I am going to start reblogging things about Palestine, I haven't up till now but Israel just bombed a hospital and I don't have many followers but if it will encourage someone else to do something too then I think it's worth it.

[Translation] Tsukihana Kagura - Stage Play Plot

Ryota and I have been talking about it both here and on twitter, so you already know we were working (or more like cracking our brains) on this.

Let me say this first, the entire team (Ryota and Chrome) agreed this is more Chinese than Japanese and you can’t change our minds ヽ(＿　＿ヽ) // the kanji, the horror. Kudos to those two for suffering with me (aka assisting me and helping out with the proofreading).

If you like my work, consider donating or commissioning me, I use all the money I receive to get (rare?) items like this and translate them. The link is at the bottom of the post~ 

Please don’t repost/reuse/retranslate my work. Likes and reblogs are appreciated.

Paying no mind to the sounds of this fleeting world, the King of Flowers threads the dance of Tsukihana Kagura.

A [song]. Yet not a [song].

A [dance]. Yet not a [dance].

Even without the honors from the so-called [King of Flowers], a celebration where the [flowers] dance, the “Tsukihana Festival”, shall begin!

―—— Not here, somewhere apart from this world.

There lie twelve island countries, floating above the ocean in a flower-like shape. Once every few years, in each of these countries, those who live in grace and are referred to as [flowers], shall compete not with their swords, but with their beauty.

World View

■ The World

This world consists of 13 countries floating above the ocean.

Lying in the centre of the world is a large island called “Mushiki”. Islands of about the same size surround Mushiki radially, as if they were a flower blooming over a large desert. The appearance likewise makes the residents refer to themselves and these countries as “flowers”.

■ The History of the World

① Prehistoric Era

There was a time when the 13 islands were joined by land, forming one continent.

In the centre of the continent rested a massive volcano named Kataku, which converged the entire volcanic activity from the area and actively erupted on countless occasions.

As a result, the ground around the base of the volcano is thought to have expanded, eventually becoming large enough to be called a continent.

This vast land expanded radially along the mountain range until it divided together with some neighbouring areas and developed their own individual ecosystems.

Somewhere in the northern part of the continent, humanity ended up planting its roots.

Following their migration towards the south, their area of activity broadened and it seemed soon the entire continent became inhabited.

② Antiquity (First Half)

❶ [The First Blooming]  - Before and After (approximately 600 000~10 000 years ago)

The large-scale seismic shift which occurred due to a tectonic plate rift and also caused the radial fragmentation of the continent, then provoked a massive eruption from the Kataku Volcano. This was later named ‘The First Blooming’. 

The tremendous force of the eruption gave birth to an enormous caldera in the centre of the continent (later becoming the inland sea). Subsequently, the plate rifts and the caldera led to the separation of the continent into different areas.

Scattered in various regions and unable to come in contact with each other, mankind gave up on further exchanges from that point on and all areas followed their own evolution and development.

❷ Kurobana Period (approximately 10 000~4000 years ago)

The period of time when the Kataku Volcano and its volcanic chain became dormant.

As the climate and the environment regained their stability, humanity once again started to practice exchanges between regions. When mankind proceeded to share the knowledge and techniques they developed in separation, their cultural level instantly improved.

The construction of large cities brought along a drastic increase in population numbers, and soon countries were born in every zone. 

‘Shikkoku’ and ‘Geppaku’, the oldest existing countries, are said to have been born around this time.

❸ Shirohana Period (approximately 4000~1300 years ago)

Around this time, almost the entire continent had a cultural living secured. Moreover, disciplines like academics and arts were flourishing.

The exchanges between the nations became more and more popular, but at the same time, attracted conflicts and clashes due to differences in values and ideologies.

❹ Akahana Period (approximately 1300~1000 years ago)

Starting with the small conflicts between fellow small countries and continuing with the head-on collisions of the major nations, this time period brought on the first large-scale war in history.

In a world where a diverse set of values and ideologies exist, fires that have started cannot be quenched easily. Furthermore, advancements in technology and the invention of gunpowder and explosives supported those ideologies. Under the principles of each island’s doctrine, they were to send out one great candidate to determine who will be the Great Ruler of all nations in order to unify the continent. The remaining islands would stand together with the champion of the world.

As war or disputes would always occur somewhere, the public order domain had suffered the most throughout the world.

A lot of blood was shed even outside the battlefield.

From that point on, the entire continent was thrown into chaos for around 300 years, a period known as the dark age.

❺ [The Second Blooming] - Before and After (approximately 1000 years ago)

The chaos installed by the dark age came forcefully to an end as another seismic shift hit the continent and the Kataku Volcano released another violent eruption (known as ‘The Second Blooming’). 

The valley created around the volcano by the rift expanded even further and was flooded by seawater, separating the 13 islands completely.

③ Antiquity (Second Half)

❶ [The Second Blooming] - Before and After (approximately 1000 years ago)

The unexpected calamity that divided the 13 islands completely should have eliminated all life, including humanity.

However, even though humans resorted to quite a substantial number of sacrifices, they tried to make it through the crisis with their own power, too.

Countries that foresaw the large-scale eruption tried to minimize casualties and joined hands.

Anticipating what could happen in the future, people made physical walls using special techniques, analysed scientific data, geology, etc…...

The countries that opted to join forces and brought pieces of their own wisdom managed to survive The Second Blooming, becoming the twelve countries that exist in the present.

❷ Tsukihana Period (approximately 1000 years ago~present)

Because of the previous calamities, much knowledge and craft skills were lost. Humanity’s history continued. However, compared to the Second Blooming, the loss of civilization development was significantly less. (It has been said that roughly 1000 years of cultural advancement had been undone.)

In relation to this, engineering and techniques that were often used by the military were strictly governed by the National Institution in order to avoid a repeat of the Akahana Period’s tragedy. It seemed as though they purposely abdicated themselves as well. ※ Studies call these techniques and knowledge that were lost and could not be reproduced again as Pre-Blooming Techniques or “Budding Techniques”.

The 12 nations wrote the following joint declaration:

① War must be abandoned once and for all in order to ensure permanent peace. ② The path to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual growth shall be paved through dialogue and not through military power.

“The bloodshed is over. We narrow our eyes as we look to the sun, and when the moon glimmers above our heads in this very sky, we shall bloom into dignified flowers.” (The final paragraph of the joint declaration)

Four years have passed since this declaration was signed.

The first Tsukihana Festival is about to start.

■ The Current Circumstances of the World

■ A World of Harmony ■

In the next 100 years following The Second Blooming, the twelve nations’ miraculous efforts to protect the joint declaration managed to keep any dispute or confrontation on a low scale.

All the countries dropped their weapons in favour of a peaceful world.

■ The Council of the Twelve Nations ■

① As border crossing was still a major problem, the nations have decided to resolve rising conflicts by means of thorough discussions and assembled the highest ranking decision-making body known as the “The Council of the Twelve Nations”. 

② The Council of the Twelve Nations is hosted by an appointed country for only four years, and it cannot be elected successively. If a country doesn’t become a host for more than 20 years, the following year it is automatically appointed.

③ The hosting nation’s leader will be dispatched to the official residence for hosts located in Mushiki. In order to avoid any emergencies, the commander of the Allied Forces is also dispatched together with them.

④ The nations have adopted a “rule by majority” policy and should there be a case where the votes are tied 6 to 6, the Council will adapt the plan suggested by the host country.

■ Deciding the Host Country for the Tsukihana Festival ■

The Chairman of the Twelve Nations Council is one who holds tremendous political power. In order to avoid military conflict, the Chairman is elected through the Tsukihana Festival wherein the nations battle in the fine arts of kagura.

This originates from the legend about a person who danced the Kagura and calmed the volcano during the Second Blooming.

Although the idea of fighting with “beauty” instead of “strength” has a strong political connotation for the common people, it also offers a strong sense of recreation for them. It is evidence of how peaceful the world actually is.

Each Country’s Circumstances

Shikkoku

● Among the twelve nations, this country has the longest history and the strongest military force.

● Even though the Allied Forces of the Twelve Nations Council is under their direct control, they take a defensive stance.

● Warriors originating from Shikkoku are known for journeying throughout the world and doing good deeds, which earned them a high respect.

● National Trait ●

Daring and resolute / Imperturbable

Momo

● Once focusing on the development of dyeing and making fabrics for clothes, this country has as many family crafting skills as it has craftsmen.

● They also have a wholesale district dedicated solely to preparing garments or props for the Kagura. During the time of the Tsukihana Festival, it’s crowded with people.

● Their specialty is ‘tsukimi udon’

● Local Colour ●

Repayment for indebtedness / Gentle and sincere

Akane

● A country prominent not only for their large number of mining sites, but also for their industrial skills.

● They invented gunpowder and explosives. This knowledge is kept under strict control, and thus only state agencies are allowed to learn about it.

● One of their specialties is the Akane Festival, a festival where they dance for 3 days and 3 nights continuously.

● Local Colour ●

Sticking to their original intentions / Intense passion

Kikyo

● This mysterious yet profound country is well versed in foreseeing the future and reading the stars.

● They only choose to settle when they find the place they want to reside in for life. They are people who hold a peculiar sense of values. Many of its residents choose to travel.

● Their territory is surrounded by fog.

● One of their special products is the ‘Shingon Rice Cake’.

● Local Colour ●

Wayfaring people who go on pilgrimages / Belief in destiny

Asahanada

● This country has a deep connection to water. They are a religious nation and believe the dragon god to be a symbol of nature. Many of them are gentle spirits.

● They are among the leaders in the rice production field, which is considered a staple food in this world.

● Their specialty is ‘kudukiri’. You don’t even feel it going down your throat.

● Local Colour ●

Clean and serene like still water / Unrelenting

Tsuyukusa

● This nation is well versed in astronomy and geology. They possess an enormous national library filled with data they collected in the past.

● They have many hot springs, which attract a large number of people.

● Their specialty is ‘Napoli-san’, tomato-flavored noodles.

● National Trait ●

Mature consideration / Healthy food for healthy bodies

Geppaku

● Out of all twelve nations, this mysterious country has a history as long as Shikkoku’s.

● Their strange skills can cause miracles and seem to be passed down within each household.

● Each of them has a peculiar view on life and religion, being required to find and serve their own god.

● National Trait ●

Enjoying life to the fullest / Peaceful life without worry

Kikuchinashi

● This country has the biggest theatre in the world and a national school dedicated to the study of plays.

● Because many of them also work as carpenters and architects, they can easily make a living by working for the Tsukihana Festival’s stage.

● Their specialty is a ‘musical play’ that brings together dancing, singing, and drama.

● National Trait ●

Unyielding diligence in studies / Undying patience

Seiran

● An academic city that has many schools specializing in various fields. People gather here to seek knowledge.

● Their national school has sub-branches in all 12 countries. It is also said that Seiran is the best place where one could learn about the twelve nations.

● They are experts in making a large variety of ‘bentos’.

● Local Colour ●

There’s a blue sky right behind the clouds / Sincerity that could move heaven

Botan 

● This country has an entire district dedicated to entertainment, managing to gather all types of people. Any type of amusement can be provided.

● The real attractions for sight-seeing are after dark. There are vigilante corps around to keep people safe.

● Their specialty is the ‘adzuki bean mochi’.

● Local Colour ●

Unfettered and flexible / Trusting to chance

Asagi

● This country is a major agricultural power, strangely possessing the most fertile soils in all the world.

● It is said that the current kagura was inspired by the dance they perform here to celebrate the harvest.

● Local Colour ●

Everything is bound to change・Being thankful for every single uttered word

Mokuran

● A mysterious country covered by desert. They possess a certain “skill” that is a trade secret.

● The capital city is the world’s largest gambling house and is a source of income that enriches the national treasury.

● Their specialties are “suna tamago” which are made by boiling eggs in hot sand.

● Local Colour ●

Consulting the past to learn about the future / Independent spirits who stand on their own

Tsukihana Festival

■ About the Tsukihana Festival ① The Significance Behind the Tsukihana Festival 

As mentioned before, despite the political implications behind the selection of the country that will host the Tsukihana Festival, it is generally a major recreational event that surpasses even the national framework. (Reference: ‘Deciding the Host Country for the Tsukihana Festival’ from ‘World View’, page 8)

After the hosting country is decided, the chairman (king) of the twelve nations (flowers) is named ‘King of Flowers’.

② Summary

A brief summary of the Tsukihana Festival is presented below.

■ It is held on a special site located in the centre of the world, on the Mushiki Island every four years.

■ In addition to the "Hana Awase" that determines the greatest "King of Flowers", there will also be a collection of (see below): theater programs, amusements, performances, and exhibits from each nation. People from all across the continent come, items are gathered, and money is collected.

A part of the profit earned from the festival goes to the Council of the Twelve Nations.

■ The festival and the Hana Awase gets broadcast in real-time using combined technologies from Mokuran and Geppaku.

■ Hana Awase 

The representatives for each country will dance a kagura performance that incorporates their nation’s techniques, music, and expressions. They compete against each other with these concepts of “beauty.”

The dancers who participate as the representatives for their nations (flowers), are hence called “Flower Dancers”. This was born under the concept of: “Kagura dancers are not people but are flowers when they dance.” As such, the dancers refer to themselves with a “flower name” for the performance.

Because the nation’s dignity is at stake, it has since been a great honor for someone to be chosen as a “Flower Dancer.”

❶ The Process of Selecting Flower Dancers

Since each nation is essentially able to decide freely, the standards and methods for choosing vary from one nation to the other.  

In general, public announcements are made and the participants are decided through domestic screening. In addition, there are nations where a certain family carries the tradition generationally, nations who determine dancers via fortune-telling, nations that choose from the vocational schools that train dancers, and so on.

❷ Requirements for Becoming a Flower Dancer

Some nations have a very detailed list of requirements, but the most common ones for the Twelve Nations are:

More than three generations of their family must have been a part of the country.

They should be physically and mentally healthy.

Once the Dancer has become the King of Flowers, it is impossible for them to be re-elected.

There are very simple rules that should be followed regardless of age or gender.

Essentially, as long as they haven’t become the King of Flowers yet, they can be participants for as many times as they want (though, they may be restricted accordingly due to their own nation’s policies).

For this reason, it is not rare to hear of people who have dedicated most of their life to the Hana Awase. 

❸ Rules Regarding the Dances for the Hana Awase

Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification.

The time allotted is 10 minutes.

Props and other such tools can be brought and used, but things larger than the dancer or things that can move sporadically (like machines, skills, any form of magic) are not allowed.

Do not look down on, attack, or criticize another dancer or another participating nation.

Costumes, choreography, music, and other such expressions that are sexual, violent, or abusive in nature, as well as any conduct that violates public order and morals are strictly not allowed. 

Each nation should have a total of 10 dancers participating.

Tsukihana Kagura

■ About Tsukihana Kagura ❶  The dances performed at the Tsukihana Festival, especially for Hana Awase, are referred to as “Tsukihana Kagura.”

❷ Although the dance is called ‘Kagura’, it is not necessarily dedicated to a “god.” Since this is a world where a wide variety of ideologies and religious views co-exist, there are various perceptions of “god”. In addition, there are also those who are non-believers. Therefore, the “Tsukihana Kagura” is not dedicated to a specific “god” but rather, a dance for personal beliefs. It is dedicated to praying for each nation’s permanent peace and well-being.

❸ In a world where “beauty” is used instead of mere “strength,” performing arts like dancing are highly regarded as a symbol of “beauty.” Courtship, farewell, joy, sorrow. There are various songs and dances for all of these instances.

Paying no mind to the sounds of this fleeting world, the King of Flowers threads the dance of Tsukihana Kagura.

T/N: (prepare yourself, this will be a ride)

Kataku (花托) means 'torus' or 'receptacle' and it's (botany) the thickened part of a stem from which the flower organs grow. Look up some flower diagrams and you'll it looks a bit like the volcano sketch.

Literally translated, tsukimi udon (月見うどん) means 'moon viewing udon'

Kudukiri (葛きり) is 'kudzu starch noodles'

Hana Awase (花あわせ) can be translated 'Flower(s) Gathering'

Kagura (神楽) is a bit more tricky. 神 means 'god' and 楽 means 'music/comfort', so basically something like 'god entertainment'. You could think of it as ancient Shinto music and dancing I suppose.

//I thought they'd be more

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Welcome to September, Porthaven! We are so excited to share with you all PHQ’s first ever Monthly Review! It came to our attention a few weeks ago that while we list each month’s events on the sidebar of the main, a great many of our members weren’t aware it was there and thus did not know about what events the month would hold until specific posts were made for them. Thus, the Monthly Review will include all of the upcoming events and tasks for the month as well as some important notes from your admins. 

We know that with school starting back up for many of us and after loosing a few members over the past month activity has taken a bit of a dip, but we want all of you to know just how much we appreciate everyone who has kept up their activity and asked for hiatuses when they needed it. For that reason, we are also including an “honorable mentions” section of the Review where we discuss which member, character, thread, and task really stood out to us. More on the details of this category can be found further down!

Important Notes

As mentioned above, we’ve been struggling a bit with activity as of late. Since many of our members, myself included, are starting up school again we’ve been trying to be very lenient with our activity rules and haven’t been reaching out to anyone about low activity. We also acknowledge that this time of the year is even more stressful due to the pandemic and don’t want anyone to feel forced to do more than they currently can. That being said, if you need a hiatus please ask for it in advance if you’re able to. Members who suddenly go off the radar without saying anything have the rest of us worried if they are okay and wondering if they are planning to leave the RP. But if you’re not on hiatus, please try to keep your activity levels up or consistent. Not doing your replies means that those involved in threads with you have nothing to reply to either. If you have any concerns please reach out, and to everyone who has been active over the past month keep up the good work!

Additionally, if anyone has any ideas about events or tasks they would like to see please don’t hesitate to reach out to an admin on Discord or the main directly. We’d love to start incorporating more events based around or caused by our in-play characters (hosted parties, fêtes, trouble making that effects the city, etc). Event if it’s not something related to your character and just an idea you had we’d still love to hear it!

Honorable Mentions

Just as a preface to this section, we want to let everyone know that just because you, your characters, or something you wrote didn’t make the list doesn’t mean we don’t still appreciate and love everything you’re doing! This is just to give a round of applause to those who really stood out to us over the past month who we believe deserve some extra recognition. Members of the month are people who have helped keep Porthaven alive with their consistent activity, brought new and interesting plots to the group, or overall just did a really great job with their characters, threads, etc. Our honorable character mention will go to a character who went through a significant amount of development, shook up the city with their presence, or just made the dash really fun to read through. A notable thread is simply just which thread that started over the past month had everyone excitedly (or anxiously) waiting to read the next reply. And finally, our favorite task has to have been for a task posted that month and has obvious dedication to the character put into it.

Member : We’ve got to give it up for Duckie. A very new addition to our group, Duckie has amazed us her record reply speed. She’s helped keep the dash moving consistently since she applied and we’re super happy she chose to join Porthaven. Not to mention she’s brought a breath of fresh air with Phoenix - our new local grump who is doing a great job of promoting interesting character interactions.

Character : We love all of our taken characters so much, so this really was a hard one. After much deliberation we chose to give this honorable mention to Anna Àrnadalr! Anna always brings tons of fun to the dash and her upbeat personality never ceased to put a smile our faces. Between crossing paths with some of our darker characters and admirably continuing to try to reconnect with her sister, Anna’s interactions never cease to be a joy to read. We can’t wait to see what is in store for her in September!

Thread : Though it’s a fairly new thread, we have to nominate An Awkward Meeting of Ice and Fire. Elsa and Phoenix’s first interaction and awkward small talk as they walked together to Three Witch’s Brew got everyone invested in these two who seemed completely unable to have a casual conversation with one another. We love watching characters who are so incredibly different, but at the same time strikingly similar, meet. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we sincerely hope this won’t be the last time Phoenix and Elsa interact.

Task : This month we had two tasks and a solid selection of candidates for this category, but we believe that Blossom’s Fashion took the cake this month. Not only was the graphic beautiful, but Marie’s written description of how Blossom dresses gave us a great look into this new character to the group. Her “pink academia” aesthetic fits the character perfectly and we all support her decision to only shop sustainably!

Upcoming Events

The Amazing Race : September 5th. Porthaven’s 5K and half marathon. The weather is perfect for a run and that’s exactly what the city is giving its residents a chance to do. Sign up for the 5K or half marathon this upcoming Saturday or stand by along the trail to cheer the runners on. Still in need of plenty of volunteers to pass out drinks, race numbers, and medals.

Movie Night in the Park : September 11th. Roll up your blankets and snacks and head out to Aspen Park for this month’s outdoor movie night. Movie selection will be revealed in event specific post.

Back to School Fundraiser : September 13th. The city’s public school system is hosting a small fundraiser carnival on the football field of Beacon High to raise money for students who can’t afford school supplies or lunches. Admission is $10 and all money spent or donated within the event will go towards helping these kids out.

Mystery Event : September 16th. Please await further details.

Harvest Festival : September 20th to the 22nd. Porthaven loves an equinox or solstice and goes all out every time one comes around. The Harvest Festival is in celebration of the Autumn Equinox and will encompass three days with the first two being dedicated to fair-like activities and events. The final day will end with an autumn-themed masquerade. 

Tasks

Life, The Musical : A seven song minimum playlist that describes various events, relationships, and stages of your character’s life! Provide a short description under each song to explain how it connects to your character. Members can chose to go as far back in their characters lives or chose events that are more recent.

Autumn Questionnaire : Simply put, a list of questions to get a look at how your character(s) spend the fall season. Members are permitted to omit any questions they struggle with or do not want to answer.

Dear Self : Everyone has a moment in their lives that they could go back and fix or have had comfort for. In this task we would like you to have your character write a letter to a themselves at a significant age in their life. They can write to their younger self, wishing they could avoid the mistakes they made. Or perhaps they write to their older self, wondering what the future has in store for them. This task can just be an hc rather than something your character actually sits down and writes.

Share the Love : With how stressful the world is right now we wanted to create a task that would spread even more positivity around the group. Send a nice message to a member (it can be anonymous) about why you love their character(s), writing, or just the member in general. Also try to reach out to members you may not have gotten to know very well yet or plot with characters you haven’t interacted with. This is less of a task and more of an opportunity to build an even greater sense of community within our group this month. 

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"Creating new opportunities while cracking down is the way to go. Nike doesn't have exact Zumba shoes, but they have a dance collection which is suitable for Zumba. Sells them for money at the pawn store and then leaves the facility," said Everett Police Det. The most outraged reaction came, perhaps predictably, from Trump himself. Whether this has anything to do with price is unclear. For me, the initial pull of the shoes was simple (simplistic?) nostalgia. The women were in the parking lot when two men with guns approached them. Officials concluded the attackers had been aiming the plane toward Washington.. They usually have the same sized image sensors as the DSLR, as well as interchangeable lenses. By the way, 1997 runner up Moya has not won a match at the Australian Open since 2003, losing five straight first round matches.. The third tip is to make it stable and fast, an app is only effective when it works quickly, it makes sense that a slow app would not be a desirable one. Travolta, and everyone else, right to the cooling celery and bleu cheese dressing. On one side, you have a golf course. He cited Tweets by the latest councillor responsible for waste collections, Cllr John O'Shea (Acocks Green, Lab.), who quoted the Labour leadership tackling inequality in 2012 which 'may mean reduction in flow of gravy to leafy Sutton Coldfield'.And in 2013 Cllr O'Shea joked if he ran the council as saying 'I'll put Sutton Coldfield up for sale for starters'.Cllr Mackey believes the town has been starved of Birmingham City Council services and said: "Sutton Coldfield wards having some of the worst refuse collection rates will come as no surprise to the long suffering residents of the town who have been left scratching their heads as to how the refuse collection service could have deteriorated since the strike has come to an end."A glance at the twitter account of Cllr John O'Shea who became the latest cabinet member to take responsibility for the collection of our refuse and the cutting of verges may give some indication as to why Sutton Coldfield has suddenly seen such a deterioration in service from his portfolio."In two separate tweets Cllr O'Shea can be seen describing the receipt of council services by Sutton Coldfield as a flow of gravy and having them cut off as a way of somehow tackling equality and in another describes how if he was leader one of his first acts would be to put Sutton Coldfield up for sale.Missed bin collections cause hazard near Sutton Coldfield primary school"I appreciate these tweets were a few years ago, before Cllr O'Shea rose up the Labour ranks but behind the thinly veiled attempt at humour there is an abhorrence for Royal Sutton Coldfield and its residents that is pervasive throughout out the Labour Group."Sutton Coldfield residents pay their council tax and we are entitled to the full list of services Birmingham City Council has to offer."Here we have a cabinet member who clearly believes that council services should be focused on wards held by himself and his Labour colleagues as born out in the latest council figures."This explains an awful lot and while this just confirms what we have suspected all along it is totally wrong and if he had any fake yeezys for kids decency he should come to Sutton Coldfield apologise to its residents and see the sorry state of affairs for himself."Read MoreRubbish and flytippingCllr John O'Shea, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Parks, said: "I've made it clear since taking on this portfolio that the level of service across the city isn't where it should be if we are to deliver on the top priority for citizens clean streets."Individual depots do have specific issues that need to be worked out.

Marie Curie and her X-ray vehicles' contribution to World War I battlefield medicine

by Timothy J. Jorgensen

Marie Curie in one of her mobile X-ray units in October 1917. Eve Curie

Ask people to name the most famous historical woman of science and their answer will likely be: Madame Marie Curie. Push further and ask what she did, and they might say it was something related to radioactivity. (She actually discovered the radioisotopes radium and polonium.) Some might also know that she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. (She actually won two.)

But few will know she was also a major hero of World War I. In fact, a visitor to her Paris laboratory 100 years ago would not have found either her or her radium on the premises. Her radium was in hiding and she was at war.

For Curie, the war started in early 1914, as German troops headed toward her hometown of Paris. She knew her scientific research needed to be put on hold. So she gathered her entire stock of radium, put it in a lead-lined container, transported it by train to Bordeaux – 375 miles away from Paris – and left it in a safety deposit box at a local bank. She then returned to Paris, confident that she would reclaim her radium after France had won the war.

With the subject of her life’s work hidden far away, she now needed something else to do. Rather than flee the turmoil, she decided to join in the fight. But just how could a middle-aged woman do that? She decided to redirect her scientific skills toward the war effort; not to make weapons, but to save lives.

X-rays enlisted in the war effort

X-ray of a bullet in the heart. U.S. Army

X-rays, a type of electromagnetic radiation, had been discovered in 1895 by Curie’s fellow Nobel laureate, Wilhelm Roentgen. As I describe in my book “Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation,” almost immediately after their discovery, physicians began using X-rays to image patients’ bones and find foreign objects – like bullets.

But at the start of the war, X-ray machines were still found only in city hospitals, far from the battlefields where wounded troops were being treated. Curie’s solution was to invent the first “radiological car” – a vehicle containing an X-ray machine and photographic darkroom equipment – which could be driven right up to the battlefield where army surgeons could use X-rays to guide their surgeries.

One major obstacle was the need for electrical power to produce the X-rays. Curie solved that problem by incorporating a dynamo – a type of electrical generator – into the car’s design. The petroleum-powered car engine could thus provide the required electricity.

One of Curie’s mobile units used by the French Army. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie

Frustrated by delays in getting funding from the French military, Curie approached the Union of Women of France. This philanthropic organization gave her the money needed to produce the first car, which ended up playing an important role in treating the wounded at the Battle of Marne in 1914 – a major Allied victory that kept the Germans from entering Paris.

More radiological cars were needed. So Curie exploited her scientific clout to ask wealthy Parisian women to donate vehicles. Soon she had 20, which she outfitted with X-ray equipment. But the cars were useless without trained X-ray operators, so Curie started to train women volunteers. She recruited 20 women for the first training course, which she taught along with her daughter Irene, a future Nobel Prize winner herself.

The curriculum included theoretical instruction about the physics of electricity and X-rays as well as practical lessons in anatomy and photographic processing. When that group had finished its training, it left for the front, and Curie then trained more women. In the end, a total of 150 women received X-ray training from Curie.

Not content just to send out her trainees to the battlefront, Curie herself had her own “little Curie” – as the radiological cars were nicknamed – that she took to the front. This required her to learn to drive, change flat tires and even master some rudimentary auto mechanics, like cleaning carburetors. And she also had to deal with car accidents. When her driver careened into a ditch and overturned the vehicle, they righted the car, fixed the damaged equipment as best they could and got back to work.

In addition to the mobile little Curies that traveled around the battlefront, Curie also oversaw the construction of 200 radiological rooms at various fixed field hospitals behind the battle lines.

Medics at a French WWI field hospital locating a bullet with X-ray machine. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

X-rays’ long shadow for Marie Curie

Although few, if any, of the women X-ray workers were injured as a consequence of combat, they were not without their casualties. Many suffered burns from overexposure to X-rays. Curie knew that such high exposures posed future health risks, such as cancer in later life. But there had been no time to perfect X-ray safety practices for the field, so many X-ray workers were overexposed. She worried much about this, and later wrote a book about X-ray safety drawn from her war experiences.

Curie survived the war but was concerned that her intense X-ray work would ultimately cause her demise. Years later, she did contract aplastic anemia, a blood disorder sometimes produced by high radiation exposure.

Many assumed that her illness was the result of her decades of radium work – it’s well-established that internalized radium is lethal. But Curie was dismissive of that idea. She had always protected herself from ingesting any radium. Rather, she attributed her illness to the high X-ray exposures she had received during the war. (We will likely never know whether the wartime X-rays contributed to her death in 1934, but a sampling of her remains in 1995 showed her body was indeed free of radium.)

Marie Curie and her daughter Irène in the laboratory after WWI. © Association Curie Joliot-Curie

As science’s first woman celebrity, Marie Curie can hardly be called an unsung hero. But the common depiction of her as a one-dimensional person, slaving away in her laboratory with the single-minded purpose of advancing science for science’s sake, is far from the truth.

Marie Curie was a multidimensional person, who worked doggedly as both a scientist and a humanitarian. She was a strong patriot of her adopted homeland, having immigrated to France from Poland. And she leveraged her scientific fame for the benefit of her country’s war effort – using the winnings from her second Nobel Prize to buy war bonds and even trying to melt down her Nobel medals to convert them to cash to buy more.

She didn’t allow her gender to hamper her in a male-dominated world. Instead, she mobilized a small army of women in an effort to reduce human suffering and win World War I. Through her efforts, it is estimated that the total number of wounded soldiers receiving X-ray exams during the war exceeded one million.

About The Author:

Timothy J. Jorgensen is Director of the Health Physics and Radiation Protection Graduate Program and Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at Georgetown University

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Trip 2. Day 4 started off with transporting 2 families from one hotel another. Someone who is rather generous or just has the right connections is putting them up in a country club just 5 mins from their previously very basic surroundings. The person who met us also donated a few hundred Zlotys of food vouchers to help us feed the Ukrainians. Although they will be fed at the country club this only started in the evening so I offered to take them for lunch. Being a bit remote the only option was a very well known fast food chain that I was last in about 10 years ago. It was fast but not all that cheap, especially by Polish standards, anyway it did the job and everyone seemed happy enough.

Our Warsaw coordinator has fallen ill so it is now mostly myself and Nick setting up things in Warsaw and dealing various jobs that turn up.

After lunch I took Visal and Inne and their kids back to the visa office for another round of the UK visa lottery. I also brought along another family who needed biometrics for a 6 month year old baby. The rest of the baby's family has had visas for a while and they have been dealing with lots mixed messages about the baby. First it didn't need biometrics, then it did, then it didn't etc, etc. Why a 6 month old baby needs biometrics taking in an emergency situation I will never know. They at least finished within an hour and I took them back to the hotel.

Hours later Visal and Inne were finished. Earlier I had learned that Inne's sons visa was there but his date of birth was incorrect so the visa was voided. Really so defeating to have mistakes like that cause such problems, we have no idea how long it will take to resolve, maybe another week or even longer. More expense and time for us to look after them when they could have been flying to the UK today.

Sadly even worse was Visal's day. He has been waiting 6 weeks for his family's visas and only one boy has be left to get his, for around a week. Visal checks every day, waiting 2-3 hours in the visa office with his kids. I went to pick them up and he was very emotional to finally have the final visa in his hands. But we had to break the bad news that a single letter in the boys surname was wrong, thus voiding the visa. Maybe we could have tried sending him through customs, but it probably would have been even more stressful to get that far and be turned away. So like Inne he again has an unknown wait infront of him.

I spoke to an English man at the visa office who was advising Visal. He tells me the visas are typed out by hand before being printed, and apparently nothing is crosschecked, so this explains the large proportion of issues we are witnessing. It's one thing having an unnecessarily convoluted entry system, adding into that human error that is then rigidly enforced just leads to total misery for the refugees and creates a huge backlog that prevents us taking on anymore people. It is really beyond words how bad it is.

After dropping the families back to their hotel we went back to our hotel and bumped into Mike who was dropping off some people.  They were going to be leaving Poland the next day. One of them was a lady I had helped secure pet passports for some weeks ago, it was nice to see her again especially with the end of the halfway house situation in sight.

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Ontario ‘pulling the emergency brake’ with third COVID-19 lockdown as cases rise (Reuters) The Canadian province of Ontario will enter a limited lockdown for 28 days on Saturday, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise and more dangerous virus variants take hold, the premier said on Thursday. The lockdown for Canada’s most populous province will fall short of enacting a stay-at-home order. Ontario’s third lockdown since the pandemic began will shutter all indoor and outdoor dining, although retailers will remain open with capacity limits. Schools would remain open, Ontario’s education minister said on Twitter.

Starving for more chips in a tech-hungry world (AP) As the U.S. economy rebounds from its pandemic slump, a vital cog is in short supply: the computer chips that power a wide range of products that connect, transport and entertain us in a world increasingly dependent on technology. The shortage has already been rippling through various markets since last summer. It has made it difficult for schools to buy enough laptops for students forced to learn from home, delayed the release of popular products such as the iPhone 12 and created mad scrambles to find the latest video game consoles. But things have been getting even worse in recent weeks, particularly in the auto industry, where factories are shutting down because there aren’t enough chips to finish building vehicles that are starting to look like computers on wheels. The problem was recently compounded by a grounded container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, choking off chips headed from Asia to Europe. It threatens to leave a big dent in the auto industry, which by some estimates stands to lose $60 billion in sales during the first half of his year. “We have been hit by the perfect storm, and it’s not going away any time soon,” said Baird technology analyst Ted Mortonson.

The U.S. system created the world’s most advanced military. Can it maintain an edge? (Washington Post) As they conduct bombing and surveillance missions around the globe, today’s U.S. military pilots rely on aerial refueling aircraft built as early as 1957, when the Soviet Union dominated American security fears, the average home cost $12,000 and “I Love Lucy” was debuting new episodes. The cost of keeping those aging jets in the air has grown sharply while the military awaits a next-generation refueling plane whose rollout has been repeatedly delayed by design and production issues. The Air Force’s two-decade effort to field a 21st century tanker, one of several premier air systems whose development has been beset with problems, is emblematic of the challenges Pentagon leaders face in seeking to maintain the U.S. military’s shrinking edge over its chief competitor, China. The United States, once the world’s undisputed military superpower, has been struggling for years to efficiently update its arsenal and field new technology in cutting-edge areas such as hypersonics and artificial intelligence, at a time when some senior officials warn that China could be within five years of surpassing the U.S. military. “It’s like the Pentagon is finding itself staring in the rearview mirror in the face of oncoming traffic,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute.

The reason many Guatemalans are coming to the border? A profound hunger crisis. (Washington Post) The team of nutritionists looked at 11-month-old Dilcia Cajbon, her ribs visible through her skin, and they knew immediately. “Severe acute malnutrition,” said Stefany Martinez, the leader of the UNICEF team, as the child was lifted onto a scale. Like many in this rural stretch of Guatemala, Dilcia’s family was down to one meal a day. Storms had flooded the nearby palm plantation, the biggest source of local employment. As more and more Central American families arrive at the United States’ southern border, the municipality of Panzós offers a stark illustration of the deepening food crisis that is contributing to the new wave of migration. So far this year, more unaccompanied minors processed by immigration agents are from Guatemala than any other country. Analysts and U.S. officials refer obliquely to “poverty” as an underlying cause of that influx. But often the reason is far more specific: hunger. Guatemala now has the sixth-highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world. The number of acute cases in children, according to one new Guatemalan government study, doubled between 2019 and 2020. The crisis was caused in part by failed harvests linked to climate change, a string of natural disasters and a nearly nonexistent official response.

Venezuelan military offensive sends thousands fleeing (AP) ARAUQUITA, Colombia—A new campaign by the Venezuelan military near the country’s lawless western border is sparking a surge of refugees, with thousands defying the spiking pandemic to pack into makeshift shelters and tent settlements in this Colombian town. The sudden outflow is amplifying a renewed wave of Venezuelan refugees and migrants—the world’s second-largest group of internationally displaced people—from the broken socialist state. Concern is also rising about mounting tensions between the left-wing Venezuelan and right-wing Colombian governments, which are blaming each other for the uptick in violence in Venezuela’s western Apure state. The Venezuelan military launched a campaign two weeks ago against a rogue faction of Colombian guerrillas in this jungle region along the Arauca River. The guerrillas, known as the 10th Front, appear to have run afoul of the government in Caracas, which allegedly has had long-standing profit-sharing and protection deals with other leftist fighters in the area engaged in narco-trafficking and extortion. The Venezuelan government “doesn’t seem to be defending its sovereignty, but protecting its drug-trafficking business,” Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano told Colombian National Radio last week.

Food bank, charities busy in Algarve as pandemic ravages Portugal tourism (Reuters) Carla Lacerda used to earn a good salary selling duty-free goods to holidaymakers arriving at Algarve airport in southern Portugal, but she lost her job last August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quickly ran out of cash to feed her two kids. The 40-year-old now receives around 500 euros ($587) per month in unemployment benefits, leaving her no option but to join the queue for food donations. Lacerda is one of thousands of people whose lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic, which has ravaged tourism across the sun-drenched Algarve region and left its popular beaches and golf resorts largely deserted. Algarve’s food bank, which has two warehouses in the region, is now helping 29,000 people, almost double the number before the pandemic.

Italy may be in Easter lockdown, but the party’s on at sea (AP) Italy may be in a strict coronavirus lockdown this Easter with travel restricted between regions and new quarantines imposed. But a few miles offshore, guests aboard the MSC Grandiosa cruise ship are shimmying to Latin music on deck and sipping cocktails by the pool. After cruise ships were early sources of highly publicized coronavirus outbreaks, the Grandiosa has tried to chart a course through the pandemic with strict anti-virus protocols approved by Italian authorities that seek to create a “health bubble” on board. Passengers and crew are tested before and during cruises. Mask mandates, temperature checks, contact-tracing wristbands and frequent cleaning of the ship are all designed to prevent outbreaks. Passengers from outside Italy must arrive with negative COVID-19 tests taken within 48 hours of their departures and only residents of Europe’s Schengen countries plus Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria are permitted to book under COVID-19 insurance policies. Passengers welcomed the semblance of normalcy brought on by the freedom to eat in a restaurant or sit poolside without a mask, even if the virus is still a present concern.

Pakistan, India peace move silences deadly Kashmir frontier (AP) The machine guns peeking over parapets of small, sandbagged concrete bunkers and the heavy artillery cannons dug deep into Himalayan Kashmir’s rugged terrain have fallen silent. At least for now. The Line of Control, a highly militarized de facto border that divides the disputed region between the two nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and a site of hundreds of deaths, is unusually quiet after the two South Asian neighbors last month agreed to reaffirm their 2003 cease-fire accord. The cease-fire, experts say, could stabilize the lingering conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Kashmiris say the rare move should lead to resolution of the dispute.

Myanmar’s military shuts down Internet (Washington Post) Myanmar’s military government ordered broadband Internet shutdowns Thursday amid ongoing violent suppression of opposition to its ouster of the country’s democratically elected government. The escalation came as the country marked two months since the army’s toppling of the civilian-led government, which has faced widespread public resistance despite the military’s lethal response: More than 500 civilian protesters have been killed and more than 2,000 arrested since Feb. 1, according to local activists. The United Nations’ special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, on Wednesday warned that “a bloodbath is imminent” if the international community did not act to quell the violence. Last Saturday marked the bloodiest day since the coup, with troops reportedly killing over 140 protesters in more than 40 locations across the country.

Train derails in eastern Taiwan, killing 48, injuring dozens (AP) A train partially derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday after being hit by a parked truck that had rolled down a hill onto the track, killing 48 people. With the train still partly in a tunnel, survivors climbed out of windows and walked along the train’s roof to reach safety after the country’s deadliest railway disaster. The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area on the first day of a long holiday weekend when many people were hopping trains on Taiwan’s extensive rail system. The train had been carrying more than 400 people.

Egypt expects $1 billion in damages over stuck ship in Suez (AP) Egypt is expecting more than $1 billion in compensation after a cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, according to the top canal official. Lt. Gen. Ossama Rabei, head of the canal authority, said that the amount takes into account the salvage operation, costs of stalled traffic, and lost transit fees for the week that the Ever Given had blocked the Suez Canal. “It’s the country’s right,” Rabei said, without specifying who would be responsible for paying the compensation. The massive cargo ship is currently in one of the canal’s holding lakes, where authorities and the ship’s managers say an investigation is ongoing. Rabei said that if an investigation went smoothly and the compensation amount was agreed on, then the ship could travel on without problems. However, if the issue of compensation involved litigation, then the Ever Given and its some $3.5 billion worth of cargo would not be allowed to leave Egypt.

Cellular turnover (Scientific American) A new study published in Nature Medicine takes another shot at the rate of cellular turnover in the human body. Basically, your individual component cells have shorter lifespans than you do as a larger organism. Fat cells last an average of 12 years, a muscle cell lasts 50, blood cells live anywhere from three to 120 days, and the cells lining your gut make it less than a week. On any given day, an estimated 330 billion cells are replaced, so about 1 percent every day. Over the course of 80 to 100 days, about 30 trillion cells will turn over, equivalent to about one “you.”

Hi everyone!

 As some of my followers may know, I just recently started college. While I’ve been here, I have had a bit of a hard time making the adjustment, and to remedy that I have joined some clubs to make connections with other people like me. One of the clubs I have joined while being here is Colleges Against Cancer. This is a club very close to my heart and is the reason that I am participating in my first Relay for Life this Spring.

 I figured that I have made so many wonderful relationships on here, I would try reaching out to any of you who could help in any way. If for nothing else, then to motivate you to participate yourselves. I know that this disease touches all of our lives, and if we work together, I truly believe we can make a difference. If you can share this to share my story, and to motivate others, I would be forever grateful.

 I am so looking forward to this experience come March. Thank you for making this a place where I feel like I can put this out there, and expose one of my most vulnerable sides. I love you all endlessly for the support you already show me on a daily basis.

please donate here if you can

If you want to register as a bone marrow donor (!!!!) you can have Gift of Life send you a free kit here

My Uncle Fran, or Unclee as I called him, was an incredible man and like my second father. He was the first one to visit me when I was born, and the kind of person who I aspire to be: strong, charismatic, and adventurous. Unfortunately, as some know, he passed away nearly three years ago due to side effects from his Graft v. Host disease. This is a disease that I did a lot of research on last year, for my senior project. My uncle had cancer four times, one of the last times being lymphoma that required a stem cell transplant. Due to a lack of research, he received a stem cell transplant from a donor who was not ideal, and gave him Graft v. Host disease. This disease caused his own immune system to attack his new cells. It destroyed his ability to fight off illness and sent him to the hospital for the majority of his last three or four years of life. His impact will never be lost, as he has transformed the field due to the critical research professionals have been able to conduct stemming from his case. 

My “little brother” Tyler, was diagnosed with Leukemia as a child. He is my brother’s best friend, and one of my favorite human beings. I feel so fortunate that he had access to medical facilities in Boston to receive treatment, so that he can bother me to this day.

My grandfather has been battling cancer for the past two years, at varying stages and in various areas of his body. He is one of the strongest men I know, and it crushed both him and I that his chemo kept him from seeing me graduate high school, a moment he had wanted to see for as long as I have been alive.

To make a long story short, I am participating in my first relay for life. Cancer has touched many more people in my life than this, including a bout that my father faced with Melanoma, my favorite teacher’s multiple diagnoses, and the bouts that my grandparents faced with cancer in their last few years. It is a terrible disease that has truly touched too many lives.

Park Row General Hospital. Part 2.

Part 1/ Part 2/ Ao3

Myra gets her first odd request from one of her Children’s Wish kids and plans how the hell she is going to ask a rouge to come and see a sick kid when she has no money to bribe them into doing so.

The thing about being the director of the hospital was that Myra never really got a proper break.

She starts early, does a couple of basic check ins with her staff, checks the staff room to see if they needed any coffee or not and then she pretty much spends most of the day doing paper work or signing off other people’s paper work.

It was past five pm in the evening when she finally finished both her paper work and duty work. She slumped back into her chair and munched happily on her very crappy sandwich from the small corner store across the street. She would have packed her own lunch/dinner but she was once again short on food money.

While normally a director of a hospital would get plenty of money to feed themselves each week, but Myra gave most of her pay back to the hospital. She only took enough home each month to pay her bills, pay off her student loans, and feed herself. Everything else went into either fixing the hospital or into the Children’s Wish program.

The hospital was not funded enough by the government for her to be able to pocket her whole pay without feeling like crap afterwards.

Still, she wouldn’t change anything for the world.

Flicking through the Children’s Wish requests, Myra wondered whether or not she could possibly con one of the Bat Brats into coming down for a couple hours. There were always requests to meet different heroes but Myra never had the time nor money to actually send out an invitation to them. Plus, the one time she did manage to actually get a big named hero, who just so happened to be Superman, to come down, the Man of Steel ended up destroying three rooms and left twenty people injured because one of Superman’s rouges decided to follow him and attack.

Thank god for Bruce Wayne’s endless pockets and good will. Wayne had sent money down to the hospital and had paid for all the repairs that were needed. The hospital would not be standing without the Wayne’s yearly donations too, that was for sure.

Maybe she could get Nightwing in again. The kids love him. He was always kind and smiling. He would be a good person for the kids to hang around with for a few hours.

Myra jotted down a note to remind herself to ask Hood to possibly pass on the request for her. He was normally willing to be a go between the Bat family and her, seeing as none of the Bats had any phone numbers she could just call.

She continued to look at the various requests, noting that there were at least three different Darth Vader requests and one for General Leia, when she had to stop and pause at what she was seeing.

“My biggest Wish is to meet Catwoman. She is strong and nice and no one tells her what to do and I really want to meet her. And I like cats too.”

Myra looked at the name of the child who wishes to meet the rouge and felt her heart sink a little. Cindy Geara. Six years old. Amputated leg from gangrene caused by an infected cut. Cindy was homeless and had been found and brought in by Hood several weeks back. Myra had been keeping child services away with a large stick since the moment she came in.

Myra could only keep her in the hospital for another week at the most. After that CPS was going to be taking her to a distant relatives’ house. Myra was not sure about the whole situation but she has spoken to the relative and thought that at the very least, Cindy would have a home.

But anyone from Crime Alley could tell you that sometimes a home is not the safest place to be.

Still, Cindy would be gone in a weeks’ time. And Myra had promised the young girl that she would try and make her wish possibly, if it was in her power.

And talking to a Cat about possibly coming and seeing a kid is technically in her power.

Myra let out a low sigh and shook her head. She put down what remained of her sandwich and pulled out her phone. She needed to make a call.

“Two calls in two days. Wow you must be having a slow week, Doc.” Hood’s tired voice came through the tiny speakers of her phone.

“A busy week actually.” She allowed herself to smile. “Sorry for waking you, Hood. But I need a favour.”

There was a pause and she could hear sheets rustling. “Sure. What’s up?” Hood yawned. Myra could hear the young man’s jaw crack as he did so.

“I need to know where I would find a Cat.”

“A Cat? Why do you need to find her?” There as more rustling as Hood moved about.

“Do you remember the little girl you brought in a while ago? The one who’s leg had to be removed?” Myra asked instead of answering.

“Yes…. Why?” There was suspicion in his voice and she could almost see him narrowing his eyes and scrunching up his nose.

“Her wish is to meet Catwoman. And I promised that if it was in my power I would make her wish possible.” Myra held her breath and waited for his answer.

There was silence for a whole minute before Hood began to snicker. Loudly.

“Oh, shut up!” She moaned. “Just send me an address so I can go and make a fool out of myself asking a rouge to go and see a sick kid.”

Hood’s snickering died down but there was still humour in his voice. “You know, if you tell her it is for a sick kid at your hospital, she is more likely to say yes. Cat has a soft spot for kiddies. I will send you the address. Good luck and let me know how it goes.”

Myra let out a small breath through her nose in relief. “Thanks Hood, I owe you one.”

“Excellent. I love having favours own to me.” She rolled her eyes at that.

“Before I let you go back to your beauty sleep, if you happen to run into Nightwing at all in the next few days, would you see if he is willing to come in again for the kids?” She asked, not wanting to forget.

Hood let out an annoyed sound. “Fine. But you make sure it isn’t on the day I’m there. There is only so much of him I can stand.”

Myra smiled. “Understood. Thank you, Hood.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll send you the address. Don’t do anything stupid.” The young man grumbled.

“Yes, mother dear.” She hung up the phone and shook her head. Vigilantes were the strangest. At least now she will be able to hopefully visit Catwoman and see if she was willing or not to come down.

She picked up the rest of her lunch/dinner and wondered how she could entice the rogue into coming in. While she did think that Catwoman would come down out of the goodness of her heart, Myra was well aware that reputation was something that needed to be maintained. Seeing a sick child without being paid or without getting something out of it could led to others seeing the rogue as getting soft and weak.

And Myra did not want that to happen.

Frowning to herself, Myra wondered what she could do to ‘pay off’ the rogue. Money was out of the question. Myra had barely enough money to feed herself, let alone bribe the very expensive rogue. She couldn’t offer any medical supplies, seeing as they were low on stock this month after several gang wars started and ended in the last couple of weeks.

She could offer her services as a doctor. No questions asked and no payment needed doctor. That could work.

Myra sighed and bit down on the sandwich, grimacing at the taste. She could only try and hope that the Cat was feeling friendly tonight. Her phone buzzed with the notification of a text. She glanced down and saw it was from Hood.

‘She will be here at midnight. She will be expecting you. – RH’

The text had the address to a building just outside of Crime Alley. It was a secure building where no one asked any questions and the police never bothered anyone in there because they had a small amount of money to bribe them away.

Midnight. Her shift finished at ten. That would give her enough time to go home, shower and dress nicely. It would not do her any good if she does not make a half decent impression with the other woman.

Myra looked at the clock one the wall and closed her eyes. She was going to have another late night by the looks of it.

The Midwife: Part One

Status: Complete (1 of 4) Word Count: 3K Category: Mini-series; Behind-the-scenes canon compliant; Historical; Mystery; Teamwork; On-the-hunt   Rating: Teen & Up Character(s): Various O.C.s; References to familiar people/places Pairing(s): N/A  Warnings: None Overall Summary: In the mid-1950s, a member of the New York City chapter of the Men of Letters is sent to the United Kingdom to assist with what appears to be another stack of cold case dead-ends, when he suddenly finds himself questioning one of his closest-held convictions. 

          *~* The Midwife : Master Post *~*

There was once a small pocket of unmoved time in Kansas, about half a century's worth, and it came to an end simply, no magic required. A turn of a key in a lock, two sets of steps across a threshold, then it was over, just like that. Simple maneuvers were in contrast with the Men of Letters' old hat routine but the new occupants of their abandoned shelter under Lebanon favored such actions when they had the option.

These legacies were not alone in that position, though they may have found the premise hard to swallow as the years went by, as their knowledge grew. Their encounters with a few of the more interesting members of their inherited fraternity would have done little to convince them otherwise. Seeing is believing, and what-have-you.    

Proof. Tangibility. Something solid, something that could be held in the hand, studied, documented. Rumor meets research meets methodology. Hunter meets weapon meets monster. So, in that respect, more Men of Letters than not.

No one would have faulted the Winchester brothers for missing the typewriter at the very back of the lowest, farthest space, under the rotting table, inside the water-damaged and disintegrating box, completely covered by shadows and cobwebs in that brick-walled cellar of a storage room.

Perhaps some fault - they had lived there for years by the time the typewriter's keys began to move for the first time in decades - maybe that room should have long been discovered, its items sorted. The youngest would have found the books of value, slightly molded as they were. The eldest most assuredly would have found the vintage weaponry of interest, if not use.  

Should they ever go hunting in their home, and should that hunt take them to the dark corner, and the box, and the rusted device, a yellowed paper wrapped on the roll, filled with words in faded ink would await them, though they'd need to be timely: things of such nature do eventually tend to fall to pieces.

Kendricks Academy, just outside London - 1956

.

I've heard it said that if you question your own sanity, then the thought in-and-of itself means you're not. Insane, that is. I found that reasonable, though I suspected many a lunatic had to have felt it creeping on, so reason, yes; comfort, no.

Burt flicked a tiny paper ball across the huge library table to get my attention, and I tilted my head slightly in his direction, met mischievous eyes with my own, ones I suspected were dull and glazed-over and a step shy of insanity. A small snicker was my confirmation, and it was quickly shifted into a mild throat-clearing when our monotone host glanced over his shoulder in our direction. Undeterred, the long, thin stick in his hand went back to pointing - poking, really - at the projected data on the wall, the droning getting right back on track.

This was how I'd die.

He was such a promising young man, they'd write. Twenty-four, taken long before his time, found still sitting up in the chair, his beloved research scattered around him. He is survived by an incredibly angry fiancée, bereft over the meticulously-yet-indecisively-planned wedding that shall never occur. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Men of Letters, United Kingdom Headquarters, London. Please earmark as funding for booze-filled credenzas in all meeting rooms.

It wasn't just the London chapter - my home chapter in New York City was filled with fellows who could bore with the best of them, and though I loved my job, this assignment was working my nerves. I'd thought my breaks in the cold cases department - especially the last one - would send me into the more active areas of our duties. Active without action, for the most part, but I would've happily taken it.

Instead they’d sent the Lily Sunder investigation on without me, then sent me across the pond, a stack of ice-colds awaiting me in the United Kingdom. And, of course, the not-so-brief briefings delivered in succession by brethren who grew increasingly brain-numbing. Thank heavens for Burt.

Per usual, he seemed to take everything in stride, easygoing to a fault. He was only around five years my senior, though his somewhat girthy physique and heavily balding scalp made him look older. And while he supported me in my desire to see what else our secret society had to offer, he seemed perfectly content languishing with the cold cases.

Even the fact that we'd been boarded at the school didn't seem to faze him, thin mattresses and bland food be damned. His pockets were always filled with candy, a bit grandfatherly, but I found myself grateful. I'd taken to munching whenever he did, and after almost three weeks, my waistband had started to protest - made sense why Burt was perpetually suspendered. Still, I took the offered piece of wax-wrapped taffy as we walked back to the dormitory.

"No more bubblegum?" I asked, pulling the sticky wad in two before I stuck it in my mouth.

"Nah," Burt replied, talking around an entire piece of taffy settled into his cheek, where it was causing a giant bulge. "Got in my mustache the other day."

"Stop blowing bubbles."

"Then what's the point, Jacky?"

"Got me."

"Say, you heard anything from home?"

"Colleen changed her bouquet again."

"I meant Lily."

"No, lilies were three bouquets ago."

"The Sunder case, you moron."

"Ah. No. Last time I asked, Peterson said it was now 'eyes only'." I capped off my response with rolled eyes, then went ahead and stuffed the other half of the taffy in my mouth. Burt knew better. I hated talking about it.

"Still makes me mad," he replied in a sympathetic tone.

"Nothing makes you mad."

"Well, that did! Jack, you're the one that found the lead, confirmed the Canada sighting---"

I sighed. "Burt---"

"And for pity's sake, the Nephi---"

I hocked my taffy into a nearby bush before I stopped in my tracks, turned, gripped his forearm. "Burt!" I hissed, glancing up and down the walkway. 

Smatterings of students were still lingering and walking about, most headed into the common areas or their next class. And though we were outside, I still couldn't believe he was speaking so loudly, so casually. Saying that word aloud at all.

Burt's brow creased slightly and those always-rosy cheeks pinked up a notch, but then he swallowed his taffy and grinned. "Wanna skip that lukewarm, eighty-percent-dough-shepherd's pie in the canteen, head to a pub? I know one that serves actual hot meals, overfill the pints...." He trailed off in a slightly sing-song voice, wiggled his eyebrows so much they almost hit the rim of his cap.

I sighed again, then shrugged my shoulders. "Why not?"

It wasn't simply that they'd taken what I'd come to consider my case away from me. It was the nagging feeling I had that despite the fact Sunder had caused no harm to civilians to our knowledge - well, excepting herself - the Men of Letters' continued interest in her was more than just loose-end tying. No reason but the pangs in my gut to think it was some kind of vendetta. Then they'd allowed more and more access to the files once my early, modest hypothesis showed promise, and I'd stumbled upon quite the reason during a fact-finding mission to the chapter house in Kansas.

House. Ha. Basement, more accurately, and the cold case guru there, Haggerty, was so excited to have company he would've let us redecorate the place in pastels if we'd asked nicely enough. Anything to keep me and Burt there longer, keep him occupied.

He was one of the more enthusiastic members, reminded me a lot of my father, truth be told. More into the metaphysical than I was, sure, but with a logical mindset. I understood why I'd been ordered to consult with him, given the nature of Sunder's appearance in the grainy photograph we'd obtained. The professor hadn't aged a day since the time she'd disappeared from what was left of her life, and our working theory was witchcraft.

Witchcraft didn't just mean magic in my business; it was one of several sub-classifications under the magical umbrella. And if you wanted the skinny on the workings of witches, you called on Haggerty. Even though he'd retired not long after we'd met, he never hesitated to get back in touch with any thoughts he had on the ideas I'd written to him about, the more far-fetched ones  I'd want to bounce off of someone before writing them up for field work consideration. Besides Burt, he was the most open-minded member of our little club. At least, that I'd ever encountered.

Which was why I was glad it was just Haggerty in the room with me when I'd had to sit down due to my shock, right there on the concrete floor, deep in the bowels of that small-town basement, just to the front of the rickety file cabinet I'd been plundering.

"You okay, kid? What's that you got there?" he'd asked.

In reply, I'd simply held out the folder to him when he'd come over and stooped down beside me.

He'd let out a low whistle, went from a stoop to taking a knee as he flipped through the papers. "This must've come from your neck of the woods, you know," he'd said cautiously. "Not sure I know how an old northeast recruitment file would've ended up here."

I knew.

They'd chalk it up to a mistake if I'd asked, a clerical error fifty-some-odd years gone, that the documentation should've gone to storage with anything else not germane to the ongoing nature of our work. Besides, they would say, it doesn't matter to the case, didn’t change the goal. Lily Sunder needed to answer for her meddling in otherworldly affairs, she needed to be monitored, needed to be questioned on her intentions.

But the truth was obvious - to me, to Burt, to Haggerty - that the real reason the file had been sent away from the New York house all those years ago was because they were embarrassed.

Sunder had refused no less than fourteen separate invitations to join the Men of Letters before the turn of the century. They'd been after her research talents since she was barely into adulthood, based on her early work in apocalyptic studies. They got more aggressive once her teaching career took off, and - judging by the verbiage in the copies of the letters they'd sent and the documentation of multiple recruitment trips to Maine - they were practically salivating over the thought of having a bonafide angel expert in their ranks.

"I still think it's why the Moles sent us here," Burt was saying, using our pet name for the ancient, die-instead-of-retire administrators in the Men of Letters.

He took large swig of beer to wash down the meat-and-two veg he'd just polished off. The rationing from the war had ended in the not-so-distant past, and it seemed all the cooks in the land - excepting the ones back at Kendricks, that is - were excited to get to do things up right again. Not that I had much of an appetite, but if we'd had to be banished, it had come at an ideal time, at least in that respect.

"We weren't banished."

Oh. I must've said that part aloud.

"Eat your food."

Burt was channeling his mother then - I knew because of the full British accent on all three words. His father was an American Mole, while his mother was the daughter of a very well-respected professor at Kendricks, not to mention all the uncles and cousins on both sides. Their family visited London for several months each year, so between that and hearing his mother every day, he was good for the occasional drift from American English, though he’d let loose around me from the jump.

There was some beef that kicked up off-and-on between the American and British leadership, and I never got invested, but a few of the older members in New York would dole out side-eyes and huffs at Burt's sporadic "pints" at "pubs", "mash" and "chips". It was more than the accent thing, though.

He kept close to the vest in general. I think because they weren’t shy about their resentment - some odd contempt for him for not being more of a go-getter, double legacy and all. Though about all that pedigree garbage, Burt couldn't have cared less. 

They didn’t know how hard he worked behind the scenes, how much Burt cared about our mission. Not how I knew. And I also knew how much he cared for me.

So I obeyed, eating a few bites of some of the best fish I'd probably ever had, and he went on.

"I'm telling you, them pulling us out here right after Sunder? It's not a coincidence. Tell me you're not thinking the same thing."

I set down my fork, wiped my mouth, then looked at him as seriously as I could manage. "If I think too much about it, I'm going to get mad. Besides, she's not out here, and they know it. She may've been, but it's not as if there's any way to determine it - she's been running since Zeppelins were all the rage. I don't know what it is, but it's not Sunder."

Burt pulled his small, leather-bound notebook from his inside pocket and untied the strings, ready to make his case. I started stuffing carrots I didn't want into my mouth so I wouldn't slip from my current irritation at his pressing into that anger I'd just warned him about. My best friend was an absolute mule.

"Wales: Llandudno - old Liddell summer home location - nothing.  Cairnholm - what was left of the Peregrine house - mild trace. You know how many kilometers we covered in Wales, total?"

"No idea, but I bet you---"

"Nine-hundred eighty-seven-point-eight, Jacko. You know how many miles that is?"

"Burt, are you going to be arriving at a point anytime in the near---"

"Then here," he continued, flipping a page. "Bloomsbury - former home of the Darlings - mild trace. All those random train depots - all the tunnels, ALL of them, Jack---"

"I was there," I said, downing the last quarter of my pint quicker than I should've, mentally crossing my fingers that his end point would have an actual theory behind it this time.

"---and we only confirmed potential - just potential - trace on one."

"You do recall when they ponied up about already knowing all this? I wanted to punch that guy."

"The short fella, the white-haired gentleman, who likely would've died on the spot if you had done?"

"Yup, that’s the one," I shot back casually, then glanced around. I caught our waitress' eye and held up my empty mug with what I hoped was a somewhat genuine smile. Burt was still going.

"All-in-all, not a definitive sign of an active hidey-hole to be found."

"I hate when you call them that."

"Window, door, aperture, passage, thinning, portal - still a hole. I stand by it."

"Fine."

"Kirke estate - every single room - not even a hint of anything."

"I'm going to rescind your best man status if you keep this up."

"Colleen can’t stand me, she'd be thrilled. Hell, Jack, make it her wedding present for all I care."

I frowned. “Jeez, Burt. What is with you?”

Then he frowned. “I was actually listening to their briefings. Were you?”

"Barely," I replied honestly. "They're sending us on follow-up field trips that first year initiates should be handling, and I actually miss our office and the city and my family and even that stupid tiny room in that overcrowded chapter house."

"And your fiancée."

I gave him a look. "I'm tired of chasing down what have always been children's stories with bits of truth in them somewhere. Bedtime tales that have been around long enough - plenty long enough - that if there were anything important to them, the Moles would've sussed it out when they were initiates."

Thankfully the waitress brought over our next round then, and I set into mine like a man just crawling in from the Sahara.  

Burt huffed at that, then said, "Tomorrow's the first time we're going somewhere that's not a rehash. You didn't notice anything new and different about the briefing today?"

"That it's the closest I've gotten to empathizing with the undead."

He flipped his notebook around to face me and planted a finger above several sets of numbers. "Exact latitudes and longitudes, exact area of square kilometers to cover." He flipped another page. “And here's the inns we'll be staying in. We're gonna be gone for a few weeks, and I know it's not just a hop-skip from here, but this shouldn't take more than four or five days, give-or-take.”

I set my mug down slowly, scanning over the notes quickly. He was right. I raised my eyes to his. He grinned when he saw he finally had my interest.

“I think they might've been testing us with all this other stuff, make sure we were accurate on the traces we'd found, see how thorough we were in following up with any living witnesses, how detailed we were in reports. I think this trip is why we're here. Because if I wanted to whip up a nice little spread, keep people away from my hidey-hole? This is exactly the type of place I'd put it.”

I stared at him for a few moments, my normally whirring, ever-processing mind at a complete standstill.

Now he leaned in closer. “And I think I have an idea about how it connects to the Sunder case - to your theory.”

Burt wisely didn't say the word - though the volume of the pub's patrons would've likely drowned it out anyway - and instead just kept studying my face.

“Spit it out,” he finally ordered.

I inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, glancing down at the scribbled locales, then back up, obeying Burt once more.

“What in damnation do they think is out on the moors?"

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Patti Flanagan - phaware® interview 291

PH and Scleroderma patient, Patricia Flanagan discusses the bumpy roller coaster ride that led to her diagnosis and life with left heart disease.

My name is Patti Flanagan. I'm from Virginia, and I have pulmonary hypertension, due to diastolic heart failure.

I do remember hearing the word pulmonary hypertension for the first time. I thought, "What was that?" I was sitting in an office with a cardiologist, and he was reviewing my stress echo, and I just was like, "I'm healthy." I knew I was out of shape. I knew something was wrong, but I guess I never really asked the questions I should of. Like, "Why was I less tolerance for activities? Why was I out of breath going up stairs? Why could I do something in January and come June, that wasn't anywhere possible?" Until you're thrown into a situation like that, you just keep moving, because that's life.

I landed in the ER, because I was having chest pains for the first time ever, and I thought, "Am I having a reaction to the thyroid cancer treatments that I just had a few weeks ago?" So, I went to the ER, and they recommended that I have a stress echo, sooner than later. Back then, I didn't really pay much attention to medical. I just kind of, "No news is good news," kind of philosophy. I really wasn't a very proactive person. I ate well. I exercised. I stayed active. I tried to lose weight. I come from a family of nine, we’re all overweight.

You get into that rut where you just accept things, but when I had the chest pain that brought things very forefront. After I had the stress echocardiogram, my oxygen dropped, and even then I didn't really put it together. I mean I asked [the doctor], "Why are we stopping? I can do more." Because that's who I am. I'm a go getter. I could be out of breath, but I see the end over there, and I'm like, I could do another five minutes. So, it really didn't dawn on me what or why she felt I needed to stop. I knew that I saw that my oxygen dropped to 84. All the machines are right there.

I don't see myself as sick, because if I did then that would be giving in, and I can't do that. I have to charge through and fight. Since finding out that I have had pulmonary hypertension, it's been six years, but seems like a lifetime. I just walked out of that ER, and landed myself on a roller coaster, and I've been riding it ever since.

I couldn't really do that cope feeling in getting adjusted, until I could get what was happening more identified, because the cardiologist diagnosed me with pulmonary hypertension, and sent me to a pulmonologist. That initial testing process was grueling. I had the pulmonologist send me to the cardiologist, then the cardiologist would send me right back to the pulmonologist. At one point, was feeling like I was in a tug of war between the cardiologist, and the pulmonologist, and I think that might've been what sent me to the online support groups, because I knew it wasn't right, and I was getting really tired of going back and forth, and before I was very laid back in my health care. At this point, I became very proactive, very research based, because I felt comfort in trying to understand all of what was happening.

All the while, these doctors are sending me back and forth each month. I felt like something I could do in January, by October, I couldn't. I'll give you an example. In January, our daughter got married. I could dance all night, no chest pain, no shortness of breath, nothing. Fast forward. By June, I was stopping walking upstairs. By August, by the time I got into the pulmonologist, I went to my daughter's best friend's wedding, and I had to sit down after maybe one or two songs, and I'm thinking "This is not right." Another two months later, and I couldn't even do one song in dancing. So, it was a definite progression in terms of symptomatic.

I did go to those online support groups. They were very helpful when I had thyroid cancer, and had to go through that whole process to get to coping with it. Initially it was "I beat cancer. I can beat anything." And then it's, "How do you beat it? How do you adapt?" For me, I think the biggest part of it is I just kind of refer to everything as I'm on a roller coaster, and whether I was sick or not, I'd be on this roller coaster. Everybody has good days, bad days, and man do we all hate those drops. That philosophy stays true whether you're sick or not. I just kind of caught on to that. During these two years of trying to figure out what was causing my pulmonary hypertension, even once [my doctor] identified it being caused by the left heart. There were other things that showed those red flags.

They discovered I had a rare antibody, part of the myositis family, and it's called the Ku. Not a lot of doctors know about it. It's very rare for it to be associated with scleroderma, but that is where my new track on my rollercoaster landed me. Then the CPET, which is short for cardiopulmonary exercise test, that was required that I have. It also showed that I had a mixed pulmonary hypertension. So, in 2013 it went from just, "pulmonary venous hypertension or left heart failure." To, "Now you have pulmonary arterial, and, or pulmonary lung, because of the scleroderma." That was shown on the CPET. It's showed various different numbers that the doctors look for. So, that identified a little bit more of what was going on, and why I wasn't such a great candidate of just one type. That kind of threw everybody off a little bit. Myself as well.

When you're riding a roller coaster, you get bumpy sometimes, and you just kind of accept it. I mean it's being in the world of being a zebra, and I just happened to be a very complicated one. I think the biggest thing is accept it. That roller coaster ride is going to be there. I think back on my life over the last six years, and it's been bumpy, a lot of changes. From just needing overnight oxygen, to now being on oxygen 24 seven. You have to give yourself time. You'll have to find ways to adapt and adjust, and keep moving, because that's what life is. When one challenge comes, take a breath, sit back, give yourself time, because it's not always easy, and it can be scary. For me, I found comfort in knowledge. Some people that's too much for them. You have to kind of find ways in yourself, as to what works for you.

Another thing that worked for me was having a positive attitude. I think it made a huge impact on dealing with such a complicated life. I know one doctor told my husband, "That any other patient with my profile would not present the same, and my attitude, and my fight, to live and laugh." I mean a little laughter goes a long way. I just found that getting upset wasn't really going to help. And actually I found it made it worse. So, for me, accepting the change. Knowing, "Yeah, life is not how it was before, but that doesn't make it bad. It just makes it different." Again, like I had said earlier, "Whether you're sick or not, you're going to have those moments that are fast and bumpy in life, and those unexpected drops."

I think having family, or something, whatever it is for you to just kind of give yourself that, "I can do it moment." If that means, "I made it to the bathroom." Then that's it. The next day, "Hey, made it to the kitchen." Or one day you might make it to the mailbox. Start with those small goals, and then it doesn't look as scary, because you just did something you couldn't do three days ago. I know others, from those support groups, they kind of give you that inspiration.

For me, I found looking back didn't help. Living is meant for the presence. You can't control the future. So, you might as well enjoy the present. I kind of keep that philosophy. We're a strong family. My husband and I, we moved to deal with everything. We moved to be closer to our grandchildren, to be closer to our children. My husband retired early. It was a big change. Living, you know, on this roller coaster being a complicated zebra. Life is going to change. You might as well make the best of it.

I'm Patricia Flanagan, and I'm aware that I'm rare.

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A Visual Dialogue of the 2014 Sunflower Movement, 5 Years Later

This previous March 18 marked the five-yr anniversary of Taiwan’s 2014 Sunflower Motion, a months-prolonged protest occupation of Taipei’s administrative district, which at its top included half a million individuals and the occupation of equally the Legislative Yuan and the Govt Yuan.

The protests began as a reaction to the Ma administration’s (2008-2016) tries to unexpectedly negotiate a trade and expert services offer with China as element of the greater 2010 Economic Cooperation Framework Arrangement, which critics say stalled real economic advancement in Taiwan, hollowed out the economic climate, and threatened to pressure the island further into Beijing’s orbit. The Sunflower Movement began as an endeavor to gradual down the system. Lots of were opposed to the deal because it was getting railroaded as a result of without dissenting voices staying listened to. The motion is noteworthy for quite a few motives, chief amid them it disclosed broad political dissatisfaction throughout a massive spectrum of Taiwanese. Its document numbers, period (the legislative chamber was occupied for 23 days), effects on the well-known culture, pageant-like ambiance, and amazingly lower stages of violence and crime had in no way been witnessed prior to. In its speedy aftermath, curation attempts commenced.

Curation initiatives have been carried out by Academia Sinica in Taipei, where by 1000’s upon countless numbers of posters, banners, and protest ephemera have been collected and are becoming catalogued. The Daybreak venture, operated by Sunflower protestor-activist Brian Hioe, whom I interviewed last calendar year, is also establishing an on-line encyclopedia of the movement.

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Inside the Legislative Yuan, a jumble of artwork, donated comfort merchandise, media, communications volunteers, translators – all properly-organized and disciplined. Photo by Tobie Openshaw.

Later that same yr Ma’s celebration, the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT), dropped to the professional-independence leaning Democratic Progressive Social gathering (DPP) in area elections. The DPP would go on to gain handle of the presidency and legislature in 2016’s countrywide elections. Now five several years on, the strength surrounding the movement that led to the DPP surge has dissipated and eyes are turning again to the KMT, which regained a the vast majority of the island’s counties and metropolitan areas in the 2018 midterms.

Irrespective of the loss of momentum in new years, the Sunflower Movement continue to exists in the popular consciousness as something reverential, a “Summer of Love” for the Taiwanese. Now, with the clarity of hindsight, the curation efforts are shelling out off.

Visitors read the captions for pics shown at “Sunflowers in the Avenue: Protest Photos from Taiwan”on opening day at The Pink Area in Taipei. Image by James X. Morris.

“Sunflowers in the Street: Protest Photos from Taiwan” is a curation by South Africa-born filmmaker and journalist Tobie Openshaw now on display screen at The Red Home in Taipei right up until June 14. Openshaw has lived in Taiwan for 21 a long time and arrived at the Legislative Yuan following the 1st working day of protests, getting obtain to the legislative chamber on various instances with a press pass issued by France24. On the exhibit’s opening evening Openshaw was joined by Chang Jiho, 1 of the primary March 18 occupiers, now a town councilman for Keelung in northern Taiwan.

The authentic occupiers of the legislature, Chang integrated, acknowledged their protest was one thing more substantial than they experienced envisioned. In the aftermath, the motion “created huge vitality for the entire society” discussed Chang at the exhibition. Quite a few protest leaders like Chang would enter into politics.

On the ground, the protest movement very first occupied the Legislature with sympathetic lawmakers standing guard to stop police from relocating in. As tensions rose, yet another group attempted to occupy the Government offices, but were in the end unsuccessful, currently being pressured out and hit with drinking water cannons. The overall time the protestors designed use of social media to coordinate and keep the world current on activities. “The revolution won’t be televised. It will be livestreamed,” suggests Openshaw.

Wherever people today collected, there have been volunteers marshaling the crowds, earning guaranteed items stayed orderly and harmless. That a lot of persons coming with each other for a one cause — in peace and unity — is a incredibly impressive detail. 500,000 men and women on a Sunday afternoon. Photograph by Tobie Openshaw.

I a short while ago experienced an chance to talk with Openshaw in extra element about his exhibit and how his curation came to be.

The Diplomat: What was your assumed when you to start with arrived at the scene?

Tobie Openshaw: I wasn’t guaranteed what to count on but my very first perception was that it was way larger than I expected and way a lot more actual. I could explain to that it wasn’t just a type of random, rapid flash mob sort of point for the reason that when I arrived it was a working day or two soon after the occupation started off. It was crystal clear they experienced settled in. I did assume at any time that law enforcement were being likely to genuinely shift in. I predicted there would be clashes in the road. Which is what I expect from protests, in particular being a lengthy functioning thing, there would be a strong governing administration response. But I also found that the sheer selection of folks there would make it quite challenging for the government [and] for the law enforcement to basically do a thing.

… When I was in South Africa, I did my armed service support there. We have obligatory two-yr army service. And all through that time we experienced very major rioting in South Africa. The ANC was performing with the mentioned object of making the region ungovernable. They were environment hearth to schools, submit offices, they experienced a slogan: “liberation in advance of education” and men and women had been killed if they had been thought to be law enforcement informants. … The issue I’m making is that I have been on the other facet. … In essence I was prepared for anything [at the Sunflower Movement] you know, but rather shortly it turned distinct […] that this protest was incredibly really strongly crafted on, doing work to, and creating confident that it was non-confrontational and that it kept the peace. So incredibly quickly I became in awe of the way that the organizers [of the movement] managed to hold a lid on it, defuse or stay away from confrontation with the police, and then also from the other aspect the point that the authorities was obviously not overreaching in conditions of allowing this protest to materialize and not just sending in the cops.

… Coming out from the MRT station I could hear the people singing. They ended up singing that music from Les Mis — “Can you hear the people sing, singing the tune of indignant men” but they were singing it in Taiwanese. It was attractive. I’ve received a recording of it. Just the point that everybody arrived out in solidarity, everyone plopped themselves down: “Here I am. Here I’m sitting down. I’m having up this area in purchase to make my voice heard, but I’m not going to be hurting anyone and I’m not likely to be harmful any residence.” That just truly grabbed me. It was an astounding experience.

I’ve listened to a ton of persons examine the event with virtually veneration. Do you feel the veneration is suitable? Is it misplaced? Was it just one more protest in a extensive string of Taiwan protests?

I unquestionably speak of it with veneration… it’s possible the lengthy-jogging outcomes and the benefits have not been as utopian as a person would have hoped — so there’s a specific diploma of disappointment now 5 a long time later, but at the time, […] as it occurred, I truly feel it’s continue to worthy of talking about with great regard and admiration simply because of the way it was run and managed. … [T]hey in essence followed the product of Occupy Wall Road but it was way extra helpful and thriving. They made needs that had been sensible and as soon as the majority of individuals requires ended up achieved they created a choice to go away. … [They] explained, “Okay we’ve acquired 6 of our eight requires to our fulfillment … so let us pack up and go residence. Let’s go again to our experiments. Let’s be liable citizens, and most of all let’s cleanse up this house.” And I think that’s one of the truly significant factors that set this aside from any protest that I have at any time been associated or seen. I noticed little ones on their knees scrubbing out dirt places on the carpet inside this setting up. It actually was a pretty, extremely going event and course of action, and again what you noticed there was… you saw and you noticed and you lived democracy as it need to be practiced. Democracy in action. From protestors, from police, and from the federal government. They all performed the democracy sport by the policies and it was attractive to see.

“The long term belongs to her…” Lots of built the day on the streets into family outings. Photograph by Tobie Openshaw.

Now there’s this aura about it these times, but people today are a tiny more bitter. Is the veneration missing the position of the protests at all?

Actually I really do not believe so. … The veneration is about the simple fact that democracy was seen to be done. And it was performed nicely. Another portion of the veneration is the shock that individuals felt for how these young little ones stood up for their rules and how they managed it. They used to be referred to as the “strawberry technology,” very easily squished, effortlessly bruised, and nonetheless I saw little ones linking arms and sitting down on the floor, as the law enforcement in their riot equipment and as their water cannons approached. And all those little ones sat there. They didn’t split, they didn’t operate absent. They did not start crying. They sat and took what was coming to them, and that was sheer bravery. And irrespective of whether the final results in the end are not thoroughly as what a single would have hoped or what ever, that you just cannot take absent from it. The system took place and it took place so perfectly and with these types of heat and this kind of assistance from this kind of a significant percentage of Taiwan folks.

What is the information you want to convey by your exhibition?

I guess specifically what I’ve been saying: democracy can do the job. These young persons have shown us how to make your voice heard, how to converse reality to power, devoid of harmful items, without breaking matters down, with no being anarchic. It was a guide or textbook in how to manage effectively, how to choose your battles, how to opt for your battleground, and how to drum up guidance for the proper matter and how to have that through to a excellent conclusion.

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Tobie Openshaw (left) and Sunflower protestor turned Keelung Town Councilman Chang Jiho greet website visitors on the opening working day of the show. Photograph by James X. Morris.

Of everybody that you noticed, they were all youthful grown ups — in their late teens, 20s, 30s? Were they young, or were there older persons as well?

Undoubtedly the bulk were youthful persons. There were being college students. College college students and even high faculty students. I observed a ton of superior faculty college students out there. There were being more mature persons. There was a hole in the center. There had been not a entire great deal of center-aged individuals. That has to be a operate of who are the persons who have time to go sit in the avenue. It’s younger pupils and more mature folks who are previously retired. The more mature people today I saw there primarily experienced some kind of agenda — some sort of protest of their possess or a topic they had been on about by themselves. So I saw practically nothing of more mature persons guiding or orchestrating nearly anything. That was all the younger people today. All the folks I dealt with in the motion, the spokespeople, the translators… were young persons.

Do you take into account on your own a curator?

Sure. Totally. This exhibition I curated to emphasize people things that I talked about: the organization, the youth … the other players. This is how far-reaching it was. That sort of matter. I did try to provide in as several aspects as doable. But they are all factors that I noticed. There’s nothing there of the internal workings of the management group, since I was not privy to any of that. And a different aspect that I hope my exhibition demonstrates is that expats who were in Taiwan who were being both journalists, photographers, or just interested arrived there. There were quite a few issues this wasn’t getting more than enough global consideration. I pointed out this in my converse. It was really hard to get the worldwide media to comprehend the nuances of what was going on.

They needed violence and you experienced no violence.

Yeah. They just wished the clashes. But what I wanted to present with my exhibition was that indeed there ended up outsiders hunting with an outsider’s eye, and this is what they observed. And I explain to that tale because that is the only tale I have… the outsider tale. That is the story that is mine to convey to.

Chang An-lo, also acknowledged as “White Wolf,” of the Chinese Unification Advertising Celebration displays up with a crowd of rowdy supporters to challenge the pupils, April 1, 2014. Photo by Tobie Openshaw.

Not all of the images are yours. With the exception of Chang Jiho, all of the pictures are by outsiders — people not born and elevated in Taiwan. Do you imagine this impacts the standpoint of your exhibition? Does it affect the way that it’s been curated? Does it effects the information?

Yes… But I also absolutely really don’t really feel that our viewpoint strays incredibly significantly from the acknowledged narrative of what the Sunflowers stood for and what it meant for Taiwan culture. There is unquestionably nothing radical about our interpretation. We probably discovered or commented on or uncovered especially touching some things that to Taiwanese men and women would not be strange.

You have been in this article for the past five yrs. Now we’re looking at a swing back to the KMT, and this populist viewpoint of some of the candidates… Do you see yet another motion of that form of scale and vitality developing all over again in Taiwan?

I sincerely question it. Activities like this have a time and a area where everything comes with each other and the time is suitable and the ambiance is proper for every little thing to take place. And I really do not see that taking place listed here anytime shortly. Also I know that, for instance, a couple of years in the past the KMT tried to orchestrate one thing identical and it completely colossally failed. There was a thing like “oh yeah they are plainly hoping to have an additional Sunflower Movement” due to the fact they saw how helpful it was the previous time and they tried out to change the tables, but I imagine the dissatisfaction at the instant is pretty broad and it’s devolved into various fascination groups… the LGBT protest, the pension fund protest, but none of them have captured the preferred creativity the way the Sunflowers did. I believe situations like that of that scale and of that depth and that depth are incredibly uncommon in the environment.

… Another component is the government, possessing experienced that knowledge the initial time around, in all probability, I assume, would act far more quickly and additional decisively just before something like that can take maintain. It was vastly disruptive to the govt at that time so I’m very confident they’ve sat all over the desk and mentioned, “If this ever takes place once again you shut that making down, you turn off the lights, whatsoever it can take. You get individuals people today out of there and stop that factor just before it usually takes keep.”

Within the Legislative Yuan, a jumble of artwork, donated convenience items, media, medical volunteers and, to the correct, law college students who volunteered their time to give totally free legal suggestions. Photo by Tobie Openshaw.

How very long have you been in Taiwan?

21 yrs. I photographed the [2008 Wild Strawberry Movement] as properly. I literally just swung by, did not understand what it was about, and it was extremely little. They have been camped out in front of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and I just took some images there and got an notion. But I was also mindful from an early-ish stage that the Sunflowers — because it transpired so rapidly and seemingly out of the blue — it was one thing that experienced been coming up in techniques from the earlier.

You ended up capable to gauge this would be distinctive from the Strawberries?

Yeah. Just in phrases of scale, the minute I arrived there I could see “wow this is massive.”

Do you think that’s aspect of this veneration? This aura? That it is a little something which is fully various sort what had been in the earlier?

Completely. It is also for me, what I have been making an attempt to say about it in my exhibition, is this is the very best of Taiwan. This is Taiwan. Simply because anyplace else in the planet it would have possibly absent very in a different way. In South Africa it would have absent way in another way. In The usa with Occupy Wall Road it went otherwise. In Hong Kong it went in different ways. So yeah, it is very damn exceptional and is a testomony to Taiwan and Taiwan’s people that it went the way it did.

The exhibit “Sunflowers in the Avenue: Protest Photos from Taiwan” can be considered at The Pink Space in Taipei right up until June 14, 2019.

The post A Visual Dialogue of the 2014 Sunflower Movement, 5 Years Later appeared first on Defence Online.

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my interviewers didn’t hang up the phone after my interview, my boss can’t move past a mistake I made, and more

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My interviewers didn’t hang up the phone after my interview

I had an interview today that I thought went well — right until the end. I was prepared for all questions, had a few on my own to ask (thank you for the great interview advice by the way – I wasn’t at all caught off guard by anything thanks to your tips!), I projected myself as confident and able to handle the job. Brilliant!

The interview itself was over Skype, and for some reason when they disconnected the program, only the video shut down. I sat there in absolute silence listening as they discussed the previous 20-minute meeting. I didn’t know what to do! If I tried to disconnect, they would know for sure I was still able to hear them, so I froze.

I don’t think I did as well in the interview as I thought. What I took as confidence they called “control issues” and the main takeaway was they thought they might have problems keeping me low-key enough for the position. I’ve never been told I was controlling before, so I’m not sure how to take that, but my initial thoughts are I certainly have not landed this position.

My question is, what should I have done? Should I have interrupted them as soon as I realized I could hear them all talking and they were unaware I was still on the line? Do I email them back and tell them that I actually overheard their discussion and let them know I’m not really a control freak, I was trying to project confidence and obviously failed at that?

Oh no!

Yeah, ideally you would have either disconnected as soon as you realized you were hearing what was supposed to be a private conversation or spoken up right away so they knew you could still hear them, although I can certainly understand how you ended up sitting there frozen.

I would not email them and explain you heard the discussion; it’s going to raise the question of why you stayed on and listened. And to be clear, a lot of people would have found it hard to resist the temptation too — but the fact that you didn’t is not likely to go over well with the people you listened to.

Instead, I’d just take this as a behind-the-scenes glimpse that you normally don’t get to have. Unfortunately, that glimpse may or may not be useful, though. Maybe you really did come across as overly controlling … or maybe these people react that way to appropriate amounts of confidence (which might indicate that they penalize employees who dare to be confident or assertive too, in which case, it’s better that they screen you out). It is worth reflecting on whether there might have been something in your manner that a reasonable person could have misinterpreted, and maybe seek feedback from someone whose judgment you trust and who you know will be candid with you. But otherwise, sometimes hiring managers just get it wrong, especially when all they have to go on is a 20-minute Skype conversation.

2. My manager can’t move past a mistake I made

What do I do when my manager won’t forgive me for a mistake? It’s part of my job to send out correspondence and various paperwork to clients every month. A few months ago, I made a careless mistake that caused me to send some paperwork to the wrong client. This was a problem because the client saw sensitive information that they should not have seen. My manager told me about it, and I was mortified at my mistake. We were lucky in that the client was not upset and worked with us to resolve the issue, but it could have gone much worse.

Ever since then, I have been extra careful and have made sure to pay better attention to what I’m doing, and I have not made the same mistake again. The problem is that my manager still comments on and brings up my mistake, even months later. When I do the monthly paperwork, she will always remind me, multiple times, to double check and not mess anything up.

It’s not that I don’t take responsibility for my mistake, because I do, which is why I’ve been, and will continue to be, very careful not to repeat it. But I can’t help but feel like my manager doesn’t forgive me and that she’s holding this over my head. Maybe I deserve this for making such a mistake, but I’m not sure. How do I go about addressing this, if at all? Should I not say anything and just hope she eventually forgives me?

If this was a very serious mistake, it’s understandable that she’s worried about making sure that it won’t happen again — and she’s not in your head, so she doesn’t necessarily know what you’re doing to ensure that it doesn’t. But the way she’s going about this isn’t particularly useful. Just reminding you not to mess things up isn’t going to be especially effective.

What she should be doing is talking through what you’ll do differently to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Since she’s not doing that on her own, though, you can do it! Try saying something like this to her: “I want to let you know what steps I’ve taken to ensure that doesn’t happen again. I think before I was sometimes letting my mind drift when I put the client packets together, and I realize now I can’t do that. So I’m staying very focused when assembling these materials, and I have a checklist for each client that I check off as I put their packets together. I’m also double- and sometimes triple-checking everything before it goes in the envelope. I know how seriously I need to take this, and this new system is working really well.” (Or whatever your system is. If your system is now just “I pay more attention,” that itself may not be enough to set her mind at ease, so if you come up with concrete steps, it should help.)

That said, she still may remind you to double check. I wouldn’t see that as her holding it over your head, and instead just see it as her natural concern that a client relationship was potentially jeopardized. It should go away in time, but if it’s still happening a few months from now, you could say, “I get the sense that you’re still very worried about the care I’m taking with these materials. Is there anything you’d like me to do differently so that you can be confident I’m on top of it?”

3. Interviewer wants me to do a 30-hour, $2,800 project for free

I freelance on the side and am currently looking for a new full-time job. I got a second interview for an eLearning Developer position. Before the interview, they asked me to do a “sample task”. I’ve been asked to do pre-interview tasks and assessments before and they usually only take an hour or 2 at most. I got the “sample task” for this interview and it was essentially: create an entire 30-minute learning module with video, graphics, at least 2 interactions, voice over, and an online discussion community. If this was for a freelance client, I could bill this “sample task” at $2,800 (and would take over 30 hours of my time). This seems outrageous to me.

I offered up my portfolio as an alternative (I already include all the components they are asking for) and they still want me to do this sample project. It seems like they are trying to get free work, but some family and friends I’ve talked to say I should just bite the bullet and do it because it’s “normal”. What are your thoughts?

Nope, not normal. Asking you to do a smaller piece of work so they can see you in action — yes, good and normal and useful. But that should be an hour, two hours tops, and it should be clear that they’re not asking you to do anything they actually might use.

I’d say this: “I’d normally bill close to $3,000 for this work and it would take 30+ hours of my time. I absolutely want to get you what you need to be able to assess my work though. Would it work for me to do a piece of this rather than the whole, such as (suggest specific piece here, one that would be more reasonable)? Alternately I’d be glad to show you projects I’ve done that include all of these components.”

But if they insist, you’ll have to decide if you’re willing to walk away from the job over it. If you have other good options, you should.

4. I’m leaving in two weeks and my employer has no plan to replace me and is piling work on me

I work at a small nonprofit as the only person in my department due to the departure and non-replacement of the other people who were once part of it, with my responsibilities requiring vastly different training than the rest of the employees on staff. This includes any and all money-related duties, especially donations that flood in at the end of the calendar year.

I gave a month’s notice to make sure everything was taken care of to best set up my position for my successor but have been informed that the organization has no plans to replace me, requiring me to write an extremely in-depth succession plan and do a considerable amount of set-up for the next five years for the parts of my job that would have required overlap training to hammer out. My boss has put even more work on my overflowing plate, including projects that will be starting after my departure because she “doesn’t know who else to give them to” and has given unrealistic expectations of my capacity to work on these projects to the people we have hired externally to help. Am I being unrealistic in thinking that there should be an exit plan on her part?

Nope. But that’s their problem, not yours, and you shouldn’t move the burden over to yourself. You don’t have to work extra hours or take on extra stress to do everything that they’re piling on you. It’s fine to tell your boss, “I won’t have time to do all of this before I leave. What would you like me to prioritize?” If she tells you “all of it,” then say, “I want to make sure I’m flagging for you that I’m not likely to get to all of it, so that you’re not planning around it all being able to be completed in the amount of time I have left. I’ll start with A, B, and C, and then if I have time once that’s done, I’ll spend any remaining time on the rest. But let me know if you want me to prioritize things differently.” And then stick to that.

By the way, even in organizations that do replace people, it’s pretty normal not to have the replacement start before the outgoing person leaves. The point of a notice period (even one-month notice periods) is to do training overlap, since hiring someone and waiting for them to start often takes longer than that. The point is just to get your projects in decent shape and leave behind some decent documentation for the next person (but without requiring the exiting person to work longer hours than usual). So don’t stress over that piece of this.

5. When can I check back with this company about their hiring decision?

I have been talking with a company for a couple of weeks now about potentially being hired. They said that they should know for sure about what is going to happen early this week. Monday was a bank holiday for them, and I haven’t heard anything yet. I was wondering when it would be prudent to follow up with the company? If I email them today, is it too soon?

Friday at the earliest. Hiring often takes far longer than people think it will, even the people setting the timelines. Always add at least a few days to whatever day they tell you to expect to hear back before you even start thinking you might hear something soon (and even that won’t always be enough; sometimes you have to add a week or two or more).

You may also like:

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can I ask to see the interview questions ahead of time?

my interviewers didn’t hang up the phone after my interview, my boss can’t move past a mistake I made, and more was originally published by Alison Green on Ask a Manager.

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From lab science to the art of the novel: historical fantasy writer Linda McCabe

Linda McCabe speaks in Oakland, CA at 2pm at the California Writers’ Club meeting at 1204 Preservation Park Way this Sunday, October 21st. Open to the public for a $10 cash donation at the door. 

More info on the Club and on Linda here. 

1. What drew you in to Greek mythology and to the story of Orlando  Furioso? Why do you think those stories have appealed to readers  throughout time? I started reading Greek mythology as a small girl. I loved the larger than life stories and characters. The first time I ever stayed awake reading until the wee hours of the night was with D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. I adore that book. It is wonderfully illustrated and it introduces each member of the Greek pantheon with their own story. My favorite Greek goddess is Athena. She is powerful, respected and derives her strength from her intellect and not from beauty.  She's not only the goddess of wisdom and victory, but also of the arts such as weaving tapestries. One of my favorite stories is of a mortal who was a gifted weaver who had boasted she was more skilled than Athena. The goddess disguised herself, tried to get the girl to take back her words. The girl, named Arachne, refused to take back the boast and instead issued a challenge to the goddess. Athena threw off her disguise and accepted the challenge. They both created incredible tapestries. While Athena's depicted the Olympian gods in all of their glory, Arachne's made fun of Zeus and his various wives. Athena's wrath brought about the destruction of the irreverent artwork and transformed the talented girl into a spider who would weave for all eternity.

Harsh, but fair punishment. Pride cometh before the fall. Hubris. Greek mythology is filled with these kinds of stories. I started reading Orlando furioso in 2003 when I was engaged in online debates regarding the Harry Potter series. This was before the series was finished, and there were many various theories floating about. One theory involved the symbolic meaning of hippogriffs. I wound up reading Ariosto's masterpiece because that was the first time a hippogriff was used as a character in literature. I became drawn to the love story between Bradamante and Ruggiero, which was considered one of many subplots in this epic poem. Bradamante reminded me of Athena. She was a respected warrior who was cool under pressure. The major difference is that Bradamante fell in love, whereas Athena never allowed herself to love a man. Bradamante was the niece of Charlemagne and was a Christian. She fell in love with an honorable warrior who was a Muslim and on the opposing side of a holy war. Their love was kept secret until they could find a way to be together with honor, and there were many, many obstacles for this couple to overcome. She was even given the Call to Adventure to rescue him when he was being held captive by a wizard. It is amazing that this incredible kick-ass heroine was created over 500 years ago, but has somehow become largely forgotten over the years.

These stories become timeless because they demonstrate heroism and perseverance as well as Karmic punishments for those without honor. 2. How do you know when you've done enough research and you're ready to write? This is a gut feeling. There's a point when I feel like I am procrastinating more than I am doing research. Sometimes I just have to shift gears and stop researching if the aspect I am trying to understand isn't "knowable" or maybe isn't all that important. I spent over a week wondering about diapering in the middle ages. This was all because I wanted to have a character do some action in a scene with her baby. I started imagining the characters in my setting and thought of where would the dirty diaper would be placed. Then I wondered how the diaper would be closed, (did they have diaper pins?) How often would they wash them? How many diapers would a noble household have for a baby? Some research suggested that babies might not have been put in diapers at all. Instead, the parents would watch them carefully and hold them at arm's length over straw to absorb urine flow. I considered this matter for too long. I was obsessing over a minor detail that did not enhance or further the plot. I decided to take it out and not "go there." Instead, I described the baby as been freshly bathed in the scene.

3. Conversely, where can you go to make sure your writing doesn't contain obvious  historical errors or anachronisms? Are there 'continuity readers' or  'historical readers' available to regular authors?  I have several beta readers who have looked at various passages or  aspects of the story to give me this kind of feedback. Finding experts  for your writing can be a challenge. I suggest during the writing  process to try and identify those who may be able to provide specific feedback. I joined different list servs where I could ask experts questions that I had been unable to find answers to on my own. 

There is a wonderful internet resource for a multitude of disciplines called H-Net for Humanities and Social Services. https://networks.h-net.org/ I recommend that resource for those who wish to find experts. Go to the website, explore different listings, subscribe and read back postings to get familiar with the style of discussion before posting. Most of the subscribers are university faculty members, so being an "independent scholar" will set you apart. Don't be intimidated, but try not to ask overly broad questions showing that you haven't done research on your own first. Tell them you are a writer and have a few specific questions. Or write a post stating that you are looking for beta readers for historical accuracy who will give feedback. Many of the professors read fiction in their spare time, make an appeal asking for help in identifying errors might work.  Finding good 'continuity readers' is a more difficult nut to crack. You have to find close, careful readers who will notice nit-picky items that contradict earlier details in your story. This cannot be done effectively for beta readers who get a few pages here and there. You need critique group members who will read large chunks or the entire manuscript *and* will focus on minutiae. For example, someone who will pull up a calendar from the year your story takes place and notice if there really was a full moon on the night of the murder. That's the kind of thing I do for my critique group partners, and sometimes they appear annoyed prior to expressing gratitude for my corrections/feedback.

In regard to historical errors or anachronisms, I have had some instances where I balance historical accuracy versus dramatic needs. I initially try to find a way to make the historical record work, but there are times when it would lessen the drama. Or it would cause the narrative to become immensely more complicated. In those occasions, I will choose dramatic necessity over historical accuracy and write a disclaimer in my author notes to detail the reasons behind my decision. I feel that the greatest sin a writer can commit is to bore readers. 

An example of this type of decision regarded the Medieval walls around the city of Paris. The poets described a complex set of ramparts that were first built by King Philippe Auguste in the 12th century.  The story of Charlemagne and his knights is set in the 9th century. I considered removing the historically inaccurate walls, but quickly realized that my already complicated plot would become exponentially worse. I decided to keep the walls and mention my dilemma in my author notes. After all, I am retelling a grand story originally written to entertain one noble family in Italy and it featured wars that never took place with mostly fictional characters, magical realms and flying hippogriffs. Therefore, know that I took care in telling this tale, so please just enjoy the ride! 4. I notice you also write essays and editorials in addition to your  historical fiction. Would you agree with the advice I myself heard as an aspiring novelist, to get other pieces of writing published before you  go out there to agents and publishers with a first novel? While I believe that having publication credits is important to demonstrate your authority as a writer, it isn't as important to an agent as the sample pages of your completed novel. Writing an article or short story is like running a 100 yard dash while writing a novel is more like running a marathon.  Perfecting the art of the query letter or verbal pitching to an agent in order to get the request to submit sample pages is a different skill set than regular writing. Once you get the go-ahead to send your manuscript and synopsis, your overall craft will be on full view. The agent and subsequent potential publishers will only green light a publishing contract based on the strength of your finished product and not because you had an op-ed published in the LA Times. Honestly, I think getting a pithy book description will do more for you with agents and publishers than having multiple credits to your name. However, it is a different matter if you are writing non-fiction. If you had publication credits in magazines or peer-reviewed journals and you were submitting a book proposal on the same topic - it might help influence the decision of the agent/publisher to sign you as a client/author.

5. How do your feel your "day job" has influenced your writing? And what is your educational background? While I love writing, my education is in the sciences. My undergraduate degree is in Laboratory Medicine and my master's degree is as an Historian of Science. I also have training in competitive public speaking from high school and acting in plays. My only creative writing classes were in screenwriting and those were taken without being applied to any degree program. Screenwriting helped me analyze scenes in movies to determine how best to distill narrative and reveal characters into scenes that further a plot. Participating in debate and drama helped me understand how to craft a strong argument and then overlay my steel girder like-logic with pathos to stir the emotional senses. As a laboratorian, over the years I have developed a keen analytical mind. One of my previous jobs, I managed the organ recipient list of over one hundred patients for a laboratory in downtown Detroit. I reviewed and monitored changes and updates to the statewide list published by the Organ Procurement Agency of Michigan. Soon after I took over that responsibility  I discovered and corrected numerous errors on our list of patients . Learning to have a scope of memory to track and manage so many details helped prepare me for adapting a story of epic grandeur with a massive cast of characters.

Similarly, having been trained in historical methods of researching for my master's degree, I feel obligated in learning about the time, place, cultural practices, etc., in my story. I have done my best to ground this story in a real time and place, giving my narrative the historical details of ninth century Francia. So once I decided on doing an adaptation of Orlando furioso, I had to learn about Medieval history and the life of Charlemagne. I immersed myself in research while simultaneously trying to determine parts of the story to retain and parts to cut. After doing an intense analysis of my source material, I discovered continuity errors. One enchanted castle was located in three (!) separate and distinct locations. The narrative is immensely complicated, and I doubt the patrons noticed the discrepancies let alone raised any objections. However, I am well aware of L.O.O.N.s (the League of Obsessive Nitpickers) and so I had to fix one location for this enchanted castle and made this determination based on my plot necessities. I also moved several locations of other plot points that I felt made more logical sense.

The Carolingian legend cycle spanned several centuries in the south of France and north of Italy. The jongleurs and troubadours told and retold these legends for the nobles and the masses. By the time Ludovico Ariosto and Matteo Maria Boiardo wrote their masterpieces, these characters were popular. My contribution in this legend cycle is to transform a portion of these stories into a tale for modern day audiences using current storytelling techniques. ***side note*** The Italians do not capitalize the second word in the title of the poems. I'm not sure why, because I do not speak Italian or know the particulars of Italian grammar rules. So my use of Orlando furioso and not Orlando Furioso is not accidental, it is purposeful. If you do a quick Google search, the results for capitalization are not consistent. However, once this was pointed out to me, I have endeavored to follow the Italian convention.

More about Linda McCabe and her current works here. 

Hey - Pat from Starter Story here with another interview.Today's interview is with Cameron Olthuis, the founder of Sawyer, a brand that makes clothing for kids.Some stats:Revenue/mo: $12,000Started: August 2017Location: Park City, UtahFounders: 2Employees: 2Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?Hi there, I’m Cameron Olthuis, owner and operator of Sawyer. Sawyer is a high-quality kids clothing brand that makes soft, durable products with timeless designs that inspire them to get outside and explore the natural world.We discovered a striking statistic:Kids today spend less time outside than maximum security prisoners.The average child spends 8-10 hours a day in front of a screen and less than one hour per day outside. Spending time outside is important for kids as it’s a healthy way to develop, learn, and grow through experience. We are a mission driven brand encouraging a balance of technology and nature in kids lives. Go outside and play!We operate a direct-to-consumer business model that’s completely bootstrapped and our fulfillment is done entirely in house. This allows our brand to be in control of all customer touch points, something we feel is extremely important when building a brand.Our products to date have largely consisted of graphic tees, hats & beanies, and hoodies. We’re now moving into custom cut & sew apparel products. Our long-term vision includes technical outerwear and other functional outdoor products exclusively for kids.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?My online entrepreneurial journey started when I was 21 and my then girlfriend was pregnant with our first child. That was almost 17 years ago. I was working a minimum wage customer service job, had no post high school education, and knew that I needed to make big changes in order to provide a better life for my family. It’s been a long journey that’s seen its share of ups & downs, with times where I literally wasn’t sure how I would be able to feed my family the next day. Somehow, it worked out, and I always knew the sacrifices would pay off if I stuck with it.Most recently, my role was VP, Audience Development at CBS Interactive. During my 6 1/2 years at CBS, we grew from the #13 Comscore property to #6. That’s an elite group: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft and then CBSi. Prior to my role at CBSi, I ran audience growth at a startup called Clicker, which was acquired by CBS for a nine-figure sum. That was quite a learning experience.The entrepreneurial spirit in me was calling the entire time I was at CBS Interactive. I never expected to be there for as long as I was, but incentives in the form of stock options that hadn’t vested and a big paycheck helped keep me around. That and I also enjoyed the learning experience, challenges of working on the biggest internet properties, and working for the CEO, who’s been a great mentor to me. But, my time had come. CBSi was running like a well-oiled machine and the excitement was no longer there for me. I needed to work on something that was meaningful to me again. I was also a partner in a content arbitrage business at that time with yearly revenues of around $7.5 million at its peak. That helped make the decision to leave easier. This was, of course, non-conflicting to my work at CBS.The idea for Sawyer roots back to when my kids were much younger. My wife and I had a hard time finding quality made products for our own kids that would stand up to the rugged outdoor lifestyle we were so fond of. Our favorite brands had a very limited kids’ selection and most everything else was poor quality with over-the-top designs. We’d always talked about doing something in this space but never acted on it until recently. I had started staffing up an office anticipating my departure from CBS and wanted to run that as a sort of skunkworks type lab. Together with my team and the idea from many years ago, Sawyer was born.Describe the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing the product.We go through a tedious process of testing fabric materials and cuts for quality, softness, fit, and durability before finally settling on products we’re comfortable putting our name on. As consumers, we believe in buying well, which to us means spending more on quality products that will last a really long time. Buying poor-quality products usually ends up costing the consumer more in the long run. Every product we sell needs to live up to this standard. This takes more time and additional costs, but we’re able to charge a premium because of it. Additionally, we can be proud of everything we make.Our customer feedback tells us we’re doing a pretty good job. We get a lot of reviews that praise the quality and softness of our products. Kids appreciate it as well. We’ve been told many times that our stuff is a kids favorite and they want to wear it everyday, or even sleep in it. We’ve also had many repeat purchases, some customers have now ordered 7-8 times from us in less than a year.The other test all of our products must pass is; would we wear it ourselves? This again goes back to the over-the-top designs that plague the kids’ apparel industry and our mission to create timeless designs. We’ve worked with local artists to transfer their watercolor paintings to clothing, hired graphic designers from freelance sites, and created designs in-house, even though none of us had any previous background in design.We have several boxes of manufactured products in our office that we refuse to sell. Maybe that’s because of a blemish in the design or a mis-labeled tag. Whatever the reasons, we believe that absorbing that cost now is better than losing a customer or tarnishing our brand name. We’ve donated some of those products to various causes like the recent Houston floods or Sub-for-Santa, and we’ll continue doing more of that in the future.Describe the process of launching the online store/business.Building out the actual store was pretty simple for me, thanks to Shopify which makes that part really easy.From there we had prototype products made and we hosted a BBQ in the mountains where we invited all our friends to bring their kids to do a photoshoot. This gave us a bunch of high-quality photos that we could use on the website and in our advertising at launch.We didn’t want to launch to crickets, so we started building our social accounts a few months prior to launch. We used Facebook Ads at launch as well, so right from the start we were selling some product.Sawyer is self-funded, which is challenging at times. Because we do our own fulfillment, we have to always be stocked with inventory. So every time we sell a t-shirt, we have to turn around and buy another one for inventory. This makes cash flow management difficult. Don’t underestimate this aspect if you plan to carry your own inventory.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?A lot of tactics and strategies from the "playbook" I’ve developed over the years haven’t worked out as well as I’d planned.While we’ve had some success with Facebook & Instagram Ads, I haven’t been able to achieve the massive scale that we did in our arbitrage business. Maybe that’s because of my refusal to become a discount brand. However, I will say it’s hard to always properly attribute what channels are driving the results. I’ve heard that a customer has to see your brand at least seven times before buying and I think this runs true for us. For us, we try to be visible across all platforms that our customers use.The area on Instagram that we’ve had success with is working with influencers. We’ve been able to attract some popular ambassadors by providing them with free product for their kids. Again, it really helps that we make a quality product and they truly love our brand ethos. Not only has this been an effective way to get our name out there, but we’ve got so many great photos that we can turn around and use for our own marketing & advertising.The biggest surprise to me has been how well email marketing has worked. Email wasn’t one of my strong suits, but I’ve been schooled over the last year and now I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it. Our revenue per email far exceeds any other traffic channel up to this point, so now we’re doubling and tripling down on it. Viral email giveaways have been a successful way for us to acquire emails. We also focus a lot on email segments and flows and we put a lot of time into our newsletters and other promotional emails. I recently heard a quote that says, "People don’t hate getting emails, they hate getting bad emails." I always think about the value we’re providing prior to any emails or communications we send out.How is everything going nowadays, and what are your plans for the future?I’m proud of the loyal customer base and raving fans we’ve developed a relationship with in the short 10-months we’ve been in business. Our sales numbers aren’t as high as I had projected when starting out, but we have a healthy growth trajectory that we continue to build on. I’ve been focusing on making the right decisions for the long-term instead of short-term sales numbers. I’m looking at this business in terms of decades, not years, as I feel like I may have found my calling in life.We’ve recently scaled back our number of full-time employees, but this in no way reflects the state of the business. I made mistakes early on in hiring for growth instead of hiring because we really needed the help. I also made the decision to shutter some of our other projects so that we can focus on this business.In terms of what’s in the near future for Sawyer, we’re close to releasing a line of basics, starting with blank tees made in the USA from 100% organic cotton. We may try and offer that as a subscription service as well. We’ve also started working on producing a functional sweatshirt and sweatpant set. Aside from that we’re finalizing our fall line of new designs, hats & beanies, and sweatshirts so we’re ready to roll that out in time for back-to-school.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have started a kids’ clothing business to be honest. But there’s a saying that sometimes it’s better knowing what you don’t know. The kid’s apparel industry is brutally competitive and consumers today are trained to wait for promotions to buy. That makes being a premium brand hard. Convincing a mom to part with her family’s hard earned money for a $25 t-shirt isn’t easy, especially when she can shop at Target or Walmart for $5 t-shirts. Again, this goes back to selling a quality product and having a brand that stands for something meaningful. The products we make are ethically produced from premium materials and magnitudes better than what you’ll find at a discount department store, but convincing people who can’t see or touch that product first takes work.I’m learning a lot about product development as it relates to apparel. It’s exciting and gratifying to work on a physical product you can touch and feel, which is so different from my previous experience working exclusively with digital properties and products.Something that’s helpful for those starting out or trying to optimize their e-commerce business, is making sure you spend enough time and effort on conversion rates. You can dramatically increase revenue without increasing traffic. We spend a couple hours every week going over our copy, website, and checkout process to continually make improvements in this area. We’ve been able to double our conversion rates since starting.What platform/tools do you use for your business?We use Klaviyo for email and we love it. It has great reporting and segmenting, and it’s easy to create different email flows.A few other apps and tools we use:Yotpo for customer reviews, which are super important for a new product and/or brandShipstation for shipping & printing labelsKickoff Labs for hosting viral email giveawaysBack-in-stock for customers to be notified when sold out products are availableWhat have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Let My People Go Surfing: Written by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia.I’ve recommended this book to a lot of people. It’s the story of how the brand Patagonia was started and the journey of the business over the last 50 years from the founder’s perspective. Patagonia is a brand I respect, both for the quality of products they make and their dedication to social responsibility. This book covers everything from running a meaningful business, to product development, to creating a company culture that inspires people to love coming to work.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Written by Mark Twain.This classic American novel may sound a bit silly to include here, but the name of our brand, Sawyer, came from Tom Sawyer, whom we all know as the quintessential youth explorer. I hadn’t read this book since my own youth, but doing so recently has really inspired and helped shape the direction of our company. It’s an entertaining book as well, with all his antics and clever mischief and whatnot.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Whether that’s fear, laziness, or whatever reason that’s holding them back, it’s the only way to move forward. Once you start you can see what works and what doesn’t and you can always improve from there. Whether you’re successful in your ventures or you fail, and believe me, I’ve failed a lot, you always learn something and feel better for trying.Hanging out in relevant online forums or Facebook groups is a great way to learn. There’s usually a general wealth of knowledge already in there with so much to learn. And it makes asking questions and getting help really easy when you get stuck or need advice. And then there’s Google, we literally have all the information in the history of mankind at our fingertips, so there’s no excuse. Aside from that, listen to podcasts and read books, but again, you will learn more from doing than you will listening to other people’s stories.

2017 Postmortem: 10 Questions

As 2017 finally and mercifully comes to end, it is time to reflect.

Originally, I had a long piece talking about my experience of the past year. I got about 1200 or so words into the piece before deciding to do something else. It was a combination of feeling that I was oversharing in parts and the piece being too melon collie.

I’m not going to say 2017 was a complete sh*t year for me, unlike 2016. There was a fair amount of terrible, but there was also a lot of good that came from it.

I have decided to look back at the year by answering 10 questions.

What made up your body of work this year? Which parts are you most proud of?

A lot my work was in the automotive realm with the majority being news and new car reviews. There was a small number of opinion pieces that I tackled this year.

At the beginning of the year, I delved into the disappointing Detroit Auto Show and looked into the possible reasons as to what happened.

Then in July, I pondered what is the right size vehicle for me. This stemmed from me looking at various compact vehicles.

Here on Contradictory Enigmas, I wrote about my writing troubles. I can report that it has gotten somewhat better, but there are still times where I struggle.

What were your top 5 moments of the year?

Getting my splint removed and given the ok to put weight on my right leg

Doing a massive clean out of my room (7 garbage bags full of stuff, 50-plus books being donated)

Beginning to work on a backlog of fiction reading

Almost filling out a notebook with just writing practice

Being able to drive one of my dream cars, a Lexus LC 500 towards the end of the year

What are you really glad is over?

Aside from the year itself?

I would likely say the feeling of being stuck and thinking that I will not be able to move on. Being in a deep hole, I try my best to climb/claw my way out, only to fall back down and having to start once again. Having this happen over and over becomes very demotivating. It makes you want to give up. But something in me persisted to keep trying. One day, you will be able to climb out.

At least right now, I still fall down. But I know, sooner or later, I will be able to get out.

How are you different today than you were 365 days ago?

I could easily list some of the negative items. For one, I have become a bit more socially awkward. I get way too nervous after sending out emails asking about new work or making a phone call about possibly scheduling a vehicle for review. Talking to someone new is very uncomfortable and I try to avoid it. A lot of this stems from not getting out of the house as much as I would like to during the past year. Plus, I’m not sleeping as much as I used to.

On the positives, I have been working on taking time for myself to anything else other than work. There is a stopping point I have on every workday that I follow, along with taking Sundays off. The challenge now is trying to figure out what to do with all of this time, aside from binging Netflix and YouTube. Cutting back on social media has helped in terms of my mental health and avoiding the FOMO phenomenon. It has also reduced my cynical thoughts by a wide margin - except on politics, but there are reasons to that.

Is there anything you achieved that you forgot to celebrate?

Surprised at how resilient I have become over the past year. This was brought to light when I was notified that a company I had applied for went in a different direction for a job. I was devastated by the news as I got really far in the application process.

Usually, I would dive into work as a way to distract myself from this. But this never worked, only causing more stress and direness. This time, I would decide to a break from work and just let feelings work through. I would lay down for a bit and then find various distractions. A day later, most of the anguish and sadness would be gone. To say I was shocked was a massive understatement.

What have you changed your perspective on this year?

Realizing that I shouldn't feel guilty for taking time off from doing work. 2016 was the year of me trying to survive. I was constantly working seven days a week to make ends meet. As much I as wanted to take a break, I knew that it wasn't going to happen. Aside from feeling burnt out, this train of thought would cause me to feel quite guilty for taking some time for myself.  But this changed within the first few months of the year. I could tell my creativity and quality in my writing was going down. Something needed to change. It has been hard to change this mindset that dictated my 2016. But slowly, I have been making time for myself.

Cutting back the amount of news I take in has also done wonders. 2017 has been a year where it everyone is trying to become more informed with various news sources and gobbling up every story. The problem with is you get the feeling that the world is coming to an end and nothing good is happening. For me, I stay up to date by listening/reading news summaries in the morning and early evening. I might not know everything that is happening in the world at a given moment and I'm ok with that.

The last thing is that I need to get over the hangups of asking for help. I worry that I'm being a bit of a pain and taking advantage of someone when asking for help. But there is a little voice in my head that tells me that isn't true. - you don't constantly bug people about possible new work or looking at a piece, nor have squandered any opportunities in quite some time. It is ok to ask for help, you just need to do it.

Who are the people that really came through for you this year?

The various editors that I worked with over the past year. They were all willing to take some time to go over my work to make them the best they could be. The editors would also take some time to talk with me about areas where I could improve and go over possible ideas. Any writer knows an editor is worth their weight in gold and I'm very lucky to have a few of them.

There was also the small group of close friends to help me get through the year. I'll admit that I feel terrible for not talking with them as much as I would like. But they would always seem to be happy whenever I would call.

What were some pieces of media that defined your year?

Gotta Knock A Little Harder - Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door: Future Blues

The closing song to the Cowboy Bebop movie has been on heavy rotation for me this past year. Some of the lyrics hit close to home.

Always keepin' safe inside Where no one ever had a chance To penetrate a break in

Let me tell you some have tried But I would slam the door so tight That they could never get in

Kept my cool under lock and key And I never shed a tear Another sign of my condition

Fear of love or bitter vanity That kept me on the run The main events at my confession

I kept a chain upon my door That would shake the shame of Cain Into a blind submission

It is a reminder for me that I cannot remain closed off from people. I need to be ok with being somewhat vulnerable, or else I'm locked up in a room of my own making and no one is coming to get me out.

The Rook - Daniel O'Malley

Trying to read any sort of fiction has been really for me. I tend to lose interest very quickly and not fully sure why. The Rook was one of the few fiction books that keep me interested this year. A secret agency that deals with supernatural threats and the main character who lost her memory - you have my attention. I’ll be reading the sequel sometime next year.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within - Natalie Goldberg

This book got me to start doing journaling with various ideas for pieces, stories, and other bits. I still need to finish the book though.

Promises - Monophonics

I only came across this song a few weeks ago and it has become one of my favorites. Something about this song makes want to constantly replay it once it ends.

What will you be leaving behind in 2017?

Setting unrealistic expectations on a number of things, "After I finish X, I can be happy," train of thoughts for example. Also, not trying to predict my future holds as it makes me miserable if it doesn't work out.

What are your goals for 2018?

The big goal for 2018 is figuring out who the hell I am.  In 2016, I felt that I lost the knowledge of who I was. Sure I am a human who is in their late 20s and writes about the auto industry and other bits. But other than those pieces, everything else about myself seemed to fade into black.

This past year has seen me pick up the various bits and pieces of myself in an effort to figure out who I am. It's a complicated puzzle where I have some of the pieces and trying to piece them together. There are a number of pieces that are missing - they could be somewhere else waiting to be unearthed or have faded away.

Next year is where I begin to put the puzzle together by working with the pieces that I have and also creating new ones to help fill in the gaps. I know that I will never be able to complete the puzzle, but I want to feel like that I have made some significant process, not starting at a giant pile and wondering what should I do.

Farewell 2017. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.