#this was dated april 26 but i never posted it (just to document the actual date)
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Joan of Kent's age
When I was writing up this post on Joan of Kent, I got curious about the question of Joan's age. The year that's typically given is 1328 but Kathryn Warner has argued that it was actually 1326 or 1327, based on the Inquisition Post Mortem for Joan's brother, John, made in 1352. Two entries in the IPM give her age as "25 years and more at St Michael last" and "26 years and more at St. Michael last". Warner concludes that as these two entries are the only ones that give a date - St. Michael being Michaelmas or 29 September - around which Joan's birthday must have fallen, then they must have the correct age for Joan, and then concludes:
Where does that [1328] date come from? Did someone perhaps once see John's IPM and mess up the maths and think that age 25 or 26 subtracted from 1352 equalled a date of birth in 1328, and everyone else has just copied it ever since without checking? Or is there some other evidence somewhere I'm missing?
Have historians just being repeating someone's bad maths for decades, too dumb to check the source? Well, no. Come with me on a journey of statistics.
My first thought was Joan's age might have been given in the documents relating to her marriages - which are helpfully transcribed in the appendices of Karl P. Wenterdorf's article on Joan's marriages. Except these only say that Joan was of marriageable age when she married Holland. The canonical age of consent for girls was 12 so Joan would have at least 12 when she married Holland, which would make her born at the latest in 1328. But it didn't make sense that historians would pick this when the reference is so unspecific and Warner is so convinced that the IPM gave us a clearcut answer.
On a whim, I checked out the IPM myself and stopped. The first entry gave her age as "24 years and more". I started scrolling. The answer became obvious. The IPM gives a range of ages from 22 to 26 years and more, which Warner dismisses by claiming the juries would not have never met Joan or know when she was born and just picked random on the basis that all they knew was that she had to be born between 1326 and 1330. But since two give a date around which she could be said to be "25/26 years and more", one of these, according to Warner, must be the correct date of birth.
But the 1328 date comes from the IPM, clear and simple. It is not based on the same logic that Warner uses and it is not a case of "messing up" the maths. It's statistics. Basic statistical analysis.
There are 19 entries that give Joan's age, plus three more that say only "heir as above" [1]. Her age given ranges from 22 to 26, given in turn would mean her birth year ranges from 1326 to 1330. Giving her age as 24 and her birth year as 1328 would put her in the middle of that range. 1328 is also suggested by the frequency by which the age "24 years and more" is given - ten entries out the nineteen entries give that age. Over half. The second-most frequent entry is "26 years and more" at five entries, half that of the entries that give her age as 24 [2]. 22 years and more is given twice. 23 years and more and 25 years and more are only given once each. Here is a chart showing the frequency.
([1] The entries above these give her as 25 years and more once and 24 years and more twice. I have not included these entries in the tally of entries for 24 or 25 years. If I did, the number of entries of 25 years and more would rise to 2 and for 24 years and more, 12. [2] one of the entries that give her age as 26 gives it as "26 years and not more". Rather that counting it separately, I combined it with the "26 years and more".)
The average age based on these entries is 24.3 years of age.
We can narrow Joan's date of birth down further. Her father, Edmund Earl of Kent, was executed on 19 March 1330 and her brother, John, was born just under a month later, on 7 April 1330. Joan is said to have assisted at his baptism so she cannot have been his twin and cannot have been born in 1330. If her birthday did fall around 29 September, she cannot have been born in 1329 either as her mother would have been pregnant with John then. 1328 is the latest year she could be born in, assuming the September birthdate is correct. We don't know when the elder of her two brothers, Edmund, was born only that he had died before October 1331 and like Joan, was a godparent to their younger brother.
Joan's parents married in December 1325, meaning September 1326 is the earliest any child could be born - though this assumes the child was not the result of pre-marital sex. Pre-marital sex was not exactly an uncommon feature in medieval marriages so it is a possibility.
Warner cites another piece of evidence for disregarding the 1328 birthdate. John's proof of age reports:
Edmund son of the said Edmund [Earl of Kent], and Brother John de Grenstede, prior of the order of Friars Preacher of Arundel, and Joan, sister of the said Edmund son of Edmund, lifted the said John from the sacred font on 7 April, 4 Edward III…
Warner concludes that if Joan was born in 1328, it is unlikely that at 18 months, Joan would be considered "old enough and big enough and responsible enough" to lift her newborn brother from the font, even with adult assistance. Maybe, but a similar issue would apply if Joan was 2.5 years old. Perhaps, too, the proof of age should not be read as an exact statement of what happened at John's baptism and the exact wording of Joan "lifting" her newborn brother as a standard turn of phrase than a perfect description of what she did. Both Joan and Edmund would've needed the assistance of adults to act as godparents, though the proof of age does not mention this either. Warner points out that the earliest a child could have been born to their parents was September 1326, which means at either child could be, at most, 3.5 years old. A 3.5 year old wouldn't have been tall enough to reach the font on their own - especially once we take into consideration the forensic evidence that medieval children developed physically slower than modern children.
Another factor, unmentioned by Warner but pointed out by Penny Lawne, is that the direness of the family's situation meant that the newborn John's siblings were playing a very unusual role. Small children were not the typical choice for godparents. This was, after all, just under a month since Edmund, Earl of Kent had been executed and it's likely they were under some kind of house arrest at the time. Edmund and Joan were likely the most suitable choice around - John's other godfather was a prior, a "modest choice" given the family's status. If Joan was 18 months old, it may simply reflect that the family had little alternative.
It is true that two entries in the IPM give Joan's age as "25/26 years and more at St. Michael last." which has generally been taken to suggest Joan was born on or around the feast of St. Michael, i.e. 29 September. Warner assumes that because these two entries are the only ones to be specific about the date, they must be better informed about Joan's birth year.
However, the fact that neither agree on her age suggest that they are not wholly reliable. Furthermore, Warner does not suggest why the locations where this IPM was carried out (Leicester and Nottingham) should be so well informed about Joan's birth and the rest not. We do not know where Joan was born or any details of her birth, such as her godparents, to know if she was born in those locations (Warner herself suggests that if the 1326 date is correct, it's likely Joan was born overseas - which would suggest her birthdate would be incredibly obscure). Nor does it seem like her own proof of age survives to give us these details, or else Warner or Lawne would have cited it.
Warner's final piece of evidence for suggesting that Joan was "rather older" (two years older) and born in 1326 or 1327 is that it would make her "13 or 14" when she married Thomas Holland, as opposed to 12 years of age which is more in keeping with modern sensibilities. Actually, given her birthday was in September and she married Holland in or before May 1340, she would have been 13 at most. Such an argument has no basis in surviving evidence or fact, it is about making modern people more comfortable with the reality of Joan's life. A better argument is that if Joan was born in 1328 the claim made in Holland's petition to the pope that she was of "marriageable age" when they married would be factually incorrect as she would only around 11 years and 8 months old and not yet the canonical age of consent - 12. However, it is possible that Holland fudged the claim and rounded Joan's age up for the purposes of his claim.
*
I don't really know what to think now. I was fairly convinced by Warner's argument that Joan must have been born in 1326 or 1327 but seeing for myself how frequent the age of 24 years is given makes me feel that the 1328 may be far more likely than Warner believes. The theory Warner suggests - that the juries simply guessed at when Joan could be born and came up with a random number - does not readily explain why over half of the juries should randomly pick 24 years of age - double the number of the juries who picked 26 years of age, and ten times the number of the juries who picked 25 years of age. In the end, I do not think the 1328 birthdate can be so readily dismissed - I would say that Joan could have been born in 1326, 1327 or 1328, and unless more evidence is discovered, we will never a definitive answer.
#joan of kent#text posts#i also feel like warner's practice of looking at the ipm and going 'oh it gives a date therefore it's the most accurate and reliable entry'#seems... too easy? too obvious? i don't trust it entirely. people can remember the day and month but not the year sometimes#and i feel if it was so obvious and easy other historians would have employed it too?
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wordplay
i’ve been reading a lot, lately. i’m talking multiple books in the span of just a few weeks, which is the most i’ve read during the past year. i think it’s funny (not in the ha-ha way) that it took a pandemic and a lot of time spent indoors for me to rekindle the childlike wonder i hold for the written word, for the way that i can walk into and imagine entire worlds shaped by the ink of authors who have already done the same thing during the process of their writing.
reading is an inherently reflective exercise for me, as i’m the kind of person who’s always thinking about how a piece of writing reverberates with my state of being and state of mind and about my relationship to the text. reading is also a strongly nostalgic activity for me, as the period of time during which i spent proportionally the most time reading was when i was much younger.
today, i went on a walk, a daily practice for me after coming back to my mother’s home. it has been raining on and off for the past couple days, but the sun came out today and the woods held the memory of rain, small patches of moisture dotting the paths and the smell of earthy musk permeating the air. i was doing that thing where i was thinking about everything and nothing at the same time, and i think the nostalgia i've been nursing while reading so much caused me to remember another smell, similar but very different -- i remembered my father’s old work gloves, the ones i don whenever i (very, very occasionally now) go into my mother’s backyard to do something or other in the soil. they hold the smell of dried earth and evaporated sweat, and i love them because they remind me of warmth and sunshine, of my father and his connection to the earth. they remind me of the garden my parents dug and tended back in florida, full of trailing vines and budding vegetables, seeded from packets they had brought back from china. the new owners of that house tore the garden down and replaced it with a swimming pool.
generally, i’ve been spending a lot of time inside my head these days. i attribute this primarily to living with my mother -- i flew back to spend what was supposed to be my spring break with my brother, who was returning to my mother’s house after getting kicked off his college campus, and then shelter-in-place started, and i’ve been here for more than a month now. being in this space is at once wonderful and terrible. it is wonderful because i haven’t been in portland during springtime in many years, and i forgot how truly awe-inspiring (and nose-itching) it is to see the flowers in all their glory in the northwest. i’ve spent too much time in california this past year, it seems, and i didn’t know until now that my soul was thirsting for the lush grass and vibrant blooms that are so common in portland. it is terrible because my mother’s house, as well as close proximity to my mother, made extreme by the restrictions of shelter-in-place, dredges up a lot of conflict and anger and memory that i had assumed were past me. but of course trauma never works that way, and trauma edges itself into words laced too tight, into hands raised high, into clenched teeth and averted gazes.
so all of this is causing me to spent a lot of time inside my head, and some of it is good, and some of it is bad, and some of it just is.
all this time without physical contact with my community and my chosen family have also forced me to rethink intimacy. who do i spend time with, and how do i spend time with them? how do all these things change without being able to hold people in my arms? i miss tender touches and the way being with people in person lets you see them smile with their eyes. i miss liquid courage and the way my friends can make me feel like i’m invincible. i miss loving love and feeling free(r). i am alone and steadily becoming lonely. i miss sex and touching people!
the past few weeks have also forced me to really look privilege in the eye; this is the first time i’ve written a long-form piece since i started medical school, and i know deep down that it’s because i’ve been afraid of what a thoughtful level of scrutiny would turn up. even before i started medical school i knew that stanford is very much a similar kind of beast that duke was -- an institution aligned with empire and with its power -- but i’ve been avoiding the work that i needed to do in really examining my relationship to empire and the consequences of my decision to attend this institution. this has been especially relevant during the past few weeks as i’ve watched the structures of power around the world and in the united states (or what it is really is: unceded Native land) crumble while also struggle desperately try to prop themselves up. i’m watching as capitalism implodes upon itself and people scramble to take care of themselves and their loved ones, and i’m also watching as it reimagines itself by using the bodies of the most oppressed among us as collateral damage.
i’ve been thinking about how stanford in general, and the stanford hospital system in particular, align with these observations. there is irony that is not lost on me. i notice that my privilege as a medical student compounds with my access to a (mostly) stable shelter-in-place location as well as my guarantee of world-class care should i fall sick to assure me that I’ll probably come out of this alive and not too worse for wear, all in contrast with how there are groups of people that are systematically excluded from medical care at stanford, and how these groups have been disproportionately affected by covid-19, and how the reason why they are disproportionately affected in the first place is because of the structures of power that refuse to let go.
and, of course, i have to return to my positionality as a medical student. i’ve been thinking a lot about how i mostly knew what i was getting into when i accepted the offer of admission at a place like this -- that is, how i knew that i was outwardly aligning myself with an empire-imbued institution, built from and continuing to profit off of the systemic exploitation and exclusion of the bodies least valued by the empire. i’ve been thinking a lot about how i went into all of this with the idea that i could utilize my positionality to make change in a system that resists any sort of revolutionary instinct... but at the same time, isn’t this the same sort of rhetoric that i roll my eyes at when, say, folks who go into finance say that they’ll “change the system from the inside?” i am wondering how the way the empire forces my hand in choosing survival within the system will influence me as i continue. i am wondering how much more/less/the same change i could meaningfully make if i declined the offer of admission and my spot in the class went to someone who is anti-abortion and believes in a gender binary, among other things (and i know of people at the medical school who believe these things!).
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Late Stage Swiftgron Part 1
Update from November 2021 - I really don’t believe much of this is meaningful at all. I don’t think they’re sitting around referencing one another on social media or anything but some of Dianna’s interactions with Karlie are interesting Dianna shows up explicitly in Taylor’s life a couple more times so I’m leaving these sections here.;
From here on out everything but the 2014 AMAs and Dianna’s somewhat shocking appearance at Taylor’s 2019 SNL performance are just odd social media shenanigans (or subtweets) between the two, and Taylor appearing to release at least one more song about Dianna (Babe in 2018) (and let’s be honest you can make a strong argument for The 1 being about Dianna as well other post 1989 songs.)
Some of this might be complete crack or coincidence but as you all know I want this to be the most thorough Swiftgron document possible.
If anything it proves they both certainly still have similar interests and they really do seem to be in touch.
There are some interactions claimed by others to be Swiftgron related that I’m not going to include because they’re just a bit too reachy for me (though I completely support the theorizing!) but in general, if I personally can see the hint of a Swiftgron connection, I’m going to include it here.
Draw your own conclusions and take everything, particularly the alleged subtweets/social media shenanigans, with a grain of salt.
And yes there’s tons of Kaylor and other Gaylor/Gaygron content that will be left out of this segment because this masterpost is focused on Swiftgron. Someday it would be cool to make a giant masterpost/timeline that documents all of it, but for now it’s just going to be Swiftgron stuff.
August 26, 2014 - Dianna tweets, and then deletes “Withdrawals, clearly…we had fun.”
There’s no screen shot of this tweet but some retweets/responses of it remain:
If Dianna is indeed referencing the song Clean (in which their relationship is compared to an addiction hence, “withdrawals” from it) then Taylor would have had to give her advanced knowledge of the song since 1989 did not come out until October 2014.
Taylor did claim she ran 1989 by the muse that inspired it and they were both in LA in late August 2014. Maybe this is when.
November 1, 2014 - Taylor posts about Clean
November 19, 2014 - The 2014 AMAs Kaylorgron Explosion Extravaganza:
Taylor, Karlie, and Dianna are at the event. Taylor and Karlie are clearly on a date and Dianna is there to present Sam Smith’s performance of I’m not the only one. Dianna seems a bit out of her element/gloomy when interviewed on the red carpet and Taylor flexes Karlie hard, dancing with her throughout the night and even sitting on her lap during an interview.
Click here for photos, video, gifs, and a live L chat reaction to the night.
December 28, 2014 - The writer for the tv show The Originals, Carina Mackenzie, tweeted that 1989 was about Dianna:
It’s of course notable that someone in the industry is “confirming” Swiftgron on main (particularly before gaylor went mainstream with Kaylor being so obvious in 2015/2016) however what’s even more interesting and notable about this tweet is that an actor named Michael Trevino was on the show The Originals and he dated Jenna Ushkowitz from 2011-2014.
Not only that but Michael was at Dianna’s 26th birthday when Taylor was in attendance as well.
It’s possible that Michael witnessed Swiftgron in real life and spilled a bit to the writer of the TV show he was on.
January 5, 2015 - Taylor likes a Swiftgron related post on Tumblr of Dianna saying she’d go on the road with Taylor and carry her bags at the Giffoni Film Festival in 2012:
February 9, 2015 - Style is released as a single
February 13, 2015 - The Kaylor “Best Friends” on a road trip Vogue Spread comes out. You’re probably familiar with it but if you aren’t google it. It’s incredibly romantic and pda filled.
The Style music video is released on this day as well.
We don’t have to go through the whole video but one egg I just have to note is the cave pictured in the MV is in Morocco the same country Dianna seemed to flee to after Swiftgron was outed:
February 14, 2015 - Dianna tweets 143 remember those days (for some reason it has not been deleted) seemingly in response to the Kaylor vogue shoot:
143 is a code that means “I love you” that originated from Mister Rogers. Both Taylor and Dianna have publicly shown that they are fans of his. Taylor has even made certain songs 3 minutes and 41 seconds long seemingly referring to this number and wore a Mister Rogers pin on a jacket for a photoshoot once.
Here’s a bit more in depth analysis on the significance of the 143 post.
This tweet is how we know that it is 100% in Dianna’s character to occasionally subtweet Taylor and why a lot of this social media analysis has been done.
February 16, 2015 - Just two days later Dianna attends a fashion show in which Karlie walks and is noted to “have kept a smirk on her face” during. Dianna doesn’t clap at the end of the show and looks miserable in photos of the event:
February 17, 2015 - Taylor releases Wonderland
I’m going to pause here and discuss the song Wonderland for a brief moment because it is some of the most incredibly airtight evidence for Swiftgron available.
Dianna’s favorite book of all time is Alice in Wonderland. She brought it up in interviews all the time, tweeted about it, auctioned off a signed copy of it for charity, her private Tumblr and instagram account are called whosirmesir which is a reference to it, her private Tumblr is filled with reblogs about Alice, and her public Tumblr was called fell down the rabbit hole.
So the fact that Taylor writes an entire song describing a relationship through the lens of and packing full of references to Alice in Wonderland is incredibly interesting.
Let’s take a look at some of these lyrics:
Flashing lights and we, took a wrong turn and we
Fell down the rabbit hole (literally Dianna’s tumblr name and url)
Didn't you flash your green eyes at me (Dianna is famous for her beautiful almost hypnotic green eyes and yes they are green)
Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds (queer coded)
Too in love to think straight (queer coded)
But there were strangers watching
And whispers turned to talking
And talking turned to screams (seems to reference when they were outed)
You searched the world for something else (Dianna very publicly went travelling around the world right after April 2013 when they seem to break up)
Taylor literally put Dianna’s Tumblr URL in the song. Frankly I’m kind of shocked she released this song at all it is so obviously and clearly about Dianna. Truly a Swiftgron anthem!
Back to the timeline...
March 8, 2015 - Taylor posts Flamingos for her dad’s birthday:
The caption was “Happy Birthday, Dad. Thanks for all the unconditional love, sarcastic comments, and interesting Christmas presents.”
May 1, 2015 - Dianna posts a flamingo for her birthday (post is now deleted):
The caption was “This is 29. Spoiled rotten. Funny enough, at work they were painting the hallways white and the roses (hallway doors) red, then I actually went to Wonderland (@AliceUnderLdn) and came home to a surprise flamingo. Here we go. Another year around the sun…feeling lucky and loved and loved and lucky.”
Taylor also gave Emily, another rumored ex, a flamingo bandana for her birthday. i also think it’s odd that Dianna mentions Wonderland specifically in the post.
January 15, 2016 - Dianna’s engagement to Winston is announced and Kaylors notice Taylor is liking sad posts on Tumblr including several posts related to Clean:
November 7, 2016 - Lorde’s birthday party where Kaylor is together in public for the last time for 20 months.
January 5, 2017 - Claire (who is still very close with Taylor) comments on one of Dianna’s Instagram posts):
March 2, 2017 - Dianna posts her James Dean inStyle UK photo to Instagram:
This is actually the second time she has posted this as a throwback photo. She also posted it on February 4, 2016 with simply the caption “TBT” and did not include the “rebel without a clue” bit which is a reference to James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause). She’s never posted the same TBT photo twice before or after this (as of the writing of this post in October 2020).
It I may be permitted to go real far out on a limb here it’s almost as if she wanted people to connect that photo of her in the UK InStyle magazine to James Dean. James Dean is of course the way Taylor describes her lover in the song Style.
At any rate it’s very odd that it’s the only photo she’s posted twice whether it’s related to Taylor or not.
April 25, 2017 - Fans notice Dianna is having her script tattoo removed:
This is significant because a part of the tattoo was dedicated to Alice in Wonderland - it said “We’re all mad here”
Tattoo removal is a years long process:
So it’s possible she started getting it removed around the time that Wonderland came out.
It’s also possible part of the tattoo was dedicated to Lea (the part that said “here I am”) so this whole removal situation is very interesting.
In 2019 she was still getting it removed and commented this at a Cafe Carlyle session:
"i was like i don't know i wanna explain all my tattoos or the one that i'm getting removed on my side...you know you're like...WHATEVER we're stopping we're moving on"
February 13, 2018 - Dianna attends the Carolina Herrera fashion show, so does Karlie. Dianna is introduced to Karlie by Derek Blasberg and very audibly calls Karlie “gorgeoouusss” as they meet.
Kayda play “Gorgeous” by Taylor Swift.
vimeo
Click here to keep reading!
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"The Prom-us Roulette rules and Guidelines- please check your email. I sent this all in an email, but if you haven't seen it, please reach out through email and let me know if you have any questions or concerns
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M-preg
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I have created a Tumblr page for this event, so please follow the page. It will be listed under Klaine Fic Roulette- The "Prom-us".
9. Characters- I polled all of the writers to see which characters you guys really wanted to write and who you didn’t. Basically, anyone in season 3 is fair game, but let’s keep it simple. The main characters are Kurt and Blaine. If there is another character you want to write, go for it.
However, there were a few characters you should try to keep out of major plot lines, and those are Mr. Shu, Sue Sylvester, and Puck. You can mention them, but let’s try to keep those characters on the side. On the plus side, almost all of us wanted large doses of Burt, Mercedes, Rachel,Santana, Sam, Finn, Quinn, Carol, and the Warblers. (I personally love that Burt was number 1). Whoever you write, let’s just make sure that the focus stays on Kurt and Blaine.
10. Betaing- You are welcome to get a beta on your own. However, I will have a signup soon for betas. I have had it suggested that each of us beta the chapter before yours as a final readthrough, and to add comments or notes. It would be a good way to get feedback and ask questions. That way, we can keep the story connected, and help the authors writing the final chapters tie everything together. It doesn’t have to be gigantic comments. It can just be a winky face or an “I like this line, or even, what does this mean? We won’t be posting until May and so I’m sure some of you would like feedback before then. This is a way that we can do that.
I included the prompt and tropes down below in case you haven’t seen it or needed a refresher.
Prompt: Kurt and Blaine met just as they did in canon, and even though Blaine realizes when Kurt sings Blackbird that he's in love with Kurt, he never says anything, and Kurt goes back to McKinley. Blaine transfers to McKinley for senior year, and they are best friends, bonding on being the only two out guys at McKinley until Karaofsky comes back. And he's out and proud, and he wants Kurt. And so he asks Kurt to be his prom date, repeatedly until Kurt, in frustration, finally blurts out that someone already asked him. He said the first name that came to mind, Blaine's. On top of that, he tells Dave that they are now dating. Now, Kurt needs to convince his best friend to take him to the biggest event of their high school year, senior prom.
Tropes: Fake Dating, Friends to Lovers, High school Klaine, Canon Divergent
A few notes:
The opening scene is from Season 2 starting at Original song. Everything is canon up to that point (except that Blaine and Kurt are both in the same year (Juniors), then things diverge a little.
Blaine never got to finish the “You move me speech, and so they never became a couple.
Someone else (Alex) at Dalton asked Kurt out, and Blaine lost his nerve. Kurt went back to McKinley in “Born This Way” and he ended up breaking up with Alex right before Junior Prom (Prom Queen).
Blaine shows up so Kurt doesn’t have to go stag. Kurt is still named Prom Queen and Karofsky transfers schools.
This story will take place primarily in season 3. Blaine transferred to McKinley at the beginning of their senior year. He starts dating Sebastian after they go to Scandals in ‘The First Time’. They break up because Blaine finds out that Sebastian is sleeping with other people. The events of chapter 1 happen shortly after Valentine’s Day (On My Way aired on February 21, 2012. Promasaurus aired on May 8 (A timeline of roughly 11 weeks- which I’m going to round to a 12 week timeline.
All in all, this is a friends to lovers and a fake dating story. The plot conflicts should all relate to the prom, Kurt’s and Blaine’s feelings for one another (they are in love with each other but both afraid to say anything and mess up the friendship that they have), and the issues they have with Karofsky and Sebastian. It can also include issues with the New Directions, but it’s important that the focus stays on Kurt and Blaine. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or comment to the author of that chapter. This is going to be a great story. I can feel it. Ultimately, I want us all to enjoy this experience.
Be on the look for chapter one in your email over the next few weeks. It is written and has already been sent to the second author in line. I’m not sending it out to all of you yet because I’m not sure about a few little details. I’ll send it as soon as I figure it all out. Please let me know ASAP if you have any questions or concerns. Just comment in this document or email me at [email protected].
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A silly story that just kinda popped into my head
The idea for this popped into my head while I was at work and I slapped it together over the course of several hours. I don’t think I’ll do anything else with it but, I thought I’d share it.
A Traveler from a Different Hungary
On Friday, June 12th 2015, a fatal vehicle accident occurred on 10th South Avenue in Great Falls Montana. As one of the busiest streets in Montana, fatal accidents are not uncommon and in the modern world many would sadly not regard it as worthy of notice were it not for the strange state of the victim and the strange interest paid to the case by officials from Malmstrom Air force base.
At ten o'clock that morning, a man named Antal Kovács was struck and killed by an oncoming Semi Truck. After a lengthy investigation by the city police the driver of the truck (name withheld to protect his privacy) was cleared of any wrong doing, maintaining to this day that he did not see Mr. Kovács until he hit the poor man. What I don't believe he has ever told anyone is just how literally he means that.
Mr. Kovács was rushed to the city hospital but, pronounced dead on arrival. Amongst the man's personal effects were a back pack full of period costumes, a wallet containing a large amount of currency of unknown origin, cards and paperwork identifying the deceased as a citizen of the (seemingly no existent) Greater Slavic Confederation, a ten shot .32 pistol of unknown manufacture, a journal written in a slightly archaic form of Hungarian, and a 12inch by 12inch by 4inch electrical device resembling a CB radio, but, it was seemingly damaged in the accident as the investigators claimed they were never able to make it work. Linguistic experts at the University of Providence were consulted to translate the journal but, nothing was ever publicly revealed, beyond the experts' assertion that the journal seems to have been part of an elaborate hoax.
While it is unknown when the personnel at Malmstrom became involved, several anonymous sources that claim to be connected to the police force insist they were called in after the journal was translated, only to confiscate everything as a matter of national security.
Now I suppose we come to my part of the story. I am a small time writer and academic in a small northwestern town, about a year ago, I began researching this story on a whim after a journalist friend of mind directed me to the case. Well she calls herself a journalist, the rest of us call her a conspiracy vlogger but, she does occasionally find some fascinating, and frightening things. For most of that time I felt like was repeatedly throwing myself at a brick wall. Everyone I contacted would either directly tell me that the story was nothing more than an attempted hoax gone wrong, or act like they knew something only to point me to another person that would. I had become quite discouraged until two weeks ago when a mysterious package with no return address arrived in my mail. To my surprise, it contained a manuscript that perported to be the translation of Kovács journal, with a note that read, “This is the translation as best as I remember it, the Air force took the actual journal and the translation as I'm sure you know, still I don't think anyone cares about the event anymore, so you should be able to publish it yourself if you would like--- A friend”. I do not know if I believe this story, but, I present this it here for the public to read and decide for themselves.
The Research Journal of Antal Kovács
Pages 1-18: Seem to have been forcibly ripped from the book, possibly as a measure of secercy.
Page 19:
Date; 11th March, 2010
I have finally succeed, after ten years of work, ten years of failures and set backs, my time travel device is finally complete and functional. I have yet to test the device on myself, but, test runs with the device and a camera secured to both inanimate objects and animals has shown that the spatial dislocation and automatic recall mechanism are functioning within desired parameters, however I still can not send the device into the future. I will have to run more tests, but, I should be ready to time travel myself before the end of the month.
Pages 20-26: Strings of calculations seemingly to solve the issue of not being able to travel forward in time, page 26 reads, “the calculations say I should be able to do it but, all attempts have failed.”
Page 27:
Date; 24th March, 2010
I have completed my first trip, I traveled backwards in-time 72 hours and trans-located from my home Sopron to Madrid Spain, and then back again with the automatic recall. I remained in the past for six hours, purchasing souvenirs and eating dinner, before returning to my home, as I have observed with my previous tests, using the automatic recall spending six hours in the past means returning to the present six hours after I left, tomorrow I will test the manual return mechanism.
Date; 25th March, 2010
Success, at 12:00 I went back in time almost a full year, spending a week in Naples Italy before returning to the present at 12:05. All tests indicate that a it takes four minutes to fully transition between time periods and I am not yet ready to see what will happen if to versions of myself exist within the same space/time coordinates.
Page 28: Scribbled calculations and shopping notes for the next trip
Page 29:
Date; 9th April, 2010
Close call “today”, I departed from my basement laboratory for intent on spending a month in the 11th century exploring the Congo region. However, upon my arrival I startled a formation of tribal warriors seemingly preparing for a battle, my sudden appearance caused much excitement among the assembled warriors, with much shouting and gesticulations in my direction. Finally the warriors seem to have come to the conclusion that I was a good omen and set off for their battle. Unable to contain my curiosity I followed the tribal warriors at what I hoped was a safe distance (as an aside, no it is not easy for a man who has maintained a mostly sedentary life, keeping up with a group of hunter gatherers is not easy). When we reached the battle site, the warriors I had followed engaged their enemy, the battle lasted for over two hours and while it seemed at several points that what I had come to think of as “my” warriors, would win the day, their opponents eventually drove them from the field. I don't know what what the survivors were saying as they retreated towards me, but, I really was not eager to find out.
Page 30:
Date; 22nd April, 2010
Was captured by a gang of bandits while exploring 13th century Ireland today, fortunately they were much more interested in the coins and food I had assembled for the trip and I was able to slip away while they squabbled over the “spoils”. Other than that it was great trip, and I was able to gather a significant number of covert digital photographs of daily life seven hundred years ago.
Pages 31-34: More calculations, at least two pages were heavily water damaged
Page 35: A hastily scribbled note reading “It seems the Western Interior Sea Way covered more of Cretaceous North America than geologists think.”
Page 36:
Date; 2nd June, 2010
Three near misses today, first I accidentally transported myself into the nest of what I believe was a Megalosaurus. Upon fleeing back to my lab, I made preparations to travel to ice age Siberia, where I was attacked by cave lions. Finally I traveled to 14th Century France where I was immediately spotted and pursued as a warlock. I may need to obtain some form of self-defense if I am to continue my explorations.
Page 37:
Date; 9th July, 2010
It took some effort but, I have obtained an army surplus bayonet, 7.65mm pistol and 11mm lever action rifle for trips to less settled time periods.
Pages 38-50: Several pages rendered unreadable from dried blood possibly caused by the accident.
Page 51:
Date; 15th September, 2010
I had to shoot an actual Neanderthal today. I was wandering the ice age Germany documenting the wildlife when I accidentally interrupted a Neanderthal hunting party, spooking the deer they were stalking. There were three of them, and all of them charged me, I fired two shots into the air which startled two of them but, the third kept charging, so I began to give ground until I was backed into a corner and I had to shoot him. I don't know if I killed him or not, I simply fired on him till he collapsed and I transported myself home.
Page 52:
Date; 1st August 2011
I have put off using the device for almost a year, and yet in that time I have never told anyone about my device, there is something I must do first. My own fumblings do not seem to have harmed history in any significant way. But, what if someone that truly wanted to alter history were to get there hands on my device. I have a plan I will go back to 1922 and assassinate Nikoli Simonov, the leader of the Russian army during the great war and the reason that Belarussia is not part of the Confederation today. After I have assessed the good or harm done by this action, I will return to 1922 and stop myself to see what happened.
Page 53-54:
Date; 7th August, 2011
I don't know were to begin, I just don't know were to begin. I traveled back to 1922 and, just as I had planned, I assassinated Nikoli, I watched him for weeks until I had my opportunity, and I took my shot. I narrowly escaped the guards and transported my way back to 2011, only to learn that in this new time-line, Nikoli's replacement proved to be an even more cunning tactician and the Confederation was crushed. I spent weeks or months of subjective time leaping from battle to battle, watching the battles, watching how different post war international politics changed. Finally when I felt I'd learned enough, recorded enough, I returned to 1922 Russia, ready to stop myself. I searched all of Moscow, but, never found myself. I was confused, I clearly still existed in this time-line, my house was full of my things, many of my friends still existed, they recognized me, they made the same comments about how withdrawn and hermit-like I'd become, that they made in my original time-line. Confused I returned to 2011 once again. When I returned the world was exactly as I left it before setting off to kill Nikoli. How can this be, every other point I jumped to was clearly part of my new time-line. Did my alternate self simply not embark on my grisly task? This will take further research.
Pages 55-60: More formulas, strange flow charts and seemingly unrelated strings of words
Page 61:
Date; 10th June, 2015
I have done so many things, if I have a soul it is well and truly damned. I burned down Doctor Alverez laboratory before she could begin her ground breaking research into radiation, I shot down the Chinese inventor Hu Xiang as he made his 1900 flight, I prevented Dr Grosman from formulating the theory of relativity, and so much more. Everytime the same result, I come back to an altered 2011 or 13 or, I don't even know any more, I've aged my self almost twenty years while only four have passed. And every time I jump around from decade to decade to see what has changed, only to finally go back to stop myself and I'm not there, but, when I return to the present, everything is as it should be. I think I have finally gathered enough data to reveal my invention to the world, but, I must perform my last experiment. I will alter the entire course of the Confederation, and its so simple, every school child knows the story, in 1213, Agoston Juhász, the man who would become the first leader of the Greater Slavic Confederation was riding through the Carpathian mountains and came to a fork in the road, one leading higher into the mountains the other leading into a pleasant valley. He chose to take the high road and that night a land slide wiped out the valley. My plan is to simply go back in time, convince him the high road is blocked. Once I've seen all I wish of the alternate future I have created, I will return, and my alternate self will never arrive.
Well, that's were the account ends. Is it true, damned if I know, I do know that Agoston Juhász means “Exalted Shepard” in the Hungarian language, and I'm not even certain if either word were in use as names in thirteenth century Hungary so take it as you will. As for me I'm going make sure my security system hasn't been mysteriously deactivated.
----Efrain Phelan, freelance writer
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This is Alillia “Lala” Minthorn, a 25 year old member of the Yakama Nation in Washington. Here is how her friends and family remember her:
“Alillia “Lala” Minthorn was a daughter, a friend and a sister: big-hearted, a caretaker to everyone and altogether curious.” – as described to Emily Goodell with the Associated Press*
“She was there in the rough times and in the dark times when nobody else wanted to be…And she never left until you were OK.” – Her sister, Tanya Miller*
Overall, outside of her sister, Alillia’s family has been quiet about the case.
One disturbing fact is that Tanya and Alillia knew quite a few women that have gone missing over recent years. They had a relationship with Linda Dave, Destiny Lloyd, and Rosenda Strong. They also knew Felina Metsker and Roselita Longee. Longee went missing in 2019 and has not been found. Felina Metsker was murdered in 2016. These women are not disappearing in a vacuum – a whole community of women are being harmed and taken. Whole networks of families are impacted. Children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, nieces, nephews, brothers, and friends. What is happening is an insidious toxin that is working its way through generation after generation of a people that have already experienced tremendous trauma and harm. We must start asking questions and demanding answers from our law enforcement agencies and lawmakers. By looking away we are robbing communities of the justice they so deeply deserve. Even if a perpetrator is not a white man, the racist and genocidal systems our country has implemented since the birth of our nation hold culpability. We must start caring.
Facts of the Case
On May 3rd, 2019 Alillia left a homeless camp and got into a car driven by Jordan Stevens and two unnamed “witnesses.” On May 9th a missing persons report was filed. On May 29th, with the assistance of one of two “witnesses,” police were led to Alillia’s body, where it had been left in a remote part of the Yakama Reservation. On July 10th, Stevens was remanded into custody. The cause of death was a gunshot to the head.
Currently, a trial is scheduled for February 2020. Because both Alillia and Stevens are enrolled members of the Yakama Nation, the case is being handled by the FBI and the trial will be held in federal court.
Jordan Stevens
Jordan Stevens has a long history of violence.
In 2011 Stevens was incarcerated for a serious assault against a romantic partner. He was sentenced to 41 months in jail and was released December 12th, 2016. In 2017 a warrant was issued for his arrest as he had not followed through with any of his probation conditions. The latest court document we could view for this case said his whereabouts were unknown.
He is also believed to be responsible for an assault in April, 2019, in a homeless camp in Toppenish.
April 30th Assault
Several news sources have indicated that Stevens was involved in an assault on April 30th, 2019 at the same homeless camp that Alillia was picked up from. The court documents actually say “on or around” April 30th and “near” the homeless camp. We found three assaults that could be the one referred to.
This is the “Compound” as seen on Google Maps:
There was an assault on April 21st:
An assault April 26th:
And an assault on April 30th:
There was also an assault that occurred on May 3rd at 11pm, but since that’s the day Alillia went missing, it seems unlikely that this was the April 30th assault.
We are unable to dig up any other information about these three cases or how they relate to Stevens. We do know from the Criminal Complaint filed on June 28th 2019, that Alillia was “questioned at the scene.” She also told family “If I don’t come back, look for me” when she got into Stevens’ car.* To us, this sounds like Alillia knew that Stevens thought she had “ratted” him out to federal authorities. Later, the “witness” referred to as “Witness 1” confirmed that this was Stevens’ motive in the homicide.
What’s interesting about the court document referring to this case is that it is not expressly said that the two events are related. The April 30th date is presented, and it is implied that this is what Alillia was murdered over. We wonder though if this is truly the reason why Stevens felt he had been sold out. Maybe it was related to his probation issues. Maybe Alillia told the federal agents investigating the assault where he could be found? We won’t know really, until February 2020, so stay tuned for updates when the trial begins.
Next of Kin
One thing that stood out as incredibly strange to us about this case is how authorities treated Alillia’s sister, Tanya. When Alillia was reported missing, Tanya was determined to spread the word and find her sister. She had an active Facebook group dedicated to doing so, and made posts hoping to find her sister from May through August 2019. While authorities had identified Alillia’s body and had a suspect by May 29th, no one told Tanya until August. It is not publicly known who Alillia’s dedicated Next of Kin (NOK) was, but we know they chose to stay quiet and not alert the rest of the family. Tanya and her aunt, Tina, felt a rightful sense of betrayal, not just from the NOK, but also from authorities who they had contacted daily to get updates to Alillia’s case. We imagine it would be embarrassing and angering to be so vocal in the search for a loved one, and now know that others knew what happened and kept quiet.
Some have called for policy changes to ensure this doesn’t occur again, and we have some speculations on what might have happened in this case in particular. Before we start, it is important to remember that we do not actually know what happened so take our theories with a grain of salt.
First, authorities knew by May 29th that Stevens had murdered Alillia. They knew this because “Witness 1” came forward and led them to the body, as the “witness” felt Stevens may murder them for having information related to the homicide.
Stevens was arrested July 10th, 2019.
Newspaper articles began coming out in mid-August stating that Alillia had been found and identified, and Stevens was in custody. Tanya made a post on the page acknowledging that the search was over for her sister.
We wonder if authorities instructed Alillia’s NOK to keep quiet about the body discovery for two reasons:
1. “Witness 1” was afraid they would be murdered for cooperating with federal agents, and since this person had been a party to a murder with Stevens that had been carried out for that very reason, this was a reasonable fear.
2. Authorities may not have known where Stevens was (as indicated by it taking them almost two months to arrest him).
Had Tanya put on her page that Alillia had been found, Stevens may have seen that and known that one of the two “witnesses” had aided federal authorities (especially since the body was in such a remote location that authorities could only have found it with assistance. They searched for it before without the aid of the “witness” and were unable to find her). He could have left town or hurt the “witnesses.” The same would have been true for news media reporting the same information.
Perhaps this is why authorities did not reveal information to Tanya and her aunt when they sent in their daily requests for information.
There is a kink in this interpretation of events, however. On the Facebook post Tanya made about her sister being found and dead, there was this comment:
Whoever made that comment knew Alillia had been discovered and that the NOK was keeping quiet. And this person doesn’t indicate any reason why Tanya would be left in the dark.
One thing is for certain, though: if there was no good reason for keeping Tanya and her aunt in the dark, this was an exceptionally cruel undertaking by the authorities they were in contact with.
The Compound
Tanya has stated to the press that Alillia was homeless. We cannot find anything else that states this explicitly, but it sounds like she may have been living at the “Compound.” In 2017 350 – 500 families were evicted from Tribal owned housing, forcing some to become homeless. This led to the creation of the semi-permanent “Compound” and another lot with tiny homes.
The top three reasons families were evicted were:
1. Drug test failure
2. Late rent payments
3. Overcrowding in units
Before leaping on the drug test failures, it is widely known that drug use is prevalent in rural communities across the United States and is not unique to these Toppenish families. The other two reasons speak to poverty and a housing crisis currently affecting reservations.
Tribal owned housing is desperately needed on the Yakama Reservation, and in Native American communities in general. On the Yakama Reservation alone, the poverty rate is 37.3%, compared to the US average of 26.8%.
Factors that contribute to poverty on reservations:
· Remote locations – many reservations were placed by the federal government in isolated plots of land away from urbanized environments (aka, further away from jobs).
Looking at this map, it appears that the Yakama Reservation is close to both Portland and Seattle, but in actuality it is 4.5 and 2.5 hours away by car, respectively.
· Lack of public transportation to get to jobs
· Tribal lands are owned by the federal government. Yakama specifically is 80% owned by the federal government, and 20% privately. This impedes the ability of tribal members to own businesses and enrich their communities. Additionally, the federal government makes it bureaucratically difficult to make economic developments on tribal land.
· Lack of access to education – reservation schools are funded by the federal government, so they do not benefit from state taxes designated for education. The Trump administration has been consistent in their desire to cut federal funding for education.
· Federal programs fund housing for sovereign tribes, programs the Trump administration has cut funding for.
The federal government’s historic and current meddling and abuse of tribal land has culminated in an environment where it is hard to reduce poverty in these communities. We as a society love to say it’s the responsibility of tribes to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps” and invest in their own communities, while at the same time electing leaders that make that almost impossible.
We know that homeless persons are uniquely vulnerable to violence and disenfranchisement. We know that homeless women are especially vulnerable. It is terrifying to be homeless.
We wonder if Stevens also lived at the “Compound.” Did he terrorize people there? It certainly sounds like it. When we ignore Native American communities and reservations, we create an environment where men and women can hurt others almost without consequence. We don’t know that Alillia’s housing status played into her murder, but it likely made her more vulnerable.
What Can We Do?
Learn more about the tribal communities in your state. Get to know the policies and programs that hurt or assist those communities and stop seeing your relationship with tribal communities as “us versus them.” Donate to programs that need it! Reach out to organizations that serve tribal communities in your state to see what assistance they need. Read, learn, and educate yourself. Put pressure on your law enforcement agencies to follow up on these homicides and ask your local media to report on them. Be a voice for change! Learn some facts and dismantle ignorant arguments and statements made by your friends, family, and community. We cannot keep watching this violence unfold and turn a blind eye. After decades of genocidal policies, we need to do much, much better.
To learn more about the Yakama Nation: http://www.yakamanation-nsn.gov/
To Learn More About Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women:
· National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Canada) https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/
· Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA https://mmiwusa.org/
· CBC’s database on MMIWG (Canada) https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/
· Justice for Native Women (USA and Canada) http://www.justicefornativewomen.com/
· The REDress Project (Canada) http://www.redressproject.org/?page_id=43
· Melanie Bartel, an indigenous artist in Canada. Check out her work! https://www.melaniebartelart.com/justine-cochrane.html
· Missing and Murdered (Canadian Podcast) https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/missing-and-murdered
Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear (American activist based out of Montana, United States) https://twitter.com/native4data
*Article here: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/if-i-dont-make-it-back-come-look-for-me-yakama-woman-told-her-sister-before-she-was-killed/
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I apologize in advance for this post, as it kind of cheers away from the types of subjects I generally prefer to flood my blog with. I just happen to be one of those people who feels infinitely better after they have typed out whatever is bothering them.
I am a disabled person, and due to earning less than 1k per month I have to rent. I know that one day I will be able to buy a house, but it just isn’t in the immediate future for me. The house I live in (the lease is up on June 26 and it is currently April 21) is owned by a property management. This means there is no sole landlord. Rather, it is overseen by a couple of office managers and the owner of the establishment. I have lived here since July of 2017 (it is 2019 now) and have yet to meet the actual owner of the property management, and at first this did not seem like an issue. During the initial viewing there did not appear to be an issue with the woman in charge of our property, we will call her Mila, and the property seemed to be in satisfactory condition.
Something you should know before progressing further in this story is that I was not a part of the initial viewing and I did not move in until weeks after my roommates did. They were both vulnerable a naive people, seeing as they were from overprotective families and had never lived away from home. However, their parents viewed the property and assured me all was well.
So I move in after they are already settled in and I start immediately noticing some issues. One of the windows had no screen, one of the glass panes on a window had a huge crack in it, and the front door did not appear to shut all the way, leaving a huge gap where you could easily break in. I brought this to Mia’s attention and she apologized and said she would sent maintenance right away. Well, a couple of months go by and nobody comes. The door issue had gotten worse, and on top of that half the electricity in the kitchen kept blinking off. It happened to be the half with the oven and the microwave, of course. Plus, when I tried to clean the stove the burners literally disintegrated in my hand. I called Mia again and asked for maintenance. They finally came, but were essentially useless. They would stay for about ten minutes while talking on their phones loudly, and leave when they felt like it, sometimes without even bothering to be sure their solution to our problems had worked.
By the end of our first six months of living here I had been forced to call for maintenance about ten times. It was at this point that a mass email to all tenants was sent, stating that the maintenance system was being “abused.” Well, I wouldn’t have had to “abuse” it if my house had been liveable.
This kind of nonsense became our normal and in February we were suddenly greeted by a document that stated we had to decide whether we would continue our lease or not. Our lease was not over until the end of June and they were going to increase our rent by quite a lot. We were essentially trapped there. Nothing was available nearby and all other landlords around us told us that nothing would open until the end of April or early May. So we had no way of knowing for sure whether we could find something or not. I have specific needs that need to be met in the house I live in, and my roommates could only live a certain distance from work or their benefits would be cut off.
We all decided that we were pretty stuck for another year, but that we would start searching for a new place the following spring. This is around the time everyone started voicing their upset about Mia.
I explained to them that I had been accused of abusing the maintenance system and that at another time I had brought it to her attention that the lease agreement clearly stated that if we wanted a dishwasher we could ask for one at the office and it would be delivered to us. We chose this house over another one because of this option. When I told Mia I was in need of one because my disability was making it too difficult to stand at the sink long enough, she told me it had been a “typo” and to just “go buy one” myself. I said I did not understand how an entire, clearly worded sentence, could be a typo and she never responded.
My roommates then informed me that she often used the same nasty tones in emails to them. Apparently she had also forced them to pay for bars to be put in the shower before I moved. Legally, she was not supposed to do this since it violated the ADA laws. She had also failed to ever conduct an inspection on the property. My roommates told me that she simply handed them a paper and told them to make a checklist of what was damaged before moving in. My roommates are not home owners and they were not aware of what kind of things they should be looking for. They said that in the photos of the property online the house looked nearly perfect, but when they actually moved there were dark urine stains on the wood floors and damaged windows. I told them that they should always complete a checklist before moving in and that they needed to bring this issue to the property management’s attention before they even put one piece of furniture inside. They told me they thought taking date stamped photos would be enough. I told them they share the blame for this one, but that Mia also took full advantage of their naivety.
The last straw that caused me to want to run out of here was in December. The hot water heater basically stopped working. I had maintenance come and one man came. Let’s call him Bill. Bill told me that he had a feeling something had been wrong with it because the downstairs neighbor had experienced multiple leaks through her ceiling. I asked why it was not looked into and Bill said Mia had said it must have been because I wasn’t paying enough attention to my washing machine. He had explained to her that the washing machine wasn’t even in the same room as the leak downstairs, but she brushed him off.
When Bill called Mia to ask where the hot water heater was he put her on speaker phone so he could hear while while he worked. Mia has a very nasty tone to her voice and repeatedly told him that I should know where it is and that she had no clue. She already sounded annoyed. It was not my responsibility to know where it was since I don’t own the house. He argued with her that she should have paperwork on the house as well as a layout to consult. In the end we had to find it ourselves. Once the hot water heater was located, Bill was horrified. He said that it was so incredibly rusted through and damaged that he didn’t know how it hadn’t bursted and hurt us yet. He immediately got back on the phone with Mia and the conversation went as follows.
Bill: Hey, I’m at the *bleep* residence and the hot water heater is in really bad shape. I need to go get a new one.
Mia: Well, go get one next week because those aren’t cheap.
Bill: I can’t wait, I have to go today, like right now. It’s a danger to the person here.
Mia: She must have done something to it then because I have no record of it being damaged.
Bill: She can’t have damaged it. This is at least ten year’s worth of damage and it’s going to burst. I need to get a new one now.
I didn’t catch the rest but Mia basically kept insisting that I must have damaged the hot water heater, even though the damage had obviously been caused by rust. Bill stormed off to buy a new one and installed it for me within an house. Bill informed me that this was not the first time Mia had spoken badly about me and that he thought it might be because I cost her a lot of money. I said I wouldn’t have cost her any money had she actually made sure the house was ready for new tenants, and Bill agreed.
Fast forward to recent days. We informed Mia that we all planned to leave the property as soon as our lease was over this year. As soon as she found out she started causing more problems than ever. She sent us a document that stated in large letters that we must only send the document back if one or more tenants planned to remain at the residence. She even sent all of us an email repeating this. About three weeks ago she planned a showing of our unit for a potential new tenant. I called and informed her that I had cats and that they were runners so I needed to know whether she wanted me to take them to my new house or lock them in one of the bedrooms. She told me in an email and again over the phone that it was perfectly acceptable to keep them in the spare room.
Long story short, she never showed up for that showing. I asked what happened and she tried to claim that no showing had been scheduled because she had no idea whether or not we planned to stay. I said that we did not and she told me that we needed to send back the document that stated we no longer planned to stay. I informed her that we never received such a document, and at that point she stopped responding.
About two days later she schedule another showing for 10:00am. I spent the whole night making sure the apartment was in satisfactory condition and at about 9:45 I locked the cats in the spare room. Well, 10:00 came and went and there was no sign of Mia. Then it got to 10:20, still no Mia, and by this point the potential tenant had been standing around in the yard for about fifteen minutes. It got all the way to almost 11:00 and my roommate said he had to get ready to go to work and to let him know if Mia showed up. Of course, as soon as he started getting dressed she arrived.
Mia knocked and before allowing her in I had a small conversation with her.
Me: Hi! I have the cats in the small bedroom. If you want I can show you photos I have of the room with or without furniture, and if they want to see it in person just let me go in first so I can hold the cats back.
Mia: Oh, that is no problem, don’t worry about it. We won’t need that.
Me: My roommate is also getting ready for work, but if you wait about two minutes you can see his room, too.
Mia: No, it’s fine.
She then rushed the potential tenant through the house in about two minutes before returning to me.
Me: Are you sure you don’t want to see those two rooms? I can really let you see the room the cats are in and my roommate is almost done.
Mia: No, it’s really fine. So when is your lease up?
Me: End of June.
Potential Tenant: *looking at Mia in surprise*
Mia: Oh.
She then left the house while announcing that there would likely be another showing later that week.
My roommate came out of his room and we had a conversation about how weird the showing had been. He suspected that she was rushing because she knew the house was not in good condition since she didn’t want to repair anything, and because she had likely told the potential tenant the wrong move in date.
Friday arrived and there was no word of another showing so I figured she was just off fixing her mistakes.
Nope.
We are suddenly bombarded by an aggressively worded email by the owner of the property management. He stated that Mia had informed him that the residence had a foul odor, that there were dirty dishes piled up all over the kitchen, and that we REFUSED to allow Mia entry into two of the bedrooms.
I subsequently had a panic attack before hitting the roof. I had cleaned the entire house from floor to ceiling myself, and every room had at least two Glade plugins. Sorry you hate the scent of clean so much. There were not piles of dishes in the kitchen. I had run out of dish soap unexpectedly (this type of thing happens when you live with other people) and I can’t drive since I have seizures. So the dishes from only the previous day were soaking in the sink. There were three plates, a couple of pans, and two cups all soaking in soapy water. And don’t even get me started on us not allowing her access to two of the rooms. My roommate even backed me up and said he heard me offer to allow them to see the rooms multiple times and that Mia had shot all of them down. Her lies have caused the owner to threaten us with early eviction. He is coming to view the property next Monday and if he does not think it is perfect he is kicking us out. Our greater fear is that she will have shown him the same years old photos that she showed my roommates before we moved in and that she will blame us for all the stains on the floors and busted stove top.
My roommates were at a loss, but I have a plan. I refuse to be bullied like this. I will allow the owner to view the property. If he has an issue with it, I plan to give him the list (with evidence) of everything Mia has done to us since we moved in. I will then explain that if they wish to continue to harass us we have no problem with taking them to court for repeatedly breaking their end of the lease.
Please learn from us and be kind with whatever you say. We are human being who make mistakes and are constantly learning new things every day. What May be common sense to one person may be brand new information to another. Just learn from everything we have been through and be safe out there.
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Sun Myung Moon’s fake Waseda University Graduation Certificate
Moon attended evening classes (6:00-9:30pm) at a Technical High School associated with Waseda University. He NEVER went to any university or seminary anywhere. Michael Breen confirmed the High School details in his book, Sun Myung Moon, the early years, 1920-1953 on pages 48, 58 and 170.
Moon was in Japan from April 1, 1941 to just after he graduated from the High School on September 30, 1943. That was a total of 30 months in Japan.
The certificate looks FAKE and it is fake.
Under Moon’s Japanese name 江本龍明 is his birthday, January 6, 1920 (9th year of Taisho).
This document says that Moon graduated on September 30, 1943 (18th year of Showa). However, Michael Breen, in his book Sun Myung Moon, the early years on page 59 gives Moon’s graduation date from the High School as September 18th.
The certificate was made on October 18, 1977 (52nd year of Showa). The stamp at the top seems to have been added later. At the bottom there is no signature. The name printed is Mr Murai Sukenaka 村井 資長, a Waseda University vice president who was opposed to Moon. Mr Murai created an organization fight against CARP and the Unification Church!
Mr Murai gave an interview about the UC to a Japanese magazine LINK.
The fake certificate was used in several Japanese publications, including this book:
Walking to the Sanctuary / Holy Place.
This book was published by the Japanese Unification Church on October 2, 2000. Behind Moon is one of the main Waseda University buildings, which he probably never even entered. The fake certificate is on page 26.
The UC book was published 26 years after the fraud had been revealed by the Mainichi newspaper, and 25 years after Mr Hiroshi Yamaguchi's 1975 book which included a detailed expose of Moon’s Waseda fraud.
“Then the Mainichi Newspaper Company checked up, and a news reporter examined the issue. Moreover I checked through the Student Services at Waseda University, and it turned out that they couldn’t find either of the names – 文龍明 [Moon Yong Myung] Ryumei Bun, 江本龍明 Ryumei Emoto or 文鮮明 Sun Myung Moon.”
LINK
Moon boasted that he was a Waseda graduate:
Sun Myung Moon
47th True Parents Day
March 29, 2006 Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center
Notes: Michael Jenkins (from simultaneous translation)
"You don't know how powerful and fearful this ideology can be. If the government of Korea had listened to me after the Korean War, the nation would have been saved and the world totally restored in the 1960s and '70s. I went to Waseda University and studied engineering. I have a profound philosophical framework."
(http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyungMoon06/SunMyungMoon-060329.htm)
Sun Myung Moon
November 29, 2011 FFWPU International
Translation of notes taken by the Unification Church History Compilation Committee
"I began [my mission] when I was 27. I had all the details of the principle in my head. There were many thinkers of their time at Waseda University. All the smart ones came to meet me. When I asked them a question they couldn't answer. Yet, I was able to answer all their questions."
(http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyungMoon07/SunMyungMoon-071129.htm)
Sun Myung Moon
January 17, 2011 Hoon Dok Hae Cheon Jeong Gung
"When I was a student of Waseda University, I did not attend class and instead studied Japanese society. I went to university to study electricity but when I asked questions, professors could not answer them."
Moon told Seon-gil Choi when he was matched to her that he was a graduate from Waseda University. She gave an interview to the Shukan Post 'Weekly Post’ magazine in 1993 and spoke about her marriage to Moon.
“Despite her unpleasant memories she responded to my questions, one by one, with sincerity. She shared about her first encounter with Sun Myung Moon, and about his relationships with many other women.
She even revealed the interesting story of how those around Moon have misrepresented his academic record as a 'graduate from Waseda University' to encourage her to marry him.
Mrs. Seon-gil Choi was born into a wealthy farmer's family in Jeong-ju, now in North Korea, in 1924. She was 21 when World War II ended. It was around that time that she was presented with an opportunity for a formal introduction to a prospective marriage partner, the 25 year old Sun Myung Moon. He was from the town of Jeong-Ju, the same as her. He was said to be ‘a graduate from Waseda University.’ She related, ‘A matchmaker arranged the meeting with Moon. There he told me that he had graduated from Waseda University. Also, I had a favorable impression of his appearance, unlike that of now.’
At that time in Korea, it was said that any Korean who had graduated from Waseda University was considered to be among the very elite. According to the brief biography of Sun Myung Moon in the literature of the UC of Japan, it was written that he had been ‘admitted to the School of Electrical Engineering in the Department of Science and Engineering, at Waseda University.’
However, since 1974 his academic record had been reported to have been a fraud.
In response to the claims of fraudulent records, the UC defended the records by saying, “We held an inquiry in Seoul and found that he graduated from an Electrical Engineering course at the Waseda High School of Engineering. It was a simple error on the side of Japan, and Sun Myung Moon should not be blamed.”
However, in our interview, Mrs. Choi testified clearly about her matchmaking meeting with Moon, ‘He deceived me by saying that he had graduated from Waseda University.' Mrs. Choi found the truth about Moon’s 'academic record' many years after her divorce from him. In other words, her testimony proves that what the UC of Japan claimed to be a 'simple mistake’ was actually proclaimed as the truth by Moon's followers from the time of his youth, and for a long time after that.”
LINK to interview with Moon's first wife, Seon-gil Choi
In 1955, Moon told Judge Kang that he had falsified his age to dodge the draft. Who made his “Certificate of Innocence”?
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2018 in Review
So I used to do one of these every year on my Livejournal, and I completely blew it off in 2017 because I kind of abandoned that medium, and because the last month of that year was complete consumed with packing and moving. I’m not entirely certain I want to get more active on here, but for now this is a good place for me to post this, simply to have the written record of my existence that I need in order to process all that has happened and reflect on how it has helped me to grow and improve as a person. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I might even backtrack and do one for 2017 next week, because I like to be complete in my self-documentation. ;)
01. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?
Visited Washington DC for the first time.
Visited the Los Cabos region of Mexico for the first time.
Closed a major gift from someone who had not already had decades of cultivation from their University.
Visited even more areas of California that were new to me, including Anaheim, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, and Lake Tahoe (I guess that also includes Nevada since we stayed in Carson City)
Visited Ashland Oregon for the first time.
Sold a piece of real estate. Phew!
Practiced Yin Yoga. (And walking meditation!)
Engaged in a yoga hike!
Also tried yoga with goats!
Attended WonderCon
Attended a county fair.
Road a bicycle somewhere other than a residential street
Tried kayaking
Ran a trail run race
02. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never really make concrete resolutions, just some general proclamations about eating better, and putting more time into fitness and writing. Of these three things, the one I was most successful at this year, surprisingly enough, was eating better. In September I realized that it was time for a physical tune-up, and so I rejoined WW after a long time away, and though I still have a few pounds to go, I’ve been happy to have gotten a bit sleeker after dialing back the bread and cheese. I also attended a writing group called Shut Up and Write a couple times, and I’d like to become more of a regular at their cafe sessions in 2019, because I’ve found that their method (literally a concentrated hour of shutting up and writing) has been helpful the two times I’ve gone.
03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My dear friends Drew and Kelly had their first child in September. And my friend Lynn had her second child, a little girl, just a couple weeks ago.
04. Did anyone close to you die?
Not super close, but a professor at UC Davis who I had worked with closely, passed very unexpectedly right before Halloween.
05. What countries did you visit?
Mexico! Finally broke in my current passport with a new stamp!
06. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?
Good novel progress. Or more discipline on some other fiction and an essay that I just started tinkering with.
A legit boyfriend.
07. What date(s) from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 2 was my first day on the job at UC Davis.
January 7 was a super fun evening at the Museum of Ice Cream in SF
January 13-15 was a wonderful weekend in Seattle where I got to meet my nephew Apollo for the first time and photograph his first swimming lesson for his parents.
January 20 was my second Women’s March outing in Sac with my friend Jade and her little ones.
January 27 was a day when I got to play tour guide for my friend Gricel and her husband when they were in SF visiting for the first time.
Feb. 10 and 11 was a fun weekend in Berkeley and SF, being silly and singing loudly with my former Cal colleagues who had become dear friends.
March 23-25 Was my whirlwind Anaheim weekend at Wondercon, and I got to catch up with my friend Mike, whom I’d not seen in a couple years.
March 30-April 1 was an epic road trip weekend, the first of what my friend Maya and I now call our Girls Gone Sensibly Wild excursions. We drove to Santa Barbara and visited the deserted UC campus there (it was closed for spring break) and also enjoyed an amazing live show featuring Dave Hause, Dan Andriano, and Cory Branan, among others at the Cold Spring Tavern. And then got a joint membership at Peachy Canyon Winery on our way back, because it was one of the few establishments open on Easter Sunday.
April 22 was Earth Day, and prompted me to venture out to Marin for an impromptu yoga hike at Rodeo Beach.
May 14 was my first appointment with a new hair stylist who would also unexpectedly become a trusted friend.
May 24 was my first time seeing Depeche Mode live, and it was incredible.
June 8-10 was my second of two hit it and quit it Chicago trips (although really, the first one wasn’t so much Chicago as it was Joliet) this year, and allowed me to reconnect with my dear friends Drew and Kelly (Drew finished his PhD at UChicago and I attended his commencement and hooding), have a day at the zoo with my friend Dawn, and also road trip to WI with my friend Mary for a beautiful and moving Lights Festival experience together.
June 30 was the day I attended my first ever CalShakes performance with Maya and our mutual friend Paola (Girls Gone Sensibly Wild continued!), and Maya also got me on a bike for the first time in ages, thanks to LimeBikes being available at the Pleasant Hill BART station. We took a short, wobbly, but fun ride down the Iron Horse Trail.
July 1 was the day I learned to kayak and surprisingly got myself through 5 miles of the Russian River without tipping over or running out of steam.
July 26 saw me reuniting with my dear pals Shannon and Glenn, when they were visiting the Sac area for a wedding.
July 27-29 was the weekend I drove up to Ashland to enjoy some time with my friend Debbie and to experience the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the first time.
August 3-6 was when I somewhat unexpectedly had the delight of hosting my friend Clarise for a weekend visit. We drove down to Pacifica for the International Dog Surfing competition and I schooled her in the ways of California wine as much as I could with my limited knowledge.
The following weekend, August 9-13, I had a lovely time hosting and touring around with my 16 year old niece, and got to introduce her to the joy that is Santa Cruz. And yoga with goats!
August 30-Sept. 4 was when I hosted (this is a recurring theme in August, isn’t it?) my Aunt Sherrie for local sightseeing and a road trip up to Lake Tahoe.
Sept. 22-24 saw me heading down to L.A. for my cousin Katie’s wedding and some work meetings. It was the first time in ages that I got to connect with that specific branch of my family, and get to know them a bit better.
Sept. 29 was my first AFSP walk in Sac. And i was joined by Jade, her visiting mom, and her three little ones.
Sept. 30 was the really long hair session with Mason that helped solidify that we were legit friends (and included a shared sunset from the window of his hair studio!) and a quick follow up appointment on Oct. 3 allowed us to enjoy a rainbow and storm together.
Oct. 19-21 saw Maya and I doing another Girls Gone Sensibly Wild road trip. Back to Peachy Canyon to pick up some wine, and also Pismo Beach and Santa Maria for our first visit to a really lovely winery called Foxen.
Oct. 26 was quite possibly my all-time favorite Brian Fallon performance. It was just him alternating between his acoustic guitar and an electric piano, and he was joined by Craig Finn from The Hold Steady, who also did his own acoustic set.
Oct. 27 I got to introduce my new friend Torrey to the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, and we did a fun wine and Halloween candy pairing and some epic day drinking.
Nov. 3 saw me reuniting with my Cal crew and a sprinkling of East Bay friends at Fillmore Karaoke, for an epic night of loud singing as an early celebration of my 40th bday. So much wine. Actually too much, but for a birthday, that’s acceptable!
Nov. 4-6 I was in Indianapolis for work, and though the work part wasn’t particularly memorable, I was super honored and thrilled that my BFF Dawn drove all the way down from Joliet IL with her two boys to have dinner with me on my first night there.
Nov. 9 was an epic Local H show in Sac. Also a welcome break in the midst of a period of forced solitude, after the Camp Fire residual smoke prompted my whole office to work from home for about a week to protect us from the terrible air quality.
Nov. 18 was the day we had the beautiful service honoring the life of a beloved professor who passed.
Nov. 24-29 was my trip to Cabo with my Aunt Sherrie, and was also my official bday celebration.
Dec. 9-12 was my DC trip, which also allowed me to catch up with my friend Max, who lives in Baltimore, and my friend Stacey, who also happened to be there for her own work purposes.
Dec. 15 was my full day of yoga retreating at Green Gulch Ranch in Marin, and then I drove to the East Bay to catch up with Maya at Calicraft, which is one of our favorite craft distilleries in the area.
Dec. 16 was a white elephant celebration in Pleasant Hill that allowed me to unexpectedly meet a new, interesting friend.
08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
So far, meeting all expectations at my new job and closing a major gift earlier than is required. Also not losing my shit during the condo selling process, even though there were a lot of reasons to do so.
09. What was your biggest failure?
I wrote VERY little fiction. But I did dip my toe back into writing in general, so I guess there’s that.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I took a tumble at home that left my tailbone a bit tender about a month ago. But otherwise, no, pretty healthy, even after getting rear-ended in my car!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Various travel tickets, both air and rail. A beautiful new necklace that I found at the holiday market in D.C. All the concert tickets that provided soul-fueling live music.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine! I adjusted to a new job and an unfamiliar setting and managed to acquire a few new friends while also maintaining the East Bay friendships that meant the most to me.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Who else but certain immediate family members?
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent. Travel. Wine, and to a lesser extent, craft beer, now that I’ve picked up a taste for stouts and sours.
15. What song will always remind you of 2018?
Anything off of Sleepwalkers by Brian Fallon
Anything off of Be More Kind by Frank Turner
Chariot by Gavin DeGraw
Tall Green Grass by Cory Branan
16. Compared to this time last year, you are:
Thinner and sleeker, weight-wise
More willing to make room for others and open my life and space to them (friend and lover both)
Still as sleep-deprived as ever
17. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Novel writing, as always.
Flirting. And kissing.
18. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Angsting over adulting-related things that were either beyond my control or that ended up working out just as they should.
19. How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
I’m driving to Santa Cruz on Xmas Eve and treating myself to an overnight stay so that I can indulge in my happy place and a sunset hike. Also get to celebrate Boxing Day for the first time with my friend Jade and her brood back in Sac.
20. How will you be spending/did you spend New Year’s Eve?
Original plan was to hang at my friend Jade’s place with her kids, movies and snacks. But just learned the wee ones are ill, so now I’m not sure what I’m doing. That was how I spent last year (the original plan, that is), with the main difference being that last year I also went to a two-hour yin workshop beforehand, which was how I discovered my current yoga studio, and discovered how much I enjoy yin practice in general.
21. Did you fall in love in 2018?
No. But I made more effort to pursue it, and had more options than I think I’ve ever had in a single year. Which was kind of encouraging even if each one was relatively short-lived.
22. How many one-night stands?
I always laugh when I read this question. How about I just wink knowingly and say a lady never tells?
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Supernatural. iZombie. To a lesser extent, Riverdale, even though I’m still pretty behind on that one. Sons of Anarchy (which I know is old but I’m playing catchup via Netflix and Hulu) And as a guilty pleasure, Total Divas. And of course, I'm still casually following WWE on the WWE network, though the only thing I’m finding compelling aside from the women’s matches are the Brits featured on the UK specific programming.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No, I don't think so.
25. What was the best book you read?
I finally got into the Harry Potter series and I’m really enjoying it. I just finished the Order of the Phoenix, and have the next installment requested from the library.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Not entirely new, but my appreciation for Cory Branan was reinforced and amplified after seeing him in Santa Barbara. And I’m also on a rediscovery tear with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Cold War Kids.
27. What did you want and get?
Reassurance that this move to Sac was the right next step, after I settled in to my new role relatively easily.
28. What did you want and not get?
Romantic love for an extended period.
More down time.
29. What was your favorite film(s) of this year?
Bohemian Rhapsody, even though I know it had some historical inaccuracies.
A Quiet Place was hard because of the ending, but decent as well.
And the latest Halloween was hella satisfying, especially since I caught it after needing an escape after learning about the passing of the professor I mentioned earlier.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I prepped for my Cabo departure, went exploring at the Cosumnes River Trail, which is also a bird sanctuary, and caught the movie Widows with my work friend Christine. Then she took me to Panera for dinner. Couldnt’ do much more than that since I had a 5 am flight the following morning. I turned 40.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Love, as always.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?
Activewear as much as possible. But never enough.
33. What kept you sane?
My friends. The various trips I took and rock shows I attended. Junk food. Wandering in nature.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Jensen Ackles. Tom Hiddleston. Charlie Hunnan. Idris Elba. My taste doesn't change much.
35. Who did you miss?
Dawn. Becca. Kelly and Drew. Stephanie and Scott. Rob. Elspeth. Mike K. Jason.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
Lu
Ellen
Mason
Torrey
Anthony
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018
Never underestimate my own ability to adapt to new situations, and to handle my own shit like a boss. I had a few challenging things thrown at me, namely the condo selling process, and the logistical gymnastics that followed after having to bring my car in for a bumper repair following a recent rear-ending, and though I felt tested by both of those situations, I ultimately succeeded at navigating both of them to a positive end.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I’m always starting over....
I don’t wanna waste the nights in my life
But I never fit in, or felt home in my skin.
I’m waiting on a big love, baby.
--Brian Fallon, “Her Majesty’s Service”
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About Me~
“tagged” by @vontacompton.
My Last:
1: Drink: Water, but maybe wine by the time this post is through.
2: Phone Call: @catneepx, an angel.
3: Text Message: Mom!
4: Song You Listened To: “Doesn’t Remind Me” by Audioslave
5: Time You Cried: Like five minutes ago. Not even an exaggeration, I cry over everything, and it’s triggered by every emotion. This time it was because I watched The Iron Giant for the millionth time.
Have You Ever:
9: Lost Someone Special: Yeah boi
10: Been Depressed: Yeahhhhhh boiiiiii
11: Gotten Drunk And Thrown Up: Once! I can’t even think of drinking a gin and tonic anymore. But I took it like a champ. It was super funny then and now, lmao.
12: Three Favorite Colors: Red, Blue, and Gray/Black tbh
In The Last Year Have You:
13: Made New Friends: Yes! More before I moved, but I have made a handful of friends recently.
14: Fallen Out Of Love: Nope!
15: Laughed Until You Cried: Absolutely.
16: Found Out Someone Was Talking About You: lol yeah
17: Met Someone Who Changed You: I don’t think so! I’m usually who changes myself. I don’t think I have ever changed because of someone else.
18: Found Out Who Your Friends Are: For sure. I don’t tolerate disrespect or pettiness lmao
19: Kissed Someone On Your Facebook list: My husband, so yes!
20: How Many Of Your Facebook Friends Do You Know In Real Life: All of them, even if I knew them briefly.
21: Do You Have Any Pets: I have a dog! Back in MO, I have another dog and a cat, who I miss a shit ton.
22: Do You Want To Change Your Name: No, though it was hard to let go of my last name when I got married. I’ll always hyphenate it on unofficial documents lmfao. My new one is pretty unusual, though.
23: What Did You Do For Your Last Birthday: I made a booze cake and drank at home, since Brendan won’t be 21 until October and I had no other friends in WA lol.
24: What Time Did You wake Up: 9:30
25: What Were You Doing At Midnight Last Night: Playing Skyrim
26: Name Something You Can’t wait For: I can’t wait to visit home in July, for the short term, and I can’t wait to achieve my goal of being a forensic nurse.
27: When Was The Last Time You saw Your Mom: November. I miss her so much. I am her number one fan. I’ll talk about my mom to everyone, she’s so smart, funny and pretty!
28: What Are You Listening To Right Now: Chopin’s “Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23″-- I’m planning on learning this on the piano soon, and I grew especially attached to it after watching Your Lie in April tbh.
29: Have You Ever Talked To A Person Named Tom: Actually, no.
General:
30: Something That Is Getting On Your Nerves: Boredom tbh, but that’s nothing new. My inability to relax, too! I just want restful sleep god dammit.
31: Most Visited Website: YouTube probs
32: Hair Color: Dirty blonde?? Light brown maybe?? some copper is in there too?????????? Idk anymore.
33: Long Or Short Hair: Short right now, though I want to have medium-length hair for a while before having long hair again.
34: Do You Have A Crush On Someone: I’m married, so I obviously do lmfao.
35: What Do You Like About Yourself: I like my personality-- I like making people laugh and how I look on the bright side of life (since I used to be a real big whiny pussybitch).
36: Piercings: Ears
37: Blood Type: Ok i’m gonna be fr I have no idea what my blood type is so if i need blood immediately i’m fucked
38: Nickname: Syrup!
39: Relationship Status: Married to my fav human.
40: Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
41: Pronouns: She/her
42: Favorite TV Show: the X-Files, though I also like Parks and Rec.
44: Right Or Left Handed: Right
45: Surgery: I got my tonsils removed as a kid (super shit) and my wisdom teeth removed (also suuuuuper shit). Once I am done losing weight, I’m going to have a breast reduction because this shit is out of control.
46: Sport: Softball/baseball
47: Vacation: I would like to visit Europe (particularly Ireland, England, Germany, and Italy) and Japan, China, and Korea. In the US I would like to visit each state at some point.
48: Pair of trainers/Sneakers or Tennis Shoes: I call them tennis shoes, and I have a nice black pair of running shoes which are super comfy.
More General:
49: Eating: an apple lol
50: Drinking: wine
51: I’m About To: fold laundry and play more Skyrim, probably, maybe, hopefully.
52: Waiting For: Death to Take Its Inevitable Toll on my Flesh Prison
53: Want: hugs, friends, to be able to eat like a fat piece of shit w/o being a fat piece of shit lmfao help
54: Get Married: check
55: Career: I want to be a forensic nurse. I love working with the human body, always have, and I have always been fascinated with the forensic industry. I’ve wanted to do something that makes me happy and does something to get justice for people who have been hurt, and the moment I decided upon this career path I felt like everything finally made sense. A huge weight left my shoulders, that’s for sure.
Which Is Better:
56: Hugs Or Kisses: Hugs! I love hugging. I hug everyone bc I have a lot of platonic love to give every single person.
57: Lips Or Eyes: yo’ peepers!
58: Shorter Or Taller: I’d say similar height or taller because I am incredibly short, but personality is what seals the deal for me in the end.
59: Older Or Younger: about the same age, give or take a year (since my husband is about a year younger than me), or older. I wouldn’t be able to stand someone all that much younger than me if we’re being honest here lmfao
60: Nice Arms Or Nice Stomach: Stomach??????
61: Hook Up Or Relationship: Relationship, for the other person’s sake. I’m too much of a goof for hooking up and I’d make someone feel insecure for cracking a joke in the middle of some sort of sexual encounter. It is literally impossible for me to take sex seriously. Also, I just prefer the companionship part of relationships over the physical.
62: Troublemaker Or Hesitant: Troublemaker, but not like... a felon or anything. Just goofy, without shame, and kind of annoying. Like me. But being reasonable when appropriate is important, too.
Have You Ever:
63: Kissed A Stranger: Yeahhhhhhh, immediate regret (cigarette mouth!).
64: Drank Hard Liquor: ya
65: Lost Glasses/Contact Lenses: every gd day dawg. and it’s partially because in order to find my glasses I need my glasses to see them.
66: Turned Someone Down: hoooooooo boy, yes, yes, yes.
68: Broken Someones Heart: HOOOOOOOOO boy, yes. I was always caught off guard by it, because I never see someone as potential relationship material, but always as bff material, until they make it explicitly clear. It just wouldn’t feel right to assume they may have a thing for me. So, most of my friends in life have been guys, and I have had to deal with a lot of uncomfortable confessions and rejection from said pals. I hate hurting people, and they’re often very hurt by my rejection, and I end up losing friends over it. I don’t even like thinking about it lol.
69: Had Your Heart Broken: Yup! Abusively and tragically. Some Carrie shit, haha. It doesn’t impact me now, except for making me angry.
70: Been Arrested: I’m a straight edge dude.
71: Cried When Someone Died: Duh
72: Fallen For A Friend: I can’t fall for someone unless we are friends, so yes! Brendan was my BFF for a while until he told my oblivious ass he wanted to date me.
Do You Believe In:
73: Yourself: Yes! The only person you can always depend upon, no matter what, is yourself.
74: Miracles: hmmmm, maybe. I’ll say yes, but my skeptical mind will always question.
75: Love At First Sight: Attraction at first sight, maybe. I believe in friendship at first sight, if we’re being honest. I see someone and just get this feeling that we could be awesome friends. Love is something much more deep rooted for me.
76: Santa Claus: I believe in My Dad
78: Angels: I’m not sure. I’m open to the possibility, due to the limitations set by existing as a human, but I’m not Christian or anything. I feel like there’s “something” out there, but I’m just a dumb human and will likely never be able to know for sure. I think human beings can be deemed angels.
Other:
79: Current Best Friend’s Name: Casi/Stephanie (I love them both so much my dudes).
80: Eye Color: Green/Hazel (more green than hazel tho-- it’s really cool because i have a fleck of gold in one of my irises, and my grandma has the same fleck of gold)
81: Favorite Movie: I couldn’t narrow it down to one. I love the LOTR movies, The Sixth Sense, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spirited Away, Saving Private Ryan...... the list goes on forever. My family has always been a big movie family.
im not tagging anyone lol
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