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fangslikedaggers · 4 years

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❝ he was a collection of hard lines and tailored edges – sharp jaw, lean build, wool coat snug across his shoulders. ❞

huh, who’s DAVID CORENSWET? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually ALAIN LESTOAT. he is a TWENTY FOUR year old PART-VAMPIRE wizard who is an UNSPEAKABLE. he is known for being RETICENT, MERCURIAL, ALOOF, EVASIVE, and DECADENT but also CHIVALROUS, ADROIT, PRAGMATIC, DEBONAIR, and INTUITIVE, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song THAT’S OKAY BY THE HUSH SOUND and THREE PIECE SUITS, LONE MATTRESS IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT, CODED NOTEBOOKS, INK-STAINED HANDS, BLACK COFFEE GONE COLD, UNSENT POSTCARDS, OLD TABACCO PIPE, SOFT DIMPLED GRINS, PERFECTLY COIFFED HAIR, ÉDITH PIAF RECORDS ON LOW, and RED LEATHER GLOVES. i hear he is aligned with NO ONE, so be sure to keep an eye on him.

GENERAL

FULL NAME: Alain Danet Lestoat NICKNAME(S): some people call him ‘Drac’ for some reason, but he prefers to simply be called Alain AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 24, 09/19/2005 (will update graphic soon) OCCUPATION: Unspeakable, works in the Death Chamber most days GENDER: Cis Man PRONOUNS: He/Him HOMETOWN: Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin, France CURRENT RESIDENCE: London, England ALMA MATTER: Beauxbatons BLOOD STATUS: Part-Vampire (1/4th) / Halfblood

BIOGRAPHY

If you’ve ever had a chocolate frog, then there’s a great chance you’ve heard the name Lestoat. Among the many trading cards you can find in the packaged confection there is one for an Amarillo Lestoat, a vampire born at the same time that America declared its Independence, immortalized on enchanted cardstock. Amarillo’s rise to fame came with a single piece of literature which the vampire had published during his two hundred and one years. A Vampire’s Monologue, a mind numbingly boring read that offered the vampire a way to disable his victims so he could feed off them without trouble. It’s a story that has followed his grandson Alain throughout his twenty six years -- a fact that isn’t exactly welcome to the 1/4 Part-Vampire.

Alain Danet Lestoat was born on a cold and murky September day in the commune of Eguisheim in Haut-Rhin to Marguerite Babineaux, a pureblooded witch whose family was one of the most prominent pureblood families in France during the 20th century, and her Part-Vampire husband Alexander Lestoat; the unexpectedly conceived son of the bore himself. Amarillo had no intention of fathering halfbreed offspring, but was surprised only ten years prior to his death to find out he’d impregnated a young witch he’d used his book on during a trip to Madrid, thus beginning the equally magical and vampiric lineage of the writer. Sometimes Alain wishes the man had managed to keep to this plan. From the moment he opened his eyes to the world he was instantly met with hardships and difficult hurdles to overcome.

From his father’s side Alain had inherited a severe allergy to garlic, an acute aversion to direct sunlight, canines that were far too long and awkward for braces, and, of course, a slight penchant for the taste of blood. For her part, Marguerite had managed to pass down dark, thick curls and dimpled smiles, but that was not enough to quell the sort of fear that one got whenever he flashed a toothy grin at them. In Eguisheim, among the non-magical denizens, it was important for the Lestoats to stay incognito. Wixen could hide easily among the non-magical, ashen complexed and fanged Vampires could hardly do the same. As such, his childhood was rather isolated and sheltered. He spent most of his days roaming the rather large manor house they had acquired on the edge of town, reading the vast collection of books his two-centuries-old grandfather had left in his father’s possession, consuming knowledge about the world outside he could seldom take part in.

It wouldn’t be until he’d received his invitation to study at his mother’s alma matter that he would get to see the outside world. With its sprawling gardens, never-melting ice sculptures and enchanting fountains, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic felt more like it belonged among Perrault’s stories than in the real world, and yet it was very real. Equal parts excited and horrifyingly nervous, Alain travelled to the secluded chateau to begin his education. His only hope was that among the magical folk of France he would be able to be more readily accepted. He was only a fourth vampire after all -- he was more like the other wixen around him, how could they abhor him? Disappointment would soon become a constant acquaintance for him. All it had taken was one excitedly large toothy grin to a fellow first year within the first minutes of the welcome feast and Alain’s reputation had been set. Leech. Bloodsucker. Monster. All desperately unfair labels since, as he constantly reminded others, he was more wizard than vampire, but it hadn’t mattered. Having knives for teeth was enough to cause anyone to instantly write him off as a danger and liability.

After a particularly disastrous first year, including a rather humiliating question-and-answer session during a DADA class, he had sworn he would turn his back on the wizarding world and never come back. I’ll run away into the words, become the Bête in an enchanted castle and make friends out of the utensils I’ll steal from maman’s cupboard. It hadn’t been until Alexander intervened, having gone through a rough schooling experience himself, that Alain would be comfortable with returning to the academy. You’ll just have to prove to them they’re wrong by showing what kind of person you are. It was with this advice that Alain would come back year after year, despite the harassment from his classmates, in order to study. He had resolved to be the best wizard he could. He studied hard -- an easy feat since he was rarely invited along to field trips or outings with his classmates -- excelled at his academics and managed to be top of his class. Despite the naysayers, he’d graduated from Beauxbatons with top honors, and plenty of prestigious internships and job proposals to choose from. Tired of the isolation of both his small commune and the secluded chateau, he had taken what he felt was the most lucrative option -- an internship with the Bureaux des Mystéres in the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France.

It wasn’t a particularly glamorous position -- he mostly helped file nonsensical reports. He wasn’t allowed anywhere near the actual Chambers within, but he’d caught on quickly enough to know that some really interesting and important stuff happened in there. Why else didn’t anyone talk about it? When he was able to, he applied to become an Unspeakable trainee and before long he was finally setting foot inside those elusive rooms and learning their secrets. He could be trusted to keep them; he was never one to socialize anyway. Who was he going to tell? The only person who was ever privy to his intimate thoughts was his little sister Amélie, and she was still too little to have discussions about his job. Quickly, he’d come to find the secretive and confidential world within those chambers were far more comforting than the vast world outside. His hunger for knowledge about the things he was studying had lead him to submit an application for another Ministry of Magic across the channel. It was said that in the UK they had made more headway with the types of things that were being studied within their own Department of Mysteries, and Alain was desperate to understand everything. When he’d gotten a response back from their Department head eagerly welcoming him to the team, he left first thing and didn’t once look back. France had already taught him enough, it was time to find something more on other shores.

He’s been in the UK for only a year and a half now, and most of the time he’s spent sitting before a stone arch and shroud, listening to voices calling to him. The Death Chamber. There was something kind of funny about a vampire studying death, but Alain doesn’t care. Each day more mysteries open up to him, keeping him from sleeping and eating as his mind reels with everything. He’s been so occupied with his highly secretive work that he hadn’t noticed the climate changing around him. As a foreigner he understood the past conflicts in England in a textual sense. The Wizarding Wars and the Death Eaters were footnotes in his textbooks, a foreign problem to learn from. They weren’t close to home or part of his own history, so he hadn’t given them much thought. When a string of high prolific deaths began taking place they were sad, no doubt, but not warning bells of something dark to come. As such, he hasn’t taken a side. Per his letters home, he insists that should things become grim in England then he will secure a portkey back to France and resume his post in the Ministére, but Alain figures that whatever is happening will eventually de-escalate. Hadn’t they stopped a rise in dark wizardry in this country a matter of decades prior?

ok so basically: alain is an introverted part-vampire who migrated to london about a year and half prior to start of game to work at the department of mysteries in the ministry. he started his career as an unspeakable in france’s ministry but is eager to learn more than he thinks was capable back in his homeland.

BULLYING AND SLIGHT NON CON TW. generally he’s kind of introverted and keeps to himself; this is because he was harassed and bullied a lot as a beauxbatons student for being “halfbreed”. he’s 1/4 vampire and the grandson of a famous vampire writer, a legacy he really hates. in particular he hates that he’s 1. labelled as a monster by ignorant people (he lives off regular food, thank you very much) but also 2. if people know about his grandfather, then they know he wrote a boring af book and in a shady way to get people to submit to him for feeding. kinda feels non-consensual ya know??

PHOBIA MENTION TW as both a vampire and a frenchman, he dresses impeccably, so he’s usually seen around in long trench coats and thin tailored suits. he wears red leather gloves as both a fashion statement and also because he is a bit of a germaphobe. he won’t divulge details but this has to do with a vicious prank that was done to him when he was a student. he was kinda carrie’d if ya feel me.

despite an air of decadence and debonair, he’s kind of poor (rip) and lives in a dingy little shoebox flat where he sleeps on a barren mattress and eats instant ramen and boxed wine for dinner. most of his money goes towards his closet or to his family back home, who doesn’t really need it but he loves spoiling his little sister so he would rather fund her life than his own. claims he’s making enough to live elegantly so they don’t realize he’s a l i a r.

look he’s gonna be a bit of a hard egg to crack but i promise once he is cracked he’s charming and sweet and a loyal good friend so pls don’t give up on his interactions if he’s aloof and distant ;-; give the boy a chance.

idk i’ll probably add to this as I think of stuff; it’s 3 am lmao

MISC

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Demisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Heteromantic LANGUAGES: English, French, Spanish, Some German FAMILY: Alexander Amarillo Lestoat (father, b. 1967 in Madrid, Spain), Marguerite Celeste Lestoat neé Babineaux (mother, b. 1981 in Mulhouse, France), Amélie Marguerite Lestoat (sister, b. 2011 in Eguisheim, Haut-Rhin, France), Amarillo Lestoat † (grandfather, b. 1776 in Philadelphia, America, died 1977 in Madrid, Spain; vampire and author of a vampire’s monologue) PETS: Barn Owl named Archimedes and Black Kneazle named Persephone FACE CLAIM: David Corenswet ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo MBTI: TBD PINTEREST: (x)

WANTED CONNECTIONS

tbh i have nothing in mind so just hmu if you have ideas. if not, we will brain storm :)

bonus:

alain danet lestoat, beauxbatons first year c. 2017. ignore that wonky ass eye i’m too lazy to fix it

#potterintro #&& about.#spent my weekend drawing while babysitting #so i decided to make a thing #obviously he's not gray skinned; that was a stylistic choice #i can't make graphics so this is my way of making up for that #afeafea #i'm also sorry this is so poorly written; i literally attempted to write this while babysitting which was ahfiehapfea hard

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newstfionline · 4 years

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Headlines

U.N. says yes to Bono, no to Celine Dion (Foreign Policy) India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway were elected to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday after stiff campaigning at the international body. One seat is still unfilled after U.N. members voted and will go to either Kenya or Djibouti. The two-year term for the new members will begin on January 1, 2021. Canada missed out on a seat on the council despite wooing U.N. ambassadors with a Celine Dion concert. The Irish delegation was more successful—having curried favor by treating ambassadors to a U2 concert early in campaigning.

1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits (AP) About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work. The latest figure released Thursday marked the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy and caused tens of millions of layoffs. The decline was much smaller, though, than in recent weeks, falling just 58,000. The total number of people receiving unemployment aid also fell slightly, reflecting the return of many to their old jobs.

Court rejects Trump bid to end young immigrants’ protections (AP) The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign. For now, those immigrants retain their protection from deportation and their authorization to work in the United States. The 5-4 outcome, in which Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices were in the majority, seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump’s campaign, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then.

U.S. warns of pirates in southern Gulf of Mexico (Reuters) The U.S. government on Wednesday issued a warning about the threat posed by pirates to boats and oil installations in the southern Gulf of Mexico, in the latest sign of concern about ongoing security challenges facing Mexico. “Armed criminal groups have been known to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms, and offshore supply vessels in the Bay of Campeche area in the southern Gulf of Mexico,” the U.S. State Department said in an updated travel advisory.

A teen’s killing stirs Black Lives Matter protests in Brazil (AP) When Rafaela Matos saw police helicopters over her favela and heard gunshots, she fell to her knees and asked God to protect her son, João Pedro. Then she called the boy to make sure he was OK. “Be calm,” João Pedro wrote back, explaining that he was at his aunt’s house and everything was fine, Rafaela told The Associated Press. Minutes after he sent the message, police burst in and shot the 14-year-old in the stomach with a high-caliber rifle at close range. João Pedro Matos Pinto was one of more than 600 people killed by police in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the first months of this year. That’s almost double the number of people killed by police over the same period in the entire U.S., which has 20 times Rio’s population. Like João Pedro, most of those killed in Rio were black or biracial and lived in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, or favelas. As the Black Lives Matter movement brings hundreds of thousands to the streets around the world, demonstrators outraged by João Pedro’s death one month ago have been organizing the largest anti-police brutality demonstrations in years on the streets of Rio.

World War II forces sweetheart singer Vera Lynn dies at 103 (AP) Dame Vera Lynn, the endearingly popular “Forces’ Sweetheart” who serenaded British troops during World War II, has died at 103. During the war and long after, Lynn got crowds singing, smiling and crying with sentimental favorites such as “We’ll Meet Again,” and “The White Cliffs of Dover.” Lynn hosted a wildly popular BBC radio show during the war called “Sincerely Yours” in which she sent messages to British troops abroad and performed the songs they requested. The half-hour program came on during the highly coveted slot following the Sunday night news. “Winston Churchill was my opening act,” she once said. Amid this year’s coronavirus outbreak, Lynn and opera singer Katherine Jenkins released a charity version of “We’ll Meet Again.” Once again the public found comfort in her words of hope, which resonated in the locked-down country. In a reflection of her enduring appeal, Queen Elizabeth II also invoked the words of Lynn’s signature song as she addressed the nation in lockdown. The monarch, who served as an ambulance driver during the war, played on the song’s theme, promising that loved ones would be reunited in the end after being separated by the virus. “We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” the queen said. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”

Europe said U.S. influence had waned under Trump. Then Black Lives Matter protests rocked the continent. (Washington Post) Europeans have lamented that the United States has relinquished its role as a global moral leader under President Trump. But the proliferation of Black Lives Matter protests around the world has solidified belief here that American society remains a superpower of influence, even if its politicians do not. Protests have erupted in Australia, South Africa, Brazil. But nowhere outside the United States has the Black Lives Matter movement forced a more powerful reckoning than in Europe, where increasingly diverse societies have often done little to grapple with their colonial legacies and modern-day discrimination. In Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Lisbon and cities across Britain, protesters have taken to the streets to express solidarity with Americans but also demand changes within their own countries. Black and minority activists in Europe have been working for years to push for more equitable societies. But they have often gotten a dismissive reception from their nations’ mostly white leaders. This time, though, just as in the United States, Floyd’s death appears to have forced an unusually broad-based reckoning.

Europe threatens digital taxes without global deal, after U.S. quits talks (Reuters) France said a U.S. decision to quit global talks on how to tax big digital firms such as Google, Amazon and Facebook was a “provocation” and the European Union said it could impose taxes even if no deal was reached by year-end. The latest transatlantic trade row was ignited after the Washington said on Wednesday it was withdrawing from negotiations with European countries over new international tax rules on digital firms, saying talks had made no progress. Nearly 140 countries are involved in the talks organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the first major rewrite of global tax rules in a generation to bring them up to date for the digital era. European countries says tech firms pay too little tax in countries where they do business because they can shift profits around the globe with little physical infrastructure. Washington has resisted any new unilateral taxes on Silicon Valley companies in the absence of an OECD deal.

U.S. military aid to Ukraine (Foreign Policy) The U.S. Congress approved a $250 million defense package for Ukraine last week, aimed at boosting Ukrainian military capabilities in the face of Russian aggression. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced on Wednesday that $60 million worth of weapons and other military equipment was en route to Ukraine as part of the package. Military aid to Ukraine became a hot-button issue last year, when it was revealed that Trump had ordered his administration to withhold assistance to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the business dealings of the family of Joe Biden—leading to Trump’s impeachment.

China Is Collecting DNA From Tens of Millions of Men and Boys, Using U.S. Equipment (NYT) The police in China are collecting blood samples from men and boys from across the country to build a genetic map of its roughly 700 million males, giving the authorities a powerful new tool for their emerging high-tech surveillance state. They have swept across the country since late 2017 to collect enough samples to build a vast DNA database, according to a new study published on Wednesday by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organization, based on documents also reviewed by The New York Times. With this database, the authorities would be able to track down a man’s male relatives using only that man’s blood, saliva or other genetic material. The project is a major escalation of China’s efforts to use genetics to control its people, which had been focused on tracking ethnic minorities and other, more targeted groups. It would add to a growing, sophisticated surveillance net that the police are deploying across the country, one that increasingly includes advanced cameras, facial recognition systems and artificial intelligence.

Egypt thought it dodged the worst of the pandemic. But now hospitals are being overwhelmed. (Washington Post) For three months, Egypt seemed to escape the huge case numbers seen in many other nations, including those with far lower populations. But the number of reported cases in the country has steadily risen in recent weeks, with more than 1,500 infections per day since Friday, escalating pressure on a health-care system that was strained long before the pandemic. Egyptians are now posting dire messages on social media seeking scarce hospital beds and money to pay for treatment. Doctors are accusing the government of negligence, blaming it for shortages of personal protective equipment and a lack of adequate safety measures. Several hundred doctors and nurses have tested positive for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and scores have died. The medical union has warned that Egypt’s health system could “collapse.” “The patients are increasing in very rapid numbers,” said a 32-year-old doctor at a quarantine hospital in the southern city of Esna, where every bed was filled with coronavirus patients. “But you don’t have the capacity of beds, hospitals and staff numbers. It’s really exhausting for the staff.”

#headlines #news

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30daysofculturalshockstuff-blog · 4 years

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30 days of (reverse) cultural shock / 30 dias de choque cultural (inverso)

ENGLISH below

Hola

Bienvenido/a a este side project donde a modo de diario voy a exponer mi viaje introspectivo de reflexion sobre choque cultural durante 30 dias

Choque cultural: es el proceso por el que pasamos los emigrantes e inmigrantes para adaptarnos a un nuevo lugar y cultura. Asi que se amable con los demas emigrantes, nunca sabes lo que otros pueden estar sufriendo.

Mi consejo siempre es tomarselo con humor y ver la situacion con perspectiva. Se humilde, disculpate si piensas que has herido los sentimientos de alguien y tomatelo como una fase de aprendizaje. Todo lo malo pasa y lo bueno! asi que disfruta de la experiencia y aplica lo aprendido en el futuro.

Por mi parte he vivido mas de cinco annos en diferentes ciudades del Reino Unido, he estudiado en Austria, he dirigido un equipo de personas de diferentes nacionalidades en Madrid e incluso he vivido en diferentes regiones en Espana.

Puedo decir que he tenido mucha suerta en tejer una red de amigos que han pasado por lo mismo y en los momentos mas duros me han ayudado. Igualmente yo he tenido largas conversaciones cuando ellos han estado en momentos bajos. Gracias a todos, vosotros sabeis quienes sois :)

Asi que este es el dia 1 del side project. Y como tal estos son mis objetivos:

- Empezar a escribir mejor en castellano. Tras muchos meses obligandome a escribir en ingles he empezado a ‘escribir raro’.

- Ademas quiero poner mis anotaciones de mis cuadernos en un safe place.

OK, alla vamos. Ya no hay vuelta atras.

--------------------------

Hello

Welcome to this side project where dail I will expose my introspective journey of reflection on cultural shock for 30 days

Cultural shock: it is the process that migrants and immigrants go through to adapt to a new place and culture. So be kind to other emigrants, you never know what others may be suffering.

My advice is always to take it with humour and see the situation with perspective. Be humble, say sorry if you think you have hurt someone's feelings and take it as a learning phase. Everything bad finishes and the good moments! So enjoy the experience and apply what you learned in the future.

For my part, I lived more than five years in different cities of the United Kingdom, studied in Austria, managed a team of people of different nationalities in Madrid and even lived in different regions in Spain.

I can say that I have had a lot of luck in weaving a network of friends who have felt the same and in the hardest moments they have helped me. I have also had long conversations when they have been in low moments. Thank you all, you know who you are :)

So this is day 1 of the side project. And as side project these are my personal goals:

- Start writing better in Spanish. After many months forcing me to write in English, I started writing weird Spanish.

- I also want to put my notes of my notebooks in a safe place.

Okay, here we go. There is no turning back. Happy World Kindness Day!

#30daysofculturalshock #30diasdechoquecultural #empathy #worldkindnessday

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getawaysarah · 6 years

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HEY GUYS!!

I’m Sarah! I decided to tell a bit about my story with Taylor because after 10 years being a fan I finally got my chance to see her live! It’s quite personal so I debated a lot wether I should or shouldn’t post it. I wrote this weeks ago before the concert but it took me a bit of courage to post it online. Well…

I was born in Brazil in a super small town and with 6 years old I moved to this city with 15k people. I was always one to dream big, since little. My dream was to make it to the big world, learn languages, travel, get out of that city. I came across Taylor’s music when I was about 11 years old and Love Story was what made me love her. I have the sweetest memory of my friend and I dancing in the rain listening to it after school. I became obsessed with the fact that Taylor had made it to the big world. I could see a bit of me in her. Then the Speak Now era came and she was just so big with the tour and everything… I bought the dvd and watched it more times than I should. The first boy to ever break my heart was called John (so Dear John has a special place in my heart). I cried so many times listening to Long Live because I’d look at this person that worked and played guitar until her fingers would bleed and I’d see that hard work would pay off. At the same time I was being bullied in school and Mean held me up for an entire year of going home crying. Taylor started being my rock. I’d lean on her music and her interviews. I’d buy her magazines with the money my mom would give me for snacks at school. She was my best friend. Then Red came, and with Red the hardest time of my life began. I had 3 impossible years where I thought I wouldn’t make it. So I leaned into Taylor and whatever music I’d find to give me hope. I don’t like talking about it and I hate pity, but I wouldn’t be here without Taylor. In between those 3 years I moved school 3 times and moved to another bigger city. Got my heart broken. Got crushed by people. Got diagnosed with a disease that I didn’t have. Then got diagnosed with a disease I’ll have to deal for the rest of my life. I was crushed. And then when I was 17 and finished school I decide to apply for college in a big city and live all by myself. And that’s when things started changing. I remember going through the changes while Taylor was moving to New York and so much was going in both of our lives. Middle 2015 I applied for the International College Program that Disney offers and I got accepted. Taylor was going on tour and that was the first time I had hope I’d see her. When she went to Brazil during Red era my family couldn’t afford nor had the time to take me to Rio. So going to Disney would mean a chance… if the tour didn’t end one month prior to my arrival. I was devastated. I was ready to work and get the money. I was ready to do ANYTHING. After Disney I was better. So much better. My life was on tracks, I had motivation. But Taylor’s life was starting to crumble and people painted her to be this person she wasn’t. I knew she wasn’t. I defended her with teeth and nails. And she disappeared. We all knew she needed to take her time and it was ok. In the mean time I did a voluntary project in Hungary teaching kids english and I’d put her music for them because that’s what helped me learn english. I’d watch old interviews. And I kept growing. And now we have her back. End of last year I got an opportunity to move to Madrid and study business for a semester. I want to work with music festivals so I’ve been focusing on that for awhile now. Taylor’s career is one of my favorite things to study. In these years I’ve grown to love and admire Taylor for being the girl that I could look up to when I was a kid, but now I also look up to the business woman she is, to admire how much stronger she is now, how she turned her career into something of her own. There’s no one like her. And then last November Taylor announced the tour… with only US dates at first. My heart was shattered. And then UK dates were announce. And I couldn’t believe it. I could try and make it. I would make it. I borrowed money to buy the tickets in november and then in december I sold 95% of my clothes. I sold everything I could. And I did it. I payed for 2 tickets! And then hostels and flights.

This past weekend my biggest dream came true: Small town from Brazil saw small town girl from US. Taylor, if you ever read this, know you helped shape me into the person I am today. You helped me get through the darkest time of my life. You helped me learn a different language. You gave my mom and I hope I’d make it to the big world. You made me the happiest person and you still do. I’ve had phases and people would say my love and devotion for you would go away, or that you would never know I exist. It never went away. You have been the most consistent thing in my entire life.

And I’ll stand by you forever. And ever.

These are pics of me and my bf in the two first nights in Dublin. I have never been this happy in my life and I can’t believe I’m gonna see you in London one more time!

@taylornation

Love, Sarah.

#gif #taylorswift #taylurking #taylornation #taylor nation #reptourdublin #reptourlondon #reputation #rep tour #reputation tour #taylor #PLS HELP ME GET THIS TO HER

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curly-studies-blog · 6 years

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Studying Abroad

Courtesy of @jbens1017

Background on me

I figured I should let you know some background on me first since everyone has different experiences. My name is Jessica, I’m a cis woman and I was 21/22 (I had my birthday while I was there!) when I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain through an exchange program. I am from New Jersey, USA. I was a Psychology major with a minor in Spanish. While there I lived with a homestay (a local family).

Disadvantages

I don’t have many so that’s why I’ll talk about this first.

Personally the number one thing that should and will concern many people is the money. Living in another country just doesn’t sound cheap, and sometimes it’s not. I was going to a private college in the states and that was expensive and the program I was in required that I still pay my home university’s tuition (so it was a lot haha).

As a woman, I felt that I needed to be more cautious than say the male students. It was a new environment, new culture, I didn’t know anyone, and just different expectations for women then I was used to back home. I would say that the world seems safer for men but while I was abroad, I noticed a lot more female international students. I think as long as you keep aware of your surroundings and make some friends, this disadvantage to women would almost zero out.

All of my classes were in Spanish which I am not fluent in, that’s on me but this really could mess someone up. I did fine though because they had us take a placement test and put us at a level we would be ok at. It’s just something to be aware of when you are looking to study abroad in a country that doesn’t speak your language.

So I was older when I went so a bit more mature (even though I would have loved to have been their earlier or longer). I was in good physical and mental health when I went but this could definitely pose a problem for someone else. I had to take the metro/subway to school and I did a lot of walking all over Madrid and other cities. Also, there will come a time during studying abroad where you just break mentally. It could be the stress or frustration of living in a culture so different than your own or it could just be you miss friends or family even if you love your host country. I think knowing that it is bound to happen and being prepared for when it does was super helpful. It is so common and it was nice to know that I had made friends at my host university that would totally and whole-heartedly understand what I was going through.

Advantages

Learning a language (Anyone who goes to a country that doesn’t primarily speak their native tongue will start to learn the language no matter the level you start out on. Being immersed into that culture and only hearing another language will only bring your skills in that language up)

Back to money real quick. So yes I said that my tuition was high but because I chose to live with a homestay, I saved a little money. The homestay was actually way cheaper than the room, board and meal plan at my home university.

My host family was amazing! I learned a lot through them and since they only spoke Spanish it gave me even more practice with the language. I don’t know if this is common but my host mom cooked 3 meals a day for me (sometimes more haha she was a great woman), she did my laundry and would change the sheets on my bed. I really didn’t have any house duties and that was great considering I had homework to do in another language.

Other international students offered me a chance to learn about other countries (I met a few girls from south korea and a girl from england and many others) but also it gave me a chance to reminisce about the states and take a break and talk English.

Time - Management and Organization skills go through the roof. There is a lot of paperwork that goes into studying abroad and you need to make sure you get everything approved on time. It felt a bit like I was running around campus to get all the signatures I needed but it really paid off in the end. Once you are in the new country those skills come in handy to do assignments and explore the new country. I was traveling almost every weekend and that took a lot of time to plan with friends or to plan transportation.

Seeing the World! Coming from the states to Europe was huge! It wasn’t the first time I had been away from home or even been to Europe but it was the first time that I would actually be living in a new country for an extended amount of time. Traveling was my main motivator. So Spain is split into 50 autonomous communities kind of like the 50 states in a way, each has a history, culture and atmosphere all their own. I had the opportunity to visit 11 of those communities! That’s one fifth of the country, I can’t even say the same for my own country lol. I also got to visit Morocco and Portugal while I was there and man I wish I had gone to more countries. Flights were so cheap, once you’re in Europe that is.

How could I forget the food! Amazing new foods to try! I am not a picky eater in the slightest and I was always down to try the local grub. I think food really opens your eyes to what the culture holds as important. Do they value heartiness and comfort over nutritional value? Do they value taste over presentation? Are the foods mostly to take away or are they sit down meals? There is a lot to be learned about a culture through their foods. Spain had some bomb food!

Adjustment Back Home

Ok the food adjustment coming back was hard. I had eaten all these fabulous dishes and then I came back to the dining hall. It’s not that the dining hall was bad but it wasn’t Spanish or cooked by my host mom. It was sad when they would try to serve paella and I had eaten paella in the city where it had originated, Valencia.

Also the language adjustment. I had gotten so used to thinking and speaking in Spanish that I had to reboot my brain to English. I found that since my time in Spain I have been forgetting English words for things. Lol now I sound like an idiot when I can’t remember what something simple is called in English. I did take one more Spanish course when I came back to my home university and I was happy to be using my skills but since then I feel like my skills are slipping because I don’t have anyone to practice with.

My friends had to adjust. I just wanted to talk about my experience and they got bored of it quickly. I applied to be a study abroad ambassador at my school so I could talk with prospective students about my time and answer questions they might have. This really helped give me an outlet for talking about my time in Spain because I loved it and I wanted to share that love with others.

The travel bug has bitten and there is no cure. I want to see more of the world. I got a small taste and now i want more. It’s like the more you see of the world the more you know that there is so much more to explore, I think there is a quote like that, but it is true. Since my semester abroad, I went to Peru to do some service work and I got to see Machu Picchu, I just recently went on a trip where I visited Prague in the Czech Republic, Munich and Berlin in Germany and London in England. My next goal is France.

It was sad not seeing my study abroad buddies anymore but thanks to social media we can keep up with each other’s lives. I have actually met up with one of my friends from studying abroad since I have been back since she lives kind of close. We all bonded over being in Spain at the same time, learning and exploring together, those kinds of friendships are for life.

_________________________________________________________________

none of this information belongs to me but belongs to @jbens1017 they did me a wonderful favor by giving this information to me and I feel as though everyone can benefit from this! Thanks again for the wonderful information!

#study #studyblr #studyspo #einsten #study abroad #studies #studynshine #grateful #submission

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joehas · 6 years

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Talk To Me When You Scale: Since Big Is Now Favored Over Small, Is It Time To Ignore Startups?

APRIL 30, 2018 INNOV8RS TEAM

Apart from some exceptions, the results for corporate-startup collaboration have been generally disappointing.

But Joe Haslam believes there is hope – and his optimism comes from experience. Not only is he a professor at IE Business School in Madrid, where he teaches founders and MBA students how to scale their startups, he has co-founded and grown a number of companies including Marrakech.com, which raised over $75m in Venture Capital, and Hot Hotels, the first startup founded in Spain to be accelerated by the Techstars program in the USA.

According to Haslam we’ve paid more than enough attention to startups and enterprises, and nowhere near enough to the scaleup phase: how a startup grows into an established, sustainable company.

So what is a scaleup exactly, and what distinguishes it from a startup? And how can corporations identify and work with scaleups in a way that benefits both? At Innov8rs Tel Aviv, Haslam walked us through it.

Startup vs Scaleup

Steve Blank defined a startup as “an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” A startup is not just a smaller version of a big company. It is an organization set up to run experiments.

“When someone sends me a business plan that looks like it’s for a big company, I send it back to them and ask them to give me a list of the experiments they are running, “says Haslam. “What’s your insight, your hypothesis? That’s really all I care about.”

So when does a startup become a scaleup? It has nothing to do with how long you’ve existed as a company, or how many products you have, or even your profitability.

You become a scaleup when you achieve heavy engagement – in other words, product-market fit – and you stop doing what’s not working in order to double-down on what is.

“People ask me to come in for a two-day workshop and at the beginning of the first day I realize they have all these products they don’t need,” says Haslam. “I say ok: you need to snip this product and emphasize the stuff that’s working. That leads to product-market dominance, and that leads to being an enterprise.”

Haslam outlined five ways a scaleup is different to a startup:

1. Startups are about putting out fires – in other words, survival. Scaleups are about lighting fires – looking for and taking opportunities. 2. Startups experiment to find out where they’re strong. Scaleups try to find out where they’re weak. 3. Startups need generalists – people who can do a bit of everything. Scaleups need specialists – people who know more about their particular area than most people in the world. 4. Startups experiment. Scaleups simplify. 5. Startups can make you famous. Scaleups can make you rich.

Growth doesn’t make you a scaleup

Uber. AliBaba. Airbnb. These companies are often brought up as examples of why corporations need to get with the innovation program. But are they the disruptive forces we’ve made them out to be? According to Haslam, the evidence says no.

“Anything that grows really fast can collapse just as fast. And when we actually look at the reality, all that’s happened with these companies is that they’ve grown really fast.”

Uber is considered the most valuable venture-backed technology company in the world; it became the world’s largest taxi company in just nine years, without owning any vehicles. But according to data compiled by Bloomberg, Uber has ‘Peter Pan’ syndrome: though it has reached a stage most startups never realize, it has yet to turn a profit. The company has long been subsidizing rides; in some markets, customers paid just 41% of the true cost of their trip. Deep discounts like this can create an artificial signal about the actual size of a market; in fact, when Uber alerted passengers that fares had doubled, usage dropped by 40%.

If customers are only using your service because it’s priced cheap, and that pricing is not profitable or sustainable, can you really claim success?

“Growth can actually be a destructive thing,” Haslam points out.

“Edward Abbey said: growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. Innovation is moving quickly – but if it’s not sustainable, then it’s not a good thing.”

That said, Uber has caused disruption in the taxi industry. But what about Airbnb? Several years ago, everyone thought Airbnb was going to turn the hotel industry on its head, if not make it obsolete. But hotels have continued to thrive, with 2017 seeing both hotel occupancy and stock prices climbing.

Small, and want to grow? Big, and want to hold on? Get the basics right. Most companies aren’t disrupted simply because a faster moving, faster growing startup appears on the scene and they’ve failed to keep pace and innovate. In Haslam’s experience it’s bad management that kills companies, not disruptive startups.

“Most companies are disrupted because they don’t see the blindingly obvious. They fail at the general, basic management stuff.

They don’t know how many people work for them, or how many products they have, but yet they want to talk about innovation. Before you start talking about incubators and startups, you have to get your basic stuff right.”

Startups who fail to scaleup fail for similar reasons: good old-fashioned management skills. Haslam says “Everyone thinks they’re a good manager, but I despair at the number of people who just don’t learn the basics: how to interview properly, how to manage people, how to give feedback. It’s seen as a nerdy thing to be good at management.”

But if you want to scale up, you need the nerds. “MBAs generally don’t found startups, but they do generally scale them. If you look at the key moments in a lot of growth companies, generally it was a boring nerdy MBA who started to ask the basic questions. What are our R&D costs? When do we get paid? What are our capital ratios? Maybe they weren’t the person who had the initial inspiration, but they were certainly in there when the company scaled successfully.”

How to succeed at corporate-scaleup collaborations Focus on sustainability, not innovation

Haslam often sees companies, large and small, focus on innovation over sustainability – and to him, that’s completely backwards. “Sustainability, trying to work out how to make something sustainable, is much more interesting than innovation because you’re not trying to sell dollars for 80 cents, which is what innovation is for some companies. Actually applying the principles of sustainability gets you the innovation everyone’s talking about.”

As an example, Haslam cites Madrid-based sustainable clothing company Ecoalf. Founded in 2012, their goal was to create a new generation of recycled products with the same quality and design of the best non-recycled products. Along the way, they basically transformed into an R&D operation, figuring out how to make thread and fabric out of used tires, plastic bottles, old fishing nets, discarded cotton and wool, and post-consumer coffee grounds. In addition to their flagship concept store in Madrid, Ecoalf has recently opened another location in Berlin, launched both their Ecoalf Foundation and Upcycling The Oceans project, and has entered into partnerships with companies like Apple, Swatch, GOOP, Barney’s New York, and Coca-Cola.

Go in at the right time (it’s later than you think)

Haslam cautions against letting fear drive partnership or acquisition decisions. Though many think you need to get in with a startup within their first five years, in reality you need to give them plenty of room to grow – even when that growth seems potentially threatening.

“Companies make their real money in their later phases, could take ten years. Peter Thiel argues that the real value of Paypal is yet to be realized! Let these startups grow and, if they manage to get a product-market fit and hire experts, then it’s time to pay attention to them.

Let them do stuff that may threaten you so you can identify their value – there’s plenty of time to acquire them and realize that value.”

In fact, Haslam argues that startups shouldn’t be seen as a threat at all. “Some of the incubators I’ve seen were so far away from anything that was commercially viable. The most interesting companies have people with deep sector knowledge – they spend time working in an area and acquire deep knowledge that very few people have. Do most of these startups have that? Absolutely not.

That’s why the future is about scaleups. It’s about people who can get to a certain stage on their own. Let these startups go, let them prove themselves. Then you can start having the conversations.”

Embrace the era of the big…

Haslam points out that we’ve moved into a new era of exponential technology – self-driving cars, mixed reality, synthetic biology – that heavily favors the big over the small. And these technologies are not ‘startuppable’ in the same way previous innovations have been.

“This is not like Instagram, where you can have five people in a garage making filters and be worth a billion dollars. These technologies are big company things.

They require closer integration with corporates who understand regulation, who have specialists, who can put products using these technologies into their supply chain. We are starting an age where the big is favored over the small.”

…and ignore the startup hype

The shine of the startup is beginning to fade. Why? In part, because starting is so easy.

Haslam recounts how expensive it was to start his first company, Marrakesh, in 1999. As a provider of on-demand spend management solutions for retail and government they had to physically buy servers and build their own data center, and hire marketing planners and buyers. Now, you’ve got Amazon web servers, and can target people on Facebook. But while this drop in cost is good, it has been accompanied by a corresponding drop in quality.

“I thought, going back ten years, that more startups would mean more scaleups. What we’re learning is that more startups just means more startups. It doesn’t mean they’re going to be better.

In general, saying ‘I have a startup’ is about as interesting as saying ‘I’ve joined a gym’. Talk to me when you scale.”

Read this article on the Innov8rs website

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servicenowscholar-blog · 5 years

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Configuration Item Tag and Keyword Search

Define and enable CI search for related keywords within global text search

Usually, CMDBs are so large and over-stuffed with so many configuration items that users face the challenge of effectively searching for CIs. If a CI exists but is not found, a user may decide to create a new CI which can lead to unnecessary duplication over time. One way to help mitigate the risk of CI duplication is to implement a more robust search functionality. This article will explain in depth how to configure global search to leverage tags so that your users can easily find what they are looking for. The following examples illustrate how to set up auto-tagging of records and how to leverage tags with global search for records on the cmdb_ci_computer table. If you'd like to brush up on your tag basics, head over to this article which goes over the fundamentals of tagging.

Configure Search Groups

First, we'll add the table(s) we want our global search to query by defining search groups. Navigate to System Definition > Search Groups and click New. Give your search group a descriptive name. In this example: Name: CMDB Computers Description: CMDB Computers Active: true Searched: true

After saving the record, you should see the Text Search Tables related list at the bottom of the screen. Click the New button to create a new Text Search Table record and fill out and submit the form. Search Group: CMDB Computers Table: Computer Active: true Searched: true

You should have been taken back to the Search Group record, which should now look like this:

The Search Group we just created should now show up on the global search results. If we were to stop here, our search would be limited to exact matches only.

**Note: If you're happy with this functionality and would like to stop here, make sure to re-index your table. To do this, navigate to System Definition > Dictionary and search for the Collection record for your table and click the Generate Text Index related link.

Set up Tag Indexing

Now we are going to text index tags on our table so global search can query our tags. Staying on the same dictionary collection record, find the Attributes related list and click the New button. Fill in the following and then submit: Attribute: Text Index Tags Value: all_shared

We've just told the system to index all shared tags. Keep in mind private tags will not be indexed.

Create a Tag Record

Now it's time to create our tags. Navigate to System Definition > Tags and create a new record. In this example: Name: Laptop Owner: Type: Standard Viewable by: Everyone Active: true Save your tag record. To proceed to the next step, we will have to add the Conditions for Labels embedded list to the form:

Create a new record in the Conditions for Labels embedded list by double clicking Insert a new row and then clicking on the magnifying glass > New. Fill out the Label Table form and then submit. In this example: Title: cmdb_ci_computer synonyms Table: Computer

What we've done here is we've told the system to apply this tag automatically to the records in the cmdb_ci_computer table. Since I did not specify any conditions, it will apply the tag to all records in the cmdb_ci_computer table. You can verify your tags were successfully applied from the Label Entries related list. Let's go ahead and re-index the table to ensure our tags are captured in the global search results. **Note: To get to the dictionary entry, navigate to System Definition > Dictionary and search for the Collection record for your table and click the Generate Text Index related link.

Finally, try searching for your tag keyword in the global search bar.

You should now see the query results returning records where the search term matched your tag.

Keyword Grouping in Tags

A handy feature that comes with implementing tags this way is that you can add multiple keywords to each tag. You can create a tag and stuff as many keywords in the Name field as you want. You may have to increase the max length if you want to add more than 40 characters. (Just be aware of any performance hits your instance may take because of extra long tags). For example, I created a tag with the name "smart intelligent device tablet laptop windows 10 2000 xp vista". Now, each one of those terms is searchable through the global search as long as that tag is associated to a record.

Tag Search Behavior

OK, onto the exciting stuff! The global text search leverages the Zing search engine to make sense of search terms and return query results. Let's take a look at how the Zing search engine handles a few different scenarios when it comes to tags. The first batch of tests I performed was on a tag I created that had two keywords in it: smart device. I performed a few different scenarios which you'll see below by searching for different combinations in the global search. The results are only those records which were returned in the CMDB Computer search group which we defined earlier in this article.

Scenario 1: Global search term: smart device Result: 850 returned records Explanation: Searching for the full tag, even with a space between the two words, matches all 811 records with "smart device" tags. Scenario 2: Global search term: smartdevice Result: 0 returned records Explanation: Zing was not able to match the search term with the "smart device" tag. This tells me Zing delimits search terms, at least by spaces. Scenario 3: Global search term: smart,device Result: 850 returned records Explanation: Zing must also delimit by commas. Scenario 4: Global search term: device smart Result: 850 returned records Explanation: Further evidence that terms are parsed and delimited as searches can contain terms in any order and will return records with matching tags as long as all terms are found within that tag. Scenario 5: Global search term: smart Result: 850 returned records Explanation: It makes sense that searching for a single term would still return all records if Zing delimits the separate terms in the tag. Scenario 6: Global search term: device Result: 850 returned records Explanation: Same as scenario 4. Scenario 7: Global search term: smar Result: 0 returned records Explanation: Zing does not handle misspellings. Scenario 8: Global search term: windows device Result: 364 returned records Explanation: Records with the smart device tag were not successfully returned. However, there were still results because windows and/or device were terms found in the actual record data. This, along with scenario 4, leads me to believe that for tags, the system must match all search terms to terms found within tags. If it does not find even one search term in the tags for a given record, it will not return it in the results set. I performed an additional test for this which I will include here where I created another tag called windows and re-indexed the table. After doing this, the search term windows device returned all 850 records. So my conclusion based on this is that the search terms are delimited and the system attempts to match each term to a term found in all tags on a given record. For actual record data (ie. field values on the form), I noticed a trend where only one of the search terms needed to match with the record data. For example, the system could match the search term windows within the record data, but not device, and still return that record in its result set. Let us know if there’s anything we missed or you would like us to expand upon in the comments! Don't forget to subscribe! At the time of this writing, we are on the Madrid release. The information presented in this article may not apply to your instance if you are on a different version of ServiceNow. Read the full article

#ci #configurationitem #globalsearch #keywords #search #tags #zing

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raymookie · 7 years

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Living abroad.

...it’s the worst decision I’ve ever made and now I’m stuck, haha. Kidding. That would be an awful way to begin. I’ve received a few messages from people asking me about living abroad, how I’m doing it, what’s it like, etc. I wrote this to answer as many of those questions as possible. I hope it’s helpful and entertaining.

Why do it?

Living outside of the United States has given my life new meaning and a better understanding of the world around me on a macro and micro level. Equally as important as understanding the world around me - the people, politics, relationships and their inter-relatedness - I understand myself a lot more. The most empowered, self-assured, and knowledgeable individuals I have ever met have spent some time abroad which is why I am so adamant that people spend some time abroad. I’m still figuring life out, don’t get me wrong, but because I’ve had so many different life experiences I’m more confident and aware of my capacity as a leader. I’m also more certain of my abilities because they have been demonstrated in domestic and international contexts under varying circumstances. Whenever I have an interview my experience abroad is always brought up, and it serves as the perfect canvas on which to paint the story of my life. So if you want to read people’s minds, make them want you, or find out what makes them tick, book the next one-way ticket to Venezuela and never look back. Traveling will change yo life son!

baby pineapples & mangoes. treat yo body right. food market in vedado, havana.

Connect with the locals

The first time I traveled out of the United States it was to study abroad for a year in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had never even been to Mexico and it’s right next door! Some people will say that it’s crazy to venture somewhere you’ve never been, especially for a whole year! “But what if you don’t like it?” they say. “I heard it’s dangerous there!” Those same people live in the same place their entire lives, taking their biennial cruise to Ensenada, and staying in a hotel full of Americans each time. That, I don’t understand. I’m not saying you have to dipset to the Congo and live in a hut with the pygmies but get out of your comfort zone. If you’re going to Mexico, hang out with the Mexicans who live there! If you’re going to the Bahamas make a day trip with a Bahamian! Spend time with people from other countries and have experiences that you can’t have at home. There is nothing like spending time with people in their homeland to make you realize how silly our fears and prejudices are. We all have them but it is a choice whether we choose to live with them or educate ourselves. We are all the same in this crazy world! That is my biggest takeaway from living abroad: that we are all essentially the same. You’ve probably heard me say this before but I repeat it because it’s true! We all want to be safe, happy, and have fun but most importantly, we want to be loved. The connections I make with people across the globe continually remind me of this and give me fresh perspectives on the world, so I encourage you to take a risk and travel somewhere new. You won’t regret it!

my friends do it right. ballwall with some cubanos!

because I talk to everyone...rooftop bar on el prado.

A little bit about ya boiii

I graduated from Pepperdine University in 2015 with a BA in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. I speak English, Spanish, Portuguese and I’m currently studying Japanese. I just moved to Kawakami, Nagano in Japan and I am working for the JET Program. Technically I am employed by Japan’s Board of Education but I applied through the JET Program.

International Timeline

2012, September - 2013, April - Studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina

2015, April - Graduated from Pepperdine

2015, May - June - Studied abroad in Madrid, Spain

2015, June - September - Went backpacking through Europe

2016, February - December - Taught English in Campinas, Brazil through the Fulbright Program

2016, June - Cuba for two weeks

2017, June - Present - Teaching English in Kawakami, Nagano, Japan

Pepperdine University has several satellite campuses around the world which made studying abroad for me easy. I filled out the simplest application and sent it to the Office of International Relations at my university, and...voilà! OK it wasn’t that simple but it was very easy. I had to write a personal essay and the rest was filling in data about myself, very similar to the Fulbright ETA Program. With that being said, I am not the best resource for study abroad programs but I know of a few post-grad grants and scholarships for teaching or doing research abroad.

me and my woes somewhere in cuba.

pretend that I’m Adam and that plate is a cheap flight. I know you want it.

Is living abroad difficult?

Yes, this shit is hard. A lot of articles you find online will sugarcoat this part but it needs to be discussed more. Depression is commonplace when living abroad for months or years at a time. If you or someone you know decides to move abroad for an extended period of time they are most likely going to become depressed at some point, but there are ways to combat it and even prevent it from happening.

From my experience, there are several reasons why people get depressed abroad.

When a person moves to a new country there is a period of time spent practically in isolation. It is not always physical isolation, however. Even when you’re with people, you’re still kind of...well, by yourself. You’re the new guy/girl and people are fascinated by you. You’re unable to effectively communicate who you are to the people around you who’ve already begun to assign attributes to you. You’re almost like a mermaid - you’ve just rode into shore on this big, crystal wave and everyone is obsessed with you, but no one really believes that you’re real. People just want to look at you, poke you in the belly, listen to your funny accent. You will meet your fans though, the ones who have been dreaming of this day their entire lives. “I LOVE AMERICAAA”, they’ll scream. They might even connect you with their other mermaid friends - the teacher from Canada or the photographer from New Zealand. This can be good because sometimes the transition is too much to bear alone and you need to speaka da English with other gringos. Let it out! But don’t lose sight of the goal: you are there to become fluent in another culture.

You spend a lot of time at home alone in the beginning while you struggle to make sense of the new world around you. You’ll get exhausted from the smallest of tasks, but rest assured, this is normal. Your brain is working in overtime! But get off your ass and get moving. Get involved in something. It doesn’t matter what it is, but sign up and attend, especially if you’re not naturally a social person. The longer you put off getting involved in something, the harder it will be later on. Being active is also very important to your mental health. Running has saved me from the pits of despair on several occasions which is why I always encourage people to join a sports team or fitness group to keep you accountable. You need to release those endorphins! Explore the area you’re living in and don’t be afraid to spark up conversation with the locals. You’d be surprised how many people get excited at the opportunity to practice English. This is also an easy way to make friends and cure your loneliness, even if for a day. Also, just say yes! If someone invites you somewhere, say yes! Even it’s to the grocery store. I’ve been on so many unnecessary grocery store trips abroad just because I needed to get out of the house and be with people. It sounds silly but believe me, any little bit helps and it often leads to another adventure.

las cervezas nunca acaban. still at the rooftop bar

these boys will walk you up the stairway to travel heaven <3

But baby it’s worth it (na na nanana na naaa)

Living abroad, like anything of value in this world, requires hard work and sacrifice. Most importantly, endurance. It’s like I work overtime every day because I am putting in extra work to learn a new language and become culturally competent. I could live like an American while I was away - only speak English, ignore the customs of my host country, act entitled to everything - but I am driven by a desire to understand and unite people. Perhaps this is American...I don’t know, but the reward you get from just trying is priceless. I don’t want to say my life is more fun than yours but it really is...truly (Joannethescammer voice). The lows are low but the highs are really, really high. You have to risk it to get the biscuit! I want this for you, cookie! It seems crazy the first time but once you realize how easy it is you’ll be hooked. My decision to study abroad in Buenos Aires was very spontaneous, especially considering my major was English at the time, but it was the decision that changed the entire trajectory of my life. I’ll be catchin flights ‘til the day I die.

when people ask if I’m cultured...lol. this is before the thunderstorm shut us in! dope place to wait for a storm to pass. museo de arte experimental in old town, havana.

Raymookie Banzo,

over & out

#travel #nomad #nomadlife #study abroad #zoom #canon #canonphotography #cuba #havana #international #blacktravelfeed #afropunk #afro #art #beer #jetset #about me

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weirdthoughtsandideas · 3 years

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How I would rewrite Violetta

TL;DR: Less lies, still a lot of drama. Also everyone is bisexual, because I say so.

~Season 1~

Okay the biggest thing here is that Germán knows she goes to the studio already from the beginning

He also knows Angie is her aunt - however, Violetta doesn’t know.

When Angie appears, Germán recognizes her. Of course he does, he should’ve known his dead wife’s family?

Angie BEGS him not to take Vilu away from her again. Germán agrees, but tells her not to tell Vilu about it. Instead, she should just be her governess until Violetta “is ready” (or, really when Germán is ready)

Angie says she still works at the studio and so when Vilu hears about it, she really wants to apply. Germán is hesitant, but he also wants her to be happy. His one condition though, is for her to not participate in any large events (oop)

Not much changes for Jade and Matias - except that they desperately try to find out whatever Angie is hiding (Ramallo and Olga tries to find out, too)

Okay, now for the love!!

Honestly? The love triangle with Leon and Tomas stays mostly the same. I’ll deal a bit more with the love stuff in further seasons

Also, it’s the first season, too. If they are acting a little immature and don’t trust each other, they’ll just grow and learn.

Ok I recently rewatched the episode where Violetta like... writes “amiga” in her diary as she looks dreamingly at Francesca? Like girl did you get a crush on her?? I know you wrote “friend” but your look says more.

Ok probably not but IT’S MY REWRITE and now I decide Vilu and Fran have a small crush on each other. It doesn’t lead to anything (yet), but it’s there and the only one who really seems to notice is Camila

Or, well. She knows her friends have crushes on others but she’s also like “Heh, i’m gonna go, you two can continue to talk if you like”

The big DRAMA is of course, when Violetta joins the youmix competition

Her dad already had a grudge for her singing in the theatre, but now she just has to really hide this

Which is harder when she like. Shares a house with Federico, who’s getting a lot of fans that wants to follow him home. So when they see her, they be like “OH MY GOD THEY ARE ROOMATES” and so Vilu’s fans are there too and she panicks because her dad cannot know

Vilu’s biggest comfort object is her diary, she carries it everywhere in canon (like, even in later seasons when she’s famous she always has it around). In my rewrite, not much changes, except for the fact that Ludmila constantly tries to steal it to destroy her. So anyway, Violetta decides to get a lock with a number combination to open it (as she figures if she has a key she can lose it). Her combination changes a lot. It’s most often two or three letters of a person she likes. Examples are 12-22 (LV, Leon Vargas), or 6-18-1 (FRA, Francesca). One time she even put 12-21 (LU, Ludmila) just to trick Ludmila, as Ludmi never would think Vilu would put her name there.

Violetta finds out Angie is her aunt by overhearing a conversation between her and Pablo. Though, they solve it rather quickly and then get even closer, just like in canon.

In the end, they don’t move away, but Germán does not let her participate in the final show as she’s kind of grounded after he found out she was in youmix and all that

But then he lets her. All is good. Tomas goes to Spain, Violetta is like “I don’t wanna date anyone”

BUT as Tomas goes to Spain she gives Leon a little smirk as if to say “we’ll see what I say about that though, after the break ;)”

The last thing I wanna say about season 1 is that we all know Andrés is canonically a disaster bisexual (come on, think about it) and I just want to embrace that more

~Season 2~

PEOPLE RIGHT AWAY COMMENT ABOUT VILU’S HAIR BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T LET IT GO UNNOTICED

I know how it’s gonna go for Fran and Diego, so i’ll let them have some little nice scenes in a buildup for s3 (as most of their scenes this season was just “I don’t trust you, Diego”, “Francesca, let me explain”, “No fuck you”)

Honestly I want Ludmila to be a LITTLE nicer this season so she has no pact with Diego

Instead, Ludmila just talks shit about Violetta to him and he’s like “but she’s cute?”

So Diego literally flirts with Vilu to show Ludmila she’s not bad and Ludmila is like “wtf why are you embarrasing yourself”

There’s not a lot of that “Leon you have to trust me” bullshit that Leonetta has. They DO trust each other and honestly they just bond over their shared annoyance with Diego

(But secretly, BOTH of them kinda feel attracted to him)

(Very fun fact one of the first edits I ever saw was one where they shipped Diego and Leon and 12yo me was like “oh wow this kinda makes sense??” and rewatching the show I realised the TENSION™ they had)

Ok. 2x20. The scene I think y’all know i’m reffering to actually caused a series of events to happen later in the season in canon. If Diego had not kissed Violetta, she and Leon wouldn’t have broken up (atleast not that time), German wouldn’t have started to spy on Violetta after feeling like he had to protect her, which would’ve caused Angie to find out and feeling like she couldn’t take it any longer and move to Paris and Violetta and German to start arguing for like 15 episodes because of lies. ALL THAT HAPPENED, originally because of Diego kissing Violetta. I’m not saying it was entirely his fault, but. I’m just- hdsoksyhufshua okay I think it’s just my inner 11yo still bitter about what happened

BUT THIS IS MY REWRITE AND WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF DIEGO DIDN’T KISS HER AGAINST HER WILL IN 2x20

The show goes as planned. They fake kiss as they planned to. Everyone is happy for a while. Though, on cameras it looks like a real kiss, so the fans are like. Asking if Violetta and Diego are dating. Diego does not deny this.

Leon and Violetta do break up, because we need drama. Though, it’s more like a mutual agreement rather than an argument. It just became too much for them to handle when Violetta got a contract with youmix, Leon and his motorcross and Diego hovering over them all the time. They needed a break.

Diego and Violetta do get together, but they kinda do like in canon: She is annoyed with him until she finally just gives up and accepts his love.

Germán does not spy on Violetta, but he does consider reading her diary (he doesn’t)

Jade and Matias are no longer relevant. They do make cameos sometimes, but Esmeralda doesn’t know them. Even the viewer believes she’s nice. We only get some small hints of something being off - like Ambar saying “be nice to them” and Esmeralda sometimes giving people strange looks. But then comes the wedding day - that’s when SUDDENLY, the cops arrive! They explain everything - they have been after her for a long time and they recently found out she was gonna marry German for his money and then take it all and flee the country. Drama on top and it’ll be a real classic soap opera betrayal

Angie leaves to France as she just... got an opportunity to work there and she says yes

Camila spends this season dating a bunch of different boys, right? I think this is the perfect place to be a little inclusive and let her be the bi flower queen she is and let her date some girls too. Like switch Seba’s gender or something, not much will change.

THE MADRID STORYLINE. I LOVED THE DYNAMICS IN CANON BUT IN THIS IT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER AND MORE DRAMATIC.

Fran and Vilu already had something going on after the whole ”Francesca almost going back to Italy” storyline and they get even closer as they get lost in Madrid. They were already close, but as they argue for being lost, something just... happens.

Actually the same thing happens with Leon and Diego.

What exactly happens? They almost kiss. They do not kiss, but it’s like it almost happens. They just... get very close and stare at each other before realising. They react differently to this

Francesca and Violetta at first get awkward. They are like “oh- okay.” and then become silent for the rest of the day. It’s not until they are alone in their hotel room that Vilu is like “...what happened today?” and Francesca is like “What are you talking about? I don’t know? Goodnight!!”

Leon and Diego refuse to mention it. They are annoyed as it is. But they do think about it

Yes, I did get this idea after I rewatched ep75 and Leon was like “we were late because this dude didn’t stop fixing his hair” and I was like “DRHSKEHJYU I’M-”

The most heartfelt scene in canon is when Violetta finds out about Diego and Ludmila’s pact, goes out on stage crying and Leon saves her. Like, Leonetta wasn’t the most stable couple but him saving her when she was so distressed... that’s love, dammit!! And I would love to include it somehow.

But: I can’t really find a reason for her to be so upset she can’t sing. So she does sing, that goes well. But as she does, Diego, Fran and Leon argue. Leon is convinced Diego isn’t actually in love with Vilu, Diego is just out for fights and Francesca is like “i’m on Leons side but stop arguing also I think I like Vilu too but that’s beside the point right now I guess?”

She sings “Te Creo” as she was going to, and they like. Do the opposite of what she sings. Or, the complete right thing to what she sings. It’s unclear.

Anyways as she finishes, all of them has to go out on stage to thank the audience and Violetta is like “dafuq is wrong with all of you”

As she tries to help them, Diego says something out of anger that hurts her. Maybe a “I don’t think I really love you” or something maybe a little more hurtful than that. She gets teared up, breaks up with him and run away

Francesca says “You know, I was actually beginning to like you, and now this”, which makes him feel oddly hurt. He doesn’t really know why, yet.

Fran and Leon run after Vilu. There’s the leonetta comfort hug scene ™ there, but also a comfort scene with Fran when they are in their room and she just takes Vilu’s hand while they stare at each other.

Marco is here. Uh. Tbh I don’t know what to do with him?? Because he like. Vanishes to London in s3 canon so Fran can be with Diego so idk man.

He doesn’t send her like a million flowers in Madrid or visits, but he does call and miss her. Marco was a sweet boyfriend for her, really. Though, he kinda was just. Nice. Nothing more. Their relationship didn’t evolve a lot?

Though after the random almost-kissing Vilu incident that Francesca doesn’t want to talk about, she kinda grows closer to Marco again.

Back in Buenos Aires, Violetta doesn’t really have an argument with German as he didn’t spy on her in this, so she simply has trouble writing Soy mi mejor momento until German is like “Violetta that’s your mothers poem-” and they have a little father-daughter bonding over finishing it

She is however not really ready to just go back to Leon after recently breaking up with Diego and so she has that “why does no one ask me what I want” scene like she did in ep76.

But then Leon sings Nuestro Camino and she’s like “I DREAMED THAT WE SANG THAT TOGETHER WTF” and he’s like “OMG SAME??” and they bond over the fact that they are soulmates who share dreams or smth, and so they get back together

Diego and Leon do not speak of Madrid, but they do this very manly but also tension filled handshake as if they “accept” each other.

Francesca and Vilu also doesn’t really speak of the fact that they had a little moment in Madrid either, but they do share some smiles and Camila is like “did something happen??”

Leonetta is a couple again. The New Years show is a hit and that means youmix will let them do a world tour (I literally realised NOW, that the reason they are on tour in season 3 is because of the last show in s2, they mentioned in some passing scene some episodes before about it being a world tour)

Oh also Ludmila and Federico have basically the same kind of romance they had in canon, same with Naty and Maxi (Naty and Maxi’s kiss where Maxi had to switch his cap around was so cute uWu)

Oh and also Gregorio and Diego? Same as canon. That shit was emotional.

Lara, I forgot about Lara... uuuh. She’s just a mechanic. She disappears after s2 anyway so

~Season 3~

Honestly s3 was kind of a fanfiction already when you think about it??? So in this rewrite I guess I could just GO OFF with everything :D

Hmmm yeah Priscilla is still a fucking psychopath but she will suffer even more god I hate that woman HOW CAN YOU PUSH A CHILD DOWN SOME STAIRS AND FORCE YOUR DAUGHTER TO HURT PEOPLE-

Everything is well with all couples but being on tour and hanging out so much all the time, they get a little... cramped. So they easily get grumpy and yell at each other

Leon and Violetta knows this, and so they don’t get mad at each other when the other one is upset. They understand. So as Violetta gets her birthday wish, she doesn’t really complain at all. Sure, she does get a little scared when they fly off, but she’s honestly just happy to spend some ✨alone time ✨with her soulmate and lowkey wishes no one would find them

All the couples break up and Leonetta is like “nah it will not happen to us UwU” and then it just. Gets to them too. They just simply have to be apart before they hate each other. Their breakup happens around the same time as canon.

It felt kind of ooc for Violetta to dress up as another person to spy on Leon but it was still kinda funny. So Roxy will stay, we’ll just change it a bit

She doesn’t create Roxy to spy on Leon, but because of Francesca. Fran is getting confused with Marco leaving and now she’s starting to get feelings for Diego... a part of her just wants to disappear and think about something else. So Violetta is like “What if we dress up and go out” and they do, and fool everyone

And so... when boys they know start to flirt with them, they just panic and say they’re not single. But they can’t make up fake boyfriends so they say they are dating each other.

Which makes Andrés interested - he’s like “wow two girls can date that’s cool”. Camila is also interested, she’s like “WOW ALL MY FRIENDS ARE STRAIGHT I CAN BOND WITH YOU OVER BEING NOT STRAIGHT”

Anyway it’s hard to keep it together when Camila is talking about Vilu and Fran - to Vilu and Fran, in disguise.

Hmmmm ok I literally almost forgot about Gery and Clement lol?? Tbh, of all the “lover rivals” they are the weakest this far. Leon and Vilu didn’t even feel that attracted to them anyway.

Gery is not straight in the slightest? Like girl that haircut and the HALF SHAVED EYEBROW like please. She’s pansexual, i’ve decided. She has a crush on both Leon and Violetta, but she does not really know how to handle that. So she never does. She talks about it with Clement, though and the two of them bond over being nervous messes who can’t talk to their crushes

There’s no Alex, tbh. Clement is just Clement. His dad lets him attend the studio but he’s also like “ugh I wanna support your dreams but you could take economy classes on the side??”

They are not out for breaking Leonetta apart because I for once just want ONE season when there’s no one else Leonetta wants to be with. They just want to be with each other and the whole season is them just kinda... figuring stuff out before getting back together.

Also Fran and Vilu have this thing going on now when they pretend to be a couple as they are dressed up as other people and they have to handle that

The plan was for them to only really dress up once but now their friends wants to get to know Roxy and Fausta and they just have to continue it

Camila is the first one to find out and her reaction is “I always knew you two had a thing for each other but this is just strange, why can’t you date as yourselves?”

To which Vilu and Fran as a response just shut down, not knowing at all how they feel about anything anymore.

Camila notices they seem to not wanting to talk about it, so she decides to make up a plan to make them talk. Though, it solves itself when Vilu and Fran get locked inside a closet at the studio (because of course they do)

In there they talk about what happened in Madrid last year, when they almost kissed. They are unsure what that meant. They admit that it was thrilling to pretend to be a couple, when they were Roxy and Fausta. But the thought of dating as Vilu and Fran... it feels strange. Especially because of all the stuff with Diego and Leon.

But they do decide to try to kiss, just to see - and as soon as their lips touch, someone opens the closet. It’s Diego and Leon. They are kinda shocked.

The girls explain the situation and Leon is like “You know what we almost kissed in Madrid too wtf”

They also reveal they are Roxy and Fausta and Leon is kinda embarrased because he got a crush on Roxy

The girls discussed how it was kissing - they liked it, but... they don’t know. Because they also feel kind of a strong connection to Diego and Leon respectively

So they like... make a promise. If it doesn’t work out with the boys, they’ll date each other.

But they end up with the boys... atleast for now, heh.

The whole “Leonetta will only be friends” plot is still here just because I love it so damn much they are such dorks they literally think they can stay friends lol

So yeah Gery and Clement start dating and they are basically as cute as Naxi. Honestly since I removed the whole “ruin leonetta” plot they have little purpose - so that’s why I made them crush on Leonetta on a distance and never do anything. We need some people to relate to, some people just never confesses and just go around crushing on people without telling lol

German proposes to Angie and Leon kinda plans to propose to Violetta. Not yet, since they’re like 19 (they aren’t finchel lol), but he has plans.

“Ok thanks future father in law” was a top 10 iconic Leon moment and I just wanted to include it

It ends kind of like canon.

Ok! I just wrote most of this spontaneously. Maybe it wouldn’t be that good, really i’m just brainstorming. This show was everything to me when I was a preteen even though I realise it was probably not good (I lost a bit of interest in season 3, idk that season was a little more off to me)

I probably forgot a lot, since there were like a million plots, but this was just for fun so yeah don’t take it super seriously. Also thank you if you made it this far.

#did I write a post about how I would rewrite a show that hasn't been relevant for like 5 years?#and also only really popular in latin america and europe so less people talk about it since the internet is so america centric?#yes #yes I did #violetta #violetta 2 #violetta 3 #violetta castillo #diesca #leonetta #leon vargas #Francesca caviglia #diego hernandez

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fossadeileonixv · 5 years

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Throwback Tuesday!

Marco_CT & Milano80 reminded me why we should spit every time we hear the name....Pirlo. Allow me to take you back in time....

Andrea Pirlo. One of the best Milan players ever. A true hall of famer who has won pretty much everything there is to win within the higher echelons of world football, that is above doubt and beyond discussion and not the subject matter for today's piece. What I wish to try and address is the creeping history revisionism that seems to be repeated often enough that it warrants a firm reply.

The thing is, we all want to remember our heroes as perfect, without stain or any sign of impurity. Its why I understand the almost religious fervour displayed by fan-boys (from here on referred to as Pirlophiles) to defend their hero whenever they feel he is being slighted or his legacy besmirched with a vicious defence of the one they call Il Metroniomo but you know what? They say you should never meet your heroes! So I thought I would look up his book and would attempt to wash away some the revisionist BS that gets mindlessly regurgitated by relying solely on the words of the man himself to see if I could get to the bottom of the hows and whys that lead to his departure.

For Pirlophiles, Pirlo is a martyr, a victim if you will of Maleficent Evil-Allegri who wanted him gone, pushing him out maybe due to some level of jealousy of Pirlo's fine mane of hair? During all the back and forths between Pirlophiles and those merely pointing out the truth you will hear that Pirlo was pushed aside, deemed surplus, got rid of..........insulted even! The gist of a Pirlophiles argument appears to be that we foolishly let go a "star" player still in his prime as witnessed at his two seasons at Juve & (allegedly) with the Azzurri. An elegant & skill-full player who was stupidly replaced with the blunt hammer that is Muntari. So lets see what the "thinking man's" footballer has to say:

During the discussions with Fester he was informed of the following:

"Andrea, our coach Massimiliano Allegri reckons that if you stay, you won't be able to play in front of the defence. He's got a different role in mind for you. Still in midfield, but on the left."

Wait! Allegri reckoned he could still play Pirlo in the midfield? A different role even huh? Ok, fine. So how does that sound Andrea?

One small detail: I still thought I could give of my best playing in front of the defence. If the sea's deep, a fish can breathe. If you put him just under the surface, he'll get by, but it's not quite the same thing.

Aaaah right! You didnt want to play on the left! I get where you are coming from now! Got it!

"Even with you sitting on the bench or in the stand we've won the league. And you know, Andrea, the strategy's changed this year. If you're over 30, we're only offering a year's extension."

This was applied to EVERY player over 30! But have to admit we have been inconsistent in applying it in following seasons.

Another small detail: I've never felt old, not even at that very moment. Only indirectly did I get the impression that people were trying to make out I was finished. Even now, I struggle to get my head round their reasoning."Thanks, but I really can't accept. There's a three-year deal on the table at Juventus."

What? You mean the club succeeding without you made you feel self conscious?

It was a polite ‘no' for Milan, without money even entering the conversation that spring afternoon in 2011. Not once in those 30minutes was it ever mentioned. I wanted to be thought of as important, a key player in the club's plans, not someone about to be thrown on the scrapheap.

Wait, asking to be played on the left equates to being thrown on the scrap heap? Drama queen!

I got on well with everyone and had a normal kind of relationship with Allegri - there was just something in the air. I recognised the walls that over the years had sheltered and protected me, but now I was starting to see cracks. I could sense some kind of draught that was out to make me sick.

What? The fact that the club was about to win its first scudetto in ages, largely without you??

One of the things I've long maintained is that Pirlo should have gone sooner, the main reason being that he had quite clearly given up. I cant even remember in his last 2 seasons at Milan when he last scored a world class free kick and sitting in front of the back four he had become a complete liability. In certain games he was nothing more than an open door into our penalty box for the opposition. I can still recall one of the Milan derbies during the Mourinho era where Maicon was set loose on Pirlo, I remember squinting at the TV in pain at the pitiful, half assed performance, wishing that he would be subbed off. Again Pirlophiles wont entertain that there was ever a drop off in performance from him, there are a few that are willing to acknowledge this but will instead insist on blaming the rest of the squad for ....and let me get this right.....not moving enough for him!

So is it all in my imagination? Was Pirlo bored? Had he given up at Milan? Maybe he had been there too long?? Lets check with the man himself:

That inner urge to go somewhere else, to breathe a different air, became ever more pressing and intense. The poetry that had always surrounded me was now becoming routine. It wasn't something I could ignore. Even the fans maybe wanted a bit of relief. For so many years they'd applauded me at San Siro of a Sunday (and a Saturday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday...), but now perhaps they wanted to stick new faces in their Panini album, hear new stories being told. They'd got used to the things I did, my movements, my creations. They weren't awestruck any more. In their eyes, the extraordinary was in real danger of becoming normal.

Maybe im just reading this wrong? Or maybe he's talking about a one off thing, you know like when you have a bad day in the office??

It was, it seemed, the end of an era and I felt in need of something new. Alarm bells had been ringing ever since the middle of what turned out to be my last season at the club, one ruined by a couple of injuries. I arrived at Milanello for training and realised that I didn't want to go into the dressing room. Didn't want to get changed, didn't want to work.

Oh dear.

I phoned my agent every day, especially in the period when I was supposed to be recovering from injury, but the desire to really throw myself into it just wasn't there. Or at least it wasn't the same as it had been at one time. Massimo Ambrosini and then Mark van Bommel were playing in front of the defence.

Nope! That sounds like someone half assed and not willing to give his all to me! Stll no mention of Muntari. Here Pirlo is talking about his final meeting with Fester, you know, the one where he received a pen.

We said our goodbyes without regret. In the space of half an hour (probably not even that), I was out of there. When you're in love, it's time you need. When the feeling's gone, having an excuse can help.

Clearly stating here that he was out of love with Milan, almost happy to be leaving Milan, I cant begrudge him that. It sounds like this was the perfect excuse he needed to jump ship. Fair enough.

For someone who I did genuinely hold in high regard for what he achieved at Milan I was kinda surprised to read that he came close to leaving Milan twice and it even appears that he had at one point decided to join Capello at Madrid but was ordered to stay at Milan by his own agent...

And then my agent phoned me.

"Sign for Milan. Right now, they'll not let you leave."

"No...

"Yes."

"Ok, fine."

So our "legend" had actually made up his mind on joining Madrid, that in itself didn't piss me off as much as the the idea that while Milan where awaiting the outcome of Calciopoli in 06-07 our man Pirlo was thinking of jumping ship, thanks Champ!

One day you'd read that we were going to be relegated to Serie B, the next that we were looking at a 15-point penalty. The next again day they'd be talking about us handing back trophies and having our titles removed from the record books.

One thing I was sure of, though: I would never drop down to Serie B. And if I had to leave, I wouldn't feel like a traitor. You always want to be ambitious and play for a noble cause. There was no way I was going to pay for other people's sins, if that's what they turned out to be.

Sorry, but you sound like a traitorous S.O.B to me! So while the rest of us where worrying about our club.....

I, meanwhile, was floating between Milan and Real Madrid.

Facepalm!

I pictured myself in that white jersey. Pristine, and at the same time aggressive; a mean streak running through its unusual purity. My thoughts often wandered to the Santiago Bernabeu, the temple, a ground that struck terror into opponents.

WOW! At this point you actually have to remind yourself that this guy was still playing for Milan at the time! Is it any wonder that he looked so half-assed when you now know he might have been running around the San Siro dreaming of playing for Real Madrid?

It's a pity it went the way it did. I'd have signed for Real in a heartbeat. They're a club with more glamour than Milan; more prospects, more appeal, more everything. They strike fear in their opponents, whoever they happen to be. All that said, I had the consolation of winning the Champions League at the end of the season. It could have gone a lot worse.

Club legend huh? Ah well not joining the team of your dreams is consoled by winning another Champions League, he sounds hard done by!

The second time he pondered leaving is even better, the following is after he was pitched by Pep Guardiola.

As with Real Madrid (in fact, even more so than with Real Madrid), I'd have crawled to Barcelona on all fours. At that time, they were the best team in the world - what more needs to be said?

Pfft. Now you're beginning to sound like another bandwagoner I know! (God I wish Fester would take his pen back!)

I get that a player, any player is free to choose where he works and far be it for me to demand how a guy earns his money and supports his family but I still feel that Pirlo wrongly felt he was owed more by the club that helped make him who he is today.

When you take into account the fact that he clearly wasn't happy at Milan I feel it was only right that he move on, for me I just wish it had been a season or two sooner, I also wish Pirlophiles would stop re-writing history.....but we can only dream. I know it hurts but for all the guys who still insist on kissing his ass I wish you would wake up to the guy he really is. I for one wish he had pissed off to RM or Barca when he had the chance!

You kinda wonder about a guy who wanted to jump ship a number of times then had to be such a di#k about only getting a one year extension!

For the most rabid of Pirlophiles, there will be no doubt be alot of fingers being jammed in ears and eyes covered up as they try and keep out the truth but for Milanista, we should at the minimum be indifferent to a guy we once held in high regard. As for me, I'm done with Pirlo. We got as much out of him as he got out of us, there was absolutely no heartbreak involved as he clearly points out in his book. The one notion that completely by-passes Pirlophiles is that if was he was half the legend he is held to be he would have been open to playing in Serie B, the notion of him jumping ship makes him more Cannavaro (ship jumping p#ssy) than Del Piero (club legend). So now that Allegri has joined Juve I take extreme satisfaction in the knowledge that right about now the floppy haired moron is sweating about whether he can swallow playing on the left of the midfield or whether he suddenly needs "new air to breathe". :D

PS: I have a signed Pirlo shirt. If a Pirlophile wants to make me an offer get in touch at [email protected]

AviA Out

#andrea pirlo #acmilan #weareacmilan

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emly0 · 5 years

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Tricks To Learn Spanish (Or Any Other Language)

Spanish is the most studied second vocabulary in America. Many People in America start learning it in middle college or senior high school, but the majority of us never reach a level where we can really communicate in Spanish. I analyzed Spanish for all years of senior high school and have next to nothing to show for this, besides, “Me llamo John-Erik. Yo nací en LA. Chicle en la basura, por favor.” My romantic relationship with the vocabulary never remaining the classroom and therefore never really arrived alive. Where do I fail?

I needed professional advice. Therefore, I consulted two men with too much to say about speaking Spanish: Luca Lampariello, who originated from Italy and started teaching himself Spanish as a youngster (he also speaks British, Russian, Mandarin, Japan, and many more), and Babbel’s polyglot-in-residence Matthew Youlden. Listed below are their methods for learning Spanish (or any vocabulary, for example).

Connect It To YOUR DAILY LIFE

Don’t isolate your research of the vocabulary from the others you will ever have - you’re not learning Spanish to be able to discuss learning Spanish. Instead, think of Spanish as a fresh way to see your everyday life: Change the screen language on your pc to Spanish, find Spanish-language films and Television shows to view (with Spanish subtitles, not British), get the information or superstar gossip fix from Spanish-language websites, check out Spanish-language podcasts and youtube videos on topics that interest you already. If you are using Spanish to do stuff that you’d be doing anyhow, studying daily will become an automated reflex rather than a dreaded chore.

Connect To Local Speakers

The ultimate way to connect Spanish to your lifestyle is to invest time around native speakers. If all of your friends speak Spanish, convince these to speak it with you for at least fifty percent of every time you go out collectively. If you eat at a Mexican restaurant, make an effort to order in Spanish. If you happen to be Latin America or Spain, don’t just fall back again on “¿Habla inglés?” You will need to apply what you learn, and speaking is always the ultimate way to do this. Once you can take a necessary discussion, find a Spanish-speaking meetup group or club to be able to pursue one of your hobbies in Spanish.

That is also the trick to retaining what you’ve learned. As Luca places it, “My parents experienced some Spanish friends who emerged to consume at our place once weekly so I could practice with them. If you have the chance to speak many languages daily, then you received’t neglect them.” This applies if you are juggling 10+ dialects or if you are merely just wanting to keep another vocabulary locked in your memory space. The more you utilize it, the less likely you are to forget it!

Check this great advice to Learn to speak Spanish quickly

All Roads RESULT IN Rome

Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian can barely consider one another “international languages” given that they all evolved from Latin. These “Love” dialects have such similar vocabulary, syntax, and sentence structure they are identical to siblings. This overlap along with his indigenous Italian, managed to get possible for Luca to begin learning Spanish, but he still got to target and make Spanish learning a regular practice.

By comparison, British speakers may actually have a disadvantage when learning Spanish. In the end, the British developed from Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic vocabulary. What could British and Spanish possibly have as a common factor? Quite a full lot, actually. British pulls approximately half of its vocabulary from People from France and Latin, so although they might not be siblings, British and Spanish are certainly cousins. Consider Matthew’s example, “la proclamación de la Democracia.” That term hardly must be translated into British! So that as Luca elaborates, “democratization, democratización, démocratisation, democratization … you can learn four dialects at exactly the same time.”

The Imitation Game

To understand a Spanish highlight, you will need to pay attention carefully to indigenous loudspeakers and imitate what you hear. Think about yourself as a way of acting professionally: You aren’t just learning the lines, you want to inhabit your personality. Nevertheless, you expose you to ultimately Spanish, imitate the voices you hear as accurately as possible. As time passes, this will familiarize you with noises that you aren’t used to making. Initially, it could feel silly, as if you are performing a wrong impression, but eventually, the right pronunciation will kitchen sink in.

Since Spanish has a wide variety of regional accents, individuals you decide to imitate can provide your Spanish with a specific local flair. Because he researched in Barcelona, Matthew talks Spanish just like a barcelonés, while Luca developed his madrileño highlight after dating a woman from Madrid.

Leap Right In!

The tips above are only going to help if you just start learning. No, not - now tomorrow. What exactly are you looking forward to? It’s OK, you can begin small, like ten minutes a day. Combine short classes of daily research with the tips above, and you'll hear yourself speaking real Spanish very quickly!

#learning #spanish #language #speakeasy #comunicación #hablar

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dakotahiggins-blog1 · 5 years

Photo

They say that ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’. But what if you got to Bath or Blackpool? Do the same rules apply? In fact, where are hens going? What are stags up to? Or shouldn’t we ask?

Here’s a breakdown of the top hen and stag party statistics 2017.

Results drawn from StagWeb.co.uk & GoHen.com

Penny-Wise

Do groups have more disposable income despite the worries of Brexit and the falling pound? While groups are getting smaller it would appear that individually we’re spending more on our accommodation, nightlife and activities while away.

Average Spend Per Group

• On average stag groups spent 50% more in 2017 than 2013. • Hen parties are spending 28% more per group in 2017 compared to 2013.

There’s also a growing gap between the amount stags and hens spend individually.

On average stag groups spent 50% more in 2017 than in 2013.

Average Spend Per Person

(figures do not include food and drink)

Hey Big Spender!

The biggest rollers StagWeb and GoHen saw this year were a group of 16 stags who spent £1,200+ per person on a trip to Las Vegas. This doesn’t include food, drinks and extras during the weekend. The most penny-wise group were a team of hens who spent just £15 per person enjoying a treasure hunt in fun loving Brum.

Most Expensive Las Vegas = £1,200+ per person

Smallest Budget Birmingham = £15 per person

Size Does Matter

It’s not the size of your hen party, it’s what you do with it. Although recent trends suggest pre-wedding parties are getting smaller, with less guests attending in 2017.

Average Group Size

• Stags – 13 • Hens – 13

The South West is the favourite region for stag and hen groups.

Where to guv’nor?

Stags and hens are heading to similar destinations. The South West is popular for both parties while Liverpool is the combined most popular party city.

Top 10 UK Destinations

Stags

Hens

1. Bristol 1. Bath 2. Bournemouth 2. Liverpool 3. Liverpool 3. London 4. Newcastle 4. Brighton 5. Cardiff 5. Cheltenham 6. Manchester 6. Cardiff 7. Bath 7. Manchester 8. Brighton 8. Bristol 9. London 9. Bournemouth 10. Birmingham 10. Cambridge

Brexit hasn’t bitten. The number of stag and hen parties heading overseas haven’t been affected by the weakening of the pound. When heading abroad the important factor seems to be, hens like it hot. The bride and her gang are more likely to head to a sunny/beach destination. International stag parties tend to be swayed by the activities on offer.

Top 10 International Destinations

Stags

Hens

1. Barcelona 1. Barcelona 2. Berlin 2. Marbella 3. Hamburg 3. Dublin 4. Dublin 4. Benidorm 5. Budapest 5. Valencia 6. Prague 6. Amsterdam 7. Amsterdam 7. Budapest 8. Lisbon 8. Madrid 9. Krakow 9. Algarve 10. Benidorm 10. Paris

Hens like it hot. Hen are more than twice as likely as stags to ask for entertainment involving nudity.

A Matter of Taste

The biggest difference between stags and hens is their choice of activities. Stags are far more competitive and all the top five activities were competitive sports. 2017 hen parties focused far more on food and fitness, drinking cocktails, eating cakes, Dance Classes and Bubble Mayhen, essentially hens were either burning off or taking on calories. Hens are also more likely to ask for clothes to come off, with 141% more requests for adult entertainment from hen parties than stag groups.

Top 5 Activities

Stags

Hens

1. Bubble Football 1. Dance Class 2. Paintball 2. Cocktail Mixing 3. Go Karting 3. Life Drawing 4. Quad Biking 4. Afternoon Tea 5. Clay Pigeon Shooting 5. Bubble Mayhen

Top 3 Nights

Stags

Hens

1. Guest List Nightclub Entry 1. Guest List Nightclub Entry 2. Gentleman’s Club 2. Male Strip Show 3. Guided Bar Crawl 3. Butlers in the Buff

Getting Away With It

The most popular month to get away for both stags and hens is May.

New York is the No 1, dream location for brides.

Hen Thoughts

Women who aren’t currently in the throws of arranging a wedding and the biggest day of their life have said their dream hen destination would be;

• New York – 26.6% • Las Vegas – 19.4% • Rome – 9% • Dublin – 8% • Dubai – 8% • Paris – 8% • Ibiza – 8% • Venice – 4% • Other – 9%

And hens consider the best thing about a hen weekend to be;

• Meeting up with friends – 71% • Having a few drinks – 11% • Going somewhere new – 10% • Doing a new activity – 5% • Playing funny games – 3%

Weird Requests

Stag and hen parties come in all shapes and sizes, they also cover a fair spectrum of… (*ahem*), weird and wonderful. Here are a few of the stranger requests we received from groups in 2017.

• A naked dwarf for a Life Drawing class. (stags) • One very polite group of stags asked if it was ok if they force the groom to wear a gimp mask during an afternoon of paintball. • A Boy George tribute act on canal boat in Amsterdam. (hens) • A stag party asked if they could send the groom down a zipline. Naked. • A stripper with a “tiny tiddler because the groom has a massive schlong so it would be funny if it was the opposite” (their words, not ours). • And the stag group organiser who booked a paintball session for all the guys. Then had to ask what paintball is.

#d76863;#ffffff;

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snsmissionaries · 5 years

Text

2/6/19 -- Sister Nicole Ritman, Spain, Madrid Mission

The Story of Sany/I'm Officially a Cultured Citizen

Subject Line: This email will have two parts! The first is the story of our amiga Sany, who got baptized last Sunday, shared with permission. The second is just about my week.

The Story of Sany

Right about when I got to Málaga, we got a text from one of the members saying she had a friend we could go visit. She'd been going through some rough times, and so a few weeks back their other friend gave her a Libro de Mormón and just said "Sany, you mean a lot to me and I know you are going through a hard time. I'm giving this to you because this is what brings me comfort when I'm not feeling good and so I wanted to share it with you because you know I'd do anything to make you feel better and this is something that's important to me. You don't have to read it if you don't want, but I know it can help you." Sany started reading and once she told them she liked it, they invited us to teach her more. I don't know if you all remember, but like a month back I said that we had a first lesson with someone and I'd never seen someone change so much in just one lesson? Well that was Sany! Everytime we taught her, she was so committed to really studying and learning. She applied what she was learning to what she already knew and what she found the guide to the scriptures even though we hadn't showed her yet and looked it up there. She did the 21 day challenge of the Libro de Mormón diligently and really followed the commitments we extended. I don't think we ever had to extend a commitment twice and some she was already doing before we could extend (like starting on Ven Seguime as soon as she finished the 21 day desafío).

A miracle that happened with Sany was that she lives here and has two daughters living in the Dominican Republic. Well one day Sany told us "I just found out that the church my daughter goes to is the same one! I didn't remember the name but she told me she told me three years back when her boyfriend introduced her to the church and got baptized. She's going on a mission in a few months and is getting ready to go to the temple." Well we were speechless. I'm not making it sound as surprising as it was, but seriously the member we had in the cita and both if us were like" what??!". It's so crazy how they found the church independent of another and gained their own testimonies and now are working to go to the temple together. I wish the missionaries that baptized her daughter would know this extension of the story!

What I was most impressed with was that most people who work as internas (live-in caretakers for a senior) don't come to church because they work. Well Sany took her work to church. (I'm sure not everyone could but this was her solution). She would get up super early to get both the Señora and herself ready and would carry the wheelchair down the flights of stairs and push her all the way up the giant hill. We'd help her and the Señora loved going out for a stroll, yelling "venga, vamos, rápido! Rápido!" No quiero llegar tarde!" until I was practically running. Going down the hill is almost harder because you have to pull it from not speeding down into traffic. Good times jaja. The day of the baptism, she got permission to get off a few hours earlier to go to church and drop off the Señora. She was so excited! But then this Sunday she got super sick. :/ Good thing we had the baptism last week.

I'm Officially a Cultured Citizen

So I'll start this part of with a sad story. Three days after the baptism, we got a text saying the man who had baptized Sany had passed away. We hardly believed it, but we asked the Elders and the pres de Sociedad de Socorro and the Elders confirmed the text was talking about him.

We actually were on our way to a cita with Sany so we gave her the sad news and she was so sad because she was so grateful to him for being a part of her step on the convenant path. We had a good discussion about life and death and the plan of salvation and I was feeling pretty reflective and pensive.

Then, we leave the cita and see that the pres texted us. And guess what--it's turns out that he's not actually dead! He's not dead its his brother in law! Still sad for his family, but man alive we were so embarrassed. What a big fat fail. Probably the biggest one I'll ever have on the mission. I reread the original text and totally not our fault--it was written in a way that didn't clarify who they were talking about. But literally it was so crazy because lemme tell you it's a weird feeling to find out someone passed but it's a weirder feeling to find out that PSYCH they haven't. Like a TV show in real life except the jokes on you because you have to text the mission office and say "nevermind- we don't actually have to know what happens when we need a signature on the baptismal record of someone who's dead." I'm sure they think we're crazy jaja. And then when we texted Sany all she said was "ahhhh- vale." Luckily she hadn't brought it up since. I'm also glad we found out before Sunday when he would've walked into church alive and all three of us faint of shock.

So I chose the header because I felt like it has been a very *cultural* week! Yesterday, we went over for almuerzo with a Tibetan Man and his Moroccan wife and had cous-cous. Literally one of the best things that's ever entered my mouth! Basically you boil a bunch of tasty vegetables and pumpkin and halal beef and spices like cinnamon in a pot for an hour, and then pour it over a giant thing of cous-cous (tiny ball-shaped grain) and pour the broth, gravy all over. We were so close to finishing but we had a slice of pumpkin and some cabbage left. They gave us plates to help us eat the meat, but they wouldn't let us portion it out. We all used our spoons and ate from the same giant platter. They also wouldn't let us drink cold water until after the hot food because I guess mixing cold and hot is bad for your stomach. I suppose that's why they traditionally drink tea at meals, but since we politely refused the tea 50 times no lie (the wife didn't understand until I said it wasn't halal for us jaja and even after the husband would sip his tea and say "oh how delicious! Oh how healthy! Made with 5 herbs!" and made us smell it because we wouldn't sip it lol), we had mint infusion, which is just a fresh mint sprig with hot water poured on top and a little spoon of sugar. It was so good we bought fresh mint today to make it again! Maybe it won't be the same because we don't have the fancy Arab teapot they used to heat the water jk. Definitely an eating cita I'll never forget.

Then for Pday today I felt extra cultural because we went to the interactive music museum and saw instruments from all over the world! We stayed in the room with the piano, guitars and cello the longest and all played songs together. (OK in reality I tinkered a tune while Hermana Zito played the cello. It's her major at BYU and it was worth my museum entry fee to hear her play lol We would all request songs and if she had the tune in her head she could just play it). I also loved the rooms where you jam out to crazy world instruments like the zither, the nose flute, double-guitars and even an ancient harp thing made from a human skull. (you pressed buttons to hear sounds of the instruments you weren't allowed to play). There was also a gladd floor with a medieval wall they uncovered and put a museum time capsule for 2033. I'll be back when they open that!

After we went to an Italian restaurant because H Mecca said it looked close to authentic. She ordered in Italian and chatted with the waiter and told us what to order. I felt a little less fake with her lol. We got gnocchi and margherita pizza and the other Hermanas got pasta carbonara which I tried and was probably the best. She gave it a 9/10 for authenticity so I figured that's as close as I'll get until I go visit her in Italy.

Then as we were walking back some guy stopped me (somehow he didn't notice the other Hermanas-just me) and in English (was Spanish but was determined to use only English) said "are you from the Mormon church? I love that church! I studied with the boys in Granada. I want to learn again." Hope he's cool and not creepy so I'll keep you updated if he ends up being cool!

Also something special about today is a finally debuted my pants! Hermana Mecca did too. Some pics mine don't look too flattering but they're not that bad in real life I promise. I didn't realize how cold my legs were all the time until I wore my pants!

Sometimes it's frustrating when you think of everything you should be doing as a missionary that you're not or you try to do but noon shows up (cough cough people who told us they would come to the capacitación H Mecca and I planned and didn't) but the mission is about learning to deal with daily disappointment and trying to find the little adventures. Like when we found a gorgeous historic Barrio in the foothills and the wind was blowing too much for wearing a skirt and it was too confusing to find a single address we wanted to pass by, but it was so gorgeous and so Spanish we weren't even mad jaja. And tip: if you ever accidentally offend a member, they will be appeased with brownies. I'm telling you brownies are the secret here! Convinced!!!

Os quiero,

Hermana Ritman

Contact Information

email: [email protected]

Sister Nicole Ritman

Madrid Spain Mission

Avenida de Tenerife, 11

28703 San Sebastian de los Reyes

Madrid, Espana

Malaga Week 8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ULpL71c36qcwtFw28

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torentialtribute · 5 years

Text

Who could blame Tottenham if they tire of Mauricio Pochettino’s games?

Again? Serious? Again? Daniel Levy must investigate the morning newspapers as Bill Murray aroused by his 6:00 AM alarm on Groundhog Day.

& # 39; OK campers, stand up and shine … & # 39; Besides, instead of Sonny and Cher and the crazy chatter of the radio DJ & # 39; s, Levy is confronted with the newest bulletin from the press conference of Mauricio Pochettino, the newest round of brinkmanship, the most recent disclosure that is counterproductive to everything what the club wants to achieve.

How he could have stopped, or he would have stopped, or he would not buy the players, or he would be the coach but not the manager. Pochettino walked away last week when Tottenham had won the Champions League this week he wanted a relegation in the title because he had no control over the transfer. It is all, the disciples of Pochettino say, part of a cunning plan to complete the transfer activities of Tottenham.

Mauricio Pochettino creates uncertainty to motivate Tottenham to keep him happy

This is his way of applying pressure. He creates uncertainty to motivate Tottenham to keep him happy. It is certainly tiring for Levy.

Pochettino is a brilliant manager, everyone agrees. But Tottenham is also a brilliant club. They have built the best club stadium in the country, they have an academy system that feeds a steady stream of young prospects, and they have consistently broken their transfer record during Pochettino's tenure. Moussa Sissoko, £ 31.5 million; Davinson Sanchez £ 36m; Tanguy Ndombele £ 54m. It could tumble again if the club could close the deal with Real Betis for Giovani Lo Celso.

This is advanced as a motivation from Pochettino. But when has negotiations ever helped to give the impression that the manager is on the edge half the time? Certainly when he is a very viable target for Real Madrid, or Paris Saint-Germain, or Manchester United – or a number of clubs that could have a vacancy in the near future?

Pochettino probably plays a smart game. But how smart is it really? If a game is even needed, Pochettino must assume that Levy is ready to put all that development, all that progress, at risk because of a cheap deal.

The president clearly likes his own form of craftsmanship because the minutes tick away towards the deadline, but he should be crazy to sell his club now. Is the relationship between chairman and manager really so suspicious that Pochettino must play this charade? Does he really believe that the club is trying to deliver its players?

Tottenham has reacted coolly to the latest drama and says that Pochettino is part of the four-man recruitment team and that he is his coach title. Maybe they just think he needs a hug. The fear is of course that he really likes the sound of that train in the distance; and all this so-called politicization only lays the foundation for the day and he decides to capture it.

The games of the Tottenham manager are certainly tiring for chairman Daniel Levy

SULKING BALE DESERVES NO SYMPATHY

Being photographed on the golf course while apparently & # 39; too sick & # 39; is to travel with Real Madrid for a preseason match, Gareth Bale & # 39; s claim of poor treatment hardly helps.

Whether or not Zinedine Zidane has an irrational resentment towards him, this image only feeds the negative portraits of a player who is most interested in lowering his handicap.

That his agent, Jonathan Barnett, said that Bale was waving to empty & # 39; his head & # 39; after the collapse of a move to China, the issue only gets bigger. Whether Bale has been treated hard by Zidane or not, the only thing that Madrid does not owe him is money. It's not their job to take a huge loss, so Bale can earn £ 5 million a month in China in the region.

He has been beautifully rewarded in Spain and it is not unreasonable for Madrid to earn back part of his investment with his resale. They don't stand in his way. They just hold out for their share.

Certainly, Baal sulking on the putting green will evoke sympathy. He no longer mourns his place in the Madrid team. He is just a very rich soccer player, denied the chance to become even richer. That is not under story and it is not even personal. It's just business.

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale sulking on the putting green will arouse sympathy

THE ARMY IN ANOTHER FINE MESSI

The League tribunes will not be broadcast on English screens this season. This news is a hardy annually, and usually resolved at a late hour.

It is worth remembering what happened last year when the rights went to Eleven Sports streaming service, the number of which was desperately low during the season. Eleven then ran into difficulties and ultimately retained La Liga only on a non-exclusive basis.

This is important because Andrea Radrizzani, the Leeds president, owns Eleven Sports and was particularly outspoken about the Football League deal that was signed for Sky Championship, claiming that the clubs could have done much better to do.

If he cannot sell Lionel Messi and Barcelona, he asks why he thinks he would be more lucky with Blackburn Rovers or Luton Town.

As it looks now, La Liga will not be broadcast on English screens this coming campaign

WHY ARE YOU SELLING ONLY?

Every glimpse of Moise Kean suggests he is a player. He debuted for Juventus on 16, scored in Serie A on 17, for Italy on 19, and will only be February 20.

He is strong, capable, scores charities – he is not the finished article, but at that age, who is that? The only alarm is why Juventus would sell a player with such potential to Everton for £ 29 million – because, at first glance, they are crazy.

SO WHERE HAVE ALL FORTNITE WOMEN GOED?

Here's something interesting about the Fortnite World Cup, not the money. The make-up. There were 100 finalists on Flushing Meadows last week, who qualified in fully open series, on every continent, with no age or gender restrictions, and 40 million entered.

They were phased out over a period of 10 weeks and at the end that incredible number – larger than the entire population of Canada – was reduced to the hundred best. And how many women?

None. And you hear all possible reasons for this. Scientific differences, emotional differences, gender differences. The 2015 test conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder, which suggested that men had faster response times than women when responding to light and sound.

The fact that Fortnite is in fact a shooting computer game that is always more attractive to young men than women, meaning that they spend more time, often obsessively, and get better at it. But here's the worrying one. That gaming environments are dominated by men, making them hostile to women, who are confronted with misogyny as often as women in life, and ultimately lose interest or become a cow.

Make your choice. But still – not one person. And Epic, the manufacturers of Fortnite, estimate the ratio between male and female players at 65:35 and not 100: 0. So there must be a reason. We know why men and women have to compete separately in most physical sports. But esports? It would be really depressing if they had to go the same way.

There were no women involved in the 100 finalists in the recent Fortnite World Cup

CHINA CONFUSION ON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Without a doubt, the FINA governing body did not seem embarrassed that China, and its well-known drug cheater Sun Yang, would end up at the top of the medal table at their world championships.

So many athletes have denounced Sun that FINA issued a free rule halfway through the tournament. Sun also accused his rivals of not respecting & # 39; from China.

They were not respectful cheats at the moment, but because China has a lot of them – especially in swimming – the two are easily confused.

] HIGH PLACES FOR MAN UNITED

Manchester United supporters claim that it will be 158 years before the club can pay off the debt due to the Glazer was taken over in 2005. only £ 44 million of the £ 660 million contracted has been repaid.

The irony here is that before the elite clubs hijacked its meaning, the blame – not the owner's investment – was the target of UEFA's financial fair play. How fortunate that United had so many friends in high places who the football rulers could explain who the real offenders were.

THE LAST IDEA OF THE TEST CROWN LEAVED CONSEQUENCES FANS FALLED

Cricket was always the sport that Americans could not understand. Five days and it's a draw. Look how they get their heads around there, ha ha.

Have you seen the World Test Championship format? Explain this to every nationality: English, Australian, Indian, West Indian. It reads as if it was sketched on the back of a package. And some very good ideas started that way. However, the inventor usually returns to his notes and gives further shape to his thoughts.

This is where the World Test Championship differs.

There are no set schedules, no round robin as such. There are 12 teams, but they don't all play against each other. They play whoever they want, almost the same as always. There is also no fixed number of matches. There is a competition and everyone competes for the same points – but not every match has the same point value.

So the five Ashes Tests of England with Australia have the same total points as the two Tests she plays next year on tour in Sri Lanka: 120 per series

In other words, win this soak with Edgbaston and it's worth 24 points; win in March in Colombo and it's worth 60.

And some series are not included at all. In the time that England plays 22 tests, Sri Lanka plays 13. So not all England matches count for the WTC rankings.

Have you seen the World Test Championship format? Explain that to every nation

Of course, not every competition makes perfect sense. The EFL Cup, for example, is decided with one game per round bar in the semi-final when, inexplicably, there are two.

The FA Cup is on full repetitions in its early rounds and then the lottery of a penalty shootout as it comes to the end. There are countless sports in which winning the competition only entitles the champions to a play-off with an inferior. And raising the cup to the UEFA & # 39; s inaugural Nations League did not even give Portugal a place in the final of the European Championship.

All of these competitions have significant logical shortcomings, but none of them are quite astonishing as the World Championship Test, the most comical notion that this is supposed to breathe new life into Test cricket, with a ranking and a final at Lord & # 39; s in 2021.

The idea is that cricket enthusiasts will know where their team is at the table and will show interest in the long-form game, worldwide, as a result. In other words, if England is at the top, New Zealand versus Pakistan can become hugely important in the struggle for supremacy. But is New Zealand versus Pakistan even a WTC-accredited match? And how many points per test? Forget about Nasser or Bumble, at this rate we need Professor Brian Cox to explain the importance of events in Dunedin.

The organizers have thought more about the game.

WHO WAS NOVELTY ACT BUT ADVISORS Abandoned her

The British Women & # 39; s Open started Thursday in Woburn without one of the most famous names in the sport . Michelle Wie takes the rest of the year off in an attempt to recover from a series of hand injuries. She is 29 and her free time is described as & # 39; indefinite & # 39 ;. Her last two rounds were 84 and 82 in Minneapolis, and she looked desperate and considered an uncertain future.

We will never know if Who would have physically better endured the challenge of a professional career if she had not been parachuted by parachutists in men's tournaments by the William Morris Agency and several sponsors from the age of 14. That was Wie & # 39; s brilliance – the teenage girl who could compete with men. And she did that sometimes, when competing is a reduction of 13 or just complete.

Michelle Wie & # 39; s consultants made one of the greatest golfing talents over the years

On other occasions, such as the 2006 European Masters, she finished last, 15 above par. Omega, the tournament sponsors, didn't matter, because competition was not the point. She could have played and participated in a ladies tournament because she was a stunningly gifted player, but against men she was a novelty to draw the crowd.

Winners win. It becomes a habit. Who should have been a big winner, a regular winner, but spent too much time interrupting her momentum in competitions where only survival on Saturday would be a triumph. No wonder her game deteriorated. She had distance in the women's events, but even choosing her men's tournaments, that benefit was canceled out; and who knows the physical toll of striving for those extra meters? If this is the end, she will retire after winning a single major in 2015, the US Open.

It is her advisors, not Who, who really did the impossible: they have made one of the greatest talents of golf unusual.

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#Who could blame Tottenham if they tire of Mauricio Pochettino’s games?"

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