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When a user want to join a group by clicking on the 'Request group membership' link they get the option to provide a 'Request message' as shown in the screenshot below. This can be confusing and in some situations this message is totally unnecessary. But there is no option within the Organic Groups settings to disable the request message. Have no fear! I've found way!

Remove request message from Organic Groups

28/10/2015 - 19:10

Organic Groups Request Message

  1. Go to the 'Configuration' of your Drupal website.
  2. Go to 'OG membership types'.
  3. Here you will see all your OG membership types. Below you will see the 'Default' membership type which comes 'out of the box' with Organic Groups.

    OG Membership Types

  4. Click on 'manage fields' next to the Organic membership type where you want to remove the request message.

    Organic Membership Type Manage Fields

  5. Here you can delete the 'Request message' field.

Now the request message won't show up anymore when a user wants to join a group. Did this tutorial help you? Let me know in the comments by saying thanks.

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The British Camp Quest

There’s a nice article at the BBC News site (Camp offers ‘godless alternative’) about the Camp Quest being held in the UK. Of course summer camps here in the UK are somewhat less established than is the case in the USA, where it would seem from news reports that they often have a broadly christian attitude.

You can find out more about Camp Quest at their website. I’ve been seeing quite a lot of negative comment about Camp Quest in the UK press, much of it rather viciously and inaccurately labelling it as some devious brainchild of Richard Dawkins and aimed at indoctrinating children away from christianity. In reality, Dawkins’ involvement was limited to a donation of less than £500 from the Richard Dawkins Foundation.

The BBC News report makes rather refreshing reading – the kids don’t seem to be suffering indoctrination and appear to be enjoying the experience, despite the poor weather. Indeed several families aren’t particularly opposed to attendance at more christian camps!

The whole focus seems to be on a rational approach to evidence. For example, the camp’s director is quoted:

“If the children were to come up with a question about creationism for example, we would discuss the evidence. We wouldn’t say, ‘Creationism is rubbish’… if they weigh the evidence and think there’s a good case for it.”

One neat touch is the “unicorn task” – the children are told that in the camp lives a pair of unicorns. Unfortunately, these beasts are invisible, can’t be heard, tasted, smelt or touched – furthermore the only evidence to support the assertion of their existence is an ancient dusty tome. The task is to devise a way to disprove their existence.

It’s this amusing task that’s aroused the ire of a churchman, who’s the lone protestor waving placards at the gates, who clearly understands the implications of the task…

I’m not particularly convinced that I’d have enjoyed going to a camp as a child – I’ve never been one for being organised, but perhaps this might have been the one…

Update:  I see a commentator at The Independent also labels Camp Quest as “Richard Dawkins’ five-day atheist summer camp” (Ellie Levenson: An atheist camp is a terrible idea)

Update 2: Note the blinkered nonsense in many of the comments here.  The comments get progressively more stupid, it seems to me (hat-tip – PZ Myers)

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Sony-Ericsson's Linux-based ROB-1

Posted 14 Mar 2005 at 19:58 UTC by steve Share This

A article describes the new Sony Ericsson ROB-1 robot which was announced last week. The robot is basically a small, teleoperated camera contained in an 11 cm spherical shell. The two hemispheres form main drive wheels and a small tail-dragger is used for balance. The robot uses a 200 MHz Freescale Dragonball processor with 2 MB of RAM and runs Linux. The robot can maintain a bluetooth link to a Sony-Erricsson P900/P910 mobile phone. The phone can control the robot and display streaming video from the onboard camera.

See more of the latest robot news!

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Thursday, September 1, 2016

This Month in Rochester History

It's been half a century since touch-tone telephone service was inaugurated in the Rochester area.  In September 1966, Michigan Bell officials announced that a new facility on Tienken Road would take over the telephone circuits for Rochester and the old building at the corner of Third & Walnut streets would be vacated.  All 5,800 telephone customers in greater Rochester would be assigned the '651' prefix, and touch-tone calling would be available for the first time in the area.

The company announced that it would no longer offer 4-party lines, but 2-party service would still be available on a limited basis.

  1. My parents, who moved to the Rochester area in 1962, had a 652 prefix.

  2. I remember the changeover. The prefix "6-5" actually was for "OLive", when local exchanges were words on the phone dial. In Rochester prior to 1966, the phone numbers started with 6-5-2 or OLive 2-xxxx.

    The touchtone phones were a big thing too. I remember when our neighbor got one. Everyone went over to their house to see the modern marvel.

  3. I remember an assembly at the high school to learn to use them


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Cannabis decriminalization bill fails

A measure passed by both chambers but amendatory vetoed by the Gov. Bruce Rauner to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis is dead after the House failed to take up a concurrence or override vote.

Democratic Representative Kelly Cassidy’s House Bill 218, which would change the penalties for cannabis possession among other reforms, was on the Calendar for possible concurrence of the Governor’s changes but Cassidy said she was advised the Governor’s changes are non compliant.

“It hit at some of the fundamental intent of the legislation so I was advised that it was likely non compliant and I would be better to seek a vehicle to find another way to pass the bill.”

Dan Linn, Executive Director of the Illinois Chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws said he’s disappointed.

“This isn’t really that radical of an idea to just issue people tickets instead of arresting them for low level possession.”

Linn also said he suspects the failure of a concurrence vote was part of quote “political horse trading” in Springfield.

Cassidy said she’s working with stakeholders, advocates and the Governor’s office to find a balanced path and there’s still a chance to pass a decriminalization bill this General Assembly with a regular majority as long as the measure doesn’t have an immediate effective date.

Illinois News Network

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Roland Park Pool

The Roland Park Pool is one of the Roland Park area’s hidden delights. It is located on Lawndale Avenue off Wyndhurst backing up to the Friends School athletic fields. It is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. There is a small parking lot adjacent to the pool. It can also be reached via the Stony Run Path.

The pool area is comprised of:

  • A large pool with a gradual entry at one end to ten feet at the other with a diving board.
  • A baby/toddler wading pool with nearby shaded seating.
  • The grassy area around the pool is outfitted with lots of tables and chairs with umbrellas as well as lounge chairs.
  • There is a play area with a basketball hoop and ping pong tables when taking a break from the water.
  • There are also changing rooms and rest room facilities.
  • Kids will be happy to know that there is a snack bar that serves ice cream treats and a vending machine for beverages.

There are lifeguards on duty at all times when the pool is open. The Pool Board organizes several different activities throughout the season for adults and kids.

Residents of the Roland Park Area are invited to join. There is a one-time initiation fee and then an annual fee for membership. There are different types of membership available. Memberships fill up quickly so it is best to apply long before pool season starts! See you at the pool!

For more details please see:

Address: 5021 Lawndale Avenue, Baltimore MD 21210

Pool Phone: 410-435-0041

Business Office: 410-467-9182


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Monday, June 25, 2012

In my second post ever, i wrote the following, "We've budgeted about $135,000, and i plan on doing much of the work myself. SO...Do we think we'll be able to get all of our money back out one day? We're not sure, but we plan on starting a family and staying put for a while. My wife and I have had a chance to check out some of the local shops and restaurants, including a Valentines day date at GATE 403, and more and more, we are falling in love with our new neighbourhood. So at the end of the day, it's not just about an investment in real estate, it's about an investment in lifestyle and from that perspective we feel we've done alright."

It's strange looking back and reading that today and thinking of all the changes that have happened over the years, and even more strange to share the news that this will be the second last post that i do on the Roncesvalles Victorian Reno Diary blog.  The reason is that we've sold our home.

It was a difficult decision that we struggled a lot with. Just two short years ago Heather and i were care-free DINKS and our pretty little Victorian in Roncy was all the house we ever needed.  Since then we've added two beautiful children with all their "stuff", a live-in care-giver and more frequent overnight guests.  So as much as it pains us to move from the home we've worked so hard to make "ours", and our street with many friends, we realized that we need more space.  I've been asked a lot lately how i can move after having invested so much time and hard work on the house?  But i learned something very important, the week our house was on the market.  To keep it looking it's best, Heather and the kids spent the week at the cottage and i stayed in town, so i could be around to tidy and turn the lights and A/C on and off each day.  As i would come home each night after the last viewing was done, i realized our house never looked as beautiful as it did then, but without Heather and the kids there to greet me it didn't really feel like home anymore.  I realized that no matter how renovated, beautiful or immaculate my house is, home is wherever Heather and the kids are.

We still love the neighbourhood, so we aren't moving very far (about 3 blocks).  Still close enough to walk to all our favourite shops and restaurants on Roncesvalles, and even closer to High Park, where we've been spending more and more time.  So as some of you may have guessed, there will be a new blog once we get settled in, in fact i've even picked up a new nick name - bye bye Roncy Vic, hello High Park Eddie!  In the new blog i hope to share some more projects hopefully enlightened by some of the wisdom gained from this home, from life with children and from having a tighter budget.  Hope to continue hearing from many of the readers that have made writing this blog so enjoyable.  The link to the new blog, a house tour and a final farewell will be posted next.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Backyard Makeover Reveal

In the last post i revealed the finale to the Cheap and Cheerful Garage makeover, so today i thought i'd share the finale of the rest of the backyard makeover.  Last fall i showed the rebuilt deck and rebuilt covered basement walkout in the backyard.  Like the garage makeover, Gerry our painter ((416) 727-9089) did a great job of staining it all.  And like the garage, the difference that stain can make is insane.  Pressure-treated wood has lots of benefits, but in my opinion looks have never been one of them.  Once stained with a solid stain, not only does the look become much richer and beautiful, it also helps to preserve the wood by repelling water, mildew and UV.

Here are the afters:

And here's what it looked before:

Sunday, June 17, 2012

From Gar-ughh to Garrrrrr-geous!

Continuing where i left off last fall, we hired Gerry the painter ( (416) 727-9089) to work his magic on the back deck, the structure over the basement walk-out and the garage.  Ordinarily i would have done this myself, but have been a bit pre-occupied with other things.  We used Benjamin Moore's Arborcoat Solid Stain in Chelsea Grey with Cliffside Grey accents.  Arborcoat goes on really well, looks fantastic and lasts a long time, it has UV ptoection, mildew inhibitors, and repels water.  I managed to hunt down an old Victorian door on Kijiji.  We painted it black and installed it.  Then i ripped down pressure treated fence boards and stained them in Cliffside Grey and attached them as casing around the windows and door.  The results are unbelievable, in my opinion.  I kind of hate that i didn't do this much sooner.

Here is an after:

Let's not forget the before:

Total Cost (not including Gerry's services):
$60 Windows from Kijiji
$100 Door from Kijiji
$140 two gallons of Arborcoat Stain (enough to do much more than the garage)
$40 Door handle set
$30 Misc lumber and screws


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Black El Molino rayon floss bag with red-orange and green stripes to coordinate with kongo gumi braid handles. complementing a pair of embroidered designer shoes
Black elements wound onto two spools with weight on two elements for tensioning
Black Edo Yatsu loop formed so that braid can continue in Kongo Gumi interlacement with  added colorful elements
Black Edo Yatsu loop joined so that colorful elements in core can continue braiding16-element Kongo Gumi.
Black braiding elements interlacing around a core of colorful elements which will be hidden inside.
Layout for 8-element Edo Yatsu Gumi around the core of colorful elements suspended on Kakudai rod.
Color Layout Four
Color Layout Three
Color Layout Four of Kongo Gumi Braid 7.109 where North elements are both orange and South elements are red and black.
Black designer shoes with embroidered orange and white flowers are the inspiration for the two different colored braids which will be used for a purse handle.
Colorful elements are removed from the braiding proces and wound around a rod while black elements start braiding Edo Yatsu Gumi interlacement around the core.
Colorful elements are isolated from the braiding interlacement and suspended on the Kakudai rod while the black elements braid around the core in the interlacement of 8-element Edo Yatsu.
Orion's Plumage logo - black and white parrot
Marudai sitting on base of Kakudai - set-up for making the core braid. The colored elements are held stationary with the pincers of the Kakudai stand while the black elements braid Edo Yatsu Gumi.
Marudai (round braiding stand) sitting on base of Kakudai (square braiding stand) - set up for a core braid.
Color Layout two from Braid 7.109 where North elements are red and black and South elements are both orange
Color Layout one for Kongo Gumi Braid 7.109 where North elements are black and orange and South elements are orange and red
Color Layout One
Four color Layouts for Braid 7.109 from
Kongo Gumi - A Cacophony of Spots - Coils - Zags - Lines
Color Layout Two
These shoes from a London designer were the inspiration for a new bag made from my yarn "stash" -- the no longer manufactured rayon called El Molino floss from Barcelona, Spain. I wove the bag on a 4-harness counter-balanced loom (Gallinger), and then braided the handle in the interlacements of Edo Yatsu Gumi and Kongo Gumi selecting designs from the two books I published. I used two different color layouts of the same design to complement the embroidery on the toe and the embroidery on the heel. I used warp waste for the length of the elements, and since the handle was short, I extended it with a secondary black braid which was sewn into the seam of the purse fabric.The process of braiding the black 8-element Edo Yatsu braid around the colorful elements is documented by the photos. The black elements were added into the braid to continue the 16-element Kongō Gumi interlacement. The four different color layouts or iterations of the braid are shown below before the braid returns to its original layout..
"Color Layout three for Kongo Gumi Braid 7.109 where North elements are orange and red and South elements are black and orange
El Molino Bag in Warp Rep Float Technique with Extended Braids
Extending Kongo Gumi braid by adding another core to the wrapped fringe of the braid
To extend the completed Kongo Gumi Braid, a core was sen to the wrapped fringe while black braiding elements were inserted into the finished braid.
Tapestry needle threaded with 8 black elements for insertion into Kongo Gumi braid.
Eight black el molino elements passed into core of kongo gumi braid for extending braid
Eight elements divided into four sections, ready to be wound onto weighted spools.
Marudai resting on kakudai with core held by pincers
Completed Kongo Gumi braids in shades of green and tones of reds, orange and yellow
Core extension held in place by pincers for continuation of braid in Yotsu Gumi
Core of Kongo Gumi tassel with a cord extension held in place by pincers of Kakudai. Braid extension continues with 4-element Yotsu Gumi layout below.


text: > People > Devon Dillard The latest news from Breaking news and expert analysis on college sports, recruiting, fantasy football, NFL, outdoors, military, and more. > People > Devon Dillard en-us Copyright © 2017 and All rights reserved. This website is an unofficial and independent source of news and information, and is not affiliated with any school, team or league. Sat, 25 Feb 2017 15:55:16 GMT Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMT > People > Devon Dillard RSS Engine v1.1 (Server:CAMWEB01) 60


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  • Price: $1.99 In Apple Store
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  • Updated: 2010-08-04
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  • Seller: Choon Keat Chew
  • Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
  • © 2010 Devels Advocates LLP
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Stop clicking on headlines & waiting to read more -- ZOOM IN & read everything.Big text is easy on your eyes.Minimal reliance on the network, RssPaper provides an excellent reading experience on the go.Perfect on your iPhone. Gorgeous on your….. Read more

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Rated 3/5 based on 3 customer reviews.

5/5 stars
Worth the dl

I really like this app. It saves me a lot of time checking my feeds- now I just read headers and a good summary and move on.

Sometimes on the iPhone 4 the headers spill over the edge and it would be good to have a bigger button to go to the next page and or a finger gesture. Also a feature to skip entire days of feeds would be great. Eight now if you miss a day of feeds then you have to go page by page as far as I can tell. Great app go get it!

4/5 stars
Nice concept, UI needs tweaking

The title text is too big and the columns are too narrow, rarely can a line fit more than one word, which makes skimming hard enough that I can't use it as my default rss reader. Would be nice if there's are settings for font size. I also wouldn't mind having only 3 columns.

It just doesn't feel like it's using the iPad screen optimally, especially in landscape mode.

0/5 stars
Very poor!

Slide reader is much better. I regret buying this app.

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Now available from Amazon ( click on image for link)
WH Smith and the City shop
City Links
August 2014
September 2014
October 2014
November 2014
December 2014
January 2015
February 2015
March 2015
April 2015
May 2015
July Notes
During the World Cup news came through that Alfredo Di Stefano had died. aged 88. I was fortunate enough to see him play on two occasions - first was at Hampden along with 127,000 others in the European Cup Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt in May 1960 . Real Madrid won 7-3 Stefano scoring a hat-trick - Puskas scored the other 4. The program is below.
The following season I saw him score a goal against Man United at Old Trafford when Real Madrid won 3-2
He was a great player with all the skills and widely regarded as one of the best players of all time.
World Cup TV Image Blog
So far this month City have signed four new players.
With the departure of reserve keeper Pantilimon to Sunderland we now have a new keeper Willy Caballero from Malaga who has a good reputation He is 32 and is just over 6ft 1 in.
A new midfielder is Fernando - a 26 year old 6 foot Brazilian who has come from Porto. He has not scored many goals so I presume he is a defensive midfielder.
One that we have known about for a while is Bacary Sagna from Arsenal - a right back who was in the French squad at the World Cup. He is 31 and was a regular with Arsenal last season.
Bruno Zuulini is a 21 year old attacking midfielder who scored ten goals for Argentinean team Racing Club and has also joined City but may go out on loan.
Many reports are saying that the Porto defender Ellaquim Mangala is about to become a City player in the next few days. He is reported as having a medical and the £31m deal is as good as done. He is likely to become Kompany's new partner at the centre of defence. He is 23 and is 6ft 2 in and has played for France three times
Well at last the miracle has happened and the Mangala transfer has gone through - a record for a defender in English football history and the third highest in the world. I just hope he will be fit enough to play alongside Kompany at Newcastle. I doubt it somehow as the third party fiasco has led to him not being able to train with his colleagues. So it will probably be Demichelis who partners Kompany as long as its not Boyata who had a nightmare game against Arsenal at the weekend in the Charity Shield game.
City 2013-2014
City 2013-2014
City Past
City Links
Have I Got Views For You
World Cup Final
City 0 Arsenal 3 Shield
August 9th would have been the 100th birthday of Joe Mercer one of City's most celebrated managers. He was manager of City from 1965 to 1971 and the images show him celebrating the Cup win in 1969 (more pics HERE)
I saw him play against Man United for Everton in October 1945 - a goalless draw at Maine Road. Tommy Lawton played that day too. Later that season in february he scored for Everton against City in a Everton 3-1 win at Maine Road. For those with long memories the City side that day was - Swift,Clark,Barkas, Walsh ,Sproston,McDowall, Dunkley ,Herd, Constantine, Smith and Pearson
In 1947-48 season I saw him play for Arsenal against both United and City in draws at Maine Road. Against City both Denis and Leslie Compton played for Arsenal. The following season too I watched him against City and United. The City Arsenal match in April of 1949 was the last game of Frank Swift. Bert Trautmann was in goal the next time I saw Joe play- a 4-2 win at Maine Road for Arsenal in April 1953 and then a goalless draw in Feb 1954 at Maine Road. I was in the RAF when I last saw him at Highbury in a one all draw against Aston Villa in April 1954. There was a crowd of 14,000 there!
Joe Mercer 100 years
City 3 Liverpool 1
City 0 Stoke City 1
City 1 Chelsea 1
City 7 Sheff Wed 0
September Notes
Scoring 7 goals in one half is a bit unusual to say the least so the terrific second half display by City against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capitol One Cup reminded me of another big win - back in 1963 - on Boxing Day. Scunthorpe were the visitors and the 27000 crowd saw City score just one in the first half. Just like the recent game City banged in another 7 in the second half. Scorers for City wee Murray and Gray 3 apiece and Kevan got the other two. Lawther got a consolation effort for the visitors. My notes at the time said that City were great and one of Grays goals was from 80 yards! The teams were as follows- City - Dowd, Lievers, Sear: Kennedy, Wood, Oakes: Young, Gray, Murray, Kevan, Wagstaffe.
Scunthorpe - Jones, Hempstead, Brownsword: Gibson, Horstead, Gannon: Crawford, Hodgson, Kirkman,Lawther, Wilson . Mr Hackney was the referee
City 1 Roma 1
City 4 Spurs 1
City 0 Newcastle 2
City 1 United 0
City 1 CSKA Moscow 2
City 2 Swansea 1
City 3 Bayern M 2
City 1 Everton 0
City 3 Crystal Palace 0
City 2 Burnley 2
City 3 Sunderland 2
City 2 Sheffield W 1
January Notes
So we have a new striker to watch in a few weeks. The transfer of Wilfried Bony from Swansea has at least been confirmed but we won't see his debut until the end of the Africa Cup of Nations. He is 6ft and is pretty quick. He scored 25 goals in 64 games for Swansea City and 46 in 66 games for Vitesse.He's 26 and cost us about 25 million plus. He will be wearing number 14.
A not unexpected departure is the loan of Nastasic to Schalke with a view of a permanent deal in the summer. There is unlikely to be more major moves though there are rumors concerning Lacazette of Lyon and Jay Rodriguez of Southampton.
City 0 Arsenal 2
City 0 Middlesbrough 2
City 1 Hull City 1
City 5 Newcastle U 0
City 1 Barcelona 2
City 2 Leicester C 0
City 3 West Brom 0
April Notes
Just heard the sad news that Harry Dowd has passed away. He was the City keeper in the 1969 Cup Final against Leicester City and there are a couple of images of him above. He first played for City in December 1961 but only played 2 games that season deputizing for Bert Trautmann. I first saw him in November 1962 in a one all draw against Everton at Maine Road. The City team that day was - Dowd, Kennedy, Sear: Benson, Lievers Oakes:Young, Dobing, Harley, Hannah, Hayes.
He played his final game at the end of the 1969-70 season. He played for City 181 times before moving to Stoke City.
More sad news today with the death of Richie Benaud a great cricketer and commentator at 84. I met him briefly while taking pictures at the England Pakistan Test at Old Trafford in July 1992.
He played 63 times for Australia scoring over 2200 runs and taking 248 wickets for his country. He was later an excellent commentator
more old cricket pics HERE
City 2 West Ham U 0
City 3 Aston Villa 2
City 6 QPR 0
May notes
Managed to find the last memories of Maine Road
turn up Carnival Place and you will find the centre circle
It's a shame the writing on the surrounding concrete is so indistinct
More building work is going on in the area
This is probably the cafe where the City players often went for lunch back in the late 50's and early 60's. It was on Wilmslow Road near Platt Lane. I often met them there. I am guessing it has been a cafe ever since
City 2 Southampton 0
Silva-----------7.47 (21 games ) last season 7.68
Hart-----------7.36 (22 games ) last season 6.94
Aguero -------7.26 (19 games ) last season 7.50
Milner -------- 7.21 (19 games ) last season 7.00
Toure -------- 7.05 (19 games ) last season 7.42
Lampard ----- 7.00 (11 games )
Nasri --------- 6.93 (16 games ) last season 7.54
Kompany -----6.80 (15 games ) last season 7.35
Zabaleta ----- 6.80 (20 games ) last season 7.31
Navas -------- 6.76 (21 games ) last season 7.24
Mangala ------6.75 (16 games )
Dzeko -------- 6.70 (10 games ) last season 6.80
Fernandinho - 6.65 (17 games ) last season 7.36
Clichy ---------6.64 (14 games ) last season 6.80
Demichelis ----6.54 (22 games ) last season 6.05
Jovetic --------6.50 (12 games ) last season 7.26
Kolarov -------6.40 (15 games ) last season 6.80
Fernando -----6.37 (19 games )
Sagna -------- 6.35 ( 7 games )
Caballero -----6.25 ( 6 games )
Down on last season as expected. Minimum of 6 home games to be included and at least 20 mins on pitch if a sub. Only games I have watched live are included
June notes

No certain news on transfers yet but plenty of rumors regarding Paul Pogba, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling. Even Jack Wilshere has been mentioned since his two goals for England.
Just noticed that ex City forward Matias Vuoso scored twice for Mexico in a 3 all draw against Chile . City played over 3 million for him in 2002 but he never played for the first team. You can see some pics of him playing for City reserves against United reserves HERE


text:
Friday, June 7, 2013

Getting Excited to Run to the Hills!

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, it's been forever since I've posted. As soon as someone out there wants to pay me quit my busy busy busy job so I can run all day and write about it, I'll promise to post more!

Here's what I've been up to the past couple months:

1) Got really super crazy sick the two weeks before the Bull Run 50 so I had to skip that race. Missing two weeks straight of running felt like forever, but both Lizzy and Sam were also sick as dogs, so clearly whatever we all passed around to each other was nothing to mess with!

2) I haven't had the time to run my usual long runs (30-40 milers) every week while ramping up for 100+ mile training, but given my crazy work schedule this spring and my daddy duties (which I love, mind you), I'm actually quite happy with the miles I've been able to squeeze in.  Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays have all become routine double-run days, which I really enjoy. No huge mileage totals, but quality miles and definite fitness benefits have come out of this schedule. Also, Sammy and I have found a sweet hilly 10k loop that we do every weekend morning. I like it for the resistance training (he's getting heavier every day!) and he likes it because we pull over at a sweet playground about 4 miles in so he can get his 20 mins of cardio in as well.

3) I realize I'm not in top form for the Black Hills 100 at the end of the month, but I'm still super-excited to head out there. My brother in-law (and master crew chief) Jeff is flying up from Dallas to join me in the fun, so I'm psyched to have him out there to help get me home faster. I never mind running solo in races, but even the simple act of not needing to stop and refill my Camelbak at the aid stations will save me 30+ mins over the course of the race. I'll happily take that time off the end when the hours are wee and the legs leadened!

I've been familiarizing myself with the BH100 course description, etc. over the past couple days, and have learned some great info about the area which we'll have the pleasure of exploring before/during the race: The race itself runs almost 100% on the Centennial Trail which was first explored during Custer's Army Expedition of 1874, and the gold mining history of the Deadwood and Lead areas are legendary (see: the amazing HBO series). I'm really looking forward to taking in as much of both areas as I can while out there (cuz really, when am I going to get back to South Dakota?!).

I also found this video from the 2011 race that I thought was worthy of passing on. The course and scenery look great, but really, the best part is the hail storm at the end. I mean really, is there a better way to run a 100 miles than while being pelted by giant hail? I can't wait!


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Sunday, December 09, 2007

Fuel 600+ Calories: Weekly Report

Add the banana to the 600 to stoke this morning’s long run fire. The first five mile loop went down in 40:59; thinking not bad, let’s notch it up a little and get a progression going. Loop two mile six stopped to stretch hammies. Mile nine at the Poor Farm Meadow distracted as a red fox pulled one field mouse out for breakfast. How rude to stand and watch it forage. It pounce’s another and then alerted by a passing motorist wonders “what’s that slowpoke marathoner doing standing there?”

We both go off in our own direction. Spirited by nature I wasn’t quitting after ten miles; second loop in 42:08. This high was short lived but too late as the third loop was already underway. Next stop home, third loop improved to 41:06. But wait, had to add one mile to make 70 for the week; last mile 9:03 on the Belcher Hill Loop. Glad it was over.

Weekly Review
Total Miles\Time: 70.0\8.99
Number of Workouts: 8
Stretching: most pre and almost every post run
Yoga: one, stretching and strengthening
P\U, S\U: ok
Long run continues to be a chore.
Issues to Note: Slipping on ice didn’t help right hip.
Next Week Goal: Same as this week, easy does it.
Thursday: Willow Guzzle, out-23:10, loop, 29:52, back-22:24 1:15:28 for a 7:32 pace
Friday: Treadmill 38:15 for a 7:39 pace
AM: 3x Haynes Loop + Belcher for 16 miles. #1-40:59, #2-42:08, #3-41:06 (2:04:13) Belcher Hill-1-9:03, average of 8:19\mile

1 comment:

  1. Too cool about the fox! Awesome!


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Image makeover drive at District co-op banks
By Joseph Samson
Jan 25, 2013
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District Co-op, District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) is on an image makeover drive in Coimbatore.

DCCB, which has not added a single branch to its present network of 27 since 2005, now plans to open four new branches. The bank is also planning to give a facelift to some of the existing branches and to hook on to the Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform.

Mr. S Ramakrishnan, Special Officer of the DCCB, Coimbatore said that the new branches were proposed at Somanur, Edayarpalayam, Ganapathy and P N Pudur in Coimbatore and another four offices, including bank's main branch in Coimbatore and Tirupur is being renovated.

Besides giving a facelift to the interiors, eight branches of the DCCB are also expected to be hooked on to the CBS platform very soon.

"By end-February, we expect all the existing 27 branches of the DCCB to come under CBS. In the next phase, we will link the Primary Agricultural Credit Society with the DCCB," Mr. Ramakrishnan added.

The bank is also in the process of installing ATMs.

"This drive is to attract young customers," Mr. Ramakrishnan said and added that the DCCB was also targeting other financial services as well, both for increasing its revenue and coping with the present scenario.

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13 Jun 2011

Help challenge County decision over libraries

The Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries (FOGL) have been fighting cuts to Gloucestershire’s libraries throughout the year. A legal challenge has now been launched against the council’s plans, as they may be in breach of the Public Libraries Act, the Equalities Act and failed to consult properly. Following government cuts to Legal Aid, the Legal Services Commission will only be able to fund part of the costs, and will be seeking ‘community contribution’ to cover the remainder.

Photo: Tulip

FOGL are not the claimant in this case (they wish to be anonymous), but they are launching a campaign to raise the money. The amount required will be between £10,000 and £15,000. We will know the exact amount after 23 June, but it is important that we start raising the money now as the council are starting to implement their cuts.

Although this sounds like a lot, if the council’s plans go ahead then communities will be having to raise more than this every year to keep their libraries running. FOGL think it is regrettable that we have to do this, but this is the only option left in the fight to save our libraries. The lawyers have indicated they think the challenge has a good chance of success. They are looking to raise as much as possible by 26 June 2011. See more here about how you can make a donation and support the campaign.

Amazingly I read that 3 out of 10 children own no books - see Guardian article here. Nationwide it is said 521 libraries are due to be closed or are under threat. The average cost of running a library is £300,000.  This means that only 1% of the corporation tax being lost by the Exchequer would keep all closed or threatened libraries open while only 3.5% of the corporation tax being lost by the Exchequer would fund the total amount of Educational Maintenance Allowance in England. Meanwhile as we've seen bankers bonuses are again obscenely high despite David Cameron saying in Feb 2009: "Where the taxpayer owns a large stake in a bank, we are saying that no employee should be paid a bonus of over £2,000."

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Big East M5: 01.15.13 Edition

Posted by mlemaire on January 15th, 2013

  1. Another day has passed and we don’t know anything more about the shady eligibility issue that is keeping Syracuse forward James Southerland off the court. Jim Boeheim spoke about the suspension with ESPN while he was on the network’s campus in Bristol and while he wouldn’t elaborate on what Southerland is actually suspended for, he did call the suspension “troubling” while also noting that “James will get through it”. While Orange fans anxiously await Southerland’s reinstatement, those of us on the outside looking in are left with an insatiable curiosity about the cloud of mystery surrounding the suspension. One would think that if this was a by-the-book suspension for academic issues, Syracuse would have just come out and said that, it isn’t the team’s first rodeo in that respect after all. Instead the program has chosen to keep everyone in the dark and there is a chance we will never know what is keeping Southerland suspended.
  2. As expected Louisville survived the war of attrition and ascended to the top spot in the latest Associated Press’ Top 25 poll Monday and they celebrated by stomping out a potential upset bid from Connecticut on the same night. The Huskies have already proven they are going to be a tough game for any opponent, and they actually led the Cardinals by six points at halftime before Louisville dialed up the defense and swarmed over the younger Huskies in the second half. At this point the only thing that keeps Louisville from dominating is their own intensity and effort. When the Cardinals play with max effort, they are better than nearly everyone else in the country, but as they showed in the first half Monday, the switch isn’t always turned on. For now that will work, but a lackluster half in March will be a lot more dangerous.
  3. The Providence Journal is right, this is a big week for Ed Cooley and Providence . The team is coming off its first conference win in four tries and plays middle-of-the-road teams Georgetown and Villanova. If ever there was an opportunity to potentially climb out of the basement, now, against beatable teams, is the time to do it. The Journal correctly points out that the team is still adjusting to a few new faces in the lineup and of course the familiar face of Vincent Council as well.  The Friars have almost no depth or chemistry right now, so not a lot is expected of them, but if they can win both games, it will send a statement to the fan base and the rest of the conference that this team still has a pulse.
  4. At this point we are really just piling on, but Pittsburgh has not had a great start to conference play and part of it is because they aren’t winning close games the way that they used to when Jamie Dixon was regularly making NCAA Tournament runs with his teams. Most of the advanced metrics support the fact that Pittsburgh should be a lot better than they have shown so far and the team seems to think it is just a matter of taking advantage of opportunities to seize the game. The Panthers are about to hit a four-game stretch of winnable games before they meet Louisville at the end of January, and if they have any NCAA Tournament aspirations they are going to need to win more of those games than they lose.
  5. There was some good news for UConn fans today as coach Kevin Ollie landed his first recruit since officially becoming the team’s head coach in Miami-area big man and Ghana native Amida Brimah. Brimah is basically a really long and really athletic 6’10” center with raw offensive skills and present defensive ability. The Huskies have had some notable success with similar players and they desperately need big men, and big men who can develop into elite rim protectors are even better.
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ruspoli's Journal

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The entries in this community are set to friends-only, mostly because it bugs me when people watch a community without joining it. Heh.

Bart Ruspoli: Played Pvt. Tipper in "Band of Brothers." Is defender and club captain of Gorky's amateur football club. Was in HBO's "Rome," a T-Mobile commercial, and some obscure films and UK TV shows. Has nice lips. Etc.

No drama in this community, pls.

Affiliates: barantini & eionbaileycomm & rossmccall & obasc & shane_taylor & rick_gomez
Cap for infopage graphic via groupofguys
andrew parkinson, band of brothers, bart ruspoli, dead creatures, gorky's football club, i said so little, rome, shane taylor, venus drowning, webber douglas academy


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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Meet Charlie

*side note. Ollie told me I had to take these pictures of him, so I wouldn't miss him when I went to Australia.

Before you say" Ruth your crazy!" See the look on Ollie 's (and Charlie's)face. What could i do, the boy actually needed a dog. We got the dog from our good friends, Mossi and Sharla. They just had a baby and were living in a 1 bedroom apartment. I know the decision wasn't easy for them, but I think it's hard to deny the love affair between Ollie and Charlie. Ollie has given him a new middle name of Sparkles. So Charlie Sparkles Schultz is our newest member of the family. I even caught husband talking baby talk" Ohhh Charlie, what a good dog you are". I knew we had a keeper then. I can attest he is the BEST dog in the world!!! He is completely trained, sleeps 70% of the day, doesn't shed and is the only thing in my house that actually listens to me. I swear he is part cat cuz he loves to snuggle on your lap. Mossi told us that he would only give us him on one condition, if we ever fall out of love with him, we will give him back. Ollie told me, Mom, even if we fall out of love with Charlie, let's not give him back ever. Sorry Mossi I just don't ever see it happening. No take backs.

Is it me or has Ollie and Charlie been making the same face expressions?

Ollie 5 reasons why he loves Charlie.....
1. Charlie lets me scratch his belly.
2. He listens to me.
3. He likes to sleep in my bed with me.
4. He is my BEST freind!!!
5. He watches Tom & Jerry with me. ( not like Auntie Heather)

Beth said...

Cute pictures!!

How did you get Charlie to pose with the same face expressions?

jenn said...

i love him! is ollie wearing charlie's doggie collar?

Heather said...

hey listen up...i watched plenty of Tom and Jerry that week...haha

the sister said...

That is so cute!!! I cant wait to come out to play Charlie and everybody else!!!

Georgia said...

Is this the dog I "heard" about? Haa-haa-haa.

What another one? I have a little chihuahua. I will bath him, and I will even put a bow on him!

Just kidding. Dogs are important!!!


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Learning new tricks about learning: maps and history

imageFrom Tuesday: J- has started Grade 8, the year before high school. Last schoolyear, we invested more time into helping her learn, and that worked well. I wonder what we’ll learn about learning this year.

J- was preparing for a quiz on pre-confederation Canada. To help, the teacher had labelled the settlements with A, B, C, and so on. J had made her own mnemonics. For example, D stood for ReD River Settlement. But the letters weren’t assigned in any obvious order, so J- was memorizing an arbitrary association.

Placing the information on the map was much more useful. We scanned in J-’s handout, then J- traced it using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. With a blank map, J- could then add layers with her labels. After a few tries, she could correctly label all the areas in less than a minute and a half. (… and so could I! That will probably come in handy for any citizenship tests.)

We created a new map for Canada’s current provinces, and we quizzed ourselves on that too. For kicks, we took J’-s jigsaw puzzle of the provinces of the Philippines, mixed up the pieces, and assembled everything without looking at the picture. That was fun, although I was a bit slower putting together Mindanao’s provinces than I was at Luzon and Visayas. (More travel?)

Out of curiosity, I flipped through the other pages in her folder. One of the sheets had a timeline of events. “What if we could learn the order of these events?” I asked J-.

  1. She looked at me, probably as intimidated as I was. I remember having such difficulty with trivia like that in my history classes. Time to see if I could pass on some tips from Moonwalking with Einstein and other mind-hacking resources.
  2. I told J- about the idea of a memory palace – exaggerating the characteristics of items you need to memorize, then imagining them in specific locations in a place you know well. We walked through the process of imagining reminders:
  3. golden blueberry bushes in the front yard for the prospectors of the gold rush
  4. our cats meowing to be let out of the door – Ottawa
  5. a colony of dust bunnies on the shelf – BC became a colony
  6. Americans politely fighting over the litter boxes – the American Civil War
  7. Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins on the sofa, discussing their impending unionDiscussion at Charlottetown
  8. … while Mr. Collins’ 72 relatives crowd in front of the bookcase (recalling Lost in Austen) – 72 Resolutions in Quebec
  9. Mr. and Mrs. News and Mr. and Mrs. Canada getting together around the kitchen table – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada West, and Canada East
  10. Tripping over a giant rubber eraser in an HBC bag blocking the corridor – Rupert’s Land, HBC
  11. Walking up the stairs and meeting a man with a big toe – Manitoba joins
  12. Peeking into the guest room and seeing a busy party BC joins
  13. Going to the bathroom – PEI
  14. Going to J’s room and seeing her toys in a circleConsolidated Indian Act

We imagined it while we were in the living room. She physically traced the steps and talked about the things she imagined. Then she mentally retraced the steps. Even after watching a movie (Pom Poko, by Studio Ghibli), she still remembered the sequence. Let’s see if she ends up using it in school!

It’s fun adding tools to J’s learning kit. She picked up the strategy of inventing mnemonics. She made flashcards to practise the Gnommish alphabet from the Artemis Fowl series. Now she knows about mapping and the memory palace technique. For dates, we might try the Major system, if we can wrap our minds around it. I wish I’d learned about these things when I was in school, but hey, good to pass on the hacks! =)

  1. It’s better to find useful associations than arbitrary ones.
  2. Autodesk Sketchbook Pro and other drawing programs can be good educational tools.
  3. Learning something might not be important, but learning how to learn something – ah, that can be valuable.
  4. The memory palace technique is great for remembering sequences. Exaggerated images stick in your brain.
  • “learning how to learn something – ah, that can be valuable” – Very true.

    Sometimes, we forget about the things that we learned or they just lose value but the process of learning them continues to be important.

    I am not so good with subjects like History and Geography (or I just wasn’t so interested in it before), so I find this post quite interesting. I wish I read this when I was still in school. ;P

    But I know I can still use this learning process with the things I’m trying to learn right now… like J2EE! :D

  • hmw

    learning how to learn is really an important topic. Before I enrolled in university many moons ago I worked in the industries for some years. In retrospect one of my biggest problems starting university was learning a learning strategy. An even bigger problem was to recognise that I had trouble with learning strategies. I tought I just had to work harder, spent more time on learning etc. and everything became fine. It took me several semesters to put this things straight. But once I had this insight I got good grades with less work ;).


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Employee Sentenced in Northern California Tainted Beef Scheme
Sacramento Uses Cattle Drive To Showcase Region's Local Food OptionsLike a scene out of the Wild West, several dozen wranglers on horseback herded more than 50 longhorn cattle down one of Sacramento's main thoroughfares Monday to kick off a week-long celebration of locally grown food.
Call Kurtis Investigates: What's In Your Milk?A three-month Call Kurtis investigation has learned 17 different types of antibiotics have been found in the meat of dairy cows, though dairy milk is only screened for six antibiotics.
Dry Winter Blamed For Rising Beef PricesThe price for beef hit a record high in December, and ranchers blame the dry winter for driving costs up.
Study: Half Of Supermarket Meat May Have Staph BugA new report estimates that half the meat and poultry sold in the supermarket may be tainted with the staph germ.
SoCal Meat Company Recalls 3,170 Pounds Of BeefA Southern California meat producer has recalled 3,170 pounds of ground beef that might be contaminated with E. coli.
Law Firm Sues Taco Bell, Claims There's Not Enough Meat In Its 'Beef'An Alabama law firm claims in a lawsuit that Taco Bell is using false advertising when it refers to using "seasoned ground beef" or "seasoned beef" in its products.

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Home / Cell Phone Spy / Get to Know What Phone Spy App Could Do to Suspicious Activities of a Spouse
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Get to Know What Phone Spy App Could Do to Suspicious Activities of a Spouse

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Marriage could be put at risk when a spouse starts to suspect his or her partner is cheating, thus a phone spy app can be of help to know whether a spouse stays loyal and faithful to their marriage.

How does it work?

With my spy application you can check on real-time conversation. You will be able to hear all the incoming and outgoing calls and could view all call logs. Jealous spouses, please be reminded that your partner might feel not being trusted upon knowing that you have been checking on his phone conversations.

Read text messages with its ability to spy on SMS and exchanges of text messages. Be able to view all videos, see photos and have access to contact details. Make sure to clarify your doubts before over reacting to text messages you are not sure where it is coming from, an “I miss you” might be from his mom’s new number.

Check location with free cell phone locator. Some phones have feature that could trace one’s location. There are easy to use cell phone app for average persons who needs to do surveillance work. But please be extra careful, your spouse might be meeting for a business deal.

Track all other mobile activities with its feature to watch you with what you’re doing on your phone. With the advent of modern technology, even privacy can be exposed openly and publicly.

Its easy to use, easy to install, low cost and choose a product with no hidden fees or monthly fees. Just download the application, activate it with the license key upon purchase and the number of the phone you wanted to spy on and it will operate invisibly on your target’s phone. You can do this without having the phone in your possession. It will send information and give access to the person who activated the software.

The fear of losing a grip on your relationship can be saved. If a problem has discovered a solution might be discussed by the couple to act on what is best to do to save their marriage. You just want to protect your family but it must take an open minded couple to deal with the personal issues of their marriage. Do not let problems get unresolved outside your bedroom.

Safeguarde will lead you to a site that shows cell phone monitoring software can be of great help to protect your family and save your business growth.

About Pat S.

Blogger, writer, yoga enthusiast

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Salon Sculpt is premier, top quality salon located in the thriving Overton Park District right across from Texas Tech University. We are a well-established business in the Lubbock area known for our devotion to our clients as well as our ability to keep with the latest trends in the hair industry. We take pride in our quality work and customer satisfaction. Salon Sculpt offers a full range of hair services as well as waxing and makeup. Our mission is to personalize every appointment in order to fully and completely cater to each client that walks through our door. Come see us today and receive the attention, courtesy and professional service you deserve.

Let us update you to the latest trends with our various services.

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Paris protests

Riots broke out in Paris as hundreds of people marched in the streets after a 22-year-old black man was violently sodomized by police.

Video footage taken from a mobile phone shows 4 officers stopping a youth worker named Theo in a suburb of Paris last week.

Click here to read more

Shia LeBeouf

Weirdo actor Shia LaBeouf was arrested and charged with misdeanor assault and harassment of a Nazi sympathizer at an anti-Trump art installation in New York early Thursday.

LaBeouf’s arrest sparked protests on social media and inspired the #FreeShia hashtag on

Click here to read more

The U.S. Secret Service has opened an investigation into terroristic threats made by pop singer Madonna against President Donald Trump at a protest on Saturday.

Madonna reportedly told demonstrators at the Women’s March On Washington that she has “often” thought of “blowing up the White House”.

Click here to read more

Dakota Access Pipeline

The Army Corps of Engineers informed the Oceti tribe that it will halt work on the Dakota Access pipeline in order to conduct an environmental impact study.

The government’s decision comes after weeks of sometimes violent conflicts between police and tribal members who objected to an oil pipeline on the sacred grounds of the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.

Click here to read more

Van Jones Obama

The running gag in Washington DC is if you want President Obama to care about an issue, disguise it as gay, transgender or refugee-related.

That’s the dilemma facing Native Americans at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, where a fierce standoff continues over the Dakota Access Pipeline.

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Teen Accused Of Burglarizing Los Gatos Apple Store

LOS GATOS (CBS SF) — Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of stealing from an Apple store early Friday morning.

At 3:25 a.m., a patrol officer was transporting prisoners to jail when he noticed broken glass and a large pickaxe on the ground in front of the Apple store at 23 N. Santa Cruz Ave., police said.

Upon closer inspection, the officer saw a person inside the store wearing a mask and all black clothing stealing various Apple products.

With the help of additional officers, the person was taken into custody as he was exiting the store.

He was identified as a 15-year-old boy from San Jose.

Officers found him in possession of a duffel bag filled with various Apple products.

Investigators believe the boy acted alone and used a family member’s car to drive to the store.

The suspect was booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall on charges of commercial burglary and possession of stolen property.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call the police investigations unit at (408) 827-3209.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

One Comment

  1. tn says:

    Quick solution: Check the vehicle’s registration sticker- current or expired?

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Short Story for Demon’s Covenant

This is quite a week for short stories for you guys!

This is my present to you guys to celebrate the release of Demon’s Covenant in paperback in the US. If any of you guys have been waiting for the paperback – it’s out! And if you want to get it or ask for it in a shop or anything, that’d be awesome.

Whether you’ve got it, you’re getting it, you took it out from the library, loaned it from a friend or you’ve never read anything of mine at all, I hope you enjoy this.

This story is set immediately before the events of The Demon’s Lexicon, no actual spoilers but some heavy hinting at spoilers in Lexicon and Covenant. Containing some major, some minor, and some only-mentioned characters in the series. This one’s also dedicated to the real Mark Skinner, who is much more awesome than this version. 😉 Title stolen from Oscar Wilde.

“Well,” Jamie said. “This was just like that film the Breakfast Club, except weirder, and also without anyone reforming, any touching heartfelt moments, or any soundtrack to speak of aside from glass breaking.”

The Coward With A Kiss

The two things Mark was most scared of in the world both involved Jamie Crawford.

The first was that someone would find out that he and Jamie used to kiss behind the gym when they were fourteen.

It had only been a handful of times, or maybe more than that. Sometimes Mark closed his eyes and remembered it with appalling vividness, as if it was a crime he had committed and could not forgive himself for.

That was how it had felt sometimes, shaky with excitement and guilt, his palms sweating and the tree branches blurring in the sky, brown brushstrokes wavering and mingling into grayness as he closed his eyes and felt Jamie’s body against his, never pushy, lips rough but shy, thin chest flat against Mark’s, unmistakably another boy.

He didn’t know why he’d done it. Even now, he couldn’t work out what had been wrong with him. Maybe once would have been acceptable, a mistake, boys will be boys his dad said, though never about things like this. But he’d kept doing it, kept coming back even though sometimes his heart drummed so hard in his throat it felt like it was going to choke him, even though he still looked down Ms Sturridge’s blouse in English class. He couldn’t decide if that meant he was normal, or even more of a freak than Jamie.

He used to wake in the night, shaking in his sweat, absolutely terrified that somebody would find out.

When he was fourteen, it was the thing Mark had been most scared of in all the world.

Now he was sixteen, there was one thing he was more scared of, and that was that people would remember he and Jamie used to be best friends.

It hadn’t been a secret at the time. Everyone had known, from the first day of school until they were fourteen. They had walked to and from school together, Jamie’s big sister herding them when they were younger as if she was a responsible adult when she was barely a year older. They had gone to football games together, one or the other of their dads taking them, until Jamie had a talk with his dad about—about how Jamie was, when he was thirteen—and then Jamie’s dad stopped taking him.

That was the kind of thing that made Mark sweat. The prices you’d have to pay, every day, for not being normal.

So they’d had a fight and stopped being friends. That was normal, Mark told himself. It happened every day. That was what he’d told his mum and dad. He hadn’t had to go into the details of the fight. Just: he’d made some new friends, and Jamie hadn’t taken it well.

Which was more or less the truth.

When they were fourteen, Mark and Jamie walked in a bit late to their first class because they’d been—behind the gym.

There was a new kid in class.

There were two kinds of new kids: the kind who sidled in, apologetic about their newness and hoping to melt into a group as soon as possible. And there were the kind who seemed to shine with their newness, and collect new groups with themselves as the focus.

Seb McFarlane was definitely the second kind. He didn’t even have real parents at all, he had foster parents, an altogether more dangerous and temporary arrangements. He was taller than most of the other guys, and he’d lived in Cardiff and Manchester and all sorts of places, and he wore his dark hair in a brilliant haircut that a lot of the other guys gradually copied, one by one, in the following weeks.

But on the first day, the first thing that Mark noticed was how Jamie reacted to him. Jamie went suddenly perfectly still, and stared. His face actually went white.

Seb stared back for a moment, just as still, then erupted from his desk like a tidal wave.

“What are you looking at?” Seb sneered, and Jamie, who never seemed to know a thing about saving face, stammered out: “Nothing – sorry-” sounding lost, and everyone else laughed.

Then Seb pulled his angry green gaze away from Jamie, and it fell on Mark.

“Coming, then?” he asked, and jerked his head toward the back row of seats.

Mark went after him, and so did Tim Graves, who was a bit of a thicko but the biggest guy in class and pretty hard, and Dave Liddell whose older brother was known to occasionally sell drugs now and then, and Guy Ferrell who’d got into three fights.

He didn’t know any of them very well, and he was a bit uncertain what to talk about at lunchtime, but Seb managed the conversation with easy confidence. He called them all Graves, and Liddell, and Ferrell, and Skinner.

He propped his elbows on the table and said: “So, that guy Crawford,” and his mouth twisted. “Be a bit more obvious.”

Mark held the spoon for his yoghurt so tight it felt like it was going to cut into his palm. But nobody looked at him. Liddell told a story about Jamie, about how you never saw him at football games anymore, he guessed because all the guys in shorts got him excited, and Mark didn’t say that wasn’t fair. He laughed louder than anybody.

He repeated Seb’s words to Jamie, behind the gym after school, with Jamie asking where he’d been at lunch even though Jamie knew very well where he’d been.

“Well, the new guy was hardly going to want to sit with you, was he?” Mark demanded, his voice coming out scathing. “Not after the way you couldn’t take your eyes off him. Be a bit more obvious.”

Jamie looked startled and hurt, dark eyes going wide, and then he smiled, sudden and sunny, as if he’d worked out a way to explain this.

“I wasn’t staring at him because he’s cute,” Jamie said, and it made Mark’s stomach actually twist with panic, hearing him say those words so casually, as if there were no consequences. “Hey,” Jamie added, his voice soft, with a note to it like—like he was talking to a girl. “I don’t like him. You know who I like.”

He reached out and touched Mark’s wrist. Mark looked down at him, felt his heart stutter in his chest, and thought about how Seb had just looked at Jamie and known. How long before that rubbed off on Mark, how long before everybody knew?

“Don’t say things like that,” Mark snapped, pulling away. “Just leave me alone.”

Every time Mark had kissed Jamie, he’d told himself it was the last time.

He’d had no way of knowing, the morning Seb came to school, that it really had been the last time. But it was. He never kissed Jamie again.

He did push him, more times than he could count, to make him drop a book or have to grab at a banister. He made jokes about him while they were changing for gym, and he laughed at everyone else’s jokes.

And slowly, Mark’s greatest fear changed. He was still scared people would find out about him and Jamie behind the gym.

But he was even more scared someone would think back, remember the way he and Jamie had shared crayons back when they were little, gone on camping trips together, pushed their desks together and bent their heads together and laughed, for years. He was scared someone would think of all that, and look at Mark and how he behaved now, and think—what kind of person treats someone who used to be a friend like that?

He was scared of what Abby would think.

And he was still scared of what his friends would think. They were the only friends he had. Seb wasn’t the untouchably cool idol he’d been to Mark when he was fourteen, but Mark still cared about his opinion.

So when Seb asked him to cut school after lunch, of course Mark did.

And of course Mark and Seb both wound up in detention the next day. That was no surprise.

The surprise was who else was there when Seb and Mark walked in.

The room contained Ms Sturridge, who after her divorce had thinned down until she was roughly the shape of a pencil, her features all coming to a point. Nobody looked down her blouse anymore.

It also contained Tim Graves, who was their friend, Nick Ryves, who was technically their friend, and Rachel and Erica, two girls in the class above them who were crazy Mae Crawford’s crazy friends.

“Graves,” Seb said, his voice low, as he took the desk beside Tim’s and nodded for Mark to take the one beside his. “What’re you doing here? If you had something planned, you could’ve let us in on it.”

“Uh, no,” Tim said, his eyes shifty. “I was, uh, I was caught smoking.”

Mark and Seb both stared at him.

“Er – you don’t smoke,” Mark reminded him, trying to keep his voice tactful. Tim could sometimes be this way.

“I was trying it out!” Tim exclaimed. He eyeballed his own desk wildly.

Sometimes Mark wondered how on earth they’d all managed to hang onto their reputation as the dangerous troublemakers of the school.

Seb’s voice became significantly cooler. “How about you, Ryves?”

Nick Ryves shrugged.

“What did you get detention for?” Seb pursued. His voice got colder and edgier with every word, like someone sharpening an icicle.

Nick didn’t even look at him. “I don’t know.”

Seb’s voice was incredulous. “You don’t know?”

“Could be any one of a number of things.”

Sometimes too, Mark wondered why they wanted a reputation like the one they had. The reality of it, of someone who did not care about anything or anyone, who might actually be dangerous, was Nick Ryves.

The guy who had taken one look at them and known they were the group he belonged to. Look at your life, Mark Skinner, Mark said to himself, like he had Abby Curtis’s voice in his head. Look at your choices.

Frankly, the guy gave Mark the creeps. Even being in a room with him was unsettling. It wasn’t just that he was big, though he was, his muscles and height making him look older than all of them, but that there was a sort of unpleasant cold feeling he dragged around with him.

Also, the guy was a jerk.

Mark didn’t want to be anything like Nick Ryves. And he didn’t know how to tell Seb, who so obviously did want to be just like that, to be so cold nothing could ever hurt him, that Mark preferred Seb the way he was.

It would sound totally gay if he tried.

“Skinner and I cut and got caught,” Seb said, trying hard to sound offhand.

Nick Ryves had that effect on Seb: made him try too hard, which made all his failures more conspicuous. All he had to do was sit there and stare with those empty black eyes, and he won. Without even trying. Without even caring enough to try.

“Who’s Skinner?” asked Nick.

“I am,” Mark snapped. “I’ve had the same name for the past three weeks, every day of which you’ve been hanging out with us.”

Nick glanced at Mark over his shoulder. The look was chilling, but that was pretty much Nick’s normal look.

“Well, good for you,” Nick drawled, sounding extremely bored, and turned away.

Mark rolled his eyes and took the desk between Seb and Rachel. He caught her eye and offered a smile.

“Don’t even think about it, you miscreant,” Rachel said, and stabbed her compass point into the surface of her desk.

Mark really just knew her as Mae Crawford’s sulky dark satellite, while Erica was the smiling blond one. He hadn’t realized she was actually insane.

He transferred the smile to Erica. “What’re you in for?”

“What is this?” Erica’s voice went high. “An interrogation? Stop acting like you are a member of the FBI, Mark Skinner! You aren’t even American! Or Canadian. Can you join the FBI if you’re Canadian?”

“I think so,” Tim said thoughtfully.

“Don’t talk to any of these guys, Erica,” Rachel said. “If you had been unjustly imprisoned in a rubbish bin, would you strike up a conversation with the rats?”

“Settle down,” Ms Sturridge said in a warning voice.

Mark was done talking anyway. He should’ve realized any friends of Mae Crawford were bound to be insane.

He opened his book and tried to concentrate on maths. He wasn’t going to be able to make it to study group, again. He could at least get his homework done, so Abby wouldn’t think he was a total loss.

Mark had basically been forced to join Abby Curtis’s study group because he was failing maths, and it was that or a tutor. He always made a big production out of what a pain it was, having to go be cooped up with a bunch of nerds every Tuesday and Thursday.

He’d never have dared confess that he had more fun there than with his actual friends. Especially since Nick Ryves came to school.

Everyone was nice. Some of them followed football the same way Mark did. Eric always brought great snacks. It was all just—really nice.

And Abby was the nicest thing about it. She’d really tried to help Mark with his homework, not in a boring teacher way or a patronizing nerd way, but as if she really wanted to, and was genuinely pleased when he got it. She always helped everyone the same way, Abby did.

There was a girl in their group called Sophie who stammered, and Mark had made a joke about it. Not in front of Sophie – he wasn’t being a jerk about it. Just to Abby, while he was packing up his books, maybe trying to make her laugh a bit because she had a nice laugh or whatever.

“Don’t be a loser, Mark,” she said, and he’d thought, what a bitch. He’d just been joking around. She didn’t have to take things so seriously, and if she was going to hold it against him when he’d done nothing wrong, then to hell with her.

Only next study group, she’d acted just the same as she always did. And he saw her talk that way sometimes, to the others or about something, and he’d started to think—well, that he wished he could do that. Whenever he got that uncomfortable feeling, like something was a bit of a lousy thing to do or say. He wondered what it would be like to just say ‘Cut it out’ like Abby did, and not care what people thought of you for saying so.

And he started to notice stuff besides the fact that the buttons on her shirts strained when they were bending over their homework. Like the way her hair smelled like vanilla, and how she liked to wear penguin jewelry.

There was even stupid daydreaming about her and hanging around in hallways in case she might walk down them and say ‘Oh, hey, Mark.’ Because that was so useful.

Mark had been kind of happy to realize he really liked her, at first. Because that meant, well, that he didn’t have to worry about the other stuff. It didn’t matter if occasionally he’d hung around the bookshop and noticed that the new redheaded guy who worked there had amazing arms. It was Abby he wanted around, all the time as well as for—stuff, and she was a girl.

He was hanging around a shopping centre and saw a set of silver studs in the shape of penguins, and he’d bought them. Which was a totally ridiculous thing to do. He’d told the saleslady that they were for his little sister, like she cared.

That was before he realized something else.

He hadn’t given the earrings to Abby. She’d probably never go for him anyway: she was smart, and it wasn’t like he had a lot going for him.

Even if she did, if she got to know him better, and she heard all the jokes the guys made, or how they talked to Jamie—if, God forbid, Mark ever let anything slip about the stuff behind the gym—oh, Jesus, she’d just hate him. It wasn’t any use.

And Seb and Tim and everyone, they were his friends. They were his only friends. Abby wasn’t anything like the kind of girls they talked about, the kind of girlfriend Mark knew he should want. Mark didn’t want to think about how they’d talk to her, or about her. He didn’t want his friends to think any less of him.

So he couldn’t give her penguin earrings. He couldn’t even send her a text message telling her he had detention.

But he could do his maths homework. Mark bent his head over his book, and willed detention to be over soon.

Detention was finally over, even though Mark felt like an ice age or two had passed during it. Apparently Ms Sturridge felt the same way, because she basically bolted while they were all gathering up their books.

“Well, that was an enormous waste of my time,” obviously crazy Rachel said, shoving her books into her bag as if they had personally offended her. “And an infringement of my right to free speech. All I did was point out that our gym shorts are too short.”

“So short that it made you think someone on the school board was either a misogynist or a pervert,” Erica reminded her gently.

“Mae said it first!”

“Not in front of our gym teacher,” Erica pointed out.

Rachel sniffed. “You still haven’t told me what you did.”

Erica blushed a deep red. “I’m just late for class so much,” she said. “I’m just so so late.”

“You’d have to be pretty late for a lot of classes to get a detention!”

“I forget where the classrooms are,” Erica claimed. “I get lost all the time.” She laughed weakly. “I just wander – around and around.”

Nick was first out of the classroom, not even looking at anyone else and shutting the door with a bang. Not to be outdone, Seb followed almost immediately, and Mark and Tim went after him.

When Mark saw Jamie standing at the bathroom, facing Seb and looking prickly and helpless as a hedgehog in the face of an oncoming car, Mark wished he’d stayed and talked to the crazy girls.

He felt a sharp stab of guilt. Looking at Jamie from a little way away, just him and Seb standing together, it was obvious how short and skinny Jamie was.

And it was obvious what he’d been doing. Mark was in the kind of group kids did their homework in bathrooms to get away from, waiting around just so they wouldn’t be hassled as they went home.

Mark prayed for a distraction.

It was extremely unexpected when Nick Ryves answered his prayers.

He rattled the front doors of the school, and observed in his flat voice: “These are locked.”

“What?” Seb said. “That’s ridiculous. No they’re not.”

He strode over and pushed at the doors impatiently. Nick leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms as Seb pushed at the doors again, and then set his shoulder to them.

“Oh, you’re probably right,” Nick said as Seb shoved. “How embarrassing for me.”

“What the hell?” Rachel said, and Mark turned around to see her and Erica at the classroom door. “Ms Sturridge knew we were still inside! This is teacher brutality.”

“Not really brutality,” Erica pointed out softly. “I mean she didn’t like, throw rulers at us.”

“Well, it’s unlawful imprisonment!” Rachel said. “I’m calling my father. Who is also, I might add, a lawyer. I need his legal advice as well as his fatherly aid.”

She whipped her phone out of her pocket, but instead of stabbing at the buttons as Mark had expected she just stared at it.

“I’m not getting any signal,” she said, and her voice faltered, sounding as young as she was and not angry for the first time.

Mark dug in his pocket for a phone, as did everyone else around him. Even Nick Ryves put his hand in his pocket, though he did not take his phone out.

Mark stared at his phone blankly for a moment. He did not look up until Jamie spoke.

“Uh,” said Jamie. “Well, we’re trapped somewhere that our phones won’t work. Does this seem unsettlingly like a horror movie to anyone else, or is it just me?” He paused for a brooding moment. “I always hated horror movies,” he said finally. “I’m sure I’d die before the opening credits. Especially the ones with monsters or zombies in them. I am certain I would die straight away in the zombie apocalypse. Well, first pee myself and then die.”

There was a silence after that. There often was when Jamie spoke. Jamie just kind of nodded his head at himself, earring flashing in the dim light, tucking his hands in his pockets and tilting a smile over at Erica and Rachel. They both smiled faintly back at him.

Mark saw, with a gathering sense of dread, Seb’s shoulders bunch.

It was not a huge surprise when he wheeled on Jamie, green eyes narrowing, and said: “You’re doing this. Aren’t you?”

“Er, are you perhaps paranoid and delusional?” Rachel inquired. “How could Jamie possibly-”

Jamie laughed, the sound swift and cutting, not like Jamie’s usual laugh at all. Not that Mark had heard Jamie actually laugh in years.

“Oh yes,” he said. “It’s totally me. I’m dying to be cooped up here with all of you people. Sorry, Erica and Rachel. You know it’s always a pleasure. And okay, um, new guy, Nick, right? I don’t really know you, though given the company you keep-”

“Are you in our class?” Nick asked.

Jamie looked at him for a moment. “Yeah,” he said at last. “So I don’t see us ever getting on.”

“Good call,” Nick told him.

Jamie shook his head fractionally and transferred his attention back to Seb.

“I have a point!” he announced. “And it is this. A desert island. A closet in which I am playing seven minutes in heaven. A party to which I am inviting people. My ideal life. Do you know what the common factor in all these scenarios would be, as far as I’m concerned? The fact that you would not be there, McFarlane. So if it involves you and me in a room together, you can be pretty sure it’s not my idea.” Jamie hunched his shoulders defensively, always trying to make himself look even smaller than he actually was, and added: “Are you doing this?”

“No!” Seb snapped.

“Pardon me,” Jamie said. “Something happens to make my life miserable and I automatically think of you. It’s like Pavlov’s dog and the bell.”

“Sorry, I don’t know Pavlov,” Tim said. “Is he in, like, the year above?”

“I don’t think so,” said Erica. “I’m pretty sure I’d know him then.”

“Erica!” said Rachel.

Erica blinked. “Sorry, do you know him?”

“Yeah, um,” said Mark. “Look, I don’t mean to interrupt you guys or anything, but do you think it might be an idea to find a way to get out of here?”

The longer they stayed cooped up, the better the chances were that something really bad might happen. Seb and Jamie were both already wildly accusing each other of messing with people’s phone signals.

It wasn’t just that Seb got really angry sometimes, angry enough to make Mark worry.

It was the fact, which was really obvious and which nobody else ever seemed to realise, that Jamie Crawford was a crazy person.

The whole family was crazy. Crazy ran in the blood.

Well, not Jamie and Mae’s dad. Mark supposed that was why he’d got out when he did.

Mark always remembered a garden party they had gone to when Mark and Jamie were six. They’d brought Mark along so the children could all play together, and it had been a huge house, way bigger even than Jamie’s, which previously had been the biggest Mark had ever seen. Mark had been pretty excited. There was a marquee, which at the time he just thought of as a huge party tent, and a ton of the grown-ups were so fancily dressed Mark kept thinking this must be a wedding and looking out for the bride.

It was just a party. The Crawfords were rich, and so were their friends. After a while of hanging around the sides of the marquee and watching Mr and Mrs Crawford, both wearing white linen, wander around shaking people’s hands and laughing at stuff that wasn’t funny, Jamie and Mark got bored and wandered off to explore the garden holding hands, because you could still hold hands when you were six.

There was an ornamental lake, a weeping willow trailing its leaves on the crystal surface and goldfish surfacing occasionally from the depths. They were both fascinated. Mark just knelt at the edge, watching.

He looked up only when Jamie said, “I’d like to go swimming,” held out his arms and, with a beatific smile, fell deliberately backward into the water.

He disappeared and Mark froze. He didn’t have any idea what to do—they would get in trouble—everyone would look at them—

It was Jamie’s big sister Mae, who had been wandering around the party as aimlessly as they were, who sounded the alarm. She charged across the water-smooth lawn, a small fury of dark hair and dungarees, and howled like a dungaree-clad banshee.

Then all the adults were pouring out of the marquee, a terrifying army in pale linen and fancy hat uniforms, and suddenly with longer legs and the same concentrated ferocity as Mae came Mrs Crawford. She kicked off her high, high ivory-colored heels with strange daintiness as she went, and dived into the pool, a perfect swimmer’s dive with her hands over her head.

She emerged from the pool with Jamie clasped firmly to her, flicking her drenched blond hair out of her face with an economical little movement of her head. As she climbed out of the pool, her dress was dripping and streaked with green slime.

She did not look in the least concerned by anything, until Jamie started to cry and clutch at her. Then she looked discomposed, and looked to her husband.

He was staring at her, looking appalled by the scene they had created. He looked even more appalled when Mrs Crawford slid her heels back on, strode over to him and deposited Jamie in his arms.

Then she swanned off to change her clothes. She returned some time later looking cool and immaculate.

Mr Crawford looked around at the other people at the party, and awkwardly, half-heartedly patted Jamie on the back. He whispered “Hush!” into his ear with far more force than he put into comforting him.

And Mae’s eyes narrowed. She sat on the ground, a big girl of almost eight, and howled her head off, drowning out Jamie’s piteous sobs, embarrassing Mr Crawford completely.

The other guests remembered the Crawford girls making the scene, mostly. But Mark, still frozen with terror by the lake, remembered that Jamie had caused all the trouble in the first place, falling back fearless into the water as if drowning was not a possibility.

Jamie would never talk about it afterward, avoiding the subject as if he’d committed a crime.

Jamie was afraid of a lot, but never the things he should be afraid of.

And he just made things worse for himself.

When they’d been fourteen, Jamie had spent the first couple of weeks looking confused and hurt about how Mark was suddenly ignoring him. Then one of the comments one of them had made tipped him off, and he stopped looking confused, and tried to stop looking hurt.

But he didn’t just do that. He started to dress differently. Nothing major, but—some of his shirts were purple now, or had purple in them. Sometimes they were made of different material, material like a girl might wear.

“You’re just giving Seb the finger now,” Mark said in a low voice to him, the day Jamie wore the purple thing with the buttons.

Jamie looked at him, that bright complicated upset-but-still-something-else look that Jamie used to have around him, the one that made Mark feel bad but angry too.

“I can wear what I want,” he said. “That’s the point. The other thing? That’s just a bonus.”

He gave Mark a small smile, crooked and upset and hopeful, and Mark hit Jamie’s shoulder on purpose a little too hard going in the door.

It might have all been okay, if Jamie wasn’t so stubborn.

A few months later, just after Mark’s fifteenth birthday, when Mark hadn’t—done anything weird in ages and he was starting to feel a bit more settled and calm, and a bit more horrible about the way Jamie looked sometimes, off by himself listening to music with his shoulders hunched in that way, Seb said at lunchtime in a very neutral voice: “You and Crawford used to hang out a bit once, right?”

Mark thought of how weird it had been, not having Jamie there to celebrate his birthday, and he swallowed down the instinctive denial and answered, desperately casual: “A bit.”

Seb made a noncommittal sound, and he and Mark both busied themselves lighting cigarettes. Mark offered Seb his lighter and Seb took it, the light cast by the flame leaping from his cupped hand to lick at his dark lowered lashes and the caramel-tanned curve of his cheek.

Mark never really let himself acknowledge he’d had a bit of a crush on Seb, until it was gone.

“He seems an all-right guy, if he wasn’t so, you know.” Seb looked at Mark and rolled his eyes. They didn’t need to say it. They understood you shouldn’t.

Mark rolled his eyes as well. “Yeah. Bit of a laugh,” he offered, very cautiously.

Seb shrugged, but not in a hostile way, and the next time Mark was passing Jamie in the halls—entirely coincidentally, he hadn’t been looking for a chance, and it was when the halls were mostly empty so nobody would have to see—he said, quietly but fast so he’d be sure to get it out: “You know it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Jamie blinked about four times very quickly. “Be what way, what?”

“We could all hang out, maybe, I don’t know,” Mark said, still low and rapid. “If you weren’t so-”

“Gay,” Jamie said, and the word cracked out, like the sound of someone slapping someone else’s face. Mark winced.

“No. I mean there’s nothing wrong with it. But why do you have to shove it in people’s faces? That’s all, that’s all I’m talking about. Like the shirts and stuff.”

“We both like football, am I right?” Jamie asked.

It was Mark’s turn to blink. “Sure.”

“And sometimes people who like football will wear football shirts, and sometimes they won’t, and it never matters because nobody ever complains about someone liking football in public, or shoving football in their faces. Because people actually believe there’s nothing wrong with that, nothing harmful or disgusting. You’re right, there’s nothing wrong with it. And that’s what the shirts and stuff are about. Except it’s way more important than football.”

Mark had just been trying to point out a way to make life easier for Jamie, a way to make life easier for all of them. He’d basically said he wanted to be Jamie’s friend again, and Jamie was getting angry with him about the way the world worked?

“Sorry, I hadn’t realized you like being a freak with no friends,” he muttered, and began to walk down the hall, turning his back on Jamie.

“Sure,” Jamie said to his back. “If the alternative is being friends with Seb McFarlane. We could all hang out? Not in a million years.”

The next day, Jamie came to school with an earring. He gave Seb and Mark both a bright smile as he walked in the classroom door, and honestly Mark thought Seb might explode.

One day someone was going to actually hit Jamie, and Mark didn’t know what he would do, and some days Mark was afraid it was going to be him, because Jamie kept riling them up on purpose for no reason at all and there was always the abiding fear Jamie might tell someone about Mark, about the mistakes he’d made. Abby might believe in being honest, but what would she think of Mark then?

Everyone in school altered themselves in some way, to fit in better with your friends, to get along with people. There was no reason for Jamie to make life harder for himself and everyone else. He was crazy.

Click here for Part Two

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sweet Georgia Brown Bigfoot!

Apparently, as people encroach on his living space, Bigfoot is moving closer and closer to civilization in Georgia. Here's a fascinating report to back up these claims:
Oh, by the way, when they say CSRA, they mean "Central Savannah River Area," which is a part of Georgia.

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3br < 1 blk to beach pier shops/ vacation condo/ Tybee Island Georgia 1700 weekly in Savannah, Georgia For Sale

Price: $1,700
Type: Vacation, For Sale - Private.

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This beautiful Pelican's Landing condo is fully furnished and ready for your Tybee vacation. You are right in the middle of the whole Tybee scene in this condo. Wake up and walk to breakfast at the famous Breakfast Club. Tybrisa Street is right around the corner and is where you will find souvenier shops, restaurants, bars, nightlife and the Tybee Pier and Pavillion. And if you are here during any of Tybee's festivals or celebrations, you will be able to view the parades right from your balcony. So come and park your car and you don't have to get back in it until you head home! There is covered parking for 2 cars. This 3 bedroom condo has a king size bed in the master bedroom. The 2nd bedroom has a queen bed and the 3rd bedroom has a twin and a full bed. There is also a queen size sleeper in the living room so you can sleep 8 if needed. The kitchen is fully furnished with stainless steel appliances and everything you need to cook during your stay...but why cook with all the restaurants right around the corner! This complex shares a pool with the Sea & Breeze.
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