body temperature elevates faster when we exercise in the heat and a GREAT way to stay cool is by drinking water! Make sure you get enough water before coming in for your workout, during, and after!
You ladies work your butts off on a daily basis here at TWP! With the Summer heat soon to arrive, overexertion can be an issue. If your feeling light headed, dizzy, or something feels just a little off during your workouts, don't be afraid to step away and take a rest. Workouts are for feeling good mentally and physically but sometimes we all need to ease off when something doesn't feel right!
Maintain your energy levels by having a quick snack before or after your workouts. Whether it's bringing something from home or stopping at our Hangry Station, having fuel for your body to burn off during your summer workouts is important!
And MOST importantly have a fun and safe Summer 2017 in the beautiful Okanagan and we can't wait to help you with whatever your fitness journey is!


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I was blessed enough to go away on a family trip in the beautiful city of Durban, where humidity is the very first thing you feel the moment you open a door or window, and the beach is on everyone's itinerary. The trip couldn't have come at a better time, simply based on the fact that I was looking forward to spending the New Year's celebration in a place I'm not all too familiar with, but mostly, because I was determined to find some peace and tranquility away from my home city before the new year began.
Much like most people who insist on taking on more than they can handle at a single given time (that's a confession), I often find myself wishing I could find some rest and super quiet moments to retreat from the noise of the world. And if ever there was a goal I actually had on the trip, it was to do exactly that: nothing that wasn't peaceful.
In the midst of what I can only describe as a perfect morning shower (the type where the water isn't weakly trickling out or burning holes into your skin), I found myself relishing in the fact that I had finally found that peaceful moment I was desperately seeking for. However, I was quickly reminded by memories of times I had sought that very moment biblically described as, 'Selah', and how I had almost worn myself out even more trying to chase that perfectly written, perfectly narrated yet perfectly silent moment of rest, where stress flies right over my head and coffee flows perfectly into my belly. It had suddenly felt as though I was chasing infinity, a place or state of existence that really didn't exist or ever come to an end. The irony found in chasing peace didn't escape me, even though I was ironically trying to escape moments that were anything but peaceful (another confession there, maybe?).
Basically, in my quest for peace, I had missed the point that peace was not so much a place you actually visit as opposed to a state of internal affairs. I was convinced in that moment, and still am (now that I am home) that you can be in a spa on top of a mountain with nothing more than Disney drawn birds chirping to the beat of your favourite song (hashtag – Hotline Bling) and STILL be thinking about the exact same stressful things that one thinks of in traffic, contemplating whether or not they should actually leave their car on the road and neglect all responsibility.
Living in Johannesburg (one of my favourite cities btw) has led me to the realization that sometimes, as people, we are always chasing. Chasing peace, chasing the clock on the wall, chasing money, but mostly, chasing happiness. We chase so much so that we actually lose ourselves in the moments that cause us real peace, possibly because we're THAT busy, but I'd postulate that we miss these moments of peace because we have bought into this fallacy that the more busy we are, the more we are living.
Although I can completely attest to having lived with that fallacy being my motivation in life (hashtag – law student life), I've come to realise that I don't ever really need to go too far to be at peace, it usually starts within, because finding peace that is contingent on everything around me being in order is the very thing that will drive me very far from being at peace with anything. Knowing who controls my future, which I believe to be God, and living in that truth is the very thing that gives me peace, not necessarily the perfect shower which can only be located in Durban.
In 2016, regardless of the way it started, whether there were fireworks in your heart or not, drinks in every corner you walked or not, or peace in your heart or not, I hope and pray that it's your best year yet. I hope that you can find peace, wherever life takes you, and I hope that you find the strength and courage to draw nearer to the things that give you peace and further from things that stress you out.


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The collar-mounted verified pressure-while-drilling service provides real-time information about dynamic pressure conditions downhole. These conditions directly relate to equivalent circulation density (ECD) and equivalent static density (ESD), which are paramount to drilling performance and operational safety. VPWD service measurements help operators optimize performance and minimize risk by quickly identifying any issues with hole cleaning, borehole stability, and well control. The instantaneous delivery of data enables fast and informed decision making.
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What is Innovation Think Tank?
Innovation Think Tank (ITT) is a platform for stimulating interdisciplinary innovations within Siemens AG. It was founded by Sultan Haider, Siemens' youngest Principal Key Expert, who was awarded by Siemens Healthcare's Executive Committee for his outstanding innovation track record with over 200 inventions to date. Haider heads the ITT organization, which has currently over 3200 members, and is based in Siemens Healthcare's Business Unit Components and Vacuum Technology in Erlangen, Germany.
ITT is based on the idea of collaborative innovations. Tapping the potential of the existing multi-disciplinary know-how, intercultural diversity, and age diversity (age group 15 to 65) of Siemens worldwide and its partners, ITT solves interdisciplinary problems and generates new ideas. With the regular brain-storming workshop, challenges are offered to the community for discussion. Members can choose as many problems as they want, work in a collaborative way without defined rules and guidelines. Free thinking and knowledge exchange between challenge providers and challenge solvers often lead to unconventional solutions.
Regular "Innovation camps" are based on international competitions awarded fellowships with focus on engineering or strategy. The selected candidates are invited to work in a highly stimulating innovative environment with Siemens innovators and key experts and to create "out of box" solutions.
- network those taking part across the various disciplines, cultures and generations
- increase the diversity of opinions represented
- make use of the enormous potential offered by all those taking part
- to tap into the experience and ideas of everyone involved
- solve concrete problems.
In short: to drive forward innovation.


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I've often thought of poker as the boxing of the new millennium. Boxing used to have it all -- larger than life personalities, celebrity drawing power, rich cash purses, shady characters, and enormous public interest. That changed sometime during the mid-'80s (except for the shady characters part). Now it could be argued that poker has those elements, along with one other key ingredient widespread public participation.
People are playing poker. They're playing online, at their buddy's house, at work, at school, on their cellphones, and now, on their video-game systems. The question is, however, why spend $20 on a console version of poker that pales in comparison to what's offered on the PC? Well, we never quite answered that one ourselves, but for those of you dead set on dropping a $20, please read on.
The Flop
Poker, or more specifically, No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, is a game that quickly identifies particular playing styles and personalities. Consistently winning requires a tremendous amount of diligence, patience, and careful study of the patterns and peculiarities of those playing around you. Some basic mathematic skills also come into play, as it's never wise to throw an inordinately large bet into a small pot. Table position is another key factor, and we're happy to report that World Poker Tour nails all the basics of what makes poker such an intriguing game. It also succeeds (for the most part) in the most critical area of any poker title -- A.I.
Specifically, can the computer break down patterns, spot inconsistencies, and bet with enough of a "human" flair to throw off real human opponents. Bluffing, calling down bluffs, and betting aggressively are all expert level skills that previous poker titles have had trouble replicating. World Poker Tour surprised us with its uncanny knack for calling down hands, and we even forgot we were playing a computer at times. Of course, there are still some strides to be made. Outrageous pre-flop betting, or over-the-top bets meant to throw off the CPUs odds, still brought about a few too many folds.
The Turn
The World Poker Tour is faithful to its real-life license, and sets an amiable atmosphere for progress through the games levels and events. The real fun and individuality come from, you guessed it, creating your own poker persona. This is one area where the console titles definitely excel versus the generic avatar-drenched versions of the PC poker land. Gamers have hundreds of accessories to choose from, but can only access those items by raking in some cash at the tables. Facial traits, hair, and all the requisite physical attributes can be adjusted to your heart's content.
Temperament settings are available too, as you decide how well-adjusted, outgoing and balanced (or not) you want to be. This goes a long way towards determining how other players will perceive your table actions. As play progresses, you'll have to monitor your agreeability, well-adjusted and extraverted meters to see if you're projecting confidence, worry, or just happy insanity. Filling all three meters will basically just project you as a happy guy (or gal) no matter what personality settings you originally selected, so ultimately it doesn't matter a whole lot.


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Extracurricular Events
- For extracurricular events hosted by John Wood Community College, the person needing the accommodation must contact the coordinator of the event two weeks in advance prior to the event to request an accommodation.
- The coordinator of the event will then contact the Coordinator of Disability Services to report the request not less than one week prior to the event.
- As the accommodation is deemed reasonable, both the coordinator of the event and Coordinator of Disability Services will work together to obtain a reasonable accommodation, academic adjustment, and/or auxiliary aid for the student in the activity and facility.
- The department hosting the event will be responsible for monetary costs and in completing the process for payment of the services.


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On Tuesday 16 August 2005 23:14, Matthew Raymond wrote: > | The purpose of the :read-only and :read-write pseudo-classes is to > | allow authors to customize the look of elements which have a > | "read-only" property or attribute that can be set in the markup. An > | element is :read-only if its "read-only" property or attribute is set > | to true. An element is :read-write if its "read-only" property or > | attribute is set to false. XForms elements do not have a readonly property or attribute that can be set directly on the element itself. Controls are bound to data nodes, which have a readonly property. So as I read it, the above is not valid for XForms. -- Allan Beaufour Novell Denmark Novell® BrainShare® Barcelona 2005 11-15 September The CCIB, Barcelona, Spain www.novell.com/brainshare/europeReceived on Wednesday, 17 August 2005 10:03:38 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Monday, 2 May 2016 14:27:20 UTC


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Above: Dan Paladin, left, and Tom Fulp, right.
* John interviewed The Behemoth's Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin for Imagine's X360 magazine back in 2009. Here's the whole four page spread, featuring the most promising creative developers on the planet today.
Castle Crashers stormed Xbox Live Arcade when it was released. A smash hit in its first week, it has since found another outlet via PSN, cultivating a whole new following thanks to the art direction of Dan Paladin and the imagination of Tom Fulp. Good progress then after their 2004 debut, Alien Hominid.
Those who played Hominid will no doubt have made the obvious link between the two titles. Their developers, The Behemoth, are fast catching the attention and critical praise they've worked incredibly hard to receive. What you might not know about these people, though, is the story that led them from a bedroom in Philadelphia to your own front room.
Those who have shelled out for Hominid and Crashers have been treated to a homage of games gone by. Influenced by classics like Metal Slug and Golden Axe, Crashers spent a painful three years in the making. The accusation was that Hominid was a one-off, and bettering it through a follow up would be too tough a task for two amateur developers.
Tom always refuted such a notion, putting his faith in the feedback he received from those who saw Crashers during its development. "We always loved showing off Castle Crashers because it got such a great response from people. We didn't need to win over any publishers because we opted to self publish."
There was a point though, when Castle Crashers was nearing three years in development and conventions became somewhat bitter-sweet. "People still loved the game, but they also questioned if it would ever be finished, and it pained us that it wasn't."
In its first month, the public's patience was rewarded. After spending so long out of the spotlight after Hominid, they took Crashers around the world to show that The Behemoth was still biting. San Diego Comic Con, Tokyo Game show and more. They were sat there, tired in their stall, with flash demos of Crashers which took a painstaking 15 months to code.
Tom admits there were low points during the development phase. "If people had hated Hominid, I probably would have just stuck with web games, but there was this feeling of unfinished business that remained afterwards. It was like we got a taste of what we could do on consoles, and we wanted to give it another go and make something bigger and better. It helped knowing there were fans out there who would appreciate the effort."
Above: Tom and Dan work the floor at Comic Con
Web games were all part of an exhausting journey into the development spotlight for Tom. He was praised early on in life for his creative school projects, but constantly stepped over the line with some of his more outrageous creations. A video book report in Year 6 featured death, drugs and alcohol, and earned him a D. Throughout school, Tom dipped into coding and found his passion for programming, animating shorts in the school media centre and growing up throughout the mystical golden age of gaming with his Neo Geo and other classic consoles.
The influences from these consoles shine in his debut project, Alien Hominid. Problem was, Tom could see the difficulty pitching his idea to an already flooded platformer market. "We learned early on that it would be an uphill battle to pitch Alien Hominid, considering it wasn't based on an existing film or console franchise."
Rather than land a development deal up-front, he took a leap of faith and made the game on his own, funding it from his own pocket. Tom recognises it was a massive gamble. "Some publishers totally didn't understand the appeal of the game and didn't have any interest, while others wanted to pay us lots of money and lock up the characters for sequels and licensing deals."
Tom rejected such ideals and stuck to his guns. Alien Hominid took off and sales grew steadily after its release. Hominid was getting a great critical reception and sold particularly well in Europe, becoming a cult favourite with gamers. Tom was in no mood to rush the next project though, and actually had difficulty establishing what console it should appear on after Hominid's cross-platform success.
"Alien Hominid was a rewarding but stressful experience, so I wasn't in a huge rush. We dabbled with a lot of stuff and eventually just sort of fell into Castle Crashers when we knew it felt right." They originally started with Gamecube and PS2, but knew these platforms were on their way out of the market. "We tinkered with PSP for a while but weren't really feeling it. Once we settled on XBLA, we knew we had made the right choice. It was an awesome platform for our style and had enough processing power for us to go nuts."
Not as nuts though as some of his early work. It was in 1995 that Tom created an HTML website called 'New Ground Remix' that hosted all the shock content he created out of boredom. It hosted a game where you could take up a bat and club a seal, to a celebrity slugfest known as 'Assassin', which featured ways to bump off the most irksome figures of the 90s (Britney Spears' monster truck for instance is still relevant today…)
What started off as a bit of fun ended up generating quite a stir. Letters from the BBC threatened to sue following the sadistic Tellybubbies game, but it wasn't all bad. Tommy Lee described one of Tom's first games as the best thing he had ever seen on the internet.
Above: Newgrounds always hit the mark with its satire, when it wasn't busy hitting Britney…
"I was just goofing around when I first set up Newgrounds, but I always wanted it to be a fun destination for people to visit," explains Tom. By 1998 the site evolved with a new Flash interface, with lots of simple games appearing developed with Flash 2, moving off free hosting provided by his ISP.
The Flash interface was crucial for the next stage of the project in 1999 when he created a section called the Portal, intended as a black hole for small or unfinished projects. "Other people were making games with Flash and looking for exposure, so I started to showcase their small projects in the Portal alongside my own". The demand became so great that he started becoming overwhelmed by all the files people were emailing him. YouTube? Newgrounds did it first.
Newgrounds soon developed a following and was the first place on the internet that people could submit their own creations to get an instant mass critique. One artist in particular was Dan Paladin who, in 2001 and beyond, climbed to the top of the awards system with his quirky and colourful submissions. Dan remains humble, though. "Newgrounds had a significant impact on discovering things about myself as well as how an audience reacts. It can sometimes be a tough crowd there who can either push you to better yourself or to give up – all depending on how you take the really honest reviews."
Tom took notice of Dan's popularity. It was only a matter of time before the artist and the programmer met. Tom remembers their first project with fondness. "Dan and I met and just casually started talking about making a game together. It was all just for fun – Dan made funny cartoons in Flash and I made Flash games so things just clicked".
Their first game revolved around a guy with enormous testicles. Players used their giant sack to bounce around on and crush kids. Dan agrees with Tom's first impressions: "We clicked really quickly since our approach and tastes are somewhat similar. We are passionate about what we do so we have strong opinions. Sometimes those opinions differ but the great thing about that is we always find a compromise which ends up benefiting our games greatly each step of the way."
Their shorts were well received on Newgrounds. With fire in their bellies, their next project was a breakaway flash game – Alien Hominid – which currently has over 19 million views on the website alone. Newgrounds was something of a guinea pig to test their skills, and the reception from users was glowing.
Then real life took hold. Dan's employers shut up shop and he, alongside some industry mainstays found themselves destitute after working on an early XBLA project. Proving that it's not what you know but who you know, Alien Hominid reached a co-worker of Dan's, John Baez, who loved the web version and wanted to see it on consoles. The three got their heads together and formed The Behemoth with some of Dan's ex co-workers, becoming an entirely self-funded company devoted to publishing their own titles.
For anyone else looking to set up their own company, John issues a stark warning. "Remember that each developer is on their own in terms of funding, the hardware manufacturers are not funding games they don't own." John, now considered an industry veteran, emphasised the point early on that pitching Hominid would be thankless.
The differences between designing a game for the web and for a console began to become very apparent. With a new title to show off, conventions had to be attended with an incredible desire to prove themselves. After Hominid's acclaim, the desire – thankfully – was still there to tap into for Castle Crashers. "When you have little time and put a lot of care and love into what you're doing, things can take a while!" says Tom of Crashers' delay. Three years may sound like a long time, but in hindsight, both men have just hit their thirties and have two bestselling games to their name. Anything is possible in the future.
Despite seeing both titles thrash the competition when released on XBLA, Dan still has a tone of regret in his voice. "I would have liked to see 2-on-2 arena battles [in Crashers]. People are still finding ways to have team battles by calling out who is on which team. So in a way, it is still able to be achieved but I would have liked to have a leader board for it. We had this feature on its way but I believe we had to drop it due to time constraints. I've learned that no matter what happens we'll always want to go back and change something. I think realising that has given me a little more peace of mind with Castle Crashers!"
Crashing Concepts
Below, Dan takes us through the character creation stages with some of his gorgeous Castle Crashers concept art:
"A lot of the time I will show Tom a character design and we both talk about what he might do, what would be funny and so on…"
"Then I will go and create a few actions for him and Tom blocks in his attack patterns"
"After we play around with that for a little while we brainstorm once more for the finishing actions and touches."
"Sometimes approaching something that doesn't feel right later with fresh eyes makes the correction that was needed extremely fast and obvious!"


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On De-Purpling Your Prose
by Courtney Zoffness
It's natural to remember your first attempts at fiction with a combination of wistfulness and shame. Sometimes I think about mine, an international, star-crossed love story that featured a man who dreamed in black and white and a woman who dreamed in color. I even remember one of the first sentences (blush): "She dreamed in orange and blue, of apricot beaches and cerulean seas." This isn't because I'm a sentimentalist. It's because submitting this draft to a graduate school workshop yielded one of the most important editorial lessons in my writing life.
Like most, I came to writing after falling in love with reading, and the books I admired early on were lyrical and imaginative—works by Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison and Vladimir Nabokov. I carried their words around with me, little candies tucked into my cheeks. Hurston in Their Eyes Were Watching God: "She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her." Morrison in Beloved: "There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up, holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside kind—wrapped tight like skin." And who can forget the hypnotic opening of Nabokov's Lolita: "Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."
When I got to graduate school, the first story that emerged was an inadvertent imitation. I buried metaphors inside of metaphors, imbued symbols with Biblical importance, and indulged every urge to alliterate (cue: cerulean seas). My classmates and workshop instructor—a National Book Award-winning novelist, no less—were unimpressed. They called out my "purple" prose and flagged passages they deemed overwritten. Few could identify with the protagonist. Even fewer knew what my story was about. It turned out that the fanciful writing wasn't seductive at all. It was distracting. Rather than pulling in readers, I was pushing them out.
Distraught, I revisited the books by my literary idols and made some key discoveries (and not just that my "poetic" prose was subpar). For starters, figurative language in itself does not a story make. The fiction I prized also had compelling plots and complex characters, components that my fixation on language had caused me to gloss over. Next, and as importantly, each lyrical work also included stretches of unadorned narration. Take Morrison in The Bluest Eye: "School has started, and Frieda and I get new brown stockings…" Or Nabokov in Lolita: "I was born in Paris in 1910. My father was a gentle, easy-going person…" Just because the authors knew how to do linguistic gymnastics didn't mean they always had to. They seemed to recognize when their narratives merited stylized language and when they didn't. That even when you had a thematically rich tale to tell (Morrison) or a hyper-literate, starry-eyed narrator (Nabokov), you couldn't sacrifice the clarity of the story. To me, that wherewithal seemed as essential as the ability to write imaginatively in the first place.
With time, I learned to heed all the craft components in equal measure. I learned to discern when language undermined coherence. And I became a better editor, a fervent reviser, and a believer in the power of trusted critics. I also discovered that I had pioneered a new adjective. When, periodically, I'd interrupt a narrative with an unnecessarily florid passage, a few of my classmates would nod in collective agreement. "It's a bit, you know, cerulean," they'd say. And I'd know just what they meant.
Courtney Zoffness has taught creative writing at numerous institutions including Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Freiburg in Germany, where she was writer-in-residence. Her stories have appeared most recently in The Rumpus, Indiana Review, and the Fish Prize Stories anthology. She also has extensive editorial experience at publications that include Rolling Stone and the Earth Times, where she was Managing Editor. A former Bread Loaf Writers Conference scholar and 2013 Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and sons.


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Ivan-Tea with rosemary
The leaves of rosemary have bright, intense aroma, reminiscent of a complex mixture of lemon, camphor, eucalyptus and pine. Rosemary harmoniously complements the taste and smell of the drink, giving it a subtle spiciness, and its properties extra strength. Today this healthful drink is invaluable for its powerful antioxidant properties
and ability to treat many diseases. It is enriched with vitamins: beta-carotene, thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, Biotin, Pantothenic acid, vitamins C, D, E and K. Rosemary respected for powerful antioxidant properties and ability to treat many diseases, as it is filled with many vitamins: beta-carotene, thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, C, D, E, K, Biotin, Pantothenic acid. The therapeutic properties of rosemary is due to essential oils and antioxidants such as carnosol and ursolic acid and other biologically active substances that prevent DNA mutations and the formation of tumors. Doctors recommend to use rosemary during treatment and rehabilitation after strokes, Continue reading
How to make at home hot chocolate
What could be better on a cold winter night than to sit in a comfortable chair and watch a movie with a Cup of hot chocolate? This award-winning drink will fill you with vivacity and energy, and will help you keep warm.
Recipe 1
Ingredients (for 2 servings)
Fat milk and fifty milliliters.
Dark chocolate without any fillers or two hundred grams (2 tiles).
Perfectionists can say that the chocolate at home and need to cook in a water bath. And anyway, you cannot use chocolate bars, and cook, as in coffee shops – from the cocoa bean. But if you can't find them, or did they end? Do not worry, buy a good chocolate – not only save.
Do not unzip the chocolate, break it. Heat the milk to fifty degrees. After that, pour a little chocolate and simultaneously stir. Interfere with need until the chocolate Continue reading
Articles about tea, coffee and chocolate Store cupboard
How to make coffee at home – this question will certainly arise before any person, pierced and appreciate the many virtues of this magical drink. And in this article we will try to give You if not a complete answer to this question (because the coffee actually can talk for hours), then at least to give You a fair idea about the "magical process" and share some exotic recipes.
First of all, you need one clarification – in a further story about how to make coffee, it would be only natural (that is, coffee beans).
Detail how to properly prepare instant coffee, does not make sense.
So, the natural coffee recipes are some of my well-known secrets that you must follow to get a drink did not disappoint You with its taste and aroma.
First, the coffee beans should not only be Your preferred varieties, Continue reading


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Commercial Windows, Doors, and Storefronts in Washington, DC
Aeroseal Windows & Storefront provides the Washington DC area with professional commercial windows, doors, and storefront installation. Property owners always want to keep their establishment in pristine condition.
Each of our services is customizable to match you and your establishment, and we install in the following types of buildings:
- Apartment Buildings
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Commercial windows age and become outdated, which causes air seepage. Aeroseal's commercial windows provide the solution necessary for Washington DC's apartment owners and property managers to update their exteriors and upgrade to energy efficient solutions.
Our commercial doors come in many shapes, sizes, and styles. The door is sometimes looked at as the first impression of your business as the visitors walk by or through the entryway. These first impressions should be sturdy, ergonomic, easy on the eyes, and energy efficient. The same goes for the doors inside of your establishment. We believe a door's functions include providing an entrance and exit, looking nice, and keeping the temperatures steady.
Aeroseal Windows & Storefront is also an expert in installing visually attractive commercial storefront windows and doors. We provide Washington DC businesses, apartment complexes, and buildings the storefront installations needed to save on energy and money, and gain business simultaneously. As a one-source dealer and installer, we can go straight from the manufacturer to installation.
Project size is not a concern, so if you are interested in commercial windows, doors, and storefronts in Washington, DC, contact us today for a free quote!
Some of Our Work


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Welcome to our website thank you for exploring employment opportunities here at Stoke Park School. We are a values-led school that has a strong sense of purpose in delivering an inclusive education for students in our community. We promote a growth-mindset and believe that all our students can succeed given appropriate support, self-belief and challenge. We give trust and respect whether it is deserved or not: we choose to be here so we set the standard. Stoke Park is a school built on positive relationships.
Our school's ethos, 'Believe you can achieve at Stoke Park', and the eight school values play and important role in everyday life. We instill in our students the importance of creating a learning environment that supports all and we have a relentless focus on high standards. We work as a team and we aim to bring out the best in everyone.
At Stoke Park we are on a journey to becoming an outstanding school. We recognise that our practice has improved over the last year and we are committed to improving it further. We believe there are no short cuts, no excuses and no limits for outstanding learning and outstanding achievement. Our students deserve the very best. We instil high aspirations in them and demonstrate complete belief in them.
We are fully committed to delivering a broad and balanced curriculum offering academic and vocational experiences matched with outstanding pastoral care; we know how important it is that a young person feels safe and happy and it is through creating the correct environment that high quality learning can take place.
We value our students as individuals and are focused on developing within them a strong moral purpose, placing a high value on tolerance, respect and care which are among our core values. Academic success is often the key to unlocking future opportunity for our students and we work hard to ensure that we deliver high quality learning experiences and that staff are given opportunities to work together and develop their skills so that collectively we maintain high standards of Teaching and Learning.
Our aim is to provide an excellent education for all the students at Stoke Park.
We are seeking motivated professionals who have
We believe each of our students has the capacity to achieve their very best and we do all we can to help them to do this.
So what makes us a good employer? In addition to celebrating our teaching staff, we fully embrace continual professional development, bringing in external education consultants as well as supporting National programmes, we are always looking for opportunities to grow future leaders and we give greater than the 10% PPA allocation. We give rewards for 100% attendance and staff are very supportive of one another.
If the information given here resonates with you we would be glad to welcome you for a tour and confidential chat at Stoke Park School.
Why not come and see for yourself?
We are happy to welcome visitors to the school at any time. This can be during the school day or evenings by appointment. Please contact our Head teacher's PA, Denise Milne on or email email@example.com to arrange an appointment. We would love to meet you. Ms Milne will also be happy to deal with requests for a confidential discussion with our Head teacher, Sue Jones should any candidate wish to make contact prior to applying for a position.
Stoke Park School & Community Technology College
Dane Road
West Midlands
Tel: 02476 450215
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Coventry is a vibrant exciting city with good communication links to the rest of the country, with plenty to do with all for all ages a vibrant night life and artistic and cultural scene.
'To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages that today determines success – the fortunate birthdates and the happy accidents of history – with a society that provides opportunity for all.' - Malcolm Gladwell
We aim to bring out the best in you as well as in our students and we understand the importance of quality CPD. Stoke Park offers a range of development opportunities, with both internal and external providers for staff at different stages in their career.
We are responsive to teaching staff needs supporting them with training and development so that they can deliver excellent teaching.
As a Newly qualified teacher you will flourish given the right provision, advice and guidance which is why we deliver a highly supportive, bespoke programme which supports you throughout your NQT year.
The programme responds to the needs of the recipients but there are a number of core topics which will be featured each year including for example contact with parents, how to operate at your first Parents' evening, behaviour management strategies, gauging an appropriate pace in the lesson, improving differentiation an so on.
We are fortunate at Stoke Park that we have a whole school coaching programme that supports teaching staff to be the best they can be. It is a non-judgemental programme that runs throughout the year giving staff the opportunity to further develop areas of their own practice and take some risks in their teaching with the support of a colleague.
The programme has been designed to increase the impact of staff development on student learning and achievement. Watching one another teach is extremely valuable and often the best CPD we can get. Staff will have 6 different coaches throughout the year of varying experience.
Staff follow identified pathways and receive training to support and develop their practice. Sessions, often an hour in length, are delivered in-house and also by external education consultants. There is also the opportunity to participate in Action Research projects linked to school priorities.
Teaching and learning briefings are an opportunity for us to deliver further CPD or to encourage staff to discuss pedagogy in department or year teams with their colleagues. These briefings are an opportunity to share good practice and new ideas. They can also be used for quick standardisation and moderation purposes. A Head of Department may want to use them to deliver subject specific CPD.
The Learning Lunches focus on different aspects of teaching and learning and are an opportunity for staff to develop their own skills. The lunches enable staff to share ideas and good practice, and provide an opportunity to develop leadership skills.
The Middle Leader development programme supports HoDs and HoYs with contextual CPD. The programme incorporates training from current leaders within school as well as providing opportunities for middle leaders to work with external consultants.
As Stoke Park is part of Partnership Plus, a
Coventry based training provider there is the opportunity to attend local out
of school training. We encourage teaching staff to attend external training
opportunities to develop their interests and skills.
Stoke Park work with a variety of partners to train PGCE, Teach First and School Direct teachers. Training for mentors is provided both in-school and externally by our partners.


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I wanted to share with you guys my bad botox experience! Botox did get rid of some wrinkles, but it also left me with brow drop (and constant a resting bitch face) as a side effect of too much botox in my forehead.
My dropped brows make me look angry, but the worst part is the constant headache. I wanted to share my botox gone wrong experience with you so that you are fully aware of the risks and downfalls of the procedure!
Thanks so much for watching!
Order my New Organizing Book "Real Life Organizing" here: http://clutterbug.me/book
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The song for my intro (Life), plus all of the music on my newer videos in from the amazing and talented DJ Quads. Here is the link to his Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads
Don't forget to subscribe to my channel for new organizing videos every week!


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Story for MistyxGaara444
"Finally home!", a tanned boy in bright orange clothes said, as he stepped into his flat. His blond hair seemed to be bright into the dark hallway and his eyes shimmered in the deepest ocean blue tones as he turned on the light.
His whiskered face turned into a bleakly grimace as he felt cool air crawling up his back making him shiver. "Damn heater!", he yelled out, as he saw the bust heater in his room. 'I only wanted to come home, eat some ramen and go to bed and now this!!!', Naruto thought.
He stepped into his kitchen and opened his fridge. "What! Bu…no way!!", the blond yelled as there wasn't one individual instant ramen into his empty fridge. His stomach growled and he as now totally devastated.
'Icy flat, no food…God hates me', the blond made his way to his couch and sat down, snuggled himself into a blanket. Todays mission was hard and Naruto was totally nerveless and tried, but he just couldn't sleep. The coldness and the hunger kept him awake a long time.
Suddenly he heard a knock o his door. 'Who the hell comes here at this late hour', he got up and walked to his door. He opened it and looked out.
"Hey dobe, Kakashi told me to bring you… oohm… are you ok? You look a lil pale", a ebony haired boy asked him. He was a lil taller than Naruto, his skin was pale and his onyx eyes were checking Naruto from head to toe.
"No, every things fine… my heater's just broken. What are you doing here anyway?", the blond looked at Sasuke. "Well, Kakashi told me to bring you this", he held up a packet. He gave it to the blond, who ripped it open. "RAMEN!", Narutos heart made a lil jump as he saw the well known food.
Than he realized that Sasuke still stood into his front door. 'Maybe he wants some too… I mean, he brought it to me…' "Do you want to come in?", the blond asked with his bright smile on his face. "Hmmph…why not", the raven said with his emotionless face, as always.
Sasuke sat down on the table, while Naruto pulled out two bowls and placed them onto the table. "Damn, dobe! In here it's colder than outside…", Sasuke shuddered and took his bowl as Naruto sat down and already engulfed his noodles.
"Don't call me that, teme! And by the way, I already told you that my heather is broken", Naruto said as he finished is portion.
"Maybe I can fix it", Sasuke said in a uninvolved voice. He barely touched his bowl but moved it away from him. "You would?! Thanks teme!", the blond jumped up in excitement. He went into his bedroom and sat down on the bed. "It's over there!", he pointed towards the heather and Sasuke got over to have a look at it.
After a while Naruto had dozen off and lay onto his bed now. He was snoring lightly and dreaming of ramen as he felt something warm behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around just to find himself face to face with Sasuke.
"What the hell mare you doing, teme?!", the blond asked stuttering. A deep blush made his face bright red. "I couldn't fix the heather and I didn't wanted to leave you all alone, freezing to death", the raven said emotionless.
"Well, maybe, but what ARE you DOING?!", Naruto asked and pointed towards Sasukes arms which were wrapped around the smaller teens waist. 'He's so close…', Naruto blushed. The truth was that he liked Sasuke, a lot, even if he was a total jerk sometimes, he always admired him.
"Well somehow I had to keep you warm, didn't I, so the easiest was just to cuddle with you", the other teen said still in his emotionless tone. "Cuddle… well sure,.. thanks", Naruto stuttered in a whisper.
"Yup… and now try to sleep a little. You know that we got to get up tomorrow morning", Sasuke said and pulled the other teen even closer. Naruto gulped but nodded and just closed his eyes.
Half an hour went by and Naruto just couldn't fall asleep. He was too nervous even if he thought, he never felt as comfortable as in Sasukes arms. 'He must be more beautiful while he's sleeping… maybe I just take a peek at him and…', Naruto opened his eyes and was shocked.
The raven lay there, a few inches away from him, and staring right at his whiskered face. "Why don't you sleep", the raven asked softly. 'Moment… since when he's got a softness into his voice?'… "Well, ohm… Why don't you??", Naruto asked curious. "Oohm… I… well…", suddenly the raven haired teen blushed. 'Sasuke, speechless? But he's never speechless! And he is blushed what the…', Naruto suddenly felt something on his legs. Something hard…
Naruto looked down and saw that the other teen's pant's were to tight for the normal case. He looked up again, seeing Sasuke blushing even more.
"Naruto, it's not what you're thinking it is… I mean… damn!", the raven haired cursed. As he looked at Naruto again, the blond was only a few inches away from him, slightly blushed, with eyes sparkling full of emotions.
"Close your eyes", the blond whispered lightly, feeling his heartbeat increase furious. Just a moment later Sasuke felt a warm pair of hands beneath his shirt, on his chest, trailing his body, softly getting known the pale muscular stomach of the raven, whose breathing got deeper and more exciting every second.
Sasukes eyes shot open as he felt on of the tanned hands slowly getting down his v-muscle, sliding into his boxers, stroking over his erected member. "Naruto, what…ghhnn", Sasuke flinched, as the blond took hold of his length, tenderly trailing it's top with his thumb, disposing the precum.
The blond began to move his hand up and down, feeling the raven tense up, closing his eyes and moaning lightly. He started to tighten the grip, gaining gasps from the pale teen next to him.
Naruto suddenly felt arms wrapping around him, approaching him nearer. He looked straight into Sasukes face. His bangs were sticking to his face from the sweat, his eyes half closed, his lips slightly parted, and small gasps were escaping his throat. "Naruto…", he leaned closer and pushed his lips on the blonds ones.
The blonds eyes closed and he parted his lips, hoping Sasuke would get the hint. He got it and pushed his tongue right thru the blonds lips, ravishing his mouth, moaning deeply from the still bumping hand on his shaft.
The blonds movements got faster and the Uchiha just kept moaning into the kiss until the blond broke the kiss and looked right into the charcoal eyes, which gazed at him half closed. "Come on Sasuke… come for me…", just as the blond whispered his seductive words, the raven arched his back and let out a silent cry as he came right into the youngers hand.
Sasuke took Narutos head into his hands and approached him near, giving him a passionate kiss on his lips. The raven fell back on his back and kept panting hard, as he gazed over to the blond. He had pulled his hand out of Sasukes pants and looked at the sticky, whitish liquid on his hands. 'I just want to try how…', the blond licked away some of the cum, it tasted salty with a sweetish undertone. "So, good…", he moaned as he licked away the rest of the liquid.
As Sasuke saw what Naruto just did, he couldn't hold himself anymore. He rolled over so that he was on the blonds top, who now gazed at the raven with shimmering eyes. He lowered his head and kissed the blond with passion. He unzipped the blonds orange jacket, his hand wandered down his sides, getting under the black shirt the blond wore beneath his orange jacket, tracing the blonds stomach with his smooth but pestering touches.
They sat up together, still with their lips together Naruto let his loose jacket slide from his arms, just to grab and pull on Sasukes blue shirt.
They parted their lips just to get rid of their shirts and continued the kiss even more passionate and wet. The raven traced down the blonds neck with his tongue, stopping on the blonds collarbone, where he started to suck on the tanned flesh. The blond moaned and tilted his head to give the ebony haired teen a better access.
His hands were buried into the dark mane while Sasukes were trailing down Narutos body, exploring every inch of it. The pale teen stopped at Narutos stomach, tracing the seal mark with his fingers, than kissing every inch of the tanned belly, plugging is tongue into he blonds belly button.
Naruto moaned deeply, the soft touches of the raven haired boy nearly made him going crazy. Attaining the orange seam, Sasuke unzipped the blondes pants, ripping them down and grabbing back onto the tanned hip.
The blond felt his boxers getting ripped down and something wet tipping his dripping erection. He lifted his head, seeing Sasuke licking the top of his throbbing member, slowly tracing the vein with his wet muscle. Naruto gasped as the older teen took the tip of his shaft into his mouth, sucking lightly, letting his tongue trickle the hard limb.
The raven smirked as he heard the blond moan deeply when he took his shaft fully into his mouth, letting his tongue swirl up the whole length. The tanned boys grip got compacter and the raven felt a light pulling on his hair. Suddenly he lifted his hands, holding three fingers in front of Narutos mouth.
The blond took his hands away from the sweaty black mane and took hold of Sasukes hand. He slowly licked over the fingers, then engulfing all of them. As Sasuke felt his fingers into the wet, warm cave he moaned, creating a vibration on the youngers erection. The blond buckled his hip cause of the incredible feeling, nearly gagging Sasuke.
The older teen pulled away, gaining a disappointed grunt from the blond teen. He got up to face Naruto, who still sucked on the ravens fingers. Sasuke pulled them out, the younger looked up and saw something he'd never seen before on the ravens face. Worry. "Sasuke?", the blond whispered. Sasuke wiped sweaty blond wisps of hair out of Narutos forehead. "Are you sure I can do this?", he asked worried, slowly circling his coated fingers around Narutos entrance.
'He…he doesn't want to hurt me…' "Sasuke… I just want you… I just wanna feel you right now", the blond lifted his head and kissed the older teen with all the passion he could give into this one kiss. He unzipped the pale teens pants and ripped them down along with his boxers. Suddenly he felt a finger into his entrance, it didn't hurt but felt weird. The finger pushed in and out, but started to feel good.
Sasuke parted their lips and looked at Naruto, who seemed to have accustomed to the one finger, so he added a second, feeling the blond tense up. He made scissoring movements to stretch the blonds circular muscle, kissing the blond lightly down his neck.
After a while the raven added the third and last finger. The azure eyes teared up and Naruto gasped, closing his eyes. "Everything ok?", the raven asked, still giving the blond kisses on his neck and cheek. "Just move on", the blond whispered out breathless. "The pain will dull away, don't worry", the raven said smiling, kissing Naruto on his lips.
His fingers began to move in and out, and after a lil time, Naruto enjoyed the feeling and was pushing down on the ravens hand. But Sasuke still wasn't ok with the situation. 'I gotta find..', he thought as he hit a small bundle of nerves into the blonds lower part. Naruto arched his back, he felt a enormous heat floating over his body and small electric pulses running up and down his spine. He threw his head back and found himself screaming out of pleasure.
"Got it", the raven smirked.
The raven tried to keep the exact point in his mind and removed his fingers. The blond grunted annoyed from the loss feeling but suddenly looked a little nervous as Sasuke positioned himself in front of the blonds entrance. He leaned down and kissed HIS blond and thrust into the tight entrance. He moaned at the incredible sensation but looked down at the blond.
Naruto teared up at the sudden intrusion. Bursts of pain were blurring his senses and he inhaled sharply and tensed up immediately. Sasuke leaned down to the exposed blond and kissed away his tears. "Just tell me when I should move", he whispered caring into the youngers ear.
After a while Naruto felt the pain dull away and just a tinge still being felt. He moved his hip a little to get adjusted to the feeling. He nodded to show Sasuke that he could move. The raven pulled his length out and pushed it right back in, moaning at the sensation.
After some more thrusts both of the boys were panting hard and just as Sasuke thrust back into Naruto, the blond began to scream loud. "There! Right there, fuck, Sasuke! Do it again!", the younger moaned out, making Sasuke smirk. He aimed for Narutos prostate again, hitting it all over the time.
He felt himself getting close to his limit, feeling an enormous heat building up into his stomach, needing to release it. "Sasukeeee!", the blond screamed as he came all over the both boys chests and bellies. The raven felt the younger tighten around his shaft, feeling that he couldn't hold it much longer he came right after Naruto, screaming his name in ecstasy. He rid out his orgasm as long as he could before he collapsed on the tanned boy, pulling out of him, rolling over and just panting hard.
Naruto crawled over to Sasuke, still panting hard, snuggling up in the pale chest, burying his face into the ravens neck. The pale teen just wrapped his arms around Naruto and ran his hand up and down the tanned back.
After a while Sasuke got his normal way of breathing back and looked down at his blond lover. "Naruto…I love you", the pale teen whispered, his voice filled with emotions. Naruto looked up and saw the onyx eyes shimmering with feelings like he never saw them before. He leaned up, so that he was face to face with Sasuke. "I love you too", the blond whispered and lowered his head, kissing the pale teens lips, putting all the emotions he couldn't describe with words into this one kiss.
After a while they broke the kiss and snuggled up into the bed. "Are you hot now?", Sasuke laughed out as he remembered the broken heater. "Better, I'm not alone anymore", the blond whispered sleepily. Sasuke smiled and kissed the blonds forehead. They fell asleep in one another's arms, not freezing anymore.
Naruto woke up the next morning. He opened his eyes and found himself alone into the bed. He sat up immediately and looked around. "Sasuke?", he whispered. Suddenly he heard something clatter into his kitchen. He got up and walked out of his room. There was a breeze of food into the air. He looked into the kitchen.
Sasuke was standing there, just clothed with his boxers and humming a melody. He cooked eggs and bacon and was dancing around to his own humming into the small kitchen. Naruto giggled and the raven turned around.
He smiled as he saw the giggling blond standing in the door case. "What?", he asked with a smile. "How's that dance called? *giggle* The I-look-like-a-idiot dance?", the blond laughed out loudly. "He he, no", the raven answered smiling, "It's the I-had-sex-last-night dance. And just by the way…nice outfit", he lifted one eyebrow and smirked mischief.
Just then the blond realized that he hadn't put on any clothes and was standing bare into the kitchen now. "Errr… bathroom", the blushed blond said and turned.
After he had a shower, Naruto and Sasuke ate breakfast, got their clothes on and got out to get to their todays mission.
As they joined Sakura at the bridge she was surprised to see Sasuke smiling. He and Naruto kept joking around and she just asked herself if she was into the wrong movie.
As Kakashi appeared into a cloud of smoke, he looked around finding a puzzled Sakura and two joking boys. Suddenly Sakura noticed something. "Naruto? Where did you get that bruise on your neck from?", she asked curious.
The blond teen blushed and looked at her. "well..ahhm.." "Well Sakura, this is a hickey", Kakashi remarked randomly. She looked at Naruto and her face got a smile. "Oh Naruto! So cute! You got a girlfriend?", she squealed out and looked at Naruto in excitement.
"Well…kind of", he said and smiled.
Suddenly the raven haired boy hissed. "Hnn…girlfriend", he spit out and looked at Naruto pouting. "Oh, Sasuke don't be like this", he got over to the pale teen and took his face into his tanned hands.
"Who is my seme? Hn? Who is my gorgeous seme?", the blond asked smiling. "I am" "Ohoo, I can't hear you. What did you say?", "I am", the raven said a lil louder and grinned. The blond lifted his head a lil and kissed the older teen on his lips.
Sakura looked at them stunned. "They… they… Sasuke… Naruto… kiss?", she stuttered and looked over to Kakashi.
"Wasn't that obvious?", he just snorted and got back reading his book. Sakura looked back at the two teens who kept whispering sweet nothings to each other. 'Hmm… somehow I like this, maybe I should arrange a yaoi-club', she though, smirking. x3