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Finding My Way Back To You
Alternate Universe
> Finding My Way Back To You
Finding My Way Back To You
Seq to Wingless Foe
- August 13, 2009 08:17 AM (GMT)
Chapter One:
As the farmer's truck reached a crossroad where the kid's eyes finally got to feast themselves on traces of civilization after hours of being deprived of it; seeing but nothingness for stretches of it awhile back, after the kid was able to land his pair on buildings, other vehicles and people walking along the sides of the road, that's when he asked the driver to let him off there.
He thanked 'Luke' the old man. The kid even offered to pay him like he told him before he got in the truck, but Luke refused the offer of payment. So instead, what Jake did was thank him profusely--even giving the old man a nice big hug before he eventually got off the truck; to which the old man returned ever soappreciatively after seeing traces of his grandson in the boy.
As he was walking towards 'civilization', seconds after he watched Luke's truck disappear down the end of the dirt road, he looked further down end of the opposite path from where the old man's truck had drove off too. Trucks and small cars drove past him until he got to the the end of the dirt road where it merges with the introduction of concrete. As he walked further down, that's when he realized what it was about that place that was familiar to his senses somehow.
He smirks.
"Wow, welcome to Smallville, Jake!" he says to himself as he stood at a street corner, in front of a cafe. Basically mocking the all too picturesque feel of the place. "Welcome to Smallville!" he scans around further with his eyes and can't help but smirk even more. "Man, this is just too...creepy. I wonder if I should run into Clark any minute now..." he grins wrly. "Or that hot lil chick, Chloe..."
He looked inside casually through the clear glass mirror before he eventually went in. As he was making a feel for his wallet inside his jacket pocket he can't help but thank himself mentally for the judgment call in changing out of the hospital clothes he was wearing, into his own. It was an ordeal to do since there were two girls in the room watching over him, but he somehow managed to do it. Should he have neglected to change into normal clothes, he'd have been whisked out of there and woke up at the back of Luke's truck in his hospital clothes--without money and foot apparel.
He sat at the stool behind the counter as he waited to be waited on; scanning the place with his eyes, he was heightening his senses at the same time for and of anything that could come at him at any moment and attack him; knowing his luck being a Winchester.
The boy sees an old couple at one corner, an elderly man drinking his coffee at the table near the door, a couple of waitresses roaming around with pitchers of coffee on hand, and lastly, two teen-aged girls giggling at the other end of the diner while looking at his direction. That made the boy's mischievous side perk up. He smugly puffs himself up after deciding to play hard to get; giving the girls not even a small nod nor a smile. After he gave them a quick gaze, he then swivels the other way and gave his order nonchalantly to the middle-aged lady that came to wait on him.
"A BLT and two beers please." the boy says casually with a nod and a single knock of his knuckles on the counter to punctuate his order. The waitress gives him a pursed cheek and a 'what do you take me for' look, making the kid give out a cry chuckle. "Would you believe me if I told you I'm 21?"
"Not a chance, kid." she tells him, "You're how old 14?"
"Bite your tongue, madam!" Jake cuts in, but still in a polite manner, "I'm 19 years old!" he says.
"And I'm 23!" the lady says sarcastically.
"You could pass up for 23 too." Jake quickly points out.
"Nice try, hun." she replies. "I'm 43."
"You actually look younger than 43." he says. The lady narrows her eyes at him, "Okay, owkhay...since we're being honest here. I'm actually 18." he goes on to say.
"I got all day, kid."
"17...I'm 17." Jake bargains.
"Just holler if you're ready..." the waitress says as she was quasi-turning away.
"Okay, I'm 16!" Jake finally says to which the lady narrows her eyes at him again, for, "What? I am actually 16 here! Reeaally. Really. I'm telling the truth this time!" he crosses his heart. "And I don't drink beer. Anymore. I was just messing around earlier...with the beer...and stuff." he added. "Just give me anything non-alchoholic that you got! Besides water."
"I'll get you chocolate milk instead, how's that?" she says.
"That was actually my second choice there!" he spunkly blurts out while snapping his fingers in the air.
The lady gives him a smirk and a crisp, "Mmhm." as she tucks the pencil she was taking down Jake's order with to the back of her ear. The boy gives her a soft chuckle. "I'll be back with your breakfast in a minute."
"Thanks big time!" Jake says gleefully while drumming his fingers on the counter top. "You're a life-saver, ma'am!" he calls out at the lady who looks at him over his shoulder.
"Mmhm?" she perks her brows at him before walking away. The kid could just chuckle even more; he can't help but see traces of his grams in her somehow. As he sat there after she disappeared behind the swinging door to the kitchen to get his order ready, he suddenly missed Amaliah. Minutes later as he dug his wallet out and checking his available cash in there--his eyes found pictures in there too. A couple of them.
His fingers traced the surface of one of the photos longingly; it made his heart hurt looking at it.
"Girlfriend?" came a voice that made Jake look up. It was the waitress, she just got back with the boy's short order and placed them in front of the boy, beside his wallet and photos. He shakes his head in response and turns the photo to show off who was in it.
"My little brother..." he says quietly, "...twins, but he's younger. Half an hour. Makes him the baby." he sighs heavily. 'My baby...' he adds in his head. 'That's right, Dean! He's my baby too!' he declares smugly mentally.
"You got separated somehow?" she asks emphatically as she watched Jake look at his twin's photo with teary eyes. Jake's thought bubble just popped when she spoke. "Did your parents somehow get divorced or something, hun?"
"No...our mom died when we were kids. And yeah, me and my baby brother got separated...somehow." Jake says, his brows arched as he momentarily tried to think back on the earlier events that led to place him where he is at the moment. But then he got nothing.
The lady cranes her neck to look at the other photo on the counter top. Jake saw her do this. He picked it up and handed it to her after tucking Sam's photo back inside his wallet leaf.
"Who are these handsome-lookers with you, hun?" she asks while looking at the people in the photo. "You all look really sweet. Just like freshly baked cookies."
"My brothers...those are are our big brothers." he says, "And we are just as sweet too, ma'am! Especially my big brother Dean!"
"Which one's he?"
"The real looker in the middle!" Jake points out.
"He's beautiful, sweetheart..." she comments.
"Yeah, he is." Jake quickly replies, "And when I grow up, I'll just be like him too! I'll be all beautiful too!" he goes on proudly. The lady can't help but muse fondly to that as she pinches the boy affectionately on the cheek.
"I'm sure you will, hun!" she says. "Okay, now eat your sandwich, sweetie? If you need me for anything, just holler?"
"I appreciate that, ma'am..." Jake says.
"Call me Theresa."
"Hey my mom's second name was Theresa!" Jake says bubbly, "I'm Jake, by the way...and nice to meet you, Theresa, ma'am." he offers his hand which she took.
"Nice to meet you too, Jake, hun." she says warmly. "Now eat."
"Yes, ma'am." the boy says, "Right after I put this away." he says while tucking the photo Theresa handed back to him into his wallet. And then he puts the whole thing away altogether. After saying grace, the kid does begin eating. As he was in between chewing his food, his mind can't help but wander to his baby twin. The last thing he heard about him was Sam suffering the same--if not worse, pain that he had just suffered back at the hospital. 'I'm coming back to you, Sam. If this is part of our punishment to the disruption we did to the traversal...we're getting around it somehow. I'm gon'na hang on. You should too, okay? I know you're strong enough when you need to be. You're even stronger than me sometimes. We're getting out of this okay, baby. I know it. I'm finding my way back to you. I am' "And I will." he softly muffles to himself verbally. Definitively.
The sun was scorching hot. It's making the trek along the road even harder. The kid's brown pair looked over his shoulder at the stretch of road behind him; nothing has changed, it's still carless. When he averted to the opposite end in front of him--it yielded the same result. It was just as carless.
He could feel his parchness start to contribute in making him want to pass out already; but somehow he finds himself still willing himself to stay upright and mobile.
Minutes earlier, he had already managed to shrug out of his jacket and use it to cover his head with; if only to shield himself from the glaring intensity of the sun on him. And it worked. The jacket kept the sun from burning his skin and his head; only, the apparel doesn't protect his eyes at all; from the glare the sun made as it bounces off the concrete and onto his eyes.
Seconds later, the kid starts to sob. His feet hurt, he was parched and his eyes hurt too now.
"I want to go home..." Sam says. "...I just want to go home..." tears streaming down the sides of his face.
He tried several times to use his cellphone earlier and call Dean, call home. Only he didn't get the response he expected. There was just ringing on Dean's phone and nothing on the home phone. After he got only incessant ringing on Dean's unit, the fifth time he tried calling him, right after he called their landline, and also getting nothing; Sam gave up.
What Dean said to him, their earlier conversation came back to him somehow and it made him cry even harder.
"What I say doesn't f***in' mean anything to you anymore, is that it?"
"You know that's not true, Dean...not true. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you again, Dean. That's all. I was trying to keep that from happening."
"I don't f***in' see it that way, Sam...I'm sorry..."
"Everything you say, you've said to me...everything you've told me since long before I could start to talk and understand stuff, Dean...I've kept it. I keep them all in here. You know that."
"You hurt me, Sam. I can't believe you could give me this much pain."
"I didn't mean to, Dean."
"Well you did."
"It just hurt so much when we lost you the last time, you know? I knew that if that happened again that I won't be able to go and bring you back anymore...I could've lost you again, Dean."
"I gave you my word, didn't I? There was supposedly a matter of trust between us, kiddo. You obviously don't believe in it."
"I do trust you, Dean. Always have. Always going to."
"No, you obviously don't!"
"You look really disappointed with me, Dean..."
"Like you wouldn't believe, Sam."
"Dean didn't even say he loves me back..." Sam says out loud to himself, 'I made him really mad this time...I hurt him. Big.' he hugs himself after saying that mentally. 'I ran his patience out. I ran Deanie's patience with me out...' he goes on.
Several more minutes, he found a spot under a lonely tree in the middle of a field by the side of the road he was walking beside of. He immediately willed himself to run towards it to take shelter under its shade. As he sat there, all shrugged in his jacket--that's when he started to feel cold.
Everything was scorching hot around him but he was feeling cold from out of nowhere. He decided to call Dean's phone again; the worry, fear and feeling of extreme disappointment towards himself inside him, have somehow managed to cloud his judgement; making him totally not think of resorting to call anybody else but those two means for him to connect to Dean--the older boy's phone and the landline.
It slipped from his head calling his other brothers' phone.
There was ringing. Again several of it. He waited. And waited. But still nothing. No Dean picking up on the other end.
"Please pick up, Deanie?" Sam sulks as he pleaded on the phone as it rang on the other end, his hands clinging onto the phone as if for dear life just then. "Please, Deanie? Please pick up..."
"I had to do what I did, Dean..." Sam says sadly as he takes the phone from his ear and just held on to it. He still got no response--just constant ringing at the other end. After awhile, that's when Sam decidedly cut the call. And instead of flipping his phone shut, from out of nowhere, he breaks his flip top unit in two before he flung it as far as he could.
'He doesn't want me anymore...' Sam says. '...Dean doesn't want me anymore...'he weeps bitterly, "...he doesn't want me anymore..."
Chapter Two:
Sam had somehow drifted to sleep after exhaustion, hunger and parchness took him over. And that is all on top of the worry, fear and self-loathing he was doing since he was whisked from the confines of him and brought to that place which was in the middle of nowhere. He hasn't drifted for that long when he heard movement around him.
When his eyes opened, his brown pair found that he wasn't alone anymore. He was in the presence of unfamiliar looking individuals. All guys. Big guys. Guys that are most probably his big brother Dean's age or older--only bigger. There was one on either side of him and a couple more just basically around nearby, goofing off with each other.
Just then, Sam felt the one to his left nudge him on the side; he's the smaller one in the group.
The kid turns to him warily.
"You a runaway or somethin'?" the guy asks him. Sam shook his head reluctantly. "You don't look like you're from around here."
"I'm not..." Sam's voice trails off.
"Yeah, he looks like one of those spoiled trust fund babies-type too." one of the two boys who are just messing around with each other in front of them says.
The one on Sam's right, reaches in to check the brand on the kid's jacket on the collar; making the littlest Winchester squirm away from the unfamiliar contact and touch. After getting a whip of the brand tag, the boy shrugs.
"I knew it!" he announces. "He is not from around here, guys. Cause I sure don't know of anybody from around here who wears this brand!"
"Where are you from, kiddo?" another one asks him. Sam looks up to the one who was talking to him at the moment.
"Why do you want to know?" Sam bats.
"Oooh, fiesty lil critter!" the one on Sam's left scoffs, "Kind'a like that kid in PruMonte, remember guys? Lil Marky-Mark?"
The rest of the newcomers recall the inside memory that was referred too and they get a laugh out; Sam however could only feel his insides turning. He was scared; even more than he was already before. He was thinking of getting up and running away. He knows he's a fast runner, he could get away from there guys easy. The kid could tell that he could outrun them because he has the advantage in weight somehow. Only his eyes caught their jeep pulled over a few feet away. Should he try to run off, he's going to be caught soon enough or killed. All they need to do is get on the vehicle and pick; either to drive after him or run him over.
Sam's mind immediately went to his Deanie. He was thinking of how his big brother could easily down these guys with no hitch whatsoever. No matter how big they are, it would not be a problem with the middle brother. Not even if a gun was involved. It will not even be a question whether Dean would engage or not; since whenever his Sammy is involved, he would always and always stand up for the kid. Doesn't even matter who's there to confront with. He'll stand up for Sam, no matter what; to whoever is threatening him.
Now if only his Deanie was around.
And if only he still cared; since at the moment, Sam is pretty much convinced that his Deanie is too disappointed to even take his call or say the elusive words 'I love you' back.
"So what happened to you, kid?" the smaller one in the group interrupts the kid's thought process just then. "What brought you here in the middle of nowhere? And by yourself no less?" he offers a hand to Sam. "By the way, the name's Trip." the littlest Winchester looks at the boy's hand and then he warily met that same boy's eyes. When Sam doesn't return the gesture, he ignores it anyways but thought nothing of it."These are my big brothers." he went on in reference to the other boys with him, "That's Chuck..." he juts his chin to the one sitting next to Sam.
"Hey-" the one named Chuck nods at Sam. The kid just looks at him, but doesn't even give out a nod. And then Trip gestures for the other two in front of them to come over, and they did.
"These are Ike--and the other one's Harry!" Trip says.
"I'm Harry!" the biggest of the group offers his hand to Sam, but just like Trip earlier, Sam doesn't extend a hand. But they didn't seem to mind. Somehow, they get where the kid was coming from. And that is even without the need for communication with each other anymore. At all. They just understand each other and the kid.
"What's your name?" the one named Ike says.
"Dean." Sam says. "My name's Dean Whitfield."
"Nice to meet you Dean." Harry says.
"So, Dean..." Trip says, "...did your ride break down somewhere?" Trip asks.
"Uh...no. Not really." Sam says.
"How did you get here then?"Ike asks again, "Did you actually run away?"
Sam sighs heavily while hugging himself. "I d-don't know how I got here..." he says softly. "...the last thing I remember was that me and my big brother were sort of arguing really bad and...then...then the next thing was I'm here..." he says sadly. "...I don't even know where I am."
"You're in Dexter, Dean." Trip says.
Sam turns to him, "W-where's Dexter?"
"Near Brensville." Trip replies, then he quickly adds after studying Sam's reaction to his response, "You don't have any idea where that is either, do you?"
Sam shakes his head.
"Where are you from, Dean?" Harry asks. "If you don't mind my asking..."
"The Lincoln Plains." Sam says. The brothers after hearing that, toss each other unsure gazes.
"So, let me get this straight, Dean..." Trip starts, "...you and your big brother were arguing at one point and then the next thing you know you're here? In Dexter?"
Sam nods innocently.
"When was that?" Chuck asks, "I mean, when you and your big brother--"
"An hour ago..."
"Mmhm?" Chuck says, "And your big brother was with you in the Plains?"
"Yes, sir." Sam replies.
"Are you sure, Dean? I mean, are you really? Cause that is just not possible." Chuck says.
Sam looks at him with a question in his eyes; Trip tugs at the kid's arm, making Sam crane his neck to face him.
"Dean, you must have hit your head or something?" he says, "Cause there is just no way that what you said is a possibility."
"Dean," Ike says, the kid turns to him,"...you're a couple of towns away from the Lincoln Plains, kiddo."
"Two towns away..." Sam says.
"Yeah." Trip says.
Dean is standing in the window, looking out. He hasn't spoken a single word to anybody since Sam was taken and he told them what he saw that took the kid. Everybody has tried everything to get him to talk, but he just wouldn't. Sonja and the rest are in the den talking about what had just happened. It took Mary and Margha's help for them to figure out just exactly what it was that did happen and who took the twins.
Brandon found a spot next to his best friend and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder; but even that doesn't budge Dean. He just kept staring outside the window. As Brandon was about to walk away, that's when he saw the teardrop that fell from the Winchester boy's eyes.
"Dean, they're going to do it, you know?" Brandon says, "You just have to have faith here, man. Give those two more credit than that, okay? They're finding their way to each other, Dean. And then they're coming back home together real soon, you'll see."
"I hit him..." Dean says with a raspy voice. "... I f***in' hit my baby brother, B. He had just been hurting like hell and I lay a hand on him. I mean who does that but me, huh?" he says resentfully of himself with a bitter smirk, "I should just, I don't know get punished or something for being an ass! There should be a law against big brothers who hurt their little brothers, B..."
"Well there isn't, Dean."
"There should be."
"Dean, listen..."
"No--" Dean brushes past his best friend as he walks to the door with B right behind him; everybody turns to their direction.
"Dean, where are you going?" Pierce asks as he himself gets up from beside Sonja and JW on the long couch. He walks around to where his brother and the Mac boy are.
"I'm going to try and do something to help them.." Dean says, "..I can't just sit around and wait..."
"Dean, you can't help them. " Sonja says, calling out from the den. "They have to find each other on their own."
"They're kids, Sonja!" Dean says, "And Sammy--" he starts to break momentarily but quickly got his bearing back, it actually made his brothers sore. And his dad."--that kid..." he says, "...my baby gets lost in this house more often than I do. How the hell would he know where to go find Jake? How would he even know where to start? And two days? We have to wait for two days before we could see them again?"
"Dean..." Sonja starts but Dean cuts her in by turning towards the door.
"I can't wait that long...I'm not gon'na." Dean says before eventually heading out with Brandon.
Jake is by the payphone outside of the cafe. After he found out from Theresa where he was, he immediately knew how far he was from the Lincoln Plains; being a big geography buff that he is. He knew he should call home automatically, but since he knew that Ike Anderson, his foster dad has a business nearby--a town outside of where he was, he decided to make a judgment call and contact him.
It rang again, Isaac's private line. Jake was getting impatient as he counted the rings. After the fifth one, he was rewarded with the senior Anderson's familiar warm welcoming voice on the other end of the call; who at the sound of Jake's initial introduction, was more than ecstatic to hear from him. And it showed in his voice too. Jake can't help but feel his heart go to his foster dad.
"I've missed you too, daddy." Jake says, and then he starts to sniffle.
"Jacob, son...what's the problem?" Ike asks in concern at the reaction from Jake. "Is there anything you want to tell me? Need for me to do? Do you need daddy to fly over to you--"
"Dad, I actually need for you to do that." Jake says, "I need you to get me home."
"Jake, is there a problem at home? What is it?" as he was talking, Ike was at the same time calling for his secretary and having her get his private jet ready. "Is it your brothers? John?"
"No, daddy. It's not about them..." Jake says, "I want to tell you about it so bad, but it's more complicated this time than before..."
"I'll be there in a few minutes, son. Just wait for daddy, okay?" Ike says.
"Uh, dad...I'm actually not in the Plains at the moment. Which is why I need you to pick me up and get me back home." Jake says.
"Jake, where are you exactly?"
"I'm in Brensville, dad."
There were a few minutes of silence on Ike's end before he spoke again.
"Son, did you run away again? I thought you gave me your word about not doing this again..."
"Daddy, I didn't run away." Jake says, "Remember I said it's more complicated somehow? Than before? It actually is."
"Daddy, I was at the hospital one minute, recuperating. The next thing was I woke up at the back of Luke's truck. That's what happened, dad. I didn't run away, believe me? Besides, why would I want to run away when my life is back in the Plains, dad?" he goes on, "My baby's there, dad. I would never leave him."
"I believe you, son." Ike says, "I'll be right there, okay? Jarod and I will meet you there in 20 minutes."
"Thanks, daddy."
After the call from Jake, Isaac Anderson decided to place a call to the Winchesters. But then he got the same response from Sam. A big deafening blank. Meanwhile, Jake, after the call to Ike, places another call somehow. This time to Sam's number. He got ringing. As he waited to hear Sam's voice, Jake was actually waiting with bated breath. He knew they were not supposed to see each other, but he never got the order to not talk to him.
"Come on, baby? Pick up...pick up..."
Three rings, and...
"Hello..." came the introduction. It was an unfamiliar voice, answering his baby twin's cellphone. Jake's breath caught. He had to actually check the number he dialed just then. "...Dean's cellphone...who's this?" came the voice again.
"No, this isn't Dean's cellphone. This is Sam's I'm calling. Who are you? Why do you have my baby brother's phone?" Jake's brows arched on his forehead. "Why do you have Sam's phone? Who are you?"
"I asked first, kid. Who's this?"
"This is Jacob!" Jake angrily spat. "Why do you have my baby brother's phone? What have you done?"
There was muffled voices in the background before Jake was able to make out one distinct voice in the midst of the unfamiliar ones. His breath caught again; but this time, it was because he was happy. Happy to hear that particular voice in the background.
The tears automatically streamed down his face after he heard Sam's voice.
"Baby...oh god, Sam...it is so good to hear your voice..." Jake says, "...I've missed you so much. I really really have."
"I've missed you too, Jakey...I really have. And it really hurts." Sam starts to sniffle, Jake can't help but feel his heart clench after hearing that from Sam."I wanted to see you, but they said I can't do that cause we're going to die..."
"I know, Sam. They told me that too..." Jake says sadly. "
"Yeah, Sam..."
"Dean is mad at me..."
"What? Why?"
"I used my ability when he told me not to." Sam says, the kid is by the brothers' jeep, curled up into a ball as he talked to Jake using Trip's unit with his sim in it. Trip and his brothers meanwhile are a few feet away; they wanted to give Sam privacy somehow.
"Baby, why did you?" Jake says, "I thought we were not supposed to use? We were being punished, remember?"
"Brandon was in trouble, Jake." Sam says, his voice trailing off, "I had to. Dean was going to go after the guy who took B and he could have gotten hurt and I didn't want to lose Dean again like the last time cause that just hurt so bad that I had to do use my ability to help..."
"Brandon was taken?" Jake asks, "By who, Sam?"
"It's not important, Jake..."
"Dean can't blame you, Sam..."
"He's disappointed with me..." Sam says sadly, "...you should've seen the look on his face when he looked at me, Jakey..." he goes on, "...he didn't even say he loves me back..."
"Sam, just cause Dean didn't say it back it don't mean he doesn't, okay?" Jake says, "That guy would go to hell and back for you!"
"I called...I called him, Jake--he didn't pick up..." Sam says. "...he doesn't want me anymore."
"Sam, that's crap, you hear?" Jake says, "How can Dean not want you? You're that guy's life in case you forget? His phone is probably in vibrate or silent or something...besides, you can just look for him? I'm sure he's just nearby...you know he wouldn't be anywhere far when you're there. How big can the house get anyways, baby?"
"I'm not at home, Jake."
Jake's breath caught after hearing that; for the fifth time that hour alone. He was dreading Sam's response somehow. When he woke up in Luke's truck earlier, it never really crossed his mind that his baby twin would be sharing the same predicament as he is.
"Sam, please tell me you just took a stroll somehow?" Jake says, "Please?"
"Jakey, something took me away from home..."
"Oh god, Sam..." Jake gasps, he actually felt his knees buckle from under him. He finds himself curled up to the phone booth floor after hearing Sam's response. "...not you too..."
"W-wait..." Sam's breathing hitched, "...you were snatched away too?"
"I was, Sam..."
"Are you okay?" Sam asks in concern, "You're not supposed to be out of the hospital yet...oh god, Jake...oh god..." the kid starts to ramble on the other end of the call, making the brothers who are nearby watching him and waiting dart towards him in concern. Jake heard them in the background talking to Sam. He heard Sam tell him he's okay. They back off.
"Baby...baby... who's with you? Who are they?" Jake asks. "Who was the guy who answered the call earlier?"
"That was Trip, Jakey."
"Who's he?" Jake's brows arched on his forehead. "What was he doing with your phone?"
"I had to use his phone cause I broke mine..." Sam says, "...he and his brothers pulled up alongside the road when they say me...to--to check on me."
"Roadside..." Jake gasps, "...hitch hiking, Sam? Oh god, baby..."
"I woke up in the middle of nowhere, Jake." Sam says, "They pulled up, what was I supposed to do? And it wasn't like I pulled them over, they pulled over on their own..."
"Sam, you don't even know these people..." Jake worried says.
"They offered to drive me home, Jake."
"Sam, you can't ride with people you don't know, okay?" Jake says, "Use your porting to get home..."
"I can't..."
"What do you mean you can't?"
"I can't port, Jake..."
"Why not?"
"It won't work..." Sam says sadly, "...I've tried but it won't work..."
"Alright, just--just don't go anywhere with these guys, okay, Sam? I'll get to you somehow, okay?" Jake says, "Where are you?"
"I'm in--"
Just as Sam was about to respond to that, that's when a piercing noise came in from the phones the twins were using. And then there was silence. When Jake tried to call Sam back, he couldn't connect with him anymore.
'Sam...' Jake sat in distress mode on the phone booth floor; hands fisted onto his hair in frustration.
As Dean was headed to get the mustang out of the garage, something was pulling him to dig for his pocket to check on his phone. He didn't mind it at first, but after awhile, he does do it. He digs it out. His eyes widened at the missed calls reflected on the screen.
He even got a lonely text message from Sam.
'Dean, I just don't think I'd have it in me anymore to go through losing you like the last time. I hurt you and I made you think that what you say don't matter to me anymore...I'm sorry for that. It's not true, Dean. I'm sorry for everything, i hope you don't stop--'
And then it stops there. Dean's breathing stopped.
'Stop what, Sam?' he questions, and then he scolds himself over and over for having his phone on silent and missing Sam's calls. The next thing that happened, he is pulling the mustang out of there with Brandon riding shotgun and Pierce on the backseat.
'You don't want me to stop what, baby?' Dean asks in his head. 'Loving you kiddo? Cause if that's what you were going for--it's not even a question, princess!' he revs the engine, "That's never gon'na happen, Sammy!" he declares out loud, making Pierce meet Brandon's eyes on the rearview mirror up front.
Sam is about to walk over to the brothers when he heard the phone ring in his hand. Reading the screen, his heart actually skipped a beat. On the screen, read 'Deanie'. The kid quickly takes the call.
- August 13, 2009 08:21 AM (GMT)
Chapter Three:
Sam almost drops the phone after reading Deans name on the screen. For almost half the day he has managed to convince himself that his big brother doesnt want anything to do with him anymore; not after what he did, which came out to Dean as big time subordination against him from his end.
Even if Sam and Jake arent like any helpless ordinary teenagers when things call for it; not since they were introduced to their extraordinary abilities; for Dean, they are always going to be his little brothers; hence they are his and the other older boys responsibilities to take care of. So when Sam did what he didgo around and save Brandon, behind his big brother's back after Dean specifically told him to stay putDean saw that as nothing else but Sams disrespect towards him.
The middle brother overlooked the selflessness behind the kids actions due to the concern and worry. Dean neglected to read behind what Sams actions were really all about; and that was to keep him safe and be both a brother and friend to both him and Brandon respectively in a time of need. He was just pulling his own end of the rope to help out; which he seldom gets to do since they all do not allow him to.
When the kid does read the name on the screen, he felt his spirit lift. All the feeling of depression, frustration, fear and worryseemingly all faded into the background after his eyes landed on that particular name flashing on the phone screen.
He wasnt even going to mind should Dean start to yell at him or cuss at him the second he picked the call up; Sam was going to so willingly accept that. If only for him to know through that call that Dean still cares about him enough to bother to make the call.
When Dean called him by the moniker, Sam may be feeling tears running down the sides of his face, but they were that of joy; his Deanie still cares; he still loves him. That moniker alone sealed it. Oblivious to Sam, Dean was thinking the same way. The minute Sam called him by the title that only the kid is allowed to call him by--he could not help but feel the same way that Sam did; both brothers are being filled with an overwhelming extreme sense of gratefulness to still be allowed to call each other their terms of endearment.
It took several minutes before either of the brothers was able to utter another word other than saying their respective titles to each other. After a deafening silence overtook them for that amount of time, the older of the two decidedly chose to break the ice first. As he was dividing his attention between talking to Sam and focusing on the road ahead as he drove, Dean was silently crying as well. Brandon and Pierce who are both witnesses to this, cannot help but shake their heads in distraught. They very well share the same emotions the boy behind the wheel was feeling at the moment.
"Baby...I'm sorry..." Dean finally says. "...I'm really sorry, Sammy..."
"Dean, no." Sam replies.
No? Dean felt a pang hit him after hearing Sam say that. Just as he would have started to question that further, Sam beats him to it.
"Deanie, right now, I just want to go home so bad. And you don't need to apologize to me for anything. Cause you didn't do anything wrong...you just did what you had to do and I just did the same thing. I did what I had to do too." the kid says in between sniffles. At the moment, he is back to the rear end of the jeep belonging to the brothers from Dexter.
"Sammy, the second I get you back--" he tosses the other two boys in the vehicle with him a sidelong glance, "--we get you back, you can take a swing at me all you want, you hear? And I won't take no for an answer, baby. You really have to hit me."
"Wow that sounds inviting enough! Pierce voices out, Is there anyway I can sign up for that too, somehow?" he goes on to say.
Ugh?? Brandon gasps indignantly at Pierce; coupled with a you have a death wish look.
What? Pierce bats innocently as he sat back in his seat.
But fortunately enough that remark from Pierce didnt result the outcome that Brandon feared. Instead, what he did broke the tension somehow; it made both Sam and Dean snicker. The Mac boy earlier had been so sure that that had owned Pierce a punch from Dean, only that was not the case at all. It made Brandon see a change in his best friend somehow; a good change. Even if its only for that instance, Brandon was still glad to have known that Dean was capable of it.
The vehicle pulls over and the middle brother turns to Pierce, still holding the phone to his ear.
"Sam says 'no'." Dean relays the message, "Sorry, buddy!" he gives his brother a pat on the knee. "Baby gets dibs on the 'Let's slug Dean fest.'"
"I figured." Pierce says. "Worth the shot asking anyways!"
"Is Sam okay, Dean?" Brandon cuts in. "Where is he anyways?"
Dean, after taking those cues from Brandon turns his focus back onto Sam.
"Baby..." he starts, "...where are you at?"
"Dean...I'm two towns away. I think it's Dexland...something. I forget." Sam says. "I'll ask the guys, Deanie. They're from here...they'll know the name of the place I'm at wait..." he pulls the phone away from his ear and looks up at Trip who came over after Sam, as politely as he could calls him over to where he was.
"Sam, wait!" Dean calls out to Sam, but the kid had already pulled the phone away from his ear. 'Guys?' he groans, 'What guys?'
"What's up, kid?" came Trip's intro. Dean, after hearing another voice on the background; and unfamiliar at that--it raised some concerns on his end; hearing somebody else being there with his baby brother, not only did it concern him. From out of nowhere, he suddenly felt insanely jealous. And to top that uphe was scared. Should this guy Sam is with right now turn out to be a baddiehes too far to do anything about it. And Sam just mentioned 'guys'; hence it meant more than one 'could-be threats'.
Kel is at the porch, sitting up the top step. Ericka and Allison just arrived earlier with Brandon after the Mac boy picked them up from the hospital. Allison, as she got off the cab after Ericka and saw Kel where he was--she suddenly felt nostalgic. And it wasn't the good one.
'Kel...' she mutters to herself.
It was as if it was just yesterday that she'd seen the older boy around Sam back at Aaron's house in the Valley. She clearly remembers the same boy being a big meanie to the littlest Winchester. It made her groan inside and clench her fists to her sides, somehow. And if it had not been for Ericka who took her by the hand; and for Brandon who nodded at the two of them to start walking--she would not even have started towards the house at all.
The Winchester boy caught the girl looking at her; he breaks the connection first.
"Uh--" Sam starts,"...my big brother wants to know where I am. What's this place called again?" Sam asks. "Was it Dexland?"
"Dexter, kiddo." Trip replies, "We're in Dexter."
Dean, on the other end of the callwanted to so much to be there with Sam, but since he couldn't--he just had to make-do with eavesdropping at the moment. But not without gripping onto the phone and the steering wheel harder than he already was doing earlier.
"What's going on, Dean?" Brandon asks, but Dean ignores him.
Sam, what did I tell you about talking to strangers, baby? Damn it! he growls mentally as he grips the phone and the wheel even tighter; And Trip?' he scoffs, 'What loser is named Trip anyways?'
Pierce and Brandon noticed this and could just catch each others gazes before turning to Dean; who at the moment is staring murderously aheadat the road.
Trip leans against the jeep next to Sam.
"Near Brensville, Dean." Trip added, "So is that your big brother?" he refers to the call Sam is on at the moment.
Dean? Dean heard the unfamiliar voice refer to his baby using his name. Did he just call him Dean?
"Yeah, it's him." Sam replies, popping Deans thought bubble just then. Its my big brother...Sam.
Deans brows rose, Did baby just call me Sam?
"Oh. So it means you're good now huh?" Trip says, "He called you--so it ought to be, right?"
Dean, hearing the conversation between his Sammy and this guy made his ears warm; Who the f*** is this guy? And what is he doing being all chummy with my baby?
Dean, are you alright, man? Brandon nudges his best friend this time with the question, but still he got no response. Dean was far too caught up eavesdropping on Sam and Trip to even hear Brandon at the moment.
Sam nods and smiles warmly. Chuck who was with the rest of the brothers--under the tree flings a seedling at their brother, hitting him on the arm. That made both him and Sam look up towards their direction.
"Doofus, give the kid some privacy will yah?" the older boy calls out; Trip turns to Sam and grins wryly.
"Oh, right." he says, scratching his head while getting off leaning against the jeep, "Just call me if you need me for anything again, kid?"
"I will, thank you." Sam says as he watched Trip walk away. And then he goes back to talking to Dean, who at the moment is sporting a major scrunched-up brow and curled-up upper lip; which are all unknown to Sam but not to the two boys in the mustang with Dean. "I'm in Dexter, Dean."
"Sammy, who the hell was that?" he began, "Who was that huh, Sam? Tell me. Tell me who that was?" Dean asks Sam curtly. "Tell me. Right now!"
I bet he would if you stopped talking for a second and let him! Brandon interjects, that owned him a glare from Dean. He holds up both hands in mid-air in mock surrender. Just pointing out the obvious
Pierce leans forwards in his seat. "Sam's not by himself?" he asks. Dean ignores his brother and Brandon when he saw his best friend about to say something again. Sam meanwhile, heard Pierce in the background and answers for Dean.
That was Trip, Deanie. Sam says, He and his big brothers found me where I was. Theyre from around here.
Damn it!' Dean inwardly groans, Brothers, huh? he asks Sam. Pierce and Brandon after hearing this cant help but smirk at the look Dean was wearing on his face.
Theres Trip, his big brothers Chuck, Ike and Harry Sam says.
So he's your hero now, huh?" Dean says petulantly,
What do you mean Dean?Sam asks innocently, Who is?
Dean, what are you doing? Brandon cant help but cut in; Dean punches him on the knee for it.
"This Trip guy? Dean spat on the phone as he resumes talking to Sam while giving B an angry stink eye; "He's like you're big hero and what not now, huh, Sam? Is that it?"
Sam, instead of getting scared to that response from Dean right there, instead found himself smiling warmly and happily. He doesn't say anything right away; he just allowed Dean to ramble and get it out of his system first; whatever it was.
"And youre Dean now too, Sammy? Dean asks further, You're Dean and I'm Sam?" he goes on to ramble, "Whats going on back there, Sammy?
Dean." Sam starts.
"What?" Dean growls.
"You're still my hero. That will never change." Sam says, making Dean's cheek warm-up.
"Yeah well..." he says petulantly.
"Whitfield, Deanie " Sam spoke again, "...I told them I was Dean Whitfield.
Thats real cute, Sam. And I am flattered that youd use my name to pass up as yours what want to know more about is who this Trick person is and who his brothers are?
Trip, Dean. Sam corrected, His name is Trip.
Not helping Sam. Dean snaps.
"Dean, they seem to be okay. Sam says while watching the brothers from Dexter from afar; basically doing nothing but goof around each otherjust like what Sam remembers his big brothers would do back home. "Especially Trip, Dean. Hes like you.
Mmhm. Dean says, Well dont get too attached, Sammy. Cause when we get there, the original big brother is getting you back!
Dean, theyre just helping me out. Sam says, I wasnt planning on replacing you with him.
Youd better not! Dean says petulantly. Sam could just chuckle. Much much later, in a more serious note, "Baby, I know you only got two days but it's going to be okay. When we get there we're helping you find him."
"Dean, you said it yourself..me and Jake? We need to do this on our own...it won't work if we got help." Sam says quietly.
"Sam, we're riding shotgun the whole time, don't worry." Dean says. "It's not breaking any rules whatsoever, don't worry?"
"Does that mean you're going to be with me the whole way, Deanie?" Sam asks hopefully.
"You bet your ass, baby!" Dean says definitively. "So I'll see you in a couple of hours alright, baby. Or sooner."
Minutes later, after Dean has wrapped up the call with his baby and they have turned around to head back home to report the news to the rest of the family; that's when the silence was broken in the mustang.
"You're asking Sonja's help, Dean?" Pierce asks from the backseat.
"We have to." Dean answers his brother. "Something doesn't feel right about those brothers from Dexter somehow..." his voice trails off.
Middle of nowhere, in Dexter.
Sam is tying his shoelaces after the call from Dean; the phone is safely tucked in his jacket pocket. When he looks up and was about to head back to the brothers from Dexter, that's when he noticed something off somehow. They aren't goofing around anymore this time. Instead at the moment, the four brothers are standing under the tree, facing Sam's direction; and they have on their faces--serious looks that not only weirded out Sam, but actually scared him.
Their eyes were nothing but black.
He starts to step back. Seconds later, Sam finds himself scrambling to get behind the wheel of the jeep and driving away from there as fast as he could. When the kid's eyes caught the brothers' on the rearview mirror as he was driving away--he found them to have remained immobile on their spot; right under the tree.
'What the hell was that?' Sam says over and over to himself in his head. 'What the hell was that?'
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The weird and wonderful world of brands and communication
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posted by Stan Lee at 8:38 pm
Thanx to Mona for spotting the video.
Cheers for that, just saw the print one earlier today. Weird they also did a video... As you said. WTF.http://dragis.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/picard-facepalm.jpg
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Bill proposes good step toward reining in mayor's courts
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If the era of small-town, speed-trap, cash-cow mayor's courts really is about to end in Ohio, it will be none too soon.
For years, critics have called for abolition of these poorly run relics of another time, and bills have been introduced to eliminate them in at least the smallest communities, but to no avail.
Now, the latest bill to address the issue appears to have a chance of passing: House Bill 523, which would raise the population threshold that towns must meet to operate a mayor's court, was approved by the House Judiciary & Ethics Committee in a unanimous vote on Tuesday. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, would forbid mayor's courts in towns with fewer than 1,000 residents — up from 100 currently.
That would eliminate 92 of the state's 318 mayor's courts, including some of the most notorious speed traps. Hanging Rock, a 221-soul burg on the Ohio River with an aptly colorful name, uses its mile and a half of frontage on Rt. 52 to extract cash from motorists. In 2009, the town's reported court revenue of $401,218 was 95 times the amount it collected in local taxes.
A similar bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee would raise the population threshold for mayor's court to 200. That was aimed expressly at Linndale, a Cleveland-area town of 179 that used its quarter-mile stretch of I-71 to give out 4,200 traffic citations in 2011.
While egregious speed traps probably are the most common and visible ill effect of small-town mayor's courts, other problems, some less serious and some more, are common. A Dispatch story in July showed that the courts often have inadequate accounting, poor documentation and questionable spending.
More ominous, some mayor's courts have served as a convenient place where charges in a serious offense, such as drunken driving, can be reduced by a friendly mayor or magistrate, freeing the offender from any public accountability.
Even without such outright unethical conduct, however, mayor's courts are inherently flawed. As the late Ohio Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer pointed out repeatedly, they have a built-in conflict of interest, in that any fines handed down by the mayor/magistrate directly benefit the city or village of which that mayor or magistrate is an executive or employee. Moyer long advocated the elimination of mayor's courts.
That's a good long-term goal, but phasing out the smallest ones first is a good start.
HB 523 deserves passage. The Senate should get on board with the House bill's 1,000-person threshold.


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As long-rumored, The Huffington Post took $25 million in new funding at a $100 million valuation. It's a healthy sum given the company has aggregated a huge audience -- 8.8 million people a month, accordng to Quantcast -- primarily on links to content it does not produce (newspaper stories) or pay for (columns).
The funding means Arianna Huffington's news blog is now considered more valuable by its backers than quite a few publicly traded newspaper companies, such as Lee Enterprises, owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and 52 other papers (market cap: $36 million), A.H. Belo, owner of the Dallas Morning News and the Providence Journal (market cap: $35 million), and Media General, owner of the Tampa Tribune and Richmond Times-Dispatch (market cap: $34.6 million).
It puts Huffington Post in the same league as McClatchy Corp., owner of the Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald and 28 other dailies (market cap: $150 million). In a press release, Huffington Post said it will use the funds from Oak Investment Partners for acquisitions, an "investigative journalism initiative" and localized versions, which will no doubt be even more dependent on the resident struggling local dailies such as in Chicago, where it already has a local site.
Granted, Huffington Post has few of the costs of running a daily newspaper and none of the debt carried by many of these companies. Like The Drudge Report, The Huffington Post built a business linking to content; unlike Drudge, Huffington Post has now raised a considerable amount of money ($37 million, all told), and has quite a few employees (46).
Despite the downturn crippling media, and especially newspaper stocks, Huffington Post still has a ways to go to catch up with New York Times Co. (market cap: $1 billion) and The Washington Post Co. (market cap: $3.3 billion).
Huffington Post More Valuable Than Some Newspaper Cos.
News Blog's Infusion of Cash Sets It Apart From Rivals Like Drudge
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Your customer service is outstanding also! Everytime she had a question, there was an answer within 24 hours after e-mailing you.
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The Boston Globe devotes a fair amount of ink to criticism of our wandering governor today. In addition to a news article, Joan Vennochi and Glen Johnson weigh in with an opinion and an analysis piece, respectively. That Deval Patrick is off campaigning for Barack Obama while two big scandals (the drug lab and the meningitis outbreak) are still unfolding in the state is hard to ignore.
As Vennochi points out, Patrick's absence is particularly glaring because while he travels the country for Obama, he frequently criticizes his predecessor, Mitt Romney, as an absent governor.
Let's hope the Globe keeps these episodes in mind should Patrick seek higher office.
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A) Obama wins and Eric Holder resigns. Patrick is the new AG?
B) Obama wins, Brown wins, and Kerry becomes SOS. Patrick is the new Senator?
C) Obama wins, Warren wins, and Kerry becomes SOS. Patrick is the new Senator, faces Brown in a special election?
D) Romney wins. Patrick has to come home to clean up his own mess. [Cue "wah wah wah" sound effect].
Putting the public interest aside, which the governor clearly has done, wouldn't he better serve his own political interest by focusing on his current job? Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. I can picture the Senate hearings now:
Senator: Now governor, I see that you are really dedicated to becoming the nation's top prosecutor, but can you explain to the American people how your own crime lab fabricated drug analysis results, leading to the freeing of hundreds of accused and convicted drug dealers?
Gov. Patrick has been in charge for over 5 1/2 years. When does he start taking responsibility for what happens in executive agencies he controls? Obviously, he's hoping that day never comes.
"It is clear that there was insufficient quality monitoring, reporting and investigating on the part of supervisors and managers surrounding the former Department of Public Health drug lab in Jamaica Plain -- and ultimately, as Commissioner, the buck stops with me."


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Next Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: 1.Public Speaking for Psychologists: A Lighthearted Guide to Research Presentations, Job Talks, and Other Opportunities to Embarrass YourselfThis book offers realistic advice, useful tips, and humorous stories of embarrassing mistakes in public speaking.Book/Monograph (January 2010)2.You've Earned Your Doctorate in Psychology…Now What?: Securing a Job as an Academic or Professional PsychologistThis book helps psychology graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early career psychologists transition from graduate education to a career in an academic or professional setting.Book/Monograph (April 2012)3.Purpose and Meaning in the WorkplaceThis book investigates the crucial question of how meaningful work can be fostered and sustained throughout a range of work environments.Book/Monograph (May 2013)4.Train Your Mind for Peak Performance: A Science-Based Approach for Achieving Your GoalsRegardless of what subject or skill you're learning, you can maximize your training for higher levels of performance. This book shares practical tips to help you learn quickly, remember what you learn, and apply it to real-world performance.Book/Monograph (November 2013)5.APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational PsychologyThis book offers an in-depth examination of the types of behavioral and structural issues that I/O psychologists study every day, from both a theoretical and applied perspective.Book/Monograph (July 2010)6.Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use in the Workforce and WorkplaceThis authoritative book examines what we know and don't know about workforce and workplace substance involvement, including popular myths about the prevalence, causes, and productivity outcomes of employee substance use.Book/Monograph (November 2012)7.Exploring Sport and Exercise Psychology, Third EditionThis book provides a comprehensive overview of sport and exercise psychology, including interventions for performance enhancement and health and well-being, and also addresses education, certification, ethics, and special populations.Book/Monograph (September 2013)8.APA Handbook of Testing and Assessment in PsychologyThis three-volume handbook is a comprehensive presentation of the theory and application of tests in psychology and education.Book/Monograph (February 2013)9.Perceived Organizational Support: Fostering Enthusiastic and Productive EmployeesUsing organizational support theory and evidence gathered from hundreds of studies, this book demonstrates how perceived organizational support affects employees' well-being, the positivity of their orientation toward the organization and work, and behavioral outcomes favorable to the organization.Book/Monograph (February 2011)10.Caring for Ourselves: A Therapist's Guide to Personal and Professional Well-BeingThis book demonstrates a way to balance personal and professional lives by tending physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and the need to feel connected.Book/Monograph (January 2012) Previous 1 2 3 ... 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Posted: 12/05/2012
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - 'Tis the season when charities put on the pressure to convince you to give.
Whether they call you on the phone or send you solicitation in the mail, it is wise to be skeptical. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt recommends taking time to do a little homework. Schmidt said it is important to research the organization and make sure it's legitimate.
"We do see a rise in the number of scams and rip offs that are posing as charities around the holidays," he said.
Schmidt offers three tips.
1) Make sure the non-profit is registered with the Secretary of State's office.
In Kansas, go to KSCHARITYCHECK.ORG . In Missouri, go to ag.mo.gov/checkacharity.
2) The websites will also let you see how much of your money goes to the cause, and how much goes to overhead and administrative expenses.
3) Make sure the charity is in good standing with the IRS.
"It's wise to check out in advance and make sure the entity you are giving to is listed with the IRS so you know you can deduct the contribution later on," Schmidt said.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Top Call For Action Headlines
A consumer credit foundation is urging people to check for errors on their credit reports on a regular basis.
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Confessions of a Trivial Thief : Chai Latte direct lender payday loans
This is #3 of 7 videos in 7 days. I don't think stealing is a good idea but stealing from friends is a rush. THis short features comedian Julia Lillis, writer Adrian Kulp and is directed by my good buddy Ben Boas. Category: ComedyUploaded by: whoisjaylarsonHosted: youtube
Read the rest of this entry »direct lender payday loans


text: You are looking at articles about Disease Follow these results: News: 11/12/13 Emerging economies 'underfund neglected disease R&D' The rise in developing nations' spending on new drugs is failing to keep up with expectations, report finds. Funding R&D Enterprise Health Disease News: 06/12/13 Oral cholera vaccine 'offers protection for five years' But Shanchol may be weaker than it seems as it was tested on people who may already have resistance, says expert. Health Medicine Disease Water News: 03/12/13 WHO to select research projects on neglected diseases Research projects with a new take on neglected diseases will be shortlisted for a WHO scheme this week. Systems Health Policy Disease News: 26/11/13 Weak research capacity holds back progress on diseases Obstacles to strengthening research capacity undermine poorer countries' health and need action, experts say. R&D Health Funding Disease News: 14/11/13 Software helps automate, speed-up disaster aid Humanitarian agencies are moving from paper to digital files in organising disaster relief with software solutions. Aid Technology Disasters Disease Enterprise News: 22/10/13 Wellcome Trust's new head brings tropical perspective The time that Jeremy Farrar spent working in Vietnam could influence the UK research charity's work, say experts. Funding Disease R&D Capacity building Health Opinion: 10/10/13 Diseases can be tracked better and faster with new tech Detection tools such as crowdsourcing are revamping disease surveillance, say Larry Brilliant and Mark Smolinski. Cooperation Technology Disease Health News: 26/09/13 GM bacteria 'could eliminate' sleeping sickness Spreading the bacteria into the wild tsetse fly population could wipe out the disease from some areas, study shows. GM Disease Health Livestock News: 05/09/13 UN initiative mines big data to direct development Analysing mobile phone and Internet data can provide rapid information for decision-makers, says a UN initiative. Data Enterprise Disease Food security Medicine News: 28/08/13 Reports reenergise debate over Haiti cholera outbreak Studies back rival hypotheses that the disease was imported to Haiti or may be due to a native strain. Disease Health Water Environment News: 20/08/13 GM bacteria could help mass produce hookworm drugs A promising anti-worm molecule could be mass produced and delivered through food-safe bacteria, researchers say. Medicine Health GM Disease News: 15/08/13 Pesticide risks need more research and regulation Much more must be done in developing countries to regulate pesticides and train farmers in their safe use, experts say. Agriculture Farming Disease Policy Food security Load more


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Enter A Christmas Story's I Triple-Dog-Dare-You Video Contest and you could win a trip to stay in the A Christmas Story House in Cleveland, Ohio or other prizes from the movie. This sweepstakes has expired.
Sweepstakes Links:
- Sweepstakes Entry Form: http://www.achristmasstoryscene.com/
- Sweepstakes Rules: http://www.achristmasstoryscene.com/?rules
- Sweepstakes Homepage: http://www.achristmasstoryscene.com/
Creative Contests, Holiday Sweepstakes, House & Garden Sweepstakes, Photography Contests, Toys & Games Sweepstakes, US Vacation Sweepstakes, Medium Sweepstakes, Daily Sweepstakes
Contiguous US (-HI, AK), 18+
Start Date:
November 01, 2011
End Date:
December 30, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. PT
Entry Frequency:
1 x daily per person.
Sweepstakes Prizes:
Grand Prize: A trip for 4 to the "A Christmas Story House and Museum" in Cleveland, Ohio. The prize includes airfare, a 2-night stay in the "A Christmas Story House" in Cleveland, tickets to "A Christmas Story House and Museum", dinner at "The Official Chinese Restaurant of A Christmas Story," breakfast, car rental, passes to the Kalahari Indoor Waterpark Resort, and dinner at "The Hard Rock Cafe, Cleveland, Ohio." (ARV: $5,345)
Finalist Prizes (5): Miscellaneous A Christmas Story themed prizes like mugs, board games, leg lamps, hanging clips, bandages, etc. (ARV: $50)
Additional Comments:
To enter, create a video capturing a recreation of your favorite scene from the motion picture "A Christmas Story." Upload your video to YouTube and link to your video. See rules for additional details.
Entries will be judged on the basis of Accuracy to Scene (45%), Production Value (25%), and Creativity of Scene (30%).


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Mudbug Madness Starts Thursday!
It's almost time for one of the biggest parties in the Ark-La-Tex! Mudbug Madness starts this Thursday and runs through Sunday at Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport! In fact, Turner and McCoy (that's us) will MC the "Opening Ceremonies" Thursday night at 7pm and we'd love to see you there! Wayne Toups and ZyDeCajun will play that night from 8:15pm to 11pm! Also rockin' the stages over the weekend are Waylon Thibodeaux, Sammy Naquin & the Zydeco Whips, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, and another of our favorites Rockin' Dopsie & the Zydeco Twisters just to name a few.
Crawfish eating contests for Men, Women and Kids and the Crawfish Calling Contest. Get the full schedule and all the info on the FREE SHUTTLE at MudbugMadness.com


text: Hi Doves,Peter, quoting the prophet Joel said:The sun shall be turned into darkness(it happened on the 11th of July 2010),And the moon into blood(this WILL happen on the 27th of October 2010),before the Coming of the Great and Awesome Day(which is the Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which falls on the 31st of October 2010)of the Lord."And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved (that is, resurrected or translated)†(Acts 2:20,21)To call on the Name of the Lord means to continually make a demand on his Person, that is, His Glorified Body, through the Holy Ghost.For all the good things we say and do to others, originate from the Lord's Body through the Holy Spirit.The Lord's Body is His "Name" from which we are meant to make daily demands of eternal life, in order to actually live the Christian life.This is how the Lord conforms us to His image!!!Notice the above verse says "whoever CALLS on the Name..."The verb "calls" is a present tense continues word.For we are suppose to "Call" on The Lord daily until the Day He translates our natural bodies into glorified bodies, by the very same power that enables us to live the Christian life in the first place!I believe, at the time of this writing, we are just 7 Days away from being translated forever on the 31st of October 2010.Let's make sure, until then, we are calling on His Name!Do remain blessed,Ola.


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Vintages Wine Panel: Domaine de Cantemerle is an experimental estate. They are committed to environmentally-friendly methods of vine growing and winemaking and have earned themselves official certification for their natural and responsible production techniques. The 2003 Grains du Terroir is medium-bodied with cassis and plum flavors, a firm tannic structure, and excellent length. My note: A juicy, plummy wine you'll adore if you like merlot. Domaine De Cantemerle Grains Du Terroir food pairings: roast beef.This Domaine De Cantemerle Grains Du Terroir was reviewed October 13, 2007 by Natalie MacLean
Serve this wine between 60-65 degrees Farenheit or 15-18 degrees Celsius.
You get my Free Newsletter with articles and tips just for signing up below. But for $2.10/mth, the cost of an incredibly tiny coffee at Starbucks, your wine drinking pleasure will soar.
Natalie who?Yes, I'm a certified sommelier and was named the World's Best Wine Writer at the World Food Media Awards. Blah, blah, blah. What really matters is that I know which wines can increase your hedonistic happiness... a lot. Don't worry, spam doesn't pair well with wine!
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OTTAWA — The Conservative government opened Wednesday's throne speech with an agenda for transforming Canada's public service that set the stage for a spending freeze, more job cuts, and a stormy round of contract talks with federal unions over concessions in sick leave and other benefits.
Bureaucrats and unions alike were braced for what some see as "public-service bashing," with the government continuing its drive to curb spending and bring public service compensation in line with the private sector, but the nine points read by Gov. Gen. David Johnston to a packed Senate chamber "to reduce the size and cost of government" went further than was expected.
The speech sets the stage for what will be the fourth round of spending cuts since the Conservatives came to power with another cycle of "targeted spending reductions" and a continuation of the freeze on departmental operational budgets that will put the brakes on any further hiring. The government also said it intends to:
- Reform the way the federal system manages spending;
- Review federal assets for possible sale;
- Reform the existing disability plans and "sick leave entitlements";
- Amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act to ensure "an affordable, modern and high-performing" public service;
- Increase performance management to provide better and cheaper service to Canadians and reward effective employees; and
- Improve efficiency, such as moving to a single email system for all of government.
Departments are still digesting billions of dollars in cuts to their operational budgets and the Conservatives are looking for more. It's unclear how those savings in "internal government spending" will be achieved but the government hinted it has plans for efficiency savings from IT consolidation, such as reducing data centres, human resources departments or finance operations.
"This sounds like budget 2012 all over again, but worse because they have already taken out more than 19,200 jobs and this is more of the same," said Ron Cochrane, co-chair of the joint union-management National Joint Council.
Many argue the public service has already been put through the wringer for savings and all the easy reductions are gone. The new cuts will dig deep, affect the "integrity" of existing programs and services, and will mean more layoffs.
Several senior bureaucrats say efficiency savings take years to implement, but politically it's a great strategy in the lead-up to the 2015 election. The government looks like they are coming down hard on the public service, reducing its size and costs, but the government won't do the hard work of deciding what programs and jobs to eliminate. Instead, it will take the money out of department budgets and leave it up to deputy ministers to decide where to cut.
"This is a hit list on the public service and the public services they deliver, and there is no mention of the process that will be used to involve public servants on what should be preserved … They went much further than many of us expected with a recipe to carve out public services and with all kinds of Trojan horses," said Paul Dewar, the NDP MP for Ottawa Centre.
"This will deeply affect our community and, make no mistake, the work people are doing now is still work that will have to be done. I want to know if the Conservative MPs in this town contributed to and support this agenda," said Dewar.
The biggest increase in the size of the public service over the past decade came under the Conservative watch from 2006 to 2011 — peaking in 2010 — when some 45,000 jobs were added. Some 20,000 jobs have been reduced since then. Most of these jobs were added in priority areas such as security, defence and corrections.
Gary Corbett, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, said the government's goal for savings and efficiency is "laudable" and one supported by most bureaucrats. But rather than work with the public service, he says the government "plays to their base" and portrays the public service as "train wreck."
Some of the government's intentions are a restatement of initiatives already underway, such as a plan to scrap the existing accumulated sick leave regime and replace it with a new short-term disability plan. It has also put retired public servants on notice that it wants to double their share of the cost for the public service health plan. It has already laid out plans for a new performance management regime that is supposed to reward the stars in the bureaucracy and get rid of non-performers.
Robyn Benson, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said she was "dismayed" the government would use performance management as a "cost reduction tactic."
"This is unacceptable. We have had performance management programs in the federal government for years. Using performance as a smokescreen for further downsizing is dishonest and unfair to the hard-working members of the public service."
It's unclear what the Conservatives are taking aim at in the Public Service Labour Relations Act. The government faced several arbitration rulings during contract disputes with employees that forced it to pay more than the 5.3 per cent wage increase it earmarked for all employees over the past three years. Some say the government may want to change the act so that won't happen again.
"The Public Service Labour Relations Act is the cornerstone of positive labour relations between employees and their employer," said Benson. "The government cannot enact any reforms to the Act without consulting with bargaining agents. We will not accept any infringement or erosion of our members' rights. Collective bargaining is a democratic right and it works."


text: You are here: Home » Recipes » Superb Salmon Steaks Superb Salmon Steaks Kitchen Tested Yield 2 servings This fast and easy recipe never fails to "wow" guests. Share this: Pin ItEmailPrint Ingredients 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard1 tablespoon honey1 pound 1-inch-thick salmon steaks1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon1 Roma (plum) tomato, sliced1 tablespoon drained capers Instructions Preheat oven to 400F. In a small bowl, combine mustard and honey. Place salmon steaks in a baking dish and coat with mustard mixture. Sprinkle with tarragon, sliced tomato and capers. Pour wine in dish. Bake 18 to 25 minutes, until done as desired. Share this: Pin ItEmailPrint


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« October 2009 | Main | December 2009 »
Posted at 11:59 PM in My weird brain, NaBloPoMo | Permalink | Comments (2)
I arrived in Savannah a few hours ago and after trips to the Kroger and Publix (only because Kroger did not carry the Greek yogurt I seem to require when I eat breakfast) wherein I actually spoke to people, I have not been outed as a socialist and asked to leave the state.
I am also exhausted. As in, I'm falling asleep typing this. I spent the ride from Surfside Beach to here coming up with all sorts of things to talk about, writerly things and actual, focused posts that weren't just travelogues of my life (because hello, lazy, boring) but now I can't, because I drove all day and walked around Charleston and moved all of my crap from the car into a new house, and I'm apparently frail and tired.
I have plans, yes I do. Hopefully I'll wrap this NaBlo business up tomorrow with something a little better than this. But for right now it's about getting the job done, and then passing out.
Posted at 11:33 PM in My weird brain, NaBloPoMo | Permalink | Comments (2)
Posted at 11:50 PM in My weird brain, NaBloPoMo, PopLife, Things I am Currently Digging | Permalink | Comments (3)
Since I left Maryland two days ago, I have...
Had the best solitary I-95 road trip of my life.
Stopped at the Aquia Target, again. I love the Aquia Target, but that could just be because the traffic from Springfield (ugh) almost to Richmond can be so ridiculous that by the time I get to Aquia (Phoenix?) it's impossible not to stop and try to think some happy thoughts. This time I bought three miniature Slinkys (from the dollar bins), tights, a clearance blouse that is totally too big but I can't return it because I ripped the tags off in a fit of Thanksgiving dinner clothing hysteria, shampoo, and an Icee.
I did not, however, buy an audio book, which is what I told myself I was going into the store for in the first place, because the two people who worked in the book/music area did not know what those were but they were pretty sure they'd not seen any there.
Stopped at South of the Border because I haven't been there in years and I thought it would be fun to shoot it at night and holy shit, I was right. I love those pictures. I'll have to upload them someday. I also found Blenheim's ginger ale there, which shouldn't really please me as much as it does. Unlike Kristen claimed she did earlier today, I did not see any bongs. Pedro sells bongs. Crazy fucker.
I did get some shots on the phone.
Been in excruciating back pain from that pinchy nerve spot (or whatever it is, it's from hell, I tell you) such that no Vodka can touch it, nor can four Aleve in an hour, or the ice pack I jammed into it to try to work out the issue. Seriously, my back is a wreck, in just this one place, and it's enough to make it an effort to walk. I am currently lying on a tennis ball to see if that helps. It's supposed to. I shudder to think what will happen when the 39 hammer comes down next month. Locusts. Fires. Sciatica.
Spent an honestly great holiday with most of my family, celebrating my uncle's 50th at a restaurant wherein the buffet was housed in, oh, five separate areas, all shaped like schooners. This was slightly alarming to me not because I necessarily expected Captain Jack Sparrow to jump up out of the bin of sweet potatoes but because I'm a snob about maybe three things and one of those things is dinner. Buffets freak me out. I eat too much, even if I don't like what I'm eating. My ADD goes into overdrive because I don't know where to go or what to get or what to look at first. There are five year olds who could handle this situation with their shit more together than mine is.
No matter. The important thing was not my buffet issue.
IT WAS EVERYONE ELSE'S. Y'all born in a BARN?
(Just kidding, I just felt like saying that. Back to my list.)
Spent the day yesterday with a relative whose health challenges are rough and felt about a hundred different things about it that were at a few points in time very overwhelming, but mostly amazed at our human ability to carry on through what can be crushing adversity, and a very particular kind of gratitude for the time we all got to have together.
Sat on the beach where it is sunny even if it's not 80 degrees and read an actual book and drank actual aforementioned Vodka and aforementioned ginger ale praying it would seep into this pain in my back and remove it, and thought about how little it actually takes to be happy if you're with people you care about who care about you, and how what makes me happy is to be very calmly on this little patch of earth.
The rest is just sort of Whipped Lightening and sunshine, in no particular order.
And I don't know exactly what happened to the ocean here, all crooked and whatnot, but today was a really great day.
Posted at 11:58 PM in Loves, Memories, NaBloPoMo | Permalink | Comments (2)
My pictures do my best talking sometimes, especially lately. And I don't mean because I'm a technical or a composition genius. What I mean is that they tell the story of my life and the people and events in it much more concisely and in some cases more thoroughly than words can.
I'm so psyched to be at the beach with my family for Thanksgiving. When I got in very early this morning I was road-wired and couldn't really sleep yet, so I started going through my photo stream from last Thanksgiving until today, and made a set of any picture that resonated gratitude, in the broadest sense of the word.
It took longer than you'd think. It turns out it was a really, really good thing to do.
The mosaic only holds 36 photos. There are way more than that in the set.
A quick scan will show that I am lucky to have a good number of awesome people in my life whom I love very much.
I have opportunities, and a voice, and an itch for travel that takes me to places I would really miss if I never went anywhere. I have a fairly functional sense of humor and a love of shiny places and things. I know myself better now, I think, and while I still have a long way to go, I think I am kinder. I think I am more honest. My life is full of food and music and general every day shenanigans.
I am wearing flip-flops in November in one of my favorite places on Earth.
Jonathan Swift is credited with saying, "May you live every day of your life." I may not always get it one hundred percent right, but there is something to the daily practice, I have to say.
1. Untitled, 2. Final theory paper, 3. Untitled, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. DCFD, 8. Kirtsy Laurie, 9. my parents, 10. Untitled, 11. My father with a plunger on his head., 12. Proof!, 13. New iPhone, 14. Double rainbow, 15. Untitled, 16. Sonic Success, 17. Untitled, 18. Untitled, 19. Untitled, 20. Untitled, 21. Untitled, 22. Untitled, 23. I love Kristen. Just do., 24. Untitled, 25. Two of my fellow BlogHer editors who are also my fellow friends., 26. Untitled, 27. Engagement photo, 28. Almost favorite., 29. Some people major in biology. I majored in this., 30. Meghan and Mom, 31. Amber and Mom, 32. Since they were little, every single time., 33. He told me to delete this and I will not., 34. You know, just me in an espresso machine., 35. I love this., 36. Suebob and Ms. Potato HeadPosted at 01:16 PM in Loves, NaBloPoMo, NaPhoPoMo | Permalink | Comments (5)
Hey! It's a mess of a Thanksgiving post ahead, written while I'm dying to get out of my state.
Last year I had this wine for the holiday.
This year I will not. I will miss it. I thought of drinking the remaining bottle last night that I have been hoarding since I brought it back from California this spring but decided against it. It's more of a birthday sort of thing to do than a Thanksgiving eve eve thing, I think.
I just realized that it will be my second Thanksgiving in a row in a coastal city (this time the right one) with some configuration of my extended family. I may be having trouble with a general sense of gratitude at the moment, as I noted below, but I'll be glad to be with them tomorrow. Life is basically a series of choices and activities, moving on from one thing to the next in the best way we know how, and I'm very happy that we have all chosen to be in the same place tomorrow.
I just hope I can scrounge up a relish tray, because without one on Thanksgiving I'm not sure I can carry on.
I wrote a much more articulate Thanksgiving sort of post two years ago and I enjoyed re-reading it today.
I'm praying for wireless in the place where I'm staying because tomorrow I'm kicking off a month and change of birthday posts. I can't even tell you how many people I know who were born from the last week of November through the first of January. It is a crazy number, and it just so happens that this span of time includes the birthdays of some of my very closest friends and family. It's weird.
And because I'm not such a fountain of joy and light myself as much as I just reflect it back from people in my life who rock, I thought I'd spend the holiday season talking about them. This isn't a revolutionary idea. There are other bloggers who do it all year round (I'm personally a fan of Mr. Lady's birthday posts for her people,) and I'll gladly thank them for the idea in the first place. But this year it has special meaning for me. I will be eternally 39 on December 27 and I know a lot of people in transition. It just seems like the right thing to do.
I'll start tomorrow, assuming that stretch of coastal Carolina has it some Internets.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Posted at 03:57 PM in Memories, NaBloPoMo | Permalink | Comments (5)
I am leaving town tomorrow for a week and a half. I am so excited about this.
It's been a rough sort of month.
I have purchased a bottle of Stoli Vanilla and I plan to go visit my surly friend at the Myrtle Beach General Store from whom I can potentially purchase Blenheims spicy ginger ale to mix with this tasty stuff to make the best beach drink ever, even if it's not going to be 85 degrees on my beach like it usually is when I'm there. I will pretend. I love that beach hot or not.
I have new tires and an engine that should (please please please) work following ridiculously overpriced service yesterday, so in spite of the fact that I have to drive late into the night tomorrow I won't be as in denial nervous as I usually am about my poor little car.
I have, in my possession, all cameras, plus chargers, and also lenses, that I need to function for two weeks, both still and video (this is huge.)
Two of the sweetest little girls I know are waiting to make their birthday cakes until they get back to Georgia from Disney so we can do it together. Please to see the state of my two-sizes-too-small heart before I heard this:
And kind of what it felt like after:
I'm not very overwhelmingly grateful right now, I'll admit it. I'm very focused on lack, and what isn't going right, and how I'm disappointing people and not succeeding in ways I'd like to. I'm all "my back hurts," because it does, like every day, and "I'm not losing weight like I want to lose weight," and "that person..." and "he...." and "Oh God I need coffee."
I need not to care about that, any of it (except I can't not care about coffee) for a week. I need to drive on other roads and think about other things. I need to figure out what's next while not thinking specifically at all about it.
Isn't that when it's supposed to figure itself out?
Posted at 11:58 PM in Currently, Holidays, In the Weeds, My weird brain, NaBloPoMo, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1)
I'm going on a long car trip in two days (to two beaches! Two!) so I figured it would be a good idea to actually figure out if my car would make it after a year of relative neglect. I am currently, as in right this minute, being completely overcharged for service due to the random turnings-on of two lights on my dashboard, and tomorrow I need to get tires.
My mother: Hold on, I'll ask Daddy where the best place is to get tires.
Me: I know where I'm going to get tires.
My mother: Daddy knows the best place to get tires.
Me: Okay, all right, okay. {Sighs, puts on shoes}
My mother: Oh, haha, he said go to Weshittires.com
Me: We shit tires.
My mother: Haha, yes, weshittires.com. But he was grinning when he said it. That's not really a place. The real place is Tires Plus.
Posted at 12:01 PM in Why I'm Like This, Words, WordSalad | Permalink | Comments (19)
It occurred to me as I sat on the couch tonight and processed my current state of mind that NaBloPoMo makes me a little bit nuts, above and beyond any existing and constant state of nuttiness, of course. And I may be grasping at straws here, but whatever. I thought it was time for a little tour of the archives of Novembers past.
If you are new to this ridiculous magical mystery tour of my life, this will point out that there was life before you, which can be fun and enlightening, or it can just be boring as hell, your call.
Here, I made myself laugh with this bit from November 21, 2006, wherein I rationalized my ongoing and conflicted relationship with yet another 80s cheese rock band.
And now all of a sudden "wacked out and posting" reminded me of the line from REO Speedwagon's "Keep on Lovin' You", a song I've heard repeatedly in random places lately because God hates me, although maybe I should be glad it isn't holiday tunes, because those have taken over most places already. Anyway, you know, the REO song with the line that sounds like it goes, "Instead you left stealin' the rent/ALL HIED UP AND LISTEN'" but it doesn't. It really says "Instead you lay still in the grass/All coiled up and hissin'", which is just weird. And it's important to add that though he knows all about those men, inexplicably he don't remember. Cause it was her, baby, way before then, and they're still together. This in spite of the fact that he's a fucked up stalker with memory loss who compares her to a snake, which I know is how I like my men. Especially the ones who insist that they're gonna keep on lovin' me, and are apparently going to go on cocaine binges to avoid sleeping to do so, even after I've told them to get the fudge out cause I'm watching Montel. Those are my favorites.
Sorry. Decompressing. I will admit that "Take it on the Run" is one of my favorite songs of all time (and okay, I like "Time For Me to Fly" too, but not as much), which doesn't allow me to bring the hate on REO Speedwagon without that full disclosure, but one of the best and most humorous stories that Casey Kasem ever spat into the mic (could they not get that man some water? A lozenge? Some freaking hot TEA?) involved the DECADE that it took Kevin Cronin to write "Can't Fight This Feelin'". A decade to come up with "You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night," and to rhyme "longer" and "stronger", and "show" and..."show." Scary.
And because this is how my brain functions, this post only makes me wonder how I have never written about Damn Yankees?
Don't worry about it, ma'am. Just them Damnnnnnnnnnnn Yankees.
I know. I can't help it. Seriously, scary visceral memories associated with this song, especially considering I'm a little fuzzy on some of the details of what happened yesterday. Jack Blades (haha, Jack Blades) in mom jeans FTW. IT'S NEVER OVER. (I really really love this song. I'm dealing with this right now.)
It's been three years since I wrote this on November 10, and it's kind of alarming that I could still spit it out almost verbatim:
I over-gave, and it still kind of embarrasses me and makes me want to reach back through the pensieve of the past decade and yank me even further back, so I could turn different corners and tell people to fuck off when actually I said, "Yes, baby. Anything for you." But in spite of this shift inside of me, the one thing that makes a difference is my refusal to succumb to inertia, because even if I'm sitting on my very own single settee for the rest of my days, I want it to be in a cool spot. And I want to say that in the process of getting to be the rotten, hilarious-to-myself, intellectually overstimulated and completely batty yet endearing old woman I know I'll be some day, that I did not stop exercising my capacity to do cool shit, or to push myself to create or to make something better out of where I've ended up. I've been lagging for the past couple years, but it's safe to say that it'll get better from here. And thank God. I'm so on my own nerves.
I'd totally forgotten about this picture that went with the post. That's me on the day trip to San Francisco after my first BlogHer. Melanie Morgan took it. (Where have you gone, Melanie? Where have you gone?) I still dyed my own hair then, all four or more of the colors, poor little girl who never pays attention to the back of her head. It was pretty bad. I also fell in love with the city in those eight crazy hours. Besides going back for BlogHer last year I haven't been again, and I really want to go when I can just be there without the imperative to spend three days immersed in talking to so many great people I don't get to see all year long.
Sunshine and me, November 30, 2007.
I loved and I miss this silly little dog so much...Look at her with the big bug eyes and the kisses...That was the summer before we left and we did step aerobics and kickboxing every day, which tired her out and actually gave me some arm definition.
And I've never found a better hairdresser either. Damn.
I still haven't, and this picture was taken in 1999. (That's dust on the print, by the way. Didn't bother to edit it. LA-ZY.)
Hanging out with Andrew at an open mic on November 20, 2007:
Me: She's really not bad. But why must every girl who looks like that look like that in the same way?
Andrew: Yeah. The leg warmers. The argyle tights. The harshly cut bangs.
Me: I mean, it's like they go to the same school for it.
Andrew: The bangs.
Me: Those bangs look good on no one. And oh my God, she has him banging that tiny little drum. That's really unnecessary.
Andrew: I was just thinking that that drum was unnecessary. I love hanging out with you. We think the same things. We're the same. Except you like Dar Williams and I like German thrash metal bands.*************************************
Me: I just had the insane thought that I miss working for Restaurant Digest.
Andrew: Me too.
Me: Yeah, I miss those messed up times when Bruce was alive.
Andrew: Yes. There was a time when Bruce was alive.
Me: And how sometimes he'd give me money when he was alive. And I'd actually get it. That was nice. Maybe I just need money.
Andrew: It was better when he wasn't crying when he gave me money.
Talking to some students the day before, November 19.
Exhibit B:
"We have our list."
"Okay, who would you talk to?"
"Joe Francis."
"Who is that?"
"The founder of Girls Gone Wild."
"Oh. Really? Why?"
"Because he made a lot of money. I'd ask him how he did it."
(From across the room) "Isn't he in jail?"
(Me) "He's incarcerated? And you want to know how he accomplished that?"
"Yeah, but he's got a lot of money, and it's only for eight months."
"You can't interview him. I'm not signing off on what I'd have to sign for that to happen. Also, you'd have to do it through a glass window."
And finally, from November 26, 2006, Movin' On Up.
Note to self: First of all, good morning, sunshine. Second of all, when you get the bright idea to make the Jefferson's theme song your primary ringtone, please remember to turn it to Edelweiss or just fucking OFF before you go to bed, so when the phone rings at 4:00 a.m., you do not go shooting across the room in a crazed, suddenly-awoken frenzy. Thanks.
I have eight days left of this. Whatever shall I write about? No, seriously. WHATEVER SHALL I WRITE ABOUT?
I'm hoping the sun is out next week.
But if it's not, at least there will be an ocean-view balcony and beer. (Counting the minutes at this point.)
Posted at 11:34 PM in NaPhoPoMo, Pictures | Permalink | Comments (0)