text:
When you were nine, your mother shot you in the chest.

At school, they called you Voodoo Boy, but as your dad, I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. I see it now. Clear as sheets of gelatine. And the way you sculpted me... well, it makes the analogy all the more appropriate I suppose.
When you fell and tore your knees, you didn’t cry like other kids. You were transfixed by the leaky, tasty goo that came out; running down your shins, and coating your fingertips. Dabbling and savouring and swallowing the copper liquid, with a grin on your face and a flutter in your concrete heart.

Your teachers would write notes in your workbook. Not pleasant ‘Well done Nicholas’es as I would’ve wanted, but ‘See me’s and red detention slips. All the time. Stabbing with pencils, painting curses on walls. You held a girl down, and stapled her tongue to her lip, Nick.

We took you out of school after that.
And your mother, she looked at you in shame, disgust. Loathing. She couldn’t understand – and this is a direct quote – why you were so fucking evil. I couldn’t bring myself to hate you. I made you, and I wanted to make your life liveable. That was my duty.

The strangest things would fascinate you; ordinarily exciting things were dashed with mundane and just discarded, like they weren’t worth the effort. You liked eyes. You drew them. You touched them and pushed them inwards to see how long it took for your vision to fog over. Once, your mother stopped you from popping it back into your skull. We need to be clear on this; it wasn’t because she didn’t want it to happen. She almost certainly did. She simply couldn’t stomach it. And when yours weren’t interesting anymore, the growing brown tedium of your irises, you looked to experiment elsewhere.
Not on me, mine were brown too. What you told me after pressing your own was that you wanted to see inside. You asked me what was there, and I said I didn’t know. Blood or something probably.

It was around eight o’clock, sometime in November. Your mother had fallen asleep on the sofa, and you were drawing, cutting and sticking. You heard her snore; ‘Mean Old Mum’, and you felt like an experiment. Mother’s pearly blues.
You tried to see inside her eyes. I think you believed me about the contents, but you were very much about finding things out for yourself, for certain.
Her eyes were loosely closed. The one on the left, the top eyelid. You snipped it right up the middle to get a closer look at the cornea, the iris, the pupil. White fluid, red fluid, and screaming, cursing, flailing mother. She said that we had to disown you, that you were a fucked up child. I couldn’t leave you, and she left me after that. I still loved her and trusted her, and she still popped by from time to time – to cry, to talk – but she never acknowledged you again.
One day, she came by, drunk. Very drunk. All slurred words and vocal gesticulations. She had a service revolver, her Dad’s I think.

When you were nine, your mother shot you in the chest.
When you were nine, your mother shot herself in the head, upwards, through the roof of her mouth.

She collapsed backwards, into the table by the front door – the one we kept the keys on, and the post – an assortment of thumping noises, and gurgling noises trickling from the hole in her head.

I loved you Nick. And for all your faults, I still love you. But I’m done now. Everyone gives me the look. The one that says ‘like Father like son’. And I don’t want to be thought of like that. I’m a good man. I have a good heart. But they’ve gone to waste.

I guess I’m trying to say that I hope all this has changed you, and I’ll see you soon.

Love you Nick,
Dad.

title: Voodoo Boy

question: Summarize the evil deeds Nicholas commits.

answer: Nick stabbed people with pencils and painted curses on walls. He also stapled a girl's tongue to her lip. Nick snipped his mother's eyelid open.

question: Summarize the narrator's feelings towards Nick.

answer: The narrator struggles to bring himself to hate Nick. He is unable to abandon Nick, even when his wife wants to disown Nick. He loves his son.

question: What is the central source of tension in the story?

answer: Nick appears to be psychopathic, and his father struggles to love him despite his cruelty.

question: What does the story say about Nick's behavior as an adult?


split: train

text:
31 July 2017
The open day recently held at the Serekunda General Hospital in Serrekunda was exciting opportunity to engage and sensitise the Serekunda community about the two new projects NeoInnate and EPIC HIPC which are set to commence soon.

The event was attended by several dignitaries, including Mr Lamin Marong, Deputy Director of Nursing Services who represented the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Alagie Manneh, representing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Serekunda General Hospital, representatives from WHO, staff from MRCG, staff from the Serekunda General Hospital as well as Alkalos, religious leaders and people from the surrounding communities. With the theme “Partnering to reduce Newborn infections”, participants were entertained with a drama from the local Kanyeleng group and speeches from the honoured guests.

On the behalf of the CEO of Serekunda General Hospital, Alagie Manneh, thanked MRCG for coming up with this laudable project, noting that their doors are always open for partnership and emphasised their support in implementing this important project.

[Speakers during the event]

Speakers during the event

Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mr Lamin Marong, Deputy Director of Nursing Services, expressed heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to MRC Unit The Gambia in their endeavour to reach out to the community in Serrekunda. He explained that “Malnutrition is a major cause of immune deficiency leading to greater frequency and severity of common infections”. He added that “primary malnutrition is common among children of all socio-economic levels due to poverty, lack of education, food allergies, inappropriate or limited diet and eating disorders”

Mr Marong assured the MRCG that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare through the Regional Health Directorate would engage health workers in sensitising the MRCG health activities with Serrekunda to create more awareness.

Giving his remarks, Prof Umberto D’Alessandro, Unit Director, explained that, “little is currently known about iron homoeostasis during the first week of life and even less is known about the comparisons of nutritional immunity between full term, preterm and low birth weight neonates. The NeoInnate study will, therefore, look into how iron is regulated in the body of the newborn.” He further added that “in an effort to study neonatal nutritional immunity and its role in neonatal susceptibility to infection, MRCG will conduct an observational study in 450 Gambian full term, preterm and low birth weight vaginally delivered neonates born at Serekunda General Hospital.” He also highlighted that in the fight against the infectious disease it is crucial to understand better the way the newborns immune system functions. The EPIC-HIPC study will be using novel methods to study this and will provide useful information that may help us to better protect this vulnerable group using vaccines.

[Participants during the event]

Participants during the event

Giving his statement, Prof Andrew Prentice, Head of the Nutrition theme said, “This study is part of a wider portfolio of research trying to improve the health and wellbeing of young babies and the general population of the people of The Gambia”. He added, “how we feed our young women and mothers and how we feed our young men and fathers is crucial to the health of the babies that will emerge and will grow with long life”.

Speaking at the event, Dr Carla Cerami, Principal investigator of the NeoInnate study, gave an overview of the NeoInnate project which, she said, seeks to assess how iron is regulated in the body of the newborn. Dr Olubukola Idoko also gave an overview of the EPIC HIPC project. She explained that the projects seek to determine how the immune system of the newborn is regulated and what it means for vaccination.  She stated that the knowledge gained from the study could help inform the development of the next generation of vaccines better suited for use in very young children.

Related posts:

question: Summarize what the speakers said about malnutrition.

answer: Mr Lamin Marong, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, expressed thanks to MRC Unit The Gambia in their efforts to help Serrekunda. He discussed how malnutrition is a major cause of immune deficiency and discussed how common malnutrition is. He was especially discussing how malnutrition affected children.

question: What does Professor Umberto D'Alessandro talk about?

answer: He discusses how little is currently known about iron homeostasis during the first week in life. This has effects on nutritional immunity in infants of irregular birth weights and terms. He is planning on pioneering a study to look at how iron is regulated in the body of the newborn.

question: Summarize everything about the event.

answer: The event was held in the Serekunda General Hospital and was an opportunity to engage the Serekunda community about the projects which are about to commence. Several dignitaries attended, including Mr. Lamin Marong and Alagie Manneh. Staff from the WHO and MRCG also attended as well as staff from the hospital.


text:
JEAN-PATRICK CAPDEVIELLE (born December 19, 1945) is a French songwriter, composer, singer, musician and painter who influenced the French rock scene in the 1980s.

With a mixture of American and British influences, Capdevielle's work is characterised by his raucous voice. Many of his lyrics are based on anarchist and visionary concepts, with rhythms commonly seen in 1960s London and late 1970s New York club scenes.

Biography

Capdevielle was born on December 19, 1945 in Levallois-Perret (near Paris). He received his High School Diploma when he was 15 years old, then went on to study medicine and law.

Following his studies, he worked as a journalist and a photographer for various French magazines including _Salut les copains_; _Mademoiselle Age Tendre_; _SuperHebdo_; _Actuel_ (dedicated to counter-culture); and _Lui_ (or _Paris-Match)_. Following that, he became an artistic director and created a teen magazine, which he sold a short time later.

In the 1960s, he traveled to the United States and lived there for two years in a Volkswagen camper van. He also lived in London, where he met The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and he became a close friend of Eric Clapton.

In 1970, he moved to settle in the Balearic Islands in Ibiza, where he devoted himself to painting and composing music. In 1978, Capdevielle received a gift of an electric guitar from a friend and began to write his first songs. This led to the recording of his first record, “Solitude” which was described as “Reggae in French” and was produced by Ketchup Music (a label owned by French/American artist William Sheller). This first record was moderately successful. When the record label later ceased operations, his initial success allowed him to sign a contract with CBS.

In August 1979, Capdevielle's first album was released, _Les Enfants des Ténèbres et les Anges de la rue._ Unexpectedly, the B-Side track (_Quand t'es dans le Désert_) was more successful commercially than the single itself. Thirty-five years later, Capdevielle is still remembered for this song in France.

The second album, /_2_ was released in 1980 and was also highly successful. The tracks _C'est dur d'être un héros_ and _Oh Chiquita_ sold 150,000 and 200,000 copies respectively.

His first two albums were certified platinum albums, with more than 200,000 copies sold of each. They were classed among the “Top 100 Essential French Rock Albums” by the Rolling Stone Magazine, in 2010.

Between 1980 and 1982, Capdevielle completed three concert tours in Paris - two at The Olympia and one at The Palais de Sports.

In 1982, Capdevielle released his third album _L'Ennemi Public_, recorded at Bearsville Sound Studio (next to Woodstock) with the participation of renowned American musicians such as Wells Kelly (a musical accompanist of Meat Loaf). The lyrics of the first song, _Tu es pas fait pour ça_, directly denounce the influence of the media (“They judge you in the name of the laws they invent / For them you are always on the dirty slope / You have to leave your carousel / If nobody protects you / They weigh your rage by the weight of their schemes / It seems you must sell everything in a window / You have to know how to crawl on the ground / To become a real pop singer.”)

In 1983, a live album _Dernier rappel_ was released. Capdevielle surprised his fans as this new release was very different musically to his previous records. For example, with _Mauvaise fréquentations in 1984,_ Capdevielle provides a series of very personal, dark and minimalist songs. Some of these songs were received negatively by critics.

Capdevielle returned in 1988, with _Nouvel âge_, which remains one of his lesser-known albums. This album also featured personal reflection and dark inferences. The album _Vue sur cour_ was released in 1990, and also went relatively unnoticed. In 1992, Capdevielle explored blues-rock with the album _Vertigo,_ which was recorded in Nashville (this record is also largely unknown).

Besides his musical career, Capdevielle achieved other artistic pursuits of various forms; he hosted a TV Show, _Les Totems du Bataclan_ between 1985 and 1986; and in 1986, he acted in a telefilm _L'Enigme des Sables_ directed by Philippe Valois.

He also co-founded a production company with Paco Rabanne, Cadrages, which produced the feature film, directed by Mira Nair, _Salaam Bombay_ that won the _Caméra d’Or_ at the 41st Cannes Film Festival in 1988.

He also authored Linda William's musical success _Traces_ released in 1988 and, the same year, participated to the charitable French song “Liban” with other French artists.

In 1993, he moved to the United States, where he studied cinematic techniques at UCLA in California. When he returned in 1995, he directed several video clips, including “Si tu te bats (If you fight)” (Renaud Hantson) and another one for Richard Cocciante.

In 1995, he also released the album _Politiquement correct_ (a compilation signed on the Sony Music label, with four new titles).

In 1997, reconnecting with his old passion for classical music, he wrote, composed and directed _Carmine Meo_ for the soprano Emma Shapplin, an album of contemporary opera, sung in 14th century Italian. The CD and the subsequent tour were an international success and the CD sold more than two and the half million copies; obtaining 39 Gold records and 17 Platinum records.

In 2001, Capdevielle wrote and composed a neo-romantic opera, still in the 14th century Italian : _Atylantos… A legend of Atlantis_, with Chiara Zeffirelli, Elena Cojocaru, Jade Laura Angelis and Nikola Todorovitch. The final goal still remains to produce a show based on this album.

In 2005, he co-produced the album _Pop Tasty_, which was written and composed by Montparnasse band.

In 2007, he wrote lyrics for several songs on David Hallyday's album released that year. In the same year, his 13th album _Heretique #13_ was released.

In 2008, Capdevielle supported _Sweet Air_ in taking part in the Baltimore project in support of the hostages of the world.

In 2015, after 6 years of writing and composition, he decided to write 11 songs. The first drafts of these songs were released on social media and Capdevielle decided to launch a campaign on the crowdfunding platform KissKissBankBank. Within a few hours, the budget needed to achieve the album recording was reached and even exceeded. The album _Bienvenue au Paradis_ (Capdevielle 14th) was recorded in “Britannia Row studios” in London and in Paris, and the Premium Version Album was released in November 2015 on his official website.

Following the release of this album, the “Welcome to Paradise” Tour, a participation tour was organised by his fans in French speaking countries for a year.

He recorded a live album during this tour, which was released in 2017.

Discography

  Year   Title                                               Label
  ------ --------------------------------------------------- ---------------
  1978   _Solitude (45 Single)_                              Ketchup Music
  1979   _Les Enfants des ténèbres et les Anges de la rue_   CBS
  1980   _/2_                                                CBS
  1981   _Le Long de la jetée_                               CBS
  1982   _L'Ennemi public_                                   CBS
  1983   _Dernier Rappel (Live)_                             CBS
  1984   _Mauvaises Fréquentations_                          CBS
  1985   _Planète X_                                         CBS
  1986   “D'où viennent les danseuses” (45 Single)           CBS
  1987   _Nouvel Âge_                                        WEA
  1990   _Vue sur cour_                                      WEA
  1992   _Vertigo_                                           Virgin France
  1995   _Politiquement correct_ (compilation)               TriStar
  2007   _Hérétique #13_                                     O+
  2015   _Bienvenue au Paradis_

title: Jean-Patrick Capdevielle

question: When was Jean-Patrick Capdevielle born?

answer: December 19, 1945.

question: What nationality is Jean-Patrick Capdevielle?

answer: French.

question: What does Jean-Patrick Capdevielle do?

answer: He is a singer, songwriter, composer, musician and painter.

question: When was Jean-Patrick Capdevielle active in the French rock seen?

answer: The 1980s.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Jean-Patrick Capdevielle, a French rock artist who was active in the 1980s. It discusses the history of his career and his releases.


text:
Another short story that I just wrote. It is still a **rough draft** ,still also in Notepad please help me get things looking better please. I might want to put these together someday for her. If she ever wanted them. High hopes I know... This sucks guys and gals. I am just writing off my heart and mind so it wont be perfect. I think I might put a sub reddit up for them if people enjoy them enough. Or maybe just for myself.

Here you go:

"The Loneliness of an Open Room"

I sit still and listen sometimes to everything around me. Thoughts shut out, cold feelings all

around me. The room used to be warm, loving, welcoming. Not anymore, things just sit and feel cold.

The love has gone, the anger radiates. It knows the pain I feel and just lives off it. I wish

things could be different, but they can not be. It hurts.

Some mornings I used to make breakfast for two, hash browns, two eggs each, two pieces of toast

each and a nice glass of craneberry juice with half water. She did not like it strong. So I would

get everything ready for us to relax together on the couch producing warmth from the love we

shared. But now I sit in the dark. Just trying to get the room to speak, but it does not speak to

me knowing I am at fault and punishing me for the things I have done. I would just watch her

watching the tv. She would look at me and ask, what? But I never had a response because I would get

lost just looking into the eyes of the love I lost. I still do not know what I was thinking while I

looked into her eyes, our future? Where we might live someday? Maybe it was if our future child

together might look as beatuiful as her? I do not know now. Now I look and I see nothing but dark.

It hurts.

Evenings would come and she would come home from work and I would be like a dog, sitting and

waiting for her arrival. Sometimes we would make dinner together before I had to go to work sharing

the kitchen, me getting in the way because I wanted to try and help. Being told to go get a show

ready to watch. I knew she loved me. I knew I had everything. I would have something on that we

both would like to watch ready as she brought something she put together in for us to eat. I just

wanted her to sit and relax so I would offer to get drinks, napkins, seconds. But she would just

want me to sit with her as well. So I did. I was happy, we were happy. But why am I the way I am...

I still do not know and I need to find out so I can try and get things back. It hurts.

Now I get home from work and I just go to sleep so I do not have to think about breakfast without

her in the open room that use to be filled. Walking right be it not looking into the dark. By the

time I wake it has been eight or nine hours and I have to get something together for lunch. We

never really has lunch together so it does not really hurt to do it myself. Something small and

easy to make, a small sandwich maybe or just crackers and cheese, while I just sit in silence,

looking at the floor. Alone. That will be my meal till midnight at work, just thinking most of the

night on how I need to change. I do not want to eat lunch at work but I know if I do not I will get

tired faster. So I force down the food just thinking of her. Thinking if she is still on her phone

on Facebook just re-reading comments she has already seen. But most of all I think of her safe and

asleep. I wish I could be with her in slumber, but I can not be. It hurts.

The room is every room in the house. It is the loneliness of an open room that makes me not want to

be here anymore. Things need to change and be better so I can feel the warmth of her touch and the

beauty of her eyes.

Edit: co-worker said I need to fix a lot. So pardon my poor grammar.

title: The loneliness of an Open Room (Rough Draft)

question: What emotions does the author want the audience to feel while reading this story?

answer: The emotions the author wants the audience to feel while reading this story are sadness, loneliness, and maybe some pain. These emotions are all associated with the sad tale that is being told.

question: What happened to the narrator in this story?

answer: It can be assumed that the narrator has gone through either a really terrible breakup, or lose the person that they loved.


text:
They stared me down with unbridled indignation. I had clearly gone too far.

Deep in the Utah desert lies 600 acres of American self-indulgence. A monument built to service the rich and famous delinquents after they have finished playing pretend at the Hilton and Four Seasons. It’s an exercise in excessiveness; a place that exists purely to carry on existing. It’s beyond the plane of common folk. It’s a myth, legend, a fabled mecca where stringency comes to die and cheques and bank notes are fed to the rapacious 125 degree heat.

The Amangiri Resort; a granite bed swathed in silk.

They promised privacy, and that is what I got. They promised luxury, and it came in spades. Indulgence at its best and ugliest.

I snubbed the hotel’s insistence that I go horseback riding or practice my yoga, but I gladly took them up on their twice-weekly hot air balloon rides over the desert expanse. Much to their disdain, I might add, they were very expensive and required a lot of maintenance, and sometimes only ran for me. I loved it. There’s nothing quite like soaring over a sea of hot rocks and sand in a 63-foot high wall of rip-stop nylon, clutching 21,000 cubic feet of boiling air, propelling yourself and 400 pounds of wicker and metal to dizzying heights. It’s something completely else on amyl nitrate after three sleepless nights, I tell you. I could see that the shaggy Indonesian regularly manning our controlled free-fall didn’t appreciate my…”enhancements” to his father’s already outrageous tourist attraction, nor my choice to ride without any clothes on many of our exclusive trips, but he never took action past his single furrowed brow. I was king.

Every trip finished overlooking Kodachrone Basin, but what always caught my eye was that labyrinthine mass of water snaking its way North well into Glen Canyon. The opalescent sheen where reservoir meets gravel under the cloudless sky. Lake Powell. Its closest point to the hotel was Wahweap Bay, a simple drive down Route 89 and north up Wahweap Boulevard, but that took you too close to the yuppies at the airport, on their own pilgrimage to this sumptuous tomb. The better way would be straight East, over the immediate canyons and across the scorched wasteland. That’s the way I’d do it. It wasn’t far, a day’s hike or so. I could do it.

I did do it, eventually, after the management refused to tidy up after one of my solo binges. Amidst the delightfully polite rage from the owner, and the sullied expression of the maid who was still not quite sure what she had seen in the bathroom, I decided it was time to leave for a while until things settled down. I ransacked the room for all it was worth – which on account of the lack of room service turned out not to be very much. I liberated the fridge of its three remaining bottles of mineral water and took the half empty decanter of Famous Grouse whiskey from the corner. I ripped and tore at the bed-sheet for a makeshift poncho, stealing a strip to secure the open decanter, and pilfered an oddly perfect fitting sombrero from one of the ghastly decorations. I took stock of my supplies; a bag full of mushrooms, my last few amyls, and several tabs of acid, I left $20,000 on the bed hoping it would tide things over with Adrian, and then I left. The stable for the horses was nearby and unmanned, but when I got there I found it desolate apart from a single work-mule gorging itself on food. It would have to do.

I set off East, hopefully getting my feet wet before the sun decided to shrink.

It didn’t take long for this crusty state to punish my invasion. I could taste its aridity. It sucked the moisture from my tongue as I inhaled clammy breaths, and made my forehead sticky with evaporated perspiration while the hair underneath my sombrero swam and tangled in sweat. Thanks to my God-given skinny frame I didn’t have to face the brutal affliction of chafing, but my years of addiction still turned what was left into an incapable carcass that gave up under the slightest ounce of pressure. My overweight mare was faring far worse, so we made several stops during the trip in which my scorched feet did nothing compared to the delirious high of dehydration. I thought about my hotel room and its freshly restocked fridge packed to the brim with water and ice, or the untouched swimming pool decorating my rear terrace; gallons of life-saving nourishment lying perfectly still. I imagine my stout companion was having similar allusions; dreaming of his gluttonous feast of barley straw and dried sugar beet pulp. I glugged my last remaining water, and decided the whiskey was a bad idea.

It was around 4pm when we had our final break. I tethered my ride to a lifeless branch protruding from one of the canyon’s great veins and explored on foot. It was then that I saw Zecha’s neon balloon soar overhead. It was the first trip I had missed in weeks. I couldn’t believe he’d even have the courage to leave without me. I threw my empty bottle as hard as I could, hoping to swat it out of the sky, but it just carried on floating on the wind’s blue current. I’d show him. I returned to my portly steed and set off.

I made it to the lake 45 minutes before sunset, so I had plenty of time to prepare. I tied my mule to one of the decrepit trees standing defiantly in the cracked ground. I laid down a blanket and lifted the lid to my Moroccan apothecary box with great care, using my index and middle fingers on each hand to ensure maximum stability. I already divvied up my wares back in the hotel room, so plucking a sample from each selection was easy and efficient work.

It didn’t take long to overwhelm me.

I fought away the whips and vines that came cascading down, and by some stroke of luck I managed to bat away the moon as it tried to pluck the head off my shoulders – as if it were some bald eagle lugging a shrew to an unreciprocated invitation to dinner. I saw the scorching pinks and rumbling crimsons stacked up on the horizon at various indiscernible distances from my Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirt and my Chipko flip flops – just out of my reach and a million miles away. This was my undeniable apex of homogeneity. A veritable moment of unparalleled, somehow instantaneous, saudade. An instance tantamount to that singular discovery of indistinguishable and unobtainable clarity hitherto forbidden to the plebs too distanced from oneself to fully realise such an experience. This is to you Indonesian man! You are not your father, so be free and self-effacing – because you don’t deserve it.

I had reached a sweltering, uncomfortable nirvana. I could feel the energy flowing through me – billowing in my face – just about knocking my luxuriously stitched hat to the floor with the rest of the dirt.

But then I realised. I was in a hot air balloon. Such a place no matter how beautiful should be wholly avoided, especially at times like this. I HAD TO GET OUT. I clawed my way to the exit – to the darkness at the end of this mad kaleidoscope that would guarantee my safety. I longed for the feel of rough earth between my fingers, but I could only grasp at liquid heat. I became blind from my fervour. “Great!” I exclaimed in my bloated coffin, “Now this pathetic French contraption has taken my eyesight. Sancho! Help me!” But the daft animal never came. I wrestled and fought for freedom, punching and hitting the colours’ unrelenting assault, writhing and collapsing into sweltering receipt. Damn my donkey for never coming to my rescue.

“Mr Black. Wake up. We have been looking for you.”

“Sancho?” The sun shone brightly as I wrenched my face off the ground, prying my dry, bloodshot eyes open to face my equine caller.

“Where have you been?” It was Adrian.

I couldn’t tell him, he’d never believe me. My skull was pounding. “I don’t know.”

Silhouettes shuffled and kicked sand into the atmosphere.

“My donkey has been murdered.”

I looked over to his prize of a mule, pristine pelt matted at the ankles, hooves coated in dust. Carcass hollowed by the efforts of ravenous coyotes. Dead.

"Why did you do it?" He asked.

I licked my cracked lips with a sandpaper tongue.

"The ass was fat."

title: Synaesthesia

question: What is the story about?

answer: An incredibly rich person at a resort.

question: What is the punchline of the story?

answer: The narrator eats a donkey, and then says "the ass was fat."

question: What is the major source of tension in the story?

answer: The narrator's poor manners.

question: What vehicle does the narrator take into the sky?

answer: A hot air balloon.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This story is about a man who is very rich and behaves poorly at a resort. He takes endless hot air balloon rides and does a lot of drugs. Then he eats a donkey.


text:
The CONSTANCE PERKINS HOUSE is a house designed by Richard Neutra and built in Pasadena, California, United States, from 1952 to 1955.[1]

Design and construction

In 1947, Constance Perkins started working as a professor of Art History at Occidental College and here she met Richard Neutra, eventually asking him to design her home.

When Neutra was designing the house for her “he had to reexamine the single-family home and rework conventional patterns of the type.”[2] The house itself sits on a little hill in Pasadena, California. “The tiny house was constructed of inexpensive materials- wood, plaster, and glass; a spiderleg beam extended the space by projecting out into a small reflecting pool that meanders through one of the glass walls of the house...He also measured the physical dimensions of his clients. Constance Perkins was a small woman, so he scaled the house to her.”[3]

Neutra and Perkins worked closely together on the development of the building. In August 1953, Perkins sent Neutra a list of “Likes and Dislikes” with her autobiography so that Neutra could get a feel for what exactly she wanted for her new home.[4]

In October 1953 Neutra had completed the preliminary drawings for her house and after approval and construction, Perkins was finally allowed to move into her new home in December 1955.[5] The Perkins house is one of Neutra's smaller designs. It was formatted specially for Perkins and her budget. The house consists of “a free-from pool extending into the living room.”[6] Apparently Neutra and Perkins had some disagreement over what the pool should look like. She didn't want it to be of a surrealist nature but wanted, “something relaxing and more intimate.”[7] The final cost of the house came to about $17,166, which was over her original budget, nonetheless she was happy with the results.[8]

Both Perkins and Neutra were influenced by John Entenza's _Arts and Architecture_ Magazine. The magazine feature a lot of Neutra's work and other famous architects. “The avowed purpose [of the magazine] was to present good, contemporary design to the magazine’s largely lay audience and nudge its professional and architectural student subscribers into a truer path. The results were remarkable and A&A’s readers, who held architecture and art close to their hearts, would curl up with a cup of coffee for an hour or so to read the latest issue of the magazine.”[9] Perkins saw a great deal of Neutra's designs from this magazine and no doubt inspired her even further to have him design her own home.

Perkins' home is influential in modern architecture because of its design and the type of family that would occupy such a space. Perkins herself was a single working woman who had chosen a career over a family. She has requested no main bedroom, but would prefer sleeping in her workspace. She wanted a space “as a domestic environment in which individual creativity and work, rather than family and leisure activities were the central concept.”[10]

Constance Perkins

Constance Perkins was born in Denver in 1913. Her father was a doctor and her mother was an invalid. She studied art and got her BA at the University of Denver. In 1937 she attained her master's degree in Art History at Mills College in Oakland.[11]

Perkins died in March 1991 and left the house to the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in which she volunteered the last years of her life. The house is now privately owned.[12]

Quotes

Constance Perkins's critique on Richard Neutra's book _Survival Through Design_:

-   “The greatest enjoyment derived from re-readings of _Survival Through Design_ may be gained from the unique and penetrating manner in which the author has related the numerous philosophies of eighteenth-century rationalism through twentieth-century concepts of a space-time experience, to problems of contemporary design.”Constance M. Perkins

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Dec., 1954), pp. 273-274 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics

[1]

[2]

[3] Design and Feminism: Re-visioning Spaces, Places, and Everyday Things. Joan Rothschild, Alethea Cheng

[4]

[5]

[6] Drexler, Arthur and Hines, Thomas A., _The Architecture of Richard Neutra_ The Museum of Mondern Art, 1982

[7]

[8]

[9] Arts & Architecture Mag: Issue Date

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: Constance Perkins House

question: Describe some interesting facts about the development of the Perkins house.

answer: When the Perkins house was being developed, Perkins had sent Neutra a list of Likes and Dislikes with her autobiography in hopes for Neutra to know exactly  what she would want in her home. The Perkins house is Neutra's smaller design as it was formatted for Perkins's budget. Neutra and Perkins disagreed over how the pool should look, but in the end Perkins was very happy with the results of her designed house.

question: What is important to note about Perkins' home?

answer: It is important to note that Perkins' home is influential in modern architecture because of its design. The design represents the type of family that would occupy such a space. Perkins was a single working woman who chose her career over her family and the house had no main bedroom, and she slept in her workspace. She had wanted a domestic environment in which individual creativity and work were the central concept.

question: Who would be the most inspired by the design of Constance Perkins' house?


text:
The  71.6m / 234'11 Custom motor yacht 'Utopia' was built in 2004 by Feadship and last refitted in 2018. Previously named Utopia DV her luxurious interior is designed by RWD and her exterior styling is by De Voogt.

Accommodation

UTOPIA'S interior layout sleeps up to 12 guests in 6 rooms, including a master suite, 2 double cabins, 3 twin cabins and 3 pullman beds. She is also capable of carrying up to 17 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience. Timeless styling, beautiful furnishings and sumptuous seating feature throughout to create an elegant and comfortable atmosphere.

UTOPIA'S impressive leisure and entertainment facilities make her the ideal charter yacht for socialising and entertaining with family and friends.

Performance

Built with Steel hull and Aluminium superstructure. She features an ultra-modern stabilization system to reduce roll motion effect and ensure the ultimate comfort throughout your charter vacation. With a cruising speed of 14 knots, a maximum speed of 15 knots and a range of 5,000nm from her 156,700 litre fuel tanks, she is the perfect combination of performance and luxury.

Exterior Design

Six decks include a duplex sun deck, an entire owner’s deck and a vast main deck that provides both indoor and outdoor entertaining space. A lower deck gives crew a superb living environment and an under lower deck enables them to operate the yacht without needing access to guest areas.

Interior Design

The contemporarily styled interior sets modern furniture against a background of light oak panelling with mahogany inlays. Two large guest suites are located on the lower deck and a further four on the main deck forward, while the whole deck above is a 200 sq m owner’s suite.

Amenities

Air Conditioning, WiFi connection on board, Deck Jacuzzi, Gym/exercise equipment, Elevator / Lift, Stabilizers at Anchor

Marketing Description

UTOPIA has a special place in the Feadship league of launches. The owner’s brief to the De Vries shipyard was very simple: build a yacht that would justify her name. Subject to no particular constraints the 71.6 metre (235’) yacht was planned with three priorities in mind: huge internal volume, unprecedented glazed areas and highly automated systems.

Special Features

The yacht, manned by 16 to 18 crew, has an impressive audio-visual entertainment system, a state-of-the-art integrated bridge and a helicopter pad with refuelling facilities.

Charter UTOPIA

UTOPIA is currently available for charter, to find out more about this superyacht please contact your preferred charter broker.

Luxury Charter yacht UTOPIA is a motor yacht, read our online guide for more information on motor yacht charter.

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

TESTIMONIALS

There are currently no testimonials for Utopia, please provide.

+  Read More

question: What makes the UTOPIA a luxury charter?

answer: Some of the things the document claims it has beautiful furnishing, timeless styling, oak paneling with mahogany inlays, very spacious suites, a helicopter pad, a gym, and a deck jacuzzi. All of these amenities, paired with the fact that it's referenced as a "superyacht", back up that it is a luxury charter.

question: Why isn't the UTOPIA for sale?

answer: The UTOPIA is available for charter, which probably means the owners make a lot of money by not selling it and offering it up for charter for a certain price.

question: The UTOPIA can sleep up to 12 guests, but how many people can it carry altogether?

answer: Being that the yacht is manned by 16-18 crew members, at the very least it can carry 30 people. The boat is 71.6 metre, so it certainly could carry much more than 30 people.

question: Why was the charter named UTOPIA?

answer: It was probably named this because it is an ideal place.


text:
The ceiling is wide and white. Music and conditioned air issue from the holes made for their escape. Below, all them people eat. Fatty, not-so-fat, their kids, they all have dirty fingers. A guy can't wipe the smell of meat from his nose.
No napkins, goddamn it the napkin dispenser's empty. Impossible!
Dead molecules don't just go away. Leonard's shirt, and skin stink of grease. There's a good layer of the stuff beneath the bill of his cap. Tall, lanky Leonard needs special gloves that won't irritate his skin condition. He scoops sopping meat from the grill and slides it into paper lined containers that fit in a warmer. Other people in similar caps pile cheese on the beef.
"Extra buffalo sauce," the drive thru customer says.
"It should be in the bag." says a menstrual teenager.
A guy in a damaged red truck drives off leaving a trail of noxious fumes in his wake.
Leonard takes the bend out of his back and stands straight. He peers out from behind the grill. And he sees, dear reader, Spiral, the unconquerable wind, smash through the glass doors of the Burger King. Leonard's dark eyes fix on the massive mystical warrior.
Spiral, Leonard's hitherto-imaginary friend, is screaming, is twirling with reasonless rage. He produces hurricane force with his vibrating limbs. Chairs  fly and the people that were sitting in them are blown out of the windows. Kids get caught up in a gust, and the ball pit explodes. the walls shudder, the ceiling breaks wide. Everything flies, almost everything.
Only Leonard stands bravely as his hat is taken by the wind. He can't bring himself to hide. He has to bare witness to the amazing Spiral. Wood splinters and tiles peel from the floor. Leonard's heart leaps. He feels fear and terror and he loves it.
Then Spiral slows, stops, breathes deep and allows himself to be seen clearly. The super being is gold and sapphire, helmeted, and dangerously muscled. His eyes and teeth are glacier blue and godly bright. He locks eyes with Leonard, and his mouth moves to speak.
"Leonard Malkin, come with me. You are needed elsewhere beyond the stars in what you call the Krab Nebula. The Fedorian people are locked in a civil war, and only you can help them. Surely, our prophets can not be wrong. You are the savior of our starflung world."
Leonard clocks out leaving the Burger King in one healthy piece. He rides his second hand bicycle to his midtown studio apartment. There he prepares a mostly vegetarian meal. Carrots, green beans, and hermit bread, there's no need to turn the burner on the stove.
No surprise, Liz forgot to pick up the almond milk. Mother fucker! No... No, on second thought that's okay. He was lucky a girl like Liz could love a queer like him anyway. She could forget the almond milk if she wanted.
He lays down and watches kung fu television until one o'clock in the morning.
Suddenly it's six AM. Leonard's alarm plays an awkward beach theme that rouses him immediately. The slumbering Liz rolls over caught in the throws of a burgeoning hangover. Leonard skips his morning shower, but manages to wash his hands with shampoo. Now its time to pull the dull razor across his face. there, that's passable. He could work like this. He could come home and take a nap if he needed. If worse came to worse, and he was really unhappy, Leonard knew he could always kill himself and get it all over with.

title: Maybe Thursday

question: Summarize the source of tension in the story.

answer: Leo, who is working at a fast food place, seems to suffer from some mental health issues. He has delusions while at his post in the kitchen, and sees an imaginary hero-friend. Most of his day is composed of these delusions, and thoughts surrounding and concerning them.

question: Summarize the arc of tension in the story.

answer: Leo's imagined hero, Spiral, is in the restaurant, whirling and enraged. He is destroying everything while Leo stands there bravely. Spiral informs him that Leo is needed elsewhere, and so Leo clocks out and heads home. It's unclear whether or not he was supposed to clock out.

question: Summarize Leonard's feelings at the beginning of his day.

answer: He seems to be in a good place, seeing his girlfriend, whom he loves, next to him. Leo tries to shave his face with a dull razor, and he's ready to meet the day. Leo is happy because he knows he could kill himself at any point if things ever got too bad.

question: Summarize some of Leonard's life goals.


text: There was once a strikingly beautiful young Lady who tragically and without warning had her Heart broken badly. She was so hurt emotionally by her former lover that desperation began to set in. She was distraught. She put on a beautiful red dress she had worn on their first romantic meeting, walked to the edge of a cliff on the Sea and plunged 111 feet into the icy Abyss below. The Daemons, Siren, and Leviathan beneath the water licked their fangs and waited to ravish her body and Soul, because they knew, as a suicide, the depths of Hell were pulling her down. Unfortunately for her, the Almighty would not protect her directly from what was happening as she sank helplessly into the depths, so instead a Diver was filled with Spirit and Inspiration. A Diver whose Soul was also lost somewhere between Heaven and Hell felt the anguish in her Heart, and as is his natural instinct he sank into the fire and water column leading to Hell. As he descended, the Viscious Sea creatures attacked him, but he tore them to shreds, and their ilk was disheartened. The pressure and heat of the Dive was very disorienting, but the Diver focused on her Spirit which was so passionately intense that it was illuminating his Path and drawing him in. Once the Diver reached her, he never let her go; she is his World now. They are bonded in Eternity. Now as you can imagine, he has brought her back to the Netherworld where their true journey begins. Together they will break free of any limitations, and their new Love will take them much higher, away from the darker depths of emotion that way heavy and Hellish.

title: The Diver and the Lady's Anguish

question: How was the young lady's heart broken?

answer: Her former lover, without warning, broke her heart.

question: How did she resolve her heartbreak?

answer: She decides to jump off a cliff into the ocean, to kill herself.

question: What other important characters are in the story?

answer: A diver; he pursues her and saves her life.

question: What is the setting of the story?

answer: The story takes place in an ocean.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: A young lady's heart is unexpectedly broken by her lover. She tries to kill herself by jumping off a cliff into the ocean. Because her death is by suicide, the depths of Hell pull her down. A diver who is filled with inspiration and Spirit, recognizes her Spirit as being passionately intense. He follows her Spirit and pulls her from the path to Hell. He brings her back to the Netherworld and they will journey together.


text:
WPHI-FM (103.9 FM, “KYW Newsradio 103.9 FM”) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by Urban One and is in the process of being sold to Entercom, who as of November 23, 2020, operates the station under a local marketing agreement and broadcasts an all-news radio format as a simulcast of KYW. Studios are located in Bala Cynwyd, and the broadcast tower used by the station is located in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia at ().[1] The station has always been short-spaced due to adjacent channel interference from WMGM in Atlantic City, WXCY in Havre de Grace, Maryland, and WNNJ in Newton, New Jersey (all located on 103.7 FM), WAEB-FM in Allentown and WNNK in Harrisburg (both located on 104.1 FM), as well as WRFF (104.5 FM). As such, the station broadcasts at only 270 watts, making it the weakest station broadcasting from the Roxborough tower farm.

History

WIBF-FM

103.9 originally started out on November 1, 1960 as WIBF-FM, which was owned by Fox Broadcasting, not related to the more recent Fox Broadcasting Company television network. The call letters stood for the station's owners — brothers William and Irwin Fox and their father Benjamin Fox, a local real estate developer.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the station featured a format of MOR, big bands, Dixieland jazz and the area's first FM country music show, plus religious and ethnic programs. By the mid-1970s, the station switched to religious and ethnic programming during the day and Spanish music at night. The Barry Reisman Show, featuring Jewish music and programming, was broadcast during the afternoon drive time from 1969 through the station's sale in 1992. In 1965, the station picked up a television sister in WIBF-TV, channel 29 (now WTXF-TV, a station coincidentally owned by the Fox Broadcasting Company).

WDRE

[103.9 WDRE logo] The station sold by the Fox family in October 1992 by Jarad Broadcasting, and on November 9, 1992, at Midnight, WDRE from Garden City, New York started simulcasting its programming with WIBF-FM, and shortly after the simulcast began, WIBF's branding was changed to “103.9 WDRE” to match the New York station. The simulcasting was part of a large effort by Jarad called “The Underground Network”, a network consisting of seven stations from across the country simulcasting WDRE. In 1995, the network ceased operations, WDRE in New York would change its call letters back to WLIR, and made WIBF-FM in Philadelphia an independent, local modern rock station; WIBF-FM then changed its own callsign to WDRE - “We DaRE to be Different” - to match its branding.

WDRE was branded as “Philly's Modern Rock”. “Alive” by Pearl Jam was the first song played on WDRE.[2]

The station helped launch the careers of many famous disc jockeys and local personalities. They include Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison of the Preston and Steve morning show on WMMR, Bret Hamilton of WCAU-TV, Marilyn Russell (formerly of Y100, WXPN, WMGK, now on WOGL), Jim McGuinn (also known as Rumor Boy), the former Program Director of WPLY (now currently programming KCMP in the Twin Cities), and Mel “Toxic” Taylor, who went on to WYSP.

Veteran DJ Mel “Toxic” Taylor (formerly of WPST and WIFI) was the first DJ hired for the only 2 local shows that would be live from Philadelphia each week.

When WDRE Philadelphia became a local radio station in 1995, talent was hired from within the city (e.g. Bret Hamilton, formerly of WIOQ) and outside of the city. While WDRE never became a true mainstream radio station in the Philadelphia radio market due to its weak signal, the station gained a cult status in the Philadelphia area, and as a result, events like the station's music festival (known as “DREfest”) sold out to a crowd of over 25,000 people.

However, in December 1996, Radio One bought WDRE from Jarad, and on the 16th of that month, WDRE announced that the station would flip to a then-undisclosed format in February 1997.[3][4]

Due to the informed notice of the station's flip, the staff at WDRE were able to organize a concert called “Bitterfest”, which was to be held at The Electric Factory. The concert featured local acts G Love and the Fun Lovin' Criminals, and was created to celebrate the life of WDRE as a local institution for modern rock. On February 7, 1997, “Bitterfest” was held to a sold-out crowd of over 3,000 people, with all of the WDRE staff present at the event. At Midnight on February 8, 1997, as the crowd at Bitterfest chanted “'D-R-E! 'D-R-E! 'D-R-E!”, a lucky (or unlucky) listener was selected to “pull the plug” on WDRE, with the station ending with the first song that started the format: Pearl Jam's “Alive”.[5] Two of the WDRE disc jockeys (Preston Eliot, Bret Hamilton) went to Y100, as did 'DRE Program Director Jim McGuinn, and midday and Sunday night DJ Marilyn Russell (as Promotions Director for Y100). Y100 was also bought out by Radio One in 2000, and flipped in 2005 to urban contemporary.

WPHI-FM then WPPZ-FM and back again

On February 10, 1997, after a weekend of stunting with classic soul music, the station flipped to Urban Contemporary, branded as “Philly 103.9.”[6] The call letters were soon changed to WPHI. When the station rebranded as THE BEAT in April 2002, it shifted to rhythmic top 40.[7] By 2006, Radio & Records/Nielsen BDS moved it to the urban contemporary panel, but Mediabase followed suit in 2011, completing the rhythmic to urban shift.

[logo as Praise, 2005-2016] On February 27, 2005, Radio One moved the “Beat” format to the 100.3 frequency, which was formerly Y100. 103.9 then flipped to urban gospel, branded as “Praise 103.9”.[8] The callsign was changed to WPPZ-FM on March 3.

Except for “The Yolanda Adams Morning Show” and CeCe McGhee weekday afternoons, the station ran jockless throughout the day until August 2007. In late August, the addition of performer Lonnie Hunter from Chicago was made to be the mid-day personality along with Sheik Meah. Famous speaker Les Brown was also added to be on Sundays from 7–9pm. In September, Pastor Alan E. Waller joined the staff to do a Saturday morning show from 10–11:00 and two more weekend shows were added. The “Holy Hip-Hop Show” was added on Saturdays from 7–9pm and a Christian dating show was added on Sundays from 9–11pm.

WPPZ's current staff includes Lonnie Hunter, Brother Marcus, and CeCe Magee. Former DJs include Church Lady (2007–2008), Ed Long (2005–2007), CoCo Brother (2011–2013), and Les Brown and B.I.G. C.I.T.Y. (2008–2009; 2009–present).

On September 27, 2016, at Midnight, WPPZ and WPHI swapped frequencies, with “Praise” moving to 107.9 FM, and “Boom” moving to 103.9 FM (it also marked the return of the WPHI call letters to the frequency that originated the call letters). With the change, WPHI's classic hip hop format shifted to urban contemporary; the classic hip hop songs have been reduced to just a few per hour, with the station now emphasizing currents and recurrents. This marks the fourth attempt by Radio One to compete against long dominant WUSL.[9]

Eight months after WPHI's format switch, WISX flipped to a classic hip hop-leaning rhythmic AC on June 30, 2017. On December 24, 2019, WPHI rebranded as “Hip Hop 103.9”.[10]

On November 5, 2020, Urban One announced that it would swap WPHI-FM, WHHL and the intellectual property of WFUN-FM in St. Louis, and WTEM in Washington, D.C. to Entercom, in exchange for WBT/WBT-FM, WFNZ and WLNK in Charlotte, North Carolina. Under the terms of the deal, Entercom would take over operations of WPHI-FM under a local marketing agreement on November 23, and flip it to a simulcast of KYW.[11] Ahead of the change, the “Hip Hop” format and branding would move to WRNB on November 16, and the two stations would simulcast for the week in between before the change in ownership and format took place at midnight on the 23rd.[12][13]

[1]

[2] WIBF Flips from Ethnic to Modern Rock

[3] WDRE Announces Pending Format Change

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZvhyQw6ZPk

[5] WDRE Flips from Modern Rock to Urban

[6] http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-02-14.pdf

[7] http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/2000s/2002/RR-2002-04-26.pdf

[8] https://mycitypaper.com/articles/2005-03-31/cover.shtml

[9] Boom 103.9 Philadelphia Segues To Urban Hot AC On New Frequency

[10] WPHI Rebrands as Hip Hop 103.9 Radioinsight - December 24, 2019

[11] Entercom To Swap Charlotte Stations To Radio One For WPHI, WTEM and St. Louis Duo

[12] Hip Hop 103.9 Philadelphia Moves to 100.3 Ahead of Sale

[13] WPHI-FM Hip Hop 103.9 Turns to KYW Newsradio- YouTube

title: WPHI-FM

question: What was the target demographic of the station in the mid-1970s?

answer: Presumably religious people, Spanish-speaking people, and Jewish people.

question: List three individuals whose careers might have had a different trajectory if it weren't for this radio station.

answer: Preston Elliot, Marilyn Russell, and Jim McGuinn


text:
NANCY JOHNSON is an American politician.

NANCY JOHNSON may also refer to:

-   Nancy Johnson (sport shooter) (born 1974), American sports shooter
-   Nancy Johnson (inventor)
-   Nancey Jackson Johnson (born 1968), American gospel musician
-   Nancy Johnson, character in _The OA_

title: Nancy Johnson (disambiguation)

question: How many possible Nancy Johnsons are distinguished in this post?

answer: 5 different Nancy Johnsons.

question: Are all the Nancy Johnsons American?

answer:
3 of them definitely are, viz. the politician, sports shooter and gospel musician.
Information is not given about the nationality of the other 2.

question: When was the inventor Nancy Johnson born?

answer: This information is not contained in this post.

question: Which Nancy Johnson is not alive?

answer: Nancy Johnson the character in the OA is not alive. Information about the birth (and death) of the politician and investor Nancy Johnsons are not given.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Five possible Nancy Johnsons are listed.


text:
[Tor Hires Top Privacy Advocate Shari Steele As New Executive Director]

TOR HAS HIRED A FORMER ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO LEAD ITS PROJECT THAT IS AIMED FOR MAKING THE CYBER WORLD LOT MORE SECURE.

TOR’S interim executive director, in a BLOG POST, wrote: Shari Steele was selected in part for her experience in growing non-profits and _“will be especially valuable as we continue our campaign to diversify our funding sources.”_

Steele has worked for over 20 years with EFF AS A STAFF ATTORNEY, then became the legal director and then the executive director.

WHAT EXACTLY TOR IS?

Just in case you are not aware of Tor, it is basically a project aimed at protecting users’ online privacy by hiding user’s real IP addresses. Tor is a good option for people looking for something to hide their online presence from security agencies.

In order to download Tor, a user has to download a specialized Firefox browser package which anonymizes all the browsing a user does plus allows the user to access .onion websites or simply DOWNLOADING TOR BROWSER will save a lot of time.

[fullsquaread][/fullsquaread]

ALL NOT GOOD FOR TOR

But, lately, Tor has been demonstrated to be attacked from latest advanced techniques by researchers from MIT.

Tor recently has also received lots of criticism from government and law enforcement authorities OVER HIDING OF TERRORISTS BEHIND THEIR NETWORK. But, supporters of the project have denied this fact and have defended the network with the fact that it’s been used by a number of activists, journalists and other good people who with the help of Tot network have been allowed to work with the privacy they need to carry out their operations.

TRICKY TIMES AHEAD FOR THE NEW DIRECTOR

Steele is joining Tor with criticism and controversy around the network. Like in November, TOR ACCUSED FBI of paying $1 million for carrying out the operation in the Carnegie Mellon University which resulted in arrests in relation to online DRUG MARKETS.

Tor questioned the legal premise of this operation and also if it was under ethical guideline provided by the university.

So, we can safely predict there could be tricky times ahead for the new executive director.

[Owais Sultan]

Owais Sultan

Owais takes care of Hackread's social media from the very first day. At the same time He is pursuing for chartered accountancy and doing part time freelance writing.

question: What was Steele working as before joining TOR?

answer: Shari Steele was previously working as an Executive Director for Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

question: What does TOR do?

answer: TOR is a project aimed to protect users' online privacy by hiding their real IP addresses.

question: Why is TOR criticized?

answer: TOR was criticized for hiding terrorists behind their network.

question: What did TOR accuse the FBI of?

answer: TOR accused the FBI of paying $1 million for carrying out the operation in the Carnegie Mellon University which resulted in arrests in relation to online drug markets.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
TOR hires Shari Steele as the Executive Director. It is a project aimed at protecting users by hiding their IP addresses.

Although, the project has been criticized by law enforcement authorities for hiding terrorists behind their network. Tor has also accused the FBI of paying $1 million for carrying out the operation at the Carnegie Mellon University.

Steele is joining the project with all these controversies around.


text:
The PONTIFICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE HOLY CHILDHOOD () or MISSIONARY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION,[1] is a Catholic children's association for the benefit of foreign missions. It is one of four Pontifical Mission Societies and is dedicated to fostering children’s awareness of the missionary nature of the Church.[2]

Foundation

In 1843 Charles de Forbin-Janson, Bishop of Nancy, France, established the Association of the Holy Childhood (_Association de la Sainte Enfance_). Forbin-Janson sought a way to assist missionaries in China who had written for help. On the advice of Pauline Jaricot, who had founded the Society for the Propagation of the Faith some twenty years before, he established a children’s charity to provide assistance to children in foreign lands.[3] Popes and other ecclesiastical dignitaries approved the association and recommended it to the Catholic faithful.

Pope Pius IX, by a brief of 18 July 1856, raised it to the rank of a canonical institution, gave it a Cardinal protector, and requested all bishops to introduce it in their dioceses. Pope Leo XIII, in the encyclical letter _Sancta Dei civitas_ (3 December 1890), blessed it and recommended it again to the bishops.

The affairs of the association were managed by an international council at Paris, consisting of fifteen priests and as many laymen. This general council had an exclusive right of general direction and of the distribution of the society's funds.

French Catholic missionaries were active in China; they were funded by appeals in French churches for money. The Holy Childhood Association was a target of Chinese anti-Christian protests notably in the Tianjin Massacre of 1870. Rioting sparked by false rumors of the killing of babies led to the death of a French consul and provoked a diplomatic crisis.[4]

Later history

The association was probably established in the United States by Bishop Forbin-Janson himself. Several agencies in the East and West managed its affairs for about fifty years. On 1 January 1893, the work was concentrated into one central agency and confided to the Holy Ghost Fathers, with headquarters in Pittsburgh. Father Anthony J. Zielenbach, C.S.Sp., was its first central director for about four years; he was succeeded by Father John Willms, C.S.Sp. The _Annals of the Holy Childhood_ was published bi-monthly and issued in a number of languages.

In 1922 the Association received the official title of “Pontifical” work, and the central administration was transferred to Rome. National offices exist now in more than 120 countries.[5]

In the United States, membership is largely made up of students in Catholic elementary schools and religious education programs, and those homeschooled.[6] In 2013 the Holy Childhood Association in the United States changed its name to the _Missionary Childhood Association_ (MCA),[7] although the previous name is still used is some dioceses for the time being.[8] Many dioceses in the United States have an MCA office that works in cooperation with the diocesan mission office. The Association distributes educational and fund-raising programs to school and religious education programs. The proceeds support programs for underprivileged in Third World situations.[9] The National office is in New York City.

Mission Together

In England and Wales, the Society is known today as MISSION TOGETHER, and has been active in Catholic schools for over a hundred and sixty years.

The organization encourages children worldwide to pray and share, while also supporting both the spiritual and physical wellbeing of children through prayer and pastoral care. Through the financial contributions of children it carries out educational, medical and welfare projects in the poorest areas of the world.

[1] “Pontificium Opus a Sancta Infantia”, Vatican

[2] “Holy Childhood Association”, Diocese of Camden

[3]

[4] Henrietta Harrison, “'A Penny for the Little Chinese': The French Holy Childhood Association in China, 1843–1951.” _American Historical Review_ 113.1 (2008): 72-92. [https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228646/Harrison.pdf?sequen.. online]

[5] “Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States”, Archdiocese of Boston

[6]

[7] Missionary Childhood Association, Diocese of San Diego Office for Missions

[8]

[9]

title: Association of the Holy Childhood

question: How have the objectives of the Missionary Childhood Association changed over the last 100 years?

answer: The Missionary Childhood Association or the Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood (as it used to be called) was set up to educate Catholic children on the missionary nature of the Church. Over the years, this mission has been carried out in various ways. In the 1800s, the association provided material assistance to children in foreign lands. In later years, it provided educational and religious programs to schools in the third world. These days, the Association is more involved in supporting the spiritual and physical welfare of children through prayer and pastoral care.


text:
_Stranger Things_ bosses originally had a much different vision for the series — and it did not include fans actually seeing the Upside-Down.

The shadowy underworld has become one of the most iconic parts of the Netflix horror show, with much of the conflict of both previous seasons taking place there. But that wasn't always the plan!

In the new book _Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down_, co-creator Matt Duffer reveals that he thought the Upside-Down — or the Nether, as it was first known — would work best if viewers heard about it but never saw it.

[stranger things 2 mind flayer]

Netflix

In fact, the original concept was tipped to take place entirely in a coastal town called Montauk.

"We were never going to go into the Nether, as we originally called it," Matt Duffer says. "We were only planning to hear this other dimension over radios and walkie-talkies.

"We thought that'd be scarier. What we don't see is often scarier than what we do. And that worked for a while. But once we got five hours in, we felt the show really needed to open up, expand.

"It just became increasingly obvious: we had to go into the Upside-Down."

[Stranger Things: The egg in the Upside-Down]

Netflix

That decision opened a gateway to Shadow Monsters, Demo-Dogs and the Demogorgon itself – the latter of whom is played on set by actual actor Mark Steger on stilts in a specially-augmented suit.

"All these monster movies we grew up loving, _Aliens_ being the biggest, [the creature] was a stunt guy in a suit, or a movement artist in a suit," co-creator Ross Duffer explained. "We wanted something that, if you're a kid and you're in school and you're doodling, you could just sort of sketch this monster out.

[eleven millie bobbie brown vs the demogorgon in netflix's stranger things]

Netflix

"I think there's a danger sometimes now – because you can do anything you want with computer graphics – that you can overcomplicate things. There's an elegant simplicity to the Xenomorph's design. I think that makes it much more iconic."

_Stranger Things: Worlds Turned Upside Down_ is available for purchase today (October 30) — click here to get your copy.

Meanwhile, filming is currently well underway on _Stranger Things 3_, and DIGITAL SPY has compiled an exhaustive list on which cast members will definitely be back for _Stranger Things 3_ on Netflix in 2019. Click here to have a look.

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

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question: What is 'Stranger Things'?

answer: 'Stranger Things' is the Netflix horror series.

question: What was the original concept of the show?

answer: The original concept was not to show us the Upside-Down, another dimension.

question: Why do Stranger Things bosses decide to go to the Upside-Down?

answer: Because they feel that the show is not scary enough anymore and needs to expand.

question: Was going to the Upside-Down a good decision?

answer: Yes, because it opened a gateway to three monster movies: Shadow Monsters, Demo-Dogs, and the Demogorgon.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Stranger Things, the Netflix horror series, was originally not going to show us the Upside-Down, but Stranger Things bosses realized that the show is not as scary enough as it used to be and decided to go to the Upside-Down, another dimension. It turns that the decision was good because it opened a gateway to three monster movies: Shadow Monsters, Demo-Dogs, and the Demogorgon.


text:
This isn't my first short story, and I hope to post more at some point, I just wanted to share this.

You’re sitting, a cup of warm pomegranate tea is lightly steaming on the small table next to the chair you’ve chosen as your morning sitting area. Your bare feet rest upon the warm wood of the patio. You run your fingers through your hair, admiring the job that your barber did yesterday. You take a sip of the tea, a bit of steam caressing your nose as the warm liquid intensifies on your taste buds. Seems like you made the tea rather strong today. Oh, no bother. You place the glass down, swallowing the last bit of tea. A light “clink” as the glass of the tea cup strikes the glass top of the table. A light breeze flits through the patio, as if it were the wind under a robin’s wings. You look around at your surroundings. The cool green grass has just hit its peak, and it’s reflecting the sun’s light beautifully; it waves in the breeze, creating a soft green sea. Looking down at the watch you received for your birthday, you see it’s just about half passed 11 in the morning. The sun is lightly perched in the middle of the sky, clouds drift past, creating some quiet shadows to compliment the sunlight. The sun is refracting off the white bricks your small, humble, but cozy home are made from. The sun warms your skin as it shines down from the heavens above you. It’s a nice warm, very soft and defined. You grab the collar of your favorite shirt, and take a little whiff of it. It smells like her. You know that scent immediately, and it brings a light smile to your face. You look down at the bracelet she made you, the colors all meaning something more than anyone else needs to know. You hear the creak of the patio door opening, and she steps out, still in her pajamas. “Good morning, baby” she says with a quiet smile, a twinkle in her eye, and a graceful step through the doorway. “You’re up early,” she says, sitting down next to you. “It’s a nice morning. Here, I made you some tea” you say to her, smiling, “I know it’s your favorite. Care to enjoy the quiet for a little while?” you say. A smooth white flash brings you out of your daze. It’s only 3 AM, and you’re alone in the cold darkness of night. You already miss her.

*Sometimes my dreams are too vivid even for me.*

Downvote it to hell, I don't care. I just had to get this out. Thanks for reading, if you did.

title: Lost Dreams: Un Giorno di Felicità Tranquilla

question: What is happening to the narrator?

answer: He is dreaming about a loved one.


text:
 This article is more than 3 YEARS OLD

Threats by Rex Tillerson, would-be secretary of state, to stop access to islands are ‘mish-mash of naivety and shortsightedness’, says China Daily

[China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier conducts a drill in the South China Sea. State media has warned of conflict if the US attempts to block access to islands there.]

China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier conducts a drill in the South China Sea. State media has warned of conflict if the US attempts to block access to islands there. Photograph: China Stringer Network/Reuters

The US risks a “large-scale war” with China if it attempts to blockade islands in the South China Sea, Chinese state media has said, adding that if recent statements become policy when Donald Trump takes over as president “the two sides had better prepare for a military clash”.

China has controversially built fortifications and artificial islands across the South China Sea. Rex Tillerson, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, said China’s “access to those islands … is not going to be allowed”.

China claims nearly the entire area, with rival claims by five south-east Asian neighbours and Taiwan.

Tillerson did not specify how the US would block access but experts agreed it could only be done by a significant show of military force. Tillerson likened China’s island building to “Russia’s taking of Crimea”.

“Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories,” said an editorial in the Global Times, a Communist-party controlled newspaper.

“China has enough determination and strength to make sure that his rabble rousing will not succeed … Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish.”

Rex Tillerson: I would block China’s access to islands in South China Sea
Under Barack Obama the US remained neutral on sovereignty claims, not recognising any ownership, but often challenged China’s control of the area by sailing warships past islands in what it called freedom of navigation exercises.

If that policy became more confrontational, including denying China access to islands it already controls, “it would set a course for devastating confrontation between China and the US”, declared the state-run China Daily.

China’s official response was more tame. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China-US relations were based on “non-confrontation, non-conflict, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation”.

Both newspapers also dismissed recent statements by Trump and his team – taking a similar stance to the Chinese government, which is waiting for Trump to be sworn in before equating his words with policy.

Tillerson’s remarks “are not worth taking seriously because they are a mish-mash of naivety, shortsightedness, worn-out prejudices and unrealistic political fantasies”, the China Daily wrote. “Should he act on them in the real world it would be disastrous.”

There are signs, though, that Trump shares Tillerson’s views and they will be carried into the White House.

In December, Trump made similar comments in an interview with Fox News, accusing Beijing of “building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn’t be doing”.

Peter Navarro, Trump’s pick to head the newly created national trade council, has been extremely hostile to China and encouraged the president-elect to pursue a “peace through strength” policy in the region.

“Beijing has created some 3,000 acres of artificial islands in the South China Sea with very limited American response,” Navarro has previously written.

question: Why would the US attempt to blockade islands in the South China Sea?

answer: The United States thinks China should not be building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea.

question: Why is China building fortifications and artificial islands across the South China Sea?

answer: China wants to have control over the area.

question: What is Rex Tillerson's view on the issue?

answer: He says that China’s access to those islands is not going to be allowed.

question: What is China Daily's comment on Rex Tillerson's statement?

answer: China Daily says that Tillerson's statement is not worth taking seriously and that acting on it would mean war.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: China is building artificial islands in the South China Sea. Chinese state media warns that the US risks a large-scale war if they attempt to block China's access to islands there.


text:
_CYPTOTRAMA ASPRATA_ (alternatively spelled _aspratum_), commonly known as the GOLDEN-SCRUFFY COLLYBIA,[1] is a saprobic species of mushroom in the family Physalacriaceae. Widely distributed in tropical regions of the world, it is characterized by the bright orange to yellow cap that in young specimens is covered with tufts of fibrils resembling small spikes. This fungus has had a varied taxonomical history, having been placed in fourteen genera before finally settling in _Cyptotrama_. This species is differentiated from several other similar members of genus _Cyptotrama_ by variations in cap color, and spore size and shape.

History

This species was first described from Ceylon by English naturalist Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1847;[2] soon after (1852), specimens were collected from South Carolina USA.[3] Later, the fungus was described under a variety of names: _Lentinus chrysopeplus_ from Cuba;[4] _Agaricus sabriusculus_ and _Agaricus lacunosa_ from New York;[5][6] _Collybia lacunosa_ from Michigan;[7] and _Omphalia scabriuscula_ in Connecticut.[8] As Canadian mycologists Redhead and Ginns explain in a 1980 article on the species, since its original 1847 description, _C. asprata_ has been given 28 names, and placed in 14 different genera.[9]

Description

The cap is in diameter, convex to cushion-shaped. The cap surface is dry, and younger specimens are covered with characteristic spikes; as the spikes break up with age, they tend to look more hairy or woolly. Older specimens typically have the surface features worn off. The cap margin tends to be rolled inwards when young, gradually becoming straight with maturity. The color of the cap is bright or pale yellow, increasing in intensity towards the center of the cap. _C. asprata_ has a web-like ring that soon disappears. [Gill attachment to the stem is either _decurrent_ – running partially down the length, or _adnate_ –attached squarely.] The gills, pale yellow to white in color, are distantly spaced and have an adnate (squarely attached) or short decurrent (running down the length) attachment to the stem; they feel greasy when dried and crushed. The stem is long by thick at the stem apex; the stem is slightly thicker towards the base, and may be covered with hyphae that appear woolly (flocculose) or hairy (fibrillose). The surface of the stem may also be scaly – especially towards the base – or it may be covered with very small particles (granular). The flesh of this mushroom is white or pale yellow, with no distinctive taste or odor.[10] The spore print is white. Edibility is unknown for this fungus.[11]

Microscopic features

Spores are thin-walled, smooth, and ellipsoidal or oval in shape. Viewed with a microscope, they appear translucent (hyaline), and stain red or blue with Melzer's reagent (inamyloid). Their dimensions are typically 7–10 by 5–7 µm; the spores contain a single large oil droplet. The spore-bearing cells, the basidia, are club-shaped, two- to four-spored, and 25–30 by 5–7 µm.[12] The presence of sterile cells called pleurocystidia (large cells found on the gill face in some mushrooms) is uncommon; specimens may contain few or abundant cheilocystidia (large sterile cells found on the gill edge) that are club-shaped, thin-walled and 39–87.5 by 8.5–16 µm in size.[13]

Habitat and distribution

_Cyptotrama asprata_ is a saprobic fungus, and grows on the decaying wood of deciduous and coniferous trees. Host species include white fir (_Abies concolor_), sugar maple (_Acer saccharum_) and other maple (_Acer_) species, grey alder (_Alnus oblongifolia_), beech (_Fagus_) species, spruce (_Picea_) species, ponderosa pine (_Pinus ponderosa_) and other pine (_Pinus_) species, poplar (_Populus_) and oak (_Quercus_) species. In temperate North America, specimens are typically collected between July through September.[14]

The species has a pantropical distribution, and is widely distributed in tropical regions of the world.[15] It has been collected from Australia,[16] southeastern Canada,[17] China,[18][19] Costa Rica,[20] India,[21] Hawaii,[22] New Zealand,[23] Japan,[24] and the Russian Far East.[25] It is absent from Europe and Northwestern North America.[26]

Similar species

Many other members of genus _Cyptotrama_ are similar in appearance and differ from _C. asprata_ by only one or two readily observable features. For example, _C. granulosa_ is bright yellowish-brown (rather than bright or pale yellow in _C. asprata_); _C. lachnocephala_ is ochre-colored; _C. deseynesiana_ is cream-colored with brown scales; _C. verruculosa_ has a “copper-rust-brown” cap; _C. costesii_ has olive-colored pigments. Species may also be distinguished by differences in spore size and shape, although a considerable size range has been noted for _C. asprata_ spores.[27]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]  Google Books

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

title: Cyptotrama asprata

question: What is the common name for cyptotrama asprata?

answer: The species is commonly known as the golden-scruffy collybia.

question: Where can the species be found?

answer: The species is widely distributed in tropical regions of the world.

question: What does the species look like?

answer: The species is characterized by the bright orange to yellow cap.

question: What does saprobic mean?

answer: Not answerd.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Cyptotrama asprata, otherwise known as the golden-scruffy collybia, is a species of mushroom that is commonly found in the tropical regions of the world. It is characterized by a bright orange to yellow cap.


text:
OSWALD REDLICH (17 September 1858, in Innsbruck – 20 January 1944, in Vienna) was an Austrian historian and archivist, known for contributions made in the field of auxiliary sciences of history.[1]

Biography

He studied history under Julius von Ficker at the University of Innsbruck (1876–79), then studied historical auxiliary sciences with Theodor von Sickel at the Institut für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung (Institute for Austrian Historical Research) in Vienna (1879–81). From 1881 to 1892 he worked as an archivist in Innsbruck, and in the meantime, obtained his habilitation for historical auxiliary sciences (1887). In 1893 he became an associate professor, and four years later was named a full professor of history and historical auxiliary sciences at the University of Vienna. In 1911/12 he served as university rector.[2][3][4]

In 1899 he became a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, serving as its president from 1919 to 1938. From 1926 onward, he was head of the Institute for Austrian Historical Research. He was also a member of the central management of Monumenta Germaniae Historica and of the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.[5][6]

On 17 September 1958 a commemorative stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of his birth was issued in Austria.[7]

Selected works

-   _Archiv-Berichte aus Tirol_ (with Emil von Ottenthal; 4 volumes, 1888–1912) – Archive reports from Tirol.[8]
-   _Zur Geschichte der österreichischen Frage unter König Rudolf_, 1893 – On the history of the Austrian question under King Rudolf I.
-   _Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Heinrich VII: 1273–1313_ (by Johann Friedrich Böhmer, new edition by Redlich, 1898) – The Regesta of the Empire under Rudolf, Adolf, Albrecht, Henry VII; 1273–1313.
-   _Rudolf von Habsburg: das Deutsche Reich nach dem Untergange des alten Kaisertums_, 1903 – Rudolf von Habsburg; the German empire after the fall of the old empire.
-   _Schillers historische Schriften_, 1906 – Friedrich Schiller's historical writings.
-   _Urkundenlehre_ (3 volumes, 1907–11; with Wilhelm Erben, Ludwig Schmitz-Kallenberg).
-   _Oesterreich-Ungarns Bestimmung_, 1916 – Austria-Hungary destination.
-   _Geschichte Österreichs_, 1921 – History of Austria.
-   _Das Werden einer Grossmacht. Österreich von 1700 bis 1740_ (7th edition, 1938) – Becoming a great power; Austria in 1700–1740.[9]

[1] Plett – Schmidseder / edited by Walther Killy Dictionary of German Biography

[2]

[3] Redlich, Oswald at Neue Deutsche Biographie

[4] Redlich, Oswald (1858–1944), Historiker Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon und biographische Dokumentation

[5]

[6]

[7] Austria Stamps / Commemoratives of 1956–1958 Stamp Collecting World

[8] Archiv-Berichte aus Tirol OCLC WorldCat

[9] Redlich, Oswald (1858–1944) IdRef (bibliography)

title: Oswald Redlich

question: Who is Oswald Redlich?

answer: An Austrian historian and archivist

question: What is Oswald Redlich known for?

answer: For contributions made in the field of auxiliary sciences of history.

question: What was Oswald Redlich's role at the Austrian Academy of Sciences?

answer: He became a member in 1899 and served as its president from 1919 to 1938.

question: How was Oswald Redlich commemorated?

answer: On September 17, 1958 a commemorative stamp was issued in Austria honoring the 100th anniversary of his birth.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer:
Oswald Redlich was an Austrian historian and archivist known for his contributions in the field of auxiliary sciences of history.
He served as president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 1919 to 1938.


text:
He stared at the picture. He was so strong back then, so confident. He was happier too, he saw his smile in the photo and remembered the feeling as a small grin crept across his face, then as quickly as it had come, it faded.

He missed the feeling, and he continued to reminisce. He went to his closet and with some effort, found his old jersey, the same one from the picture. It had been some time since he had played, but he could see it all clearly in his mind's eye. He returned to the desk and poured another drink, the brown liquid swirling in his glass, then downed it in one gulp. His gaze once again fell upon the jersey and after a pause, he started to put it on.

The jersey was looser in some places then he remembered, tighter in others. He had been so strong. He was done blaming it on others, on himself, on "God." At the thought of the latter, he scoffed to himself and shook his head. No what happened to him was an accident, unfortunate as it was, still an accident. He was so angry after it happened, but that had subsided. No, what he was now, what had replaced that anger, was sadness. Crippling sadness, he thought, chuckling at the irony.

He started to pour himself another drink, then paused and took a draw straight from the bottle. He was tired. Tired of the sadness, tired of the sympathy, tired of it all. From his desk drawer, he produced a small orange prescription container and shook four pills out into his palm. After thinking for a second, he shook out two more. Picking up the bottle once more, he placed the pills on the back of his tongue and quickly washed them down with the brown liquid, wincing slightly as it burned his throat down into his stomach.

With a sigh, he set the picture in his lap, corked the bottle, put the lid back on the pill container, and turned off his desk lamp. He wheeled himself from the desk across the room to his bed, and with considerable effort, pulled himself up on top of the covers, dragging his legs up behind him. He propped the picture up on his belly until his eyes closed, and he embraced the darkness coming to envelop him.

title: Memories (my first real attempt)

question: What happened to the man?

answer: He got in an accident.

question: How did the man feel after the accident?

answer: He felt angry at first, and then sad.

question: What is the man doing now?

answer: Drinking.

question: What does he do after he is done drinking?

answer: He takes some pills and decides to end his life.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A man feels sorry for himself and reflects on an accident he had. He drinks alcohol, takes some pills, and commits suicide.


text:
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this because I need you to give me constructive criticism on my still in-progress work. I know it is incomplete, but I need advice about my writing style, appeal, etc. so I can better myself. If you like it, great! If you do not like it, tell me why you do not like it in a constructive manner. I hope my paper is free of grammatical errors and I hope you enjoy the first chapter of "The Lone Wolf"!

I pressed the ashes and the dirt together into a neat mound and I stood up to look at it. Tears welled up in my eyes and I wiped them with my sleeve. After only a week’s struggle, both of my parents were dead and I was alone. I looked around at the destruction around me, seeing fires blacken rubble and electric wires sparkling. I looked back down at the grave and my makeshift cross, hoping it would suffice for the sacrifice my parents made to me by protecting me in the last raid. Now, I needed to survive by myself and for myself. I said a few quiet words for my parents and I prepared myself for the road ahead of me.

            My name is Michael Greaves, a seventeen year-old survivor on the road trying to scavenge for food and water. I was a military brat before this cataclysmic event and my parents were military veterans from the Marine Corps. I barely outlasted a bandit raid with my MP5 submachine gun and my P99 pistol, but my parents saved me in the flash of the last moments of their lives. When the marauders stormed the remains of our house and ran down to the cellar, my parents brandished combat knives and they ambushed them. I was told to sit in the corner with my MP5 on my lap and a blanket over my body so the bandits wouldn’t see me, but I watched my parents wrestle them to the ground. I heard a shot ring out in the cellar and my mother screamed. The second shot sounded soon after the first. All was silent and I was trying my hardest not to cry out and tears were falling out of my eyes. I quickly wiped my face and I tore off the blanket, revealing my gun. I shouted my loudest and longest shout as I was unloading all of my bullets uncontrollably on these helpless thieves. I wasted all of my MP5 ammunition on their dead bodies. Once my voice cracked, I stopped screaming and I returned to the cruel reality of my parents’ deaths. I fell to my knees and I slumped over their bodies and I must have cried all night.

            When dawn’s light reached through the cracks of the cellar’s ceiling, I knew what I had to do. When I picked up my mother, I wept hard once again. I tried carrying my mother up the broken stairs and it felt as if all of the world’s weight was put on my arms. When I got outside, my knees broke down in an empty space apart from all of the rubble around me and I set my mother down. This was hard on me both mentally and emotionally and I couldn’t think of an even worse way of their deaths.

I dragged my feet down the stairs and I saw my father lying on his side with his back turned to me. I tried picking up my father, but I was too weak and I cried again. I didn’t even want to drag him up the stairs, pulling his dead arms, but it was the only way. His head was knocked around on the broken stairs and it only made me feel worse about myself. I pulled his body next to my mother and I went back downstairs to get a shovel.

With every scoop of dirt, ash, and rubble, I grunted pathetically every single time. The grunting only got progressively worse when I kept looking at my parents’ peaceful faces. Tears flew out of my eyes with every deliberate scoop. I took a long break to avoid thinking about my parents, but it was the only thing I could think about and I cried silently when I returned to work. I finished digging and I looked at the close sunset on the horizon. I didn’t want to leave my parents out here in the cold, but it was too dangerous to linger out here with raiders lurking about. I placed my parents in one grave together and they looked peaceful together. I put my mother’s right hand in my father’s left hand and it somehow made me feel better, but I ignored the feeling quickly and I garrisoned myself in the cellar.

After dawn made its appearance again the next day, I emerged from the cellar and I found my parents unchanged. I started to drop the dirt on my parents from their feet to their heads. I didn’t cry this time because I knew I needed to become strong from this experience and keep moving forward with my life. The mound was irregularly arranged, but I changed my focus to the headstone for them. I didn’t know how to honor their sacrifice so greatly with only a few words carved in stone, and instead, I took two broken planks and twine and I crafted a makeshift cross. I stuck the cross at the head of their grave and I pressed the dirt and ashes together into a neat mound.

No matter how hungry or thirsty I was, I still took a knee and said a few words for the funeral service:

“Mother and Father, I’m terribly sorry I couldn’t protect you. Your deaths were your ultimate sacrifice to me and I am humbly grateful for all you have done to nurture and protect me. I know you wouldn’t want me to result to vengeance because that is not what God wants. Your sacrifices were intended to keep me alive and I will survive by any means necessary.”

My voice became very dry and I could talk no more. I went inside the cellar to prepare myself for the road ahead of me. I took the marauder’s pistols, the remainder of canned food, the last two bottles of water, my parents’ bloody combat knives and their assault rifles, a bottle of painkillers, and I put them all in my backpack. It was a heavy load, but I knew it would get lighter over time. I emerged from the cellar at around noon and the sun shown brightly on my face. I pulled my ripped handkerchief up to my eyes and I put my sunglasses on. I tightened my backpack’s straps and I started on the road.

title: The Lone Wolf (still in working progress; read description before reading short story)

question: Why are the parents dead?

answer: They were killed by bandits.

question: Where will the narrator go?

answer: This information is not given in the text.

question: What happened to make the world like this?

question: Did the narrator bury the bandits?

answer: This information is not given in the text.

question: What does the narrator say at the funeral?

answer: He apologizes for not protecting them and promises to survive by any means necessary.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: In a dystopian setting, the narrator survives a bandit raid in which his parents are killed. He mourns their loss and buries them. He conducts a short funeral service and then gathers up his survival gear and gets started on a new journey by himself.


text:
IC 443:
High School Students Discover Neutron Star Using Chandra and VLA Data

[IC 443]
Credit: NASA/NCSSM/C.Olbert et al.

This Chandra image reveals a point-like source of X-rays embedded in the remains of the supernova remnant IC443. This discovery was made by three high school students using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in conjunction with radio data from the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA). The comet-shaped appearance of the cloud of high-energy particles in the Chandra image indicates that the neutron star is moving through IC 443. Like the wake of a supersonic airplane, the swept-back shape of the nebula around the neutron star allowed the students to measure the speed it is traveling away from its origin. Using this result and the apparent distance that the neutron star has traveled from the center of the supernova remnant, the students calculated that the light from the initial explosion arrived at Earth about 30,000 years ago, thus addressing an outstanding question about IC 443.

The remnant of the IC 443 supernova is a well-studied object. Astronomers have searched this region (roughly 5,000 light years from Earth) for the neutron star created in the explosion that they thought should be there, judging from the size and dynamics of the supernova remnant.

Neutron stars, such as the one found by the NCSSM team, are the compact hot embers of very massive stars that have exhausted their fuel and expelled their own shells. The remaining cores, often no more than 10 miles in diameter, are very dense objects that sometimes spin and release beams of particles along their magnetic poles.

The colors in this image represent the intensities of X-rays Chandra observed. Regions the most X-rays are shown in white, with the fainter regions represented by the blue-green color.

Fast Facts for IC 443:
Credit
NASA/NCSSM/C.Olbert et al.
Scale
Image is 1 x 0.8 arcmin across.
Category
Neutron Stars/X-ray Binaries, Supernovas & Supernova Remnants
Coordinates (J2000)
RA 06h 17m 05.00s | Dec +22° 21' 30.00"
Constellation
Gemini
Observation Dates
April 10, 2000
Observation Time
3 hours
Color Code
Intensity
Instrument
ACIS
Distance Estimate
5,000 light years
Release Date
December 11, 2000

question: What did High School Students do?

answer: They discovered a Neutron Star

question: What is significant about discovering a neutron star?

answer: Discovering a star on its own is noteworthy, but what makes this discovery special is the fact that it was done amidst the data of supernova remnant IC443, data that has already been scoured through by other astronomers.

question: How did the students find the neutron star?

answer: They noticed a source of X-Rays in the Chandra Image from NASA and from the  radio data of the National Science Foundation's VLA.

question: What are neutron stars?

answer: Neutron stars are hyper-dense remains of very massive stars. Sometimes, they spin and release beams of particles along their magnetic poles.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Using Xthe Chandra Image from NASA and from the radio data of the National Science Foundation's VLA, three high school students notice a source of X-Rays moving in the IC443 supernova. This has been confirmed to be a neutron star.