#to look presentable and a model citizen so she can show off her inventions to everybody 💛

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Responses from the Opera Screencaps Captioning Quiz

Hello, everyone, and thank you for taking my quiz! I had SO MUCH fun reading your captions-- there were several times I literally started crying from laughing so hard at the amazingness of your work! With that in mind, the captions (which I will continue to add onto as more people take it):

(also, thank you to @dichterfuerstin​ for translating the German captions I got)

originally taken from: the Wiener Staatsoper’s 2020 production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, featuring Regula Mühlemann (center) as Blonde, Michael Laurenz (right) as Pedrillo, and an unnamed extra (left) as the Grim Reaper

Responses:

(Backstage warm-up) “ok so someone dropped the pulse”

me and my friends watching the fire burn after doing arson

Introducing the polycule to the parents

*boom* ... did...you guys hear that too?

Ma Signor !

Knight in whinging armour gone wrong, look at how he holds the egg. Polyamory with weird knight and death.

the father, son and the holy ghost are very gay

the gays meeting for brunch, 2021, colorized

chicken lady forces death and a very flamboyantly homosexual anthropomorphized pink bird to be parents of her egg (they dont want to be)

That’s just me and my friends on our night out (before covid rip)-- closest

A Good Friday night

good omens (2019)

["the pocket guide to boy/girl/mischief" meme] who's the boy and who's the mischief though????

Papageno and Papagena take their first-born egg trick-or-treating

Angry Birds - The Musical. A pig stole an egg and the bird unites with death to take revenge.

I love my bird wife

Someone got murdered during the funky chicken dance

throuple murders child and steals sibling of said child

When you and your friends have widely different tastes in literature

angel leading twink to his rightful place (hell)

draco malfoy from a very potter musical and a death eater are very much in the wrong show

What have I gotten myself into

Mlm/wlw solidarity but I’m not telling who is who

A woman stands with a pink dipshit with an egg and a reaper.

A bird-couple makes a pact with Death, sacrificing their first-born bird-child in order to bring good luck upon their unborn bird-baby

There are three types of people on Halloween:

Uh oh, I don’t think the mother hen is very happy about this...

oh god, they’ve invented seussical. It’s too early!

gay brunch

Three little maids from school are we

guys maybe if we dress gay enough we can distract everyone from the dead flapper bee in the back

those three killed a duck for her egg and are facing the conswquences.

Duck has egg with human, shocked and upset due to biological impossibility

When you bout to make a banging omelet so you invite your fellow queers

"No mortal man could pass that egg, but heaven shall repair your rectum."

originally taken from: the Salzburg Festival’s 2007 production of Hector Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, featuring Maija Kovalevska (left) as Teresa Balducci, Laurent Naouri (center, in chimney) as Fieramosca, and Burkhard Fritz (right) as Benvenuto Cellini

Responses:

“In this same interlude it doth befall That I, one Snout by name, present a wall; And such a wall, as I would have you think, That had in it a crannied hole or chink, Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisby, Did whisper often very secretly. This loam, this rough-cast and this stone doth show That I am that same wall; the truth is so: And this the cranny is, right and sinister, Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.” - a midsummer night’s dream, act v scene 1

"ah yes a prime specimen. see here, right in this box is our one of a kind hob goblin that can be all yours for the low low price of your soul"

what, YOU don't have a special eavesdropping chimney window?

Hänsel und Gretel plotting against the witch

man takes a wrong turn and ends up in a chimney, catches his girlfriend cheating-- closest

when you end up third wheeling the straight couple

lady cheats on her leather jacket wearing scummy boyfriend and when he unexpectedly comes home she hides the lover in the chimney

A straight girl and her gay best friend gossip about stuff idk

Idk Shakespeare?

experimental couples therapy feat. the chimney mf from mary poppins

Area Couple Inadvertently Traps Santa-in-Training in Chimney as they Attempt Rooftop Flirting

Landlords laugh over student renter's misfortune

I never asked for this

Ay yo lil mama lemme whisper in your ear

voyeurist listens to sandy and Danny from grease

Psssst! Did you hear about Susan? You won’t believe it!

lady and the tramp meets beauty and the beast?

human trafficking

And for just $30 you too could have your own tiny brick cage!

Psst I’m wearing assless chaps under this dress

A couple tortures a man in a box.

It's all fun and games being stuck in a chimney until your greasy uncle steals your crush from right above you-- okay ngl this could actually be a great Don Pasquale concept

Taking eavesdropping to the next level

Will you two stop being lovey dovey and let me out? SUMMER LOVIN, HAPPENED SO FAST— 

overhearing how people talk about you when they think they're alone puts you in the shithouse 

Does he know we can see him?

dear god, i am so fucking hungry, yall please just do whatever heterosexuals do so i can go eat a popsicle 

the human version of the trash man from sesame street is realizing that those two are going to fuck on his trash can 

Tmw you capture an angry short dude and start trashtalking him where he can hear 

Omg what if we kissed but we actually kissed the lil goblin man under us

"Remember, don't feed him after midnight"

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2017 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, featuring Leonardo Estevez (right, on fake horse) as Le Comte d’Oberthal

Responses:

“When I said we needed to drain the swamp I didn’t think there were people actually living there”

horse? what horse? no sir i dont know what horse youre referring to.

definitely don't have a napoleon complex going on

King stole La Scala‘s Lohengrin set

king breaks all his horses, has to use statue dragged by servants as transportation because he’s too kingly too walk

Emperor Söder and his subjects on a carnival procession

man on horse makes a big deal out of being on a horse

That’s not Zeffirelli because the horse is not alive

Who the fuck put a horse on the stage

isn't this that picture of napoleon on the horse

Area Count Thinks Citizens will be Intimidated by his Extremely Fake-looking Horse Statue-- closest

Everyone wants their turn on the giant plaster horse. Police are there to make sure everyone waits their turn.

Night out with the lads

Local royalty horrified at the state of his own damn kingdom

gay army fights different gay aesthetics-- hi author how does it feel to be the funniest fucking person on this quiz

Well at least I LOOK badass

ceasar if he hadn't gotten stabbed (colourised)

some soldiers jumped out of my kindergarten fairytale collection book to burn the don carlos flemish deputies at the stake

It’s just a model

Is that how you feel pulling up in your Honda Civic, Madge?

Someone rides a horse statue in public.

Just a normal party with the bros.

what is this, some kind of crossover episode? 

Terribly sorry for all the fuss, it’s just, that is, my horse is afraid of neck ruffles. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he’s—whoaaa there—he said he was a french courtier in a past life and he’s allergic to English fashion 

Horse seller, listen to me! I am riding into battle. I need your strongest horse. - We have horses at home. - The horses at home: 

All hail Incitatus the king 

we are not ripping off shakespeare’s henry viii. what the fuck. this is about lenny xi you uncultured swine, go drown in a pit of your own farts 

oh god is that hamilton 

Guy Removed From Art Museum For Sitting On Statue, more at eleven 

Gay <3

Officer: This horse... is a virgin! Crowd: *cheers*

originally taken from: the Parma Verdi Festival’s 2017 staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Stiffelio, featuring Maria Katzarava (left) as Lina and Luciano Ganci (right) as Stiffelio

Responses:

That One kid in class

its a mEntAL BreAkDowN *final countdown but kazoo*

*record scratch* yeah, that's me. you're probably wondering how I got here-- closest

Dad keeps monologuing, teenager is done

left: all of my concerned friends, right: my emo ass having a very public mental breakdown

the demons in the corner of my room when im just trying to sleep

lady gets mansplained to (do i need to say more, we've all been there)

It’s probably an area baritone telling off an area soprano-- sorry; it’s a tenor. soprano is right though.

That was a fake horse in the last photo right?

child comes out as gay to father at a particularly bad time

dissociation solves everything

I can't believe it's not butter

Honey we talked about this

My sleep paralysis demon is Crowley from supernatural

child has nightmare of boring job

When you start dating a singer but he won’t stop practicing at night

just an average day in a hetero marriage

what do i do my wife's having period cramps again

Stop having an existential crisis. It’s time to sing!

“No son of mine will kin Gomez Addams under MY roof”

Crowley stares into space while a teen has post nut clarity.

When he wont stop reciting jordan peterson monologues!!

Do you realize how effed you are?

Ugh, not this lecture again! Dad’s Practicing For His Experimental Indie Band Again 

asking your parents for help with your own personal situation and them just ranting off about what they went through instead of helping in any way 

Will he shut up already!

no one tell him he’s yelling in the wrong direction, no one tell him plnsbdjddhdj 

this kid is tired of his dad listening to rush limbaugh (a man who claimed to be pro life but died anyway) 

Me internally vs externally 

Daddy issues

originally taken from: the Grand Théâtre de Genève’s 2020 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, featuring several chorus members

Responses:

It’s the deadly eye Of Poogley-pie. Look away, look away, As you walk by, ‘Cause whoever looks right at it Surely will die. It’s a good thing you didn’t … You did? … Good-bye. - shel Silverstein

why the fuckith? my good sir, i beg of you to put your pants back on

I hate this itchy hat

Titanic Extras hear that they have to do extra hours

people waiting to board the titanic watch someone fall off the plank

pov: you’re a time traveler

guy in the flatcap is embarrassed by patriotism and pathos

No idea. For some reason Le Marseillaise comes to mind

Is this from Harry Potter?

disneyland main street usa workers on strike

local tries to hide behind Newsies cap to avoid unpleasant but inevitable conversations. meanwhile, some very fashionable ladies look on.

"Thank fuck, 2020 was just a dream after all"

“We gather here today because this bitch got exactly what she deserved” “heaven!” “Stfu Stephanie she’s going to hell and we all know it”-- not quite but this basically happens later on in the opera (and act) so yeah (except the person in question very much Did Not Deserve It)

dc movie filter on bridgerton

america?

looks like my history teacher paused the prohibition documentary again

Who still wears page boy hats bro?

Coming out to a room of people who Already Knew That

Bitches are relieved at some party.

Several drunk people exiting getting off the subway attempting to seem sober and rational but realizing they have somehow lost all of their possessions

How tf do I act natural in this situation-- closest

“do you think any of them noticed that I don’t know the pledge of allegiance” 

It's too fucking hot outside for this outfit 

?

when hyyh yoonkook ending just hits different 

pedestrians watch in horror as the triangle shirtwaist factory burns and the workers throw themselves out of the windows from a dozen stories up 

Starting the pledge of allegiance be like 

He's having a heart attack oh no oh god oh fuck

originally taken from: if I remember correctly, the Semperoper Dresden’s 2018 semi-staging of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, with Jonas Kaufmann as Gabriel von Eisenstein

Responses:

“William Shakespeare wrote: "To thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man" I believe this wise statement best applies to a woman A blonde woman Over the past three years she taught me And showed us all That being true to yourself never goes out of style Ladies and gentlemen Our valedictorian: Elle Woods!” - legally blonde the musical

eat ass, suck a dick, and sell drugs

woooooorrrrd

Finally Jonas has graduated! It’s about time, considering he’s an international star.

what my professors think they look like

Prof. Dr. Dr. When someone tells him there are more than two genders

'and since you've now graduated high school, you'll be entering college etc. blablabla' .........meanwhile, there's a whole row of graduates daring each other to chug the cheap vodka one of them has brought in gallons (yes that happened at my graduation, lol)

Jonas darling baby <3-- can’t argue with that

I just realized I have no idea what the actual fuck happens in an opera

ok this one is just what jonas kaufmann always wears you can't fool me.

"as valedictorian i will share with you the importance of loving the floor"

"Yes, mother, my art degree will make me money!"

Graduation speakers are out, singers are in

Senior year takes a new meaninbg

mansplainer professor explains the concept of feminism to women

Your Prof when you finally turn in that missing assignment be like

younger boris johnson (derogatory)

jonas kaufmann retires from opera and takes up motivational speaking

What a fine graduation evening we’re having today

-70 points for slytherin you all have no swag

A man with a college hat sings.

An obviously greying actor trying to play a university student in a low-budget porn parody

How it feels to graduate high school after being held back for years

East High is a place where teachers encouraged us to break the status quo and define ourselves as we choose. Where a jock can cook up a mean crème brûlée, and a brainiac can break it down on the dance floor-

I may not have been "cool" in high school, but in ten years you will all be working for me!

I finally got my GED!

that one guy in ur intro to cultural anthropology class who mansplains to the professor somehow fucking graduated

he;s just graduating and taking his speech too serously idk

Graduation speeches with that one dude who got held back 3 times

Smrt

originally taken from: the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 staging of Gioachino Rossini’s Le Comte Ory with Joyce DiDonato (left) as Isolier, Diana Damrau (center) as Countess Adèle, and Juan Diego Florez (right) as Le Comte Ory (disguised as a hermit)

Responses:

There is something very [disturbing grunts] About polyamorous couples - polyamorous, Chris Fleming

jinkies

femme fatale (including to herself)

I’ll have a threesome soon !

Hot guy walks by, everyone swoons.

thirdwheeling friend does not realize the other two are having sex

When your girlfriend had „just two beers“ again

jesus is exasperated about having to drag the two ladies towards doing what he needs them to do instead of purple dramatically declaring suicidal intent over the smallest trivial matters and red being equally dramatic about declaring that it's not the way! stay alive! i love you!!

The throuple is thriving

Get off the milf

orgy

my last three braincells because im a horny slut

countess receives too much love and is confused on how to react

Rasputin's lesser known romp with a much older czarina of russia

Woman's soul leaves body

Jesus and co. are worried after another woman gets pregnant without having sex

bisexual looks at photos of celebrity couples

When you go to the party to socialize with new people but your weirdo friend group starts getting clingy

Jesus cumming

one of those weird church christmas pageants but everybody's drunk

What have I done

Hozier??????????

Jesus assfucks some purple lady being hugged.

This time, the chick IS the magnet

An affair/threesome gone awry (2019 colorized)

What do you mean they canceled GLOW?

“I TOLD you it was cashmere!”

Are you wearing the - - The Gucci dress? Yes I am.

It's not what it looks like!

jesus is fucking that one cheerleader who grew up to be a suburban mom with one (1) super cool dress she stole from her kid who is desperately hugging her middle begging for it back because the spring fling is coming up and jason might actually make eye contact with her for more than three seconds.

jesus and mary magdaline and some other bitch

I’m at a bar and these drunk girls are flirting with me, do I lOOK GAY?!

Shrek 5, jesus's return

c. 2025 First attempt of an Officer and his Wife with a Handmaiden (colourized)

just about all of these are close lol

originally taken from: the Bolshoi Theater’s 1993 staging of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orléans, featuring Nina Rautio (left) as Joan of Arc and Vyacheslav Pochapsky (right) as Thibaut d’Arc

Responses:

Don’t look, I’m still pooping

yall, the audacity of this man. he fuckin talked to me

*i can't even tell you how wrong you are* *it would be insulting to ME*-- closest

Cospeto!

„No I’m not talking to you, you keep cracking bad jokes!“ - „But I got another!“

when you’re mad at him but he says he’ll buy you food if you cheer up

When I’m wallowing in self-pity but my friends won’t comfort me

right: wanna fuck ;) left: yeah, fuck OFF lmao

Her face is screaming “don’t tell me what to do”

Yeah I got nothing

gay man tries to hit on a lesbian bc he thinks she's a twink. she's not amused but she's watching this happen anyway

me tired of MET's bullshit and them organising a Netrebko, known blackface apologist, a recital during Black History Month. (sorry im still fucking salty lol)

"stop smiling at me like that I'm trying to pout over here"

"I got fleas, you got fleas... wanna fuck?"

I have the best idea!

Haha nooooo don’t hit me with that bat you’re so sexxyy

lesbian is bothered by dilf

Me trying to flirt

if call me by your name was hetero and set in america

how many more dad jokes can i take before i explode

So. You’ve gotten yourself in a little pickle again.

What if we fought in the Russian revolution together ✨???????... unless??

Two people flirt in a poor place of town/

"If you ask me what I've got under this dirty, shapeless tunic one more time I swear to god I will kick your rotting teeth in"

You look like ur gonna kill me but ok

Really? You again?

Okay, I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes, do you think it’s safe to—oh god, he’s still there.

Have you seen Godot?

she is tired of everyone’s shit. she has done so many derivatives it physically pains her to see a variable. dont test her. ur icarus rn.

idk pick better pictures-- I HAVE DIED THE SHEER AUDACITY AND HUBRIS I LOVE THIS

200% done with your crap 

Homeless man has fucking legs of steel n is gonna show off his Russian dance moves

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2019 staging of Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-bleue, featuring Sophie Koch (right) as Ariane and I don’t remember who the person on the left is rip me

Responses:

The knight who wore this into battle sure was swaggy

dear god its hiddeous

Capitalism

Knight in shining armour gone even more wrong.

ghost contemplates the safety of spiky motorcycle helmet

„Stop! He feels bullied!“

'this is my newest take for jesus's crucifixion crown ...... what do you mean they already put him up'

That’s probably a really expensive magic helmet idk. IDK-- closest

Omg I love the adventure zone!

minesweeper (windows xp)

"Okay whatever you do don't touch the shiny spiky ball" "It's so shiny I wanna touch it"

Taking down the trash way too late

IT'S NOT A PHASE MOM

Darth Vader got stuck in the freezer.... again. Leia isn’t happy

Star Wars 2030

“And here is the very latest in motorcycle helmet trends” “Look, I only came to the mall for a pair of socks “

futuristic kkk

long-suffering jewelry store attendant really wants to retire

Put it down put it down put it down

“Hmm no you should see a doctor about that”

A weird ass crown is presented

The creation of sars-cov-2: an experimental Eurotrance nightclub art piece gone horribly wrong

How it feels to want something that u cant have

AND WE WILL CALL IT—SPIKE MAN actually do you think that’s too obvious?? Because of the—yeah, because of the spikes?? See, that’s what I’m worried about. I want it to be SCARY

I know it's risky but... lube me up

?

use the force luke.

that is a weird fleshlight

When you get an ugly gift and need to find a way to get rid of it, so your family member/friend offers to smash it

Touch the orb

originally taken from: the Opera Vlaanderen’s 2019 staging of Fromental Halévy’s La Juive, with Nicole Chevalier (left, with bottle) as Princess Eudoxie, Enea Scala (center, under table) as Prince Léopold, and Roy Cornelius Smith (right) as Éléazar

Responses:

When no one comes to your birthday party :(

fantastic, day 487 of mischief and they have yet to find my masterful hiding spot

i really wonder who he thinks he's playing footsie with

Marriage crisis. Reason sits under the table-- closest but not in the way you think (after all, the man under the table IS a tenor).

the last supper afterparty after jesus left

When you order the last supper on wish

espionage at the Politischer Rosenmontag

Probably the wrong opera but is that Leporello under the table

Now THIS is a Good Friday night

this was every birthday party i went to between the ages of 5 and 11

that awkward moment when you drop your fork under the table but when you re-emerge everyone else has left except one drunk lady and the guy trying to deal with her

After the last supper

Tfw you arrive to the dinner party too early and have to hide until a more fashionable hour

When the cishets aren’t home

waiter hides from customers

Nobody: My dog every time I’m eating:

what's left of the homies Jesus had dinner with

university chem lab experiment gone terribly wrong

I’ve been under the table FOR 30 MINUTES

Set your friends up by tossing them off under the table, they’ll think it’s each other n fall in luv

Someone hids under a table

"You're about to see an surreptitious-under-the-table-dick-sucking master at work"

5 yr old me trying to eat the desert under the table without my parents finding out be like:

They never invite me to their parties!

Just another girl’s night in

Oops! Didn’t notice you the table.

dionysus - bts (2019, colorized)

just a normal episode of eric andre (eric is the one under the table)

Just a normal day with the boys

Thievery

originally taken from: the Théâtre de Capitole du Toulouse’s 2017 staging of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, featuring Kate Aldrich (left, surrounded by women in white) as Fidès and John Osborn (center, looking like a Jesus doppelganger) as Jean de Leyde

Responses:

Hold up, is that Eggman above Jesus?

holy disco

Looks like Tannhäuser. Our lord and saviour Richard Wagner. Now I need to be saved from that.

catholicism

me defending pineapple on pizza (THANK YOU)

jesus but hes about to be abducted by the alien ufo above him

Emmmmmmm Heaven? Idk

Lord of the rings?

ewww christianity gross

"behold, I am Important"

"Seriously?? It's not ACTUALLY pyjama day? Fuck you guys!"

Jesus at the Disco

Jesus Finds The Molerat People Who Live Under Bethlehem

disco is heaven

Want to join my new religion?

the kkk

church christmas pageant where everyone's sober but it's based on the director's fever dream

Am I the only one who sees the giant demon? Just me? Okay...

“Oh god I think I’m starting my period”

A party is held with a priest in the middle

"Let's get this secret Vatican sex party rolling!"

The new avengers endgame set is looking great!!

You know, guys, I try not to be a bother but...I can’t help but feel like I missed a dress code memo for this wedding??? It’s cocktail, right??”

Jesus visits Hogwarts

I must really stink if no one will even come close to me

the extra ass funeral i DESERVE

star wars life day

A cult at it’s best-- closest

Shrek 5, Jesus is still there I guess

originally taken from: the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s 2013 staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes, featuring Bryan Hymel (left, standing) as Henri, Lianna Haroutounian (center, kneeling in the black gown) as Duchess Hélène, and Erwin Schrott (kneeling to her right) as Jean Procida

Responses:

When the director’s like “great rehearsal guys, just a few notes before I let you go” but it’s already 9:13 and your mom’s waiting in the parking lot

loyalist of subjects

bow before your queen

They forgot to take down the stage boxes after the Vienna opera ball but the show must go on.

somebody forgot to book chairs for this funeral

Me sharing God’s (Hayley koyoko) word on the discord server

mass execution bc the oboe solo sucked ass-- closest

That’s too many black suits I can’t see shit

I can’t even tell what’s going on here

8th grade school assembly about how it's uncool to shit on the walls at school

let's all get fancy so we can go to the opera and sit on the stage (idk this one's hard lol)

"Yes i am a time traveller, now don't freak out"

Tfw you forget to pay your lighting bills

White guys make decisions that will benefit them and screw someone that’s not a white guy over-- OUCH but that is too real (although not really in context here)

dead man gives speech at his own funeral

brotus and the boys ??? last meeting before the stabbing

high society social function ends in mass murder-- right opera, wrong scene

Someone walks into the talent show stage with a dog

Black-dressed bitches worship a man.

Worst school assembly of all time

POV:You're the window in the classroom and someone said "its snowing"

When the conductor shows up fashionably late to the orchestra concert

That's what you get for choosing the cheapest ticket option, get back in the mud where you belong

?

theyre just trying to jump into a grave at a funeral leabe them alone this is normal

oh my god he really whipped his dick out in front of everyone, this is just like in 1776 guys, except some women are actually in the room this time,

A funeral, stop wearing so much black

I want to slap their bald heads like rice

originally taken from: the Teatro Real Madrid’s 2018 staging of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, featuring Roberto Tagliavini (right) as Raimondo

Responses:

Crowd “haha!! Looks like someone missed the all-black memo!! Now it’s laugh-in-your-face time! / Guy on the floor (whispering to guy against wall): go, save yourself! I’ll hold them off...”

if i leave now i wont be a witness and can tell the police i had no idea

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Guy in the back pretends to help but is to far away to even know what’s going on.

priest walks in on beginning of an orgy, contemplated joining but is too scared-

when someone brings up capitalism but you’re just trying to play minecraft

lol lets trample this guy while the judge isnt looking

Again. Too many black costumes

Loved this Dostoevsky novel

i would know if opera directors were more creative with clothing choices ngl

me on parties lol

"imma just sneak out of here while everyone else is distracted"

"Where did he get this flooring!? Amazing!"

Everyone act normal!

The tell tale heart but they got REALLY drunk

man tposes to ward off vampires after being caught undercover

boys ???? night

the priest really shouldn't have visited the insane asylum-- closest

He’s FINE everyone’s been hit by a car before

Something happens in a room.

Perks of being a wallflower

There's always that one person in the fight whos trying not to get involved when they really wanna

Oh good, they’re all posing for a Rembrandt painting, I can just sneeeeaaak out the back here...

The gamer livestreaming Resident Evil + everyone watching the stream ? waiting for him to open the door just knowing it will trigger a chase scene

Quick!

the guy t posing in the back is regretting his every decision.-- also accurate

the us senate jumps ted cruz, some other wack ass gop senator is trying to sneak away

...I spoke too soon, however this is a James Bond mission

Queers help fellow queer do math but it's a struggle

#opera #opera tag #results #screencaps #captions #caption #caption this #caption contest #this seems to have gone over well and I am Pleased

[sparkexplosive]

Sentiment [Izuku Midoriya] ; 05

Precious Chapters in Sentiment [Izuku Midoriya] SERIES

Warning: Name calling, rumors  Word Count: 2,235

You knew coming back to school will be tough, but it’s tougher than you thought. Everyone is isolating themselves from being related to you. You wouldn’t blame them, but you were a bit angry because of how people easily believe false rumors. The rumors are getting out of hand or even being dramatized. 

You had to watch your step and be on the lookout because you became disgraced in front of everyone’s eyes. People tried to make yourself look like a fool such as taking apart your desk and chair screws to attempt on tripping you. You were getting sick of it. You knew you couldn’t go eat your lunch in the inventory room, as usual, you would do or sit with your ex tables with his friends. You took a seat in the corner away from everyone. 

Misaka was using her pass on skipping couple periods to get ordered materials that needed to be picked up from the shop. She is working on her project for the invention event. You ate quickly using your school’s tablet to pull up the roster of all students in the hero course matching up with students from the support department. You scroll down for your name to have your eyes land next to the name, Midoriya Izuku. 

You took a deep breath and gulped down your saliva before you double-tap to highlight his name and press the button to delete. Now it’s official that he is free for any other students to take him if they like to and ask for his permission. You blow out from your mouth and scrolled up to the top to see the available names to be quite surprised to see one of the top 3 heroes in training from Class A-3 was available. 

Bakugou Katsuki. 

You have worked with him before and already know his measures. An idea suddenly appearing on your mind could be the invention you could do for his costume. Perhaps an upgrade from his current costume to changing some parts of his costume. As you open the drawing application to start sketching away on what his upgraded costume could look like and writing down some details would have to explain to him.

You had to present something to him to show what you could do. Perhaps other students brought ideas that he didn’t like which concludes blunt rejection from his part. He is a very blunt person who doesn’t sugar-code anything. He could reject you for numerous reasons but you know he uses his brain more than rumors, hopefully. 

You get so sucked into your work. You didn’t realize the person you were sketching ideas for was getting into argument with his friends on the other side of the cafeteria. 

“Bakugou, that’s a bad idea. It will affect your reputation.” Kaminari Denki doesn’t agree on what his friend was about to do and the rest of his friends agree to expect Kirishima and Bakugou. 

Kirishima Eijirou is dating your best friend, Misaka, and couldn’t voice out his thoughts. He just makes his mouth open to speak but he doesn’t agree with them. He believes to know [Name] well enough with all interactions he had with you. You aren't a bad person, perhaps you simply make a mistake. Everyone is human. Everyone makes a mistake due to a lack of judgment. 

“All of you are dumbass to believe those fucking dramatized rumors. You must be fucking blind if you didn’t see how they behaved with that loser.” Bakugou Katsuki abruptly stands up shaking off Denki’s arm around his shoulder. He was walking towards you. 

Kirishima looks at his back and looks down on his empty before standing up too. “They did have genuine feelings for Midoriya despite what everyone thinks. I have seen it first hand.” Kirishima says before walking away from his table. 

He recalls all those double dates with the two. The look of full adoration and happiness towards Midoriya couldn’t be faked. For someone who was faking their love, they wouldn’t worry about their well being as much as they did. They would scold him and create something even stronger than before to protect him from harming himself. He remembers hearing Midoriya named being yelled and dragged inside while his friend and himself were playing video games in the lounge area. Someone to fake to ensure that Midoriya was eating despite being so sucked into training. You would drag him out from outside because Midoriya skipped a meal which earns scold from you. 

You even cook for him ahead of time each time. 

No one would go to those extremes when they are faking the entire time. 

He recalls the festival where Misaka dragged him away to hide when she spotted you and Midoriya holding hands while chatting away in your conversations. That look in your eyes could not be faked, it was genuine feelings behind those (eye color) eyes. 

Meanwhile, Bakugou takes a seat beside you which startled the hell of you. He was staring at the sketches which resembled his costume. You must have been thinking of ideas before approaching him to be your model considering numerous students tried to approach him. 

“Show me what you got.” He commands before looking at you who was looking at him completely bewildered. 

“Why are you here?” You were shocked that he approached you out of the blue. 

“I needed a partner.” He lies, as Kirishima sits beside you. 

“It seems like you needed some companionship.” Kirishima smiles causing your lower lip to tremble. Your eyes shined before you blink away your tears. 

“Those rumors are ridiculous. Perhaps one is true but the rest..”

“Bullshit.” 

You crack a smile feeling a weird sensation in your chest, perhaps its relief that not everyone believes those rumors. Kirishima and Bakugou are trying to cheer you up in their ways. 

Bakugou snatches the tables over causing you to jump in surprise. “Be gentle! It can be deleted easily!” You exclaimed as he looked over the sketches. 

“Are you gonna explain or not?” Bakugou mocks you before you huff your cheeks with air. 

“Rude!” You mumble and take the tablet back from Bakugou, placing it in the middle where both of them could see. 

You use your tablet drawing pen to circle what you are talking about in a new layer that could be easily deleted without affecting the rest of your work. “There are numerous options you could, such as upgrading your whole suit or just upgrading your gear.” 

“Wouldn’t it be expensive?” Kirishima thinking back at how much his costume upgrades cost, thankfully Fatgum agency is paying for it. His wallet hurts from just imagining it. 

“Yes. But it is possible to get donors, especially Bakugou's reputation as a hero and mine as an inventor. However, I believe Endeavor wouldn’t mind since Bakugou is gonna be working under him. Endeavor knows me personally since I have done his sidekick’s gear upgrades. He knows I am about the quality of all of my inventions, not the price tag.” You answered his question without any hesitation. 

“Why are my gauntlets smaller?” Bakugou questions. 

“I could make them smaller which could be better for you if you were to need to carry citizens or carry anything, in general, a lot easier than removing your whole gauntlets off to do things.” 

“The same amount of power.” Bakugou questions before a smile comes to your lips. 

“I could, but I thought you would like it to be in higher capacity.” Your answer brought a smirk on his face. 

Kirishima’s eyes widened, “Bigger. Holy shit.” 

He thinks of Bakugou with his famous gremlin laughing and letting out bigger explosions but seeing the two of you. He can see imaginary horns on top of the two heads with arrow tails behind them while the two discuss further into his costume change. 

It was entertaining but amusing how well the two got along as if the two have worked before. He could see Bakugou was impressed but ignited to test it out. You were explaining the different options in detail as Bakugou gave tips to want he would like. 

Soon enough, the time was flying so quickly that the bell rings alerting students lunchtime was over which caused everyone to throw away their trash and put their trays where they supposed to be. Kirishima had already said goodbye to you before walking over to his classmate while Bakugou stayed behind to talk to you.

“Hand over your phone.”

“Excuse me.” You were confused about his request. 

“Don’t you want my fucking phone number. We can discuss when we could meet up.“ Bakugou angry mumbles and holds out his hand where you quickly dig into your pockets to pull it out and open it for him to enter his digits.

“You want to be a partner.” You were double confirming and surprised how easily he accepted it. 

“Yeah, Dumbass.” He hands it back to you where he starts walking away. 

You smiled softly before thanking him loudly since he was speed walking to his class. “Thank you!”

“Whatever!”

_____________________

Later that day, Bakugou texted you if you were free after school to discuss it over some food. You can’t deny free food. You were waiting outside his classroom since your classes were already finished for the day. Usually, you would use this time to be the inventory but since you are technically banned from the room for a while. You are just using the tablet to draw out better visual ideas and sitting on the floor. 

You had your earphones on while students walk by to go home due to classes ending sooner. There are just a couple minutes left for the bell to ring. The door slips open to walk out Aizawa who tiredly glances over to the side to see you minding your own business and drawing on the school’s tablet. He taps your foot with his. 

You get startled and take off your earphones. “Stand up before my students start tripping over you.” He mumbles before walking away. 

“Sorry. Aizawa.” You immediately stand up and stuff away from your tablet into your bag before putting it on to only make eye contact with big brown eyes that were filled with irritation. 

Uraraka Ochako. 

“Why are you here? Deku doesn’t want to talk to you.” She harshly says pulling your heartstrings. You whine at the thought he probably doesn’t want to even see you. 

“I already know that.” You mumble rubbing your arm in discomfort. 

“I am here for Bakugou.” You could see the confusion and disgust in her eyes. 

“The rumors are true. You are trying to hook up with anyone.” 

Your eyes widen and gasp. “What the actual fuck! No. He is -”

“Their new partner as the model for the department event. Round face.” They both turn around to see him towering over Uraraka easily with his height. 

He walks beside the brown-haired girl. “You shouldn’t easily believe rumors.” 

With his last words to his classmate, before grabbing your wrist and dragging you behind him. You try your best to keep up with him, pacing him and ignoring the stars on your back. 

As Midoriya Izuku finally comes out from hiding in his classroom to stare at your back being dragged away by his rival. 

He isn’t surprised but he couldn’t help but feel hurt. 

He isn’t prepared to confront you again, nevertheless being your model where you would need to casually be in contact with one another. 

His hands curl into a tight fist on his back straps before turning the other side of the hall away from you being in his sight. 

He knew you had to find a new partner since the two of you did not end in a good note, but terrible note. 

He knows this event is important for your career as an inventor for heroes. As much as he wants to hate you for what you have done, but he couldn’t pull himself to do so. 

On the other side, you were surprised how students moved quickly to stay clear from Bakugou path. 

However, people were gossiping over the sight of being together. 

“Is she sleeping with him too?” 

“That feral boy and the whore deserve each other.” 

Your eyes glance down to the floor. You just want to bury yourself into the hole and die. The rumors are getting out of hands. Your mask is starting to crack. It overwhelms how your reputation is being dragged through the mud like shit. 

However, you were snapped out of it by a pull and soft squeeze from him make you look up at him with your tearful eyes. 

“Focus on me, block them out.” He murmurs loud enough for you to hear as he glares down at the student that even tries to block his path. 

Your eyes widen at his advice. You know he is trying to bring you comfort in his way. He is a good person deep down around his sharp edges. 

It also sounds like he is speaking from experience. There are numerous rumors about the feral boy from Class A from the beginning of their first year after the sports festival. 

Perhaps that’s why he always glares at nothingness when he is walking to block out everyone’s whispers around him. 

You stare at the back of his hair and see Bakugou in a new light.

_______________________________________________

I would love to hear any predictions or theories, you guys have!

Feedback is appreciated!

Please be kind within the comments. I hope you are enjoying the story. Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors.

if anyone wishes to be tagged, either send me an ask or comment below this post! Taglist will be in the comments.

#sentiment #Izuku #midoriya #izuku x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #Deku Izuku X reader #izuku x reader mha #izuku x reader bnha #izuku midoriya x reader #midoriya x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #boku no hero academia x reader #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #my hero academia scenarios #bnha scenarios #boku no hero academia scenario #boku no hero academia scenarios #mha scenarios #boku no hero academia imagines #bnha imagines #mha imagines #izuku midoriya imagines #deku x reader #bakugou #katsuki

[sukorage]

Not Alone - Chapter 1-

I do not own Youjo Senki or any of the LN.

Chapter 1

Unified Year 1924

'Everything is going according to plan!' Thought a small girl no older than 10 years old.

'All that's left to do is to use signaling theory to show my human resources value and it's off to the elite track!' Smiling while going to her seat at the front.

"I'm telling you Captain Uger! You don't need to worry about me I am capable and responsible enough to take care of myself."

Tanya looked to the entrance where Captain Maximilian Johann von Uger was having a conversation with a boy inches taller than herself. She guessed she shouldn't be suprised the Empire was a militaristic nation there was bound to be recruits that are the same age as she is but what she didn't expect is to see one of those young recruits in the War College.

Captain Uger put his hands on his hips and sighed "I know that, I just can't believe that you're here as young as you are." Captain Uger said clearly distressed.

"And why not? I even have the paperwork and the letter belonging from command that I am to be transferred to continue my studies in the War College." the unnamed boy said irritated, then he took a deep breath, "Look we'll talk more about this later let's just go to our seats."

Tanya was confused, what is his relationship with Captain Uger to speak to him so informally like that. The boy had black hair standing at a height of 5'1 inches with a standard officer uniform with patches that give evidence that he is a 1st Lieutenant in the Imperial Army with computation orb that looks exactly like the standard computation orb but instead of the orb being crimson it was colored a dull gray, It looked as if it was somewhat incomplete.

Tanya's eyes widened,'A new model perhaps?' she couldn't believe he got permission to develop another one. She subconsciously stared at the unnamed boy thinking that she was doing a great job not to get noticed, little did she know that the boy in question noticed the stare and gave no reaction to it.

She then after a few seconds averted her eyes and sat straight up eagerly waiting for the class to start and everything after that was a blur.

"Haah…." a boy in a standard 1st Lieutenant uniform sighed.

His name was Viktor Aurick Uger, like Tanya he was also what the upper brass called a 'prodigy', he graduated early from the OCS and was sent to be a test subject for a sister project for the Elinium T-95. Dr. Adelheid von Schugel had asked for him because the normal computation orbs was very incompatible and hard to control for his formulas which always baffled others, he could do the basic things but it felt like the damn things were sucking him dry.

They had thought that the prototype orb can fix the problem but alas the T-95 still has the same results even after it being much more advanced. The higher ups since then had halted his tests on the orb other than for Tanya because for some odd reason she was the only one capable of using it without it blowing up, but he wasn't going to complain, the scientist had a few loose screws in his head. It was only an accident that he had come across this orb or as the doctor put it a 'failed' project.

It wasn't even suppose to work according to him since it lacked the essentials, It baffled the doctor that he was able to even use it at all and had tried to get him to stay for more research but the request for transfer was already accepted and since they couldn't explain why the said failed orb worked so well with him, and he couldn't use other orbs without him getting tired, and for a lack of a better alternative, they had given him the orb on the pretense that it was getting a field test.

He was currently lounging around in the Military Academy Library sitting on a chair next to the tables provided inside, ever since he was given the go ahead to leave the testing grounds and go and study in the War College, his days has become too monotonous in his opinion.

"Hnngh!….. Hnnngh!" The sound of someone struggling enters his ears.

"Hm?" He looks around until he spots a girl no older than he is and saw what she was doing or at least trying to do.

After watching her struggling for a minute he sighed and got up and borrowed a stepping block to try and give her a hand.

"It seems like you need a little help."

"Huh?" Her eyebrows furrowed with disapproval.

Viktor sighed once again.

"You don't need to give me that look, Here." He gently places the stepping block next to the bookcase.

The girl kept her eyes narrowed at him and gave a huff.

"Thanks..."

"Ah, so you can talk." He scoffed.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

"No no! my apologies, My Names Viktor Aurick Uger, A First Lieutenant Mage in the Imperial Army."

She raised a brow "Very well, my name is Tanya Degurechaff , A First Lieutenant just like you." Without skipping a beat she used the stepping block to better reach the book she was earlier trying to reach. "We seem to be almost the same age but I do not recall you being in the OCS."

He gave a half-smile " Ha ha...ha, Well you see I graduated early and was sent to a lab to test out a prototype orb under the Chief Engineer." he blanched when he recalled the excited voice of Dr. Schugel, as much as the project gave him an edge to use in the battlefield, The old man was strange to say the least.

"The prototype orb being the Elinium T-95?"

"Yes that is correct, In fact I was chosen to test it before you came along, I'm glad you made it out that crazy doctor's lab in one piece."

Her whole face lit up "Right! That crazy scientist almost blew me up several times!" Finally someone other than her knew of the crazy the empire's Chief Engineer has regarding his inventions! "Wait, how did you get away from him then? they denied my transfer several times!"

Viktor was surprised by her change in attitude and answered quickly, " Well about that, my uncle pulled some strings after I had informed him of the impossibility of what the scientist was asking of me, it also helped that you were there to take my place." His voice becoming a whisper at the end of the sentence.

"What!?" She screamed surprising everyone present in the library. 'Damn it! I wish I had the same connections as he did, It would have saved me from a lot of trouble.' she thought as she bit her lip in frustration.

He grimaced, "Yeah, I got really lucky." he explained slightly remembering the scientist blabbering something about God while doing so.

"Anyway enou-" He was about to say before being interrupted.

"Ah, First Lieutenant Viktor, what a surprise."

Viktor looked behind him and saw Vice Director Zettour

He was surprised but still promptly saluted "General!"

Tanya was also momentarily surprised and saluted.

"I-I'm sorry General my name's Tanya Degurechaff a first lieutenant mage in the Imperial Army." Tanya nervously said.

"At ease both of you."

Both 10 year old gave a sigh of relief.

Zettour chuckled " I did not think you both would be having a rendezvous in this isolated part of the library, what would your uncle say Viktor."

Tanya had a bitter look on her face while Viktor face flushed red.

"What?! N-no sir you've got it all wrong I was jus-" Viktor tried to explain while Tanya just opted to just stay quiet in the sidelines with her head lowered, one could see her eye twitching if they stared long enough but she opted to hide it since it would be a bad first introduction to the general.

"Don't worry I'm just joking, I've known about Viktor since he was first put into OCS, but you however Tanya in particular has been quite busy I hear." He then smiled, "If both of you aren't in a hurry could you both come with me?"

"Yes sir! with pleasure!" Saluted Viktor with a little less enthusiasm than he would have liked and with Tanya saluting with the still bitter look on her face.

"What could he possibly want with us?"

Viktor mused as he followed Brigadier General Hans Von Zettour silently. He then looked to his right, walking alongside him was Tanya, despite the situation earlier she was now inexplicably smiling while following their superior.

'What the hell is up with this girl?' he thought, A little bit creeped out by the smile she was now wearing, though that thought was interrupted when the stopped walking.

"We've arrived, Come in." Zettour invited both Tanya and Viktor as he opened the door.

As both Viktor and Tanya entered they took note of the room. It was spacious, it had bookshelves filled with books on each side of the room and had a desk with chairs at both sides with the window directly behind it providing sufficient lighting inside. 'A perfect place to have a conversation you wouldn't want anyone else to overhear' Viktor thought.

Zettour then proceeded to walk behind the desk to look outside the window, Looking outside he saw citizens drinking at the local pub like it would be their last, they were obviously in high spirits, be it because of the current situation of the war or whatsoever.

Zettour hummed, then proceeded to speak "Be seated, Both of you."

"Yes sir! excuse us." Viktor and Tanya both spoke with the latter being more enthusiastic.

Viktor proceeded to take a seat with Tanya taking the vacant chair to his left, he gave her a sideways glance but the girl paid him no mind. A moment passed, the atmosphere suddenly became a little uneasy.

It was then that Zettour lay the first stone. "What are your thoughts on the war?" Zettour suddenly asked.

In the army, superiors appreciates those who will discuss in complete detail and report in often, So it's better to ask if you don't know what they're talking about for better clarification.

This applies to what the was asking of them, the question was too broad to even think of an answer immediately. There would be too many factors that one would have to think about. Viktor was about to speak his mind but the girl beside him beat him to the punch.

With determined eyes Tanya spoke. "With all due respect , your question is too broad." she opined.

Viktor's eyes widened by a small amount for a mere second but then relaxed and a smile danced on his lips. 'Let's see how this plays out.' he mused. He did not want to cut in if he doesn't need to. He was certain this was just how the General , tests the waters as one could assume, He leaned back into his chair and watched the two continue.

Zettour released a breath, He then turned to take a seat opposite from the two in front of him.

"Yes, you are right. Let me ask this in another way. What kind of form do you think this war will take?"

"Sir, I think this is beyond our pay grade to even comment on."

It was true, She would need to abstain from saying anything past her power. Like how the Personnel Department shouldn't remark on operational issues, the Operations Department shouldn't meddle with the undertakings of staff matters. Anyway, the point is to know one's own limits on authority. He looked to the with narrowed eyes 'What's your game, Old Man?' he thought.

Zettour looked at the girl. "It's fine. You may speak freely." he stated resting his hands now crossed on the desk.

"As you wish then." Tanya relented.

Viktor let out a quiet chuckle, it would be rude for her to continue refusing to answer. Humans have two ears and one mouth, which meant that if someone was willing to listen, you just need to use one mouth. Even though it was possible to communicate by stating the minimum amount of words, communication was impossible without first opening your mouth.

"I would like to think that this war could develop into something akin to a Great War." Tanya answered.

This seemed to have caught Zettour's interest. "A Great War you say?" He spoke waiting eagerly for Tanya to continue her prediction.

Viktor could see where she was going with this, by common sense, he could see how this would develop into a world war. As the immense countries battle each other for power, and every one of the nations would need to go hard and fast.

Tanya then proceeded to explain on how this would happen, starting from how the other great nations would start lending a hand, Be it volunteers or equipment under the guise of nice mediators. Even if the Empire would have a crushing victory over the Republic it would not be long before a joint interference from other nations will become inevitable.

"If that was the case, we should follow history and try to make early talks with the surrounding nations, if still possible. But the top most priority should be minimizing the empire's losses." Tanya finished with a satisfied smile.

"So in other words, you wouldn't try to win? your words might make others suspect your reason to fight." Zettour stated with a slightly disapproving tone.

A moment passed and Viktor could only hold his amusement. The girl's facial expression immediately changed, gone was the satisfied smile and in place the girl beside him was wide-eyed and had beads of sweat trailing down the side of her face. This brought a smirk to his face. 'She dug her own grave.' Viktor thought. 'How will you reason your way out of this, I wonder.'

"I-It might seem like that, on the off chance that you take the statement as it is. In any case, it doesn't mean we don't look for triumph in the war." she assured him.

"Do continue." urged Zettour.

Tanya continued to suggest that a combination of defensive infantry tactics with the mages operating with offensive strategies in order to tire out the enemy resources. When Viktor heard her idea he was amazed, He couldn't refute that it was a good idea. But with it there are some problems.

Viktor thought it was now a good time to join in the conversation. "You forgot one thing though, even if we did get approval from the operations department. Mages like us aren't exactly in abundance." Viktor opined. "And we aren't exactly the type of units fit to hold ground, if you haven't noticed." he proceeds to put his fingers on his chin as if he was deep in thought.

Tanya looked at the boy beside her and gave a rather intense glare, to which Viktor was unfazed."Unless..." He closed his eyes and after a pause his eyes widened. "Do you plan to use the mages to thin out the enemy soldiers, for our men in the ground to have an easier time in the battle?" inquired Viktor. 'But it still doesn't resolve the problem of where we can get the extra mages, The north and west front are strained enough as it is.'

"Yes, that is exactly right." She kept her glare, she wanted so hard for this wanna be to shut the hell up right now, but kept her cool as she didn't want to leave a bad impression on the General.

Zettour paused seemingly contemplating the idea and after a few seconds spoke. "I'll look into it, you go on ahead and file a formal request. I have some business to talk to about with First Lieutenant Viktor."

"Yes sir!" Tanya then promptly stood up and saluted, then proceeded to head out of the room giving a sideways glance at Viktor and Zettour. As soon as the door closed Viktor spoke his mind. "You're not seriously thinking about going through with this plan, are you sir?"

"Why not? It sounds like a brilliant plan"

"The north and west probably don't have any mages they can spare, as for the east... well I don't think their mages are up to par since they rarely don't get the combat experience as the east is really quiet right now." Viktor trailed off. The east has no ongoing conflicts right now, so the troops stationed there would not have the experience that the troops have in the north or in the west.

"While you do make good points I ask that you leave that to me and the general staff, let's talk about something else." Zettour leaned into his chair and crossed his arms. "What do you think of her?"

"Her?" Viktor knew what the General was referring to but opted to ask just in case, It was an out of the blue question after all.

"Tanya Von Degurechaff."

Viktor seemed to contemplate on the question that was asked of him for a couple of moments, but in all honestly he couldn't really give an opinion on what he thought about her.

"Sir, I don't believe you'll hear anything different from what the others has already told you." he told the old General, both children haven't got time to reacquaint themselves. Their first meeting was just earlier in the library after all.

"Don't you share the same lectures?" asked Zettour, "I would have thought both of you would have been friends by now."

Viktor cringed at that, just because they were the same age doesn't mean they'll get along. And from how she acts she might as well be someone as old as his uncle."She is rather.." said Viktor trying to think of a word, "unapproachable."

Zettour chuckled at this.

"Nevertheless, do your best to be in good terms with 1st Lieutenant Degurechaff, It might be beneficial for the both of you from now on. Dismissed." After giving some parting advice, Zettour dismissed the young 1st Lieutenant, he could see the look of confusion on the boy's face but nevertheless he saluted the general and excused himself out of the room.

After the door closes, Zettour turned his chair and leaned into it while proceeding to light up a cigar and looking outside the window.

"Beneficial indeed."

#youjo senki #fanfiction #reupload

[uk-news-talking-politics]

We're the hostages of a Tory party that has gone insane

By Ian Dunt

There really is no condemnation strong enough for the behaviour the Conservative party is exhibiting. If there is any justice in the world, it will be a stain on their reputation for a generation.

Brexit has simply driven them insane. They have pursued something which was always impossible and then objected to any evidence of its impossibility. They have been outraged by commitments to maintain the promises they themselves made. They have attacked each other in the most sustained bout of internecine squabbling we've seen in government in our lifetime. And now they are trying to undermine their own leader so they can replace a terrible deal with an imaginary one. And all with just weeks of Article 50 left to run. And all to settle a referendum question which no-one was calling for but themselves.

So. What the hell happens now.

All options are a disaster. It is a shopping expedition in hell.

If May wins the vote strongly tonight she will carry on with her so-called plan. That, as far as we can make it out, is to secure new concessions on the backstop without actually reopening the negotiations which would provide them. In reality, it is probably some new form of wording in the future relationship document making it clear no-one wants the backstop to be permanent.

But it won't be enough. Her problem is that hardcore Brexiters won't back the deal unless she reopens the withdrawal agreement and reforms the backstop. But she cannot reopen the withdrawal agreement, and even if she could she would not be able to reform the backstop. So regardless: she will lose the vote on her deal. Nothing will have changed.

If May wins modestly, it'll be up to her judgement whether she stays on as PM. Margaret Thatcher went in similar circumstances, but May shows none of the traditional signs of decency or honour in her political conduct. So now the same pattern plays out - fake concession, lost vote - only with her having precisely zero authority within her own party or the country.

There would be one change, however: She would be impossible to remove. The leadership contest rules would have give her a one year immunity from challenge. A lame duck, encased in steel.

If she's replaced, there has to be a leadership challenge. There are no set time constraints - there are in fact precious few details about how it operates - but a set of Tory MPs will run, they will be whittled down to two by their parliamentary colleagues, and then those final contenders will go out to the membership. The clear intention is to do this as speedily as possible, but there is Christmas in the way, when people will go home. That's a lost week, at least.

The temptation will be to stop it having to go out to the membership, which is the most time-consuming part. But after denying their members a vote last time, can they really do that again here? Can a party changing their leader, while governing without a majority, really deny even the tiny modicum of democratic legitimacy which a membership ballot brings?

If they do cut off the membership vote aspect, it might all conceivably be wrapped up by mid-January. If not, it's more likely to be February. The Article 50 deadline, in case you need reminding, is March 29th.

So who will win? If the competition can be kept to the parliamentary party there is a chance for a marginally more moderate figures to succeed. No-one truly moderate, of course, but maybe an Amber Rudd, or Sajid Javid, or Michael Gove perhaps. People more likely to eye-up an EEA-type agreement.

But even at the parliamentary selection level that is unlikely. Many Tory MPs believe the successor has to be a 'proper' Brexiter. They have bought the lie that anyone who voted Remain would not bring enough magical unicorn spirit to the endeavour. Nothing May did, including handing them the Foreign Office, the Brexit department and the International Trade department, could convince them otherwise.

MPs are still most likely to go for a hard Brexiter. If it goes to the membership, who are politically quite extreme and have been infiltrated by non-Tory Brexit campaigners, it'll be the most visceral Brexiter available.

No matter who the replacement is, they're not going to keep May's deal. That is suicide. The leadership vote doubles up as a Tory referendum on it. If she goes, it goes.

Except it can't. The deal is done. It contains everything about the divorce: citizens rights, transition, budget payments, and the backstop. If you reject the backstop, you reject the deal.

A moderate Tory replacement would refuse to leave without a deal, so they'd be forced to keep the backstop. Their only option would be to double down on the embrace with the EU.They could probably do this relatively easily by changing the future relationship document to include full permanent customs union membership and a very warm formulation of words on the single market. There would then be a section which said that as long as that was honoured, the backstop would never come into effect.

They could then approach Labour to back the deal, as it would fit their demands almost identically.

But perhaps Labour would still vote against it. After all, their demands are vague and their only real desire is for the Tories to collapse. A daring Tory leader could try to pre-empt this by inviting Labour to sit with them in Brussels as they hammer it out, so it is calibrated to a joint Tory-Labour specification. A leader who is making a fresh start and intent on getting that deal through the Commons might just have the confidence to do that.

But this is unlikely. Chances are the winner will be a hard Brexiter. They will say they need to get rid of the backstop. If the backstop goes, the deal goes. So it is no-deal Brexit.

They will present this as 'managed no-deal', but we should call it 'deal-no-deal' so it sounds as absurd in wording as it is in reality.

The EU probably does have a back-up proposition on this, which would cover citizens' rights and administrative non-trade elements like aviation treaties. But that will not stem the chaos. It will not isolate the problem. Traffic modelling studies found that a two minute increase in checks at Dover would create 20-mile tailbacks within 24 hours on the UK side. That will balloon out over the first week. Food will not get in. Medicine will not get in. It will be a catastrophe.

It is absurd that this still needs saying, but the no-deal threat, whether it is managed or otherwise, is not some witch-like construction invented by cosmopolitans. It is real. It is an actual thing that will actually happen in this actual objective reality. It cannot be wished away by installing a leader who believes harder than anyone else that it won't. And there is no time to prepare for it, no matter what the zealots say, because that would necessitate road building, staff hiring and building leasing on a scale that requires several years to organise and implement.

Whichever of these scenarios happens - soft Brexit or deal-no-deal - there will need to be an extension of Article 50. This requires the universal consent of the remaining EU member states.

Our previous understanding was that this was limited to May 2019, because that is when the European elections were held and it wasn't thought possible to have Britain participate in them. Certainly it's true that there is no appetite for that, but rumours are growing in Brussels and London that there may be a way around that problem.

Perhaps Britain could just participate and elect MEPs, even if it is for just a few months? Perhaps British elections could be postponed to a later date and existing MEPs kept in place until then? Perhaps MPs could go over and sit for them? What was once a hard-and-fast blockage is now looking more permeable.

But that is a small glimmer of light in a field of darkness. Just look at these grotesque scenarios. A weak prime minister unable to get her deal through but immune from being overthrown. A lunatic replacement driving through the most extreme policy of economic self-harm this country has ever seen. A time-wasting leadership battle in the midst of a problem defined by lack of time.

MPs have to stop this. The vote on January 21st still holds and it can still be amended. They have to take control of the situation.

As for the Tory party, its conduct is simply unforgivable. Whatever governance is, this is the opposite.

#Brexit #theresa-may #tory-party

[bublp0pr]

Thaaaaat’s politics!

fanfiction idea:

A story focussed around an NPC character. Minimal to no reference to Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton, Asgore, Toriel. 

(I mean, obviously to put things in motion you need a bit of a catalyst so I’ll include Flowey to make things interesting, but still)

So Flowey is playing around with his power and has a friendly chat with the “Thaaaaaaat’s politics” bear. And he goes “You know, mister, you really should run for mayor.” 

Now, Bear has a crush on the inn keeper, who lost her husband in the Core accident and is now a single mother running the business on her own. But he’s never had the courage to actually confess. The little bun needs a responsible role model in their life and he’s not sure he can fit that bill. Flowey manipulates him, saying that he could impress her if he became mayor. This is the turning point for him and he becomes driven to make this happen and rock the boat.

He starts gathering support from the other under appreciated NPCs in Snowdin. We take a little look under the hood at the 1 dimensional characters, flesh them out a bit with relationships and backstory, establish their families and personalities etc. as Bear tries to convince them to meet in the centre of town. 

They congregate together and have a discussion that raises some pretty convincing points about some of the not-so-sensible things Asgore has put in place and all the discontent that happen under the current system 

(Papyrus is there too i suppose, he personally doesn’t see the problem with dangerous puzzles at every turn and “overcrowding” just means more chances to make friends in his opinion. He does get mildly concerned when people point out that their only law-enforcement is by an over powered fish lady with low impulse control and mild anger management issues, who doesn’t even live in Snowdin or understand their town’s core values... Sans is just too lazy to even bother showing up. But never mind them! Who needs main characters?! pffft)

At the end of the day, they agree to send out some representatives to the capital to  bring their concerns to the capital and demand that they be given the right to have their own mayor. A very confused king listens to them over a cup of tea agrees lets them hold an election.

And here’s where Flowey has to come back in to keep the story interesting. Because underhanded political feuding is something he’d love to get his sneaky little vines all tangled in. 

Bear runs of course but so does the shopkeeper, Dogaressa, Grillby (not that he wanted to, he hates public speaking. But his customers pushed him into trying because of how well-liked he is), one of the ladies who writes the newspaper and Sans (again, someone else volunteered him, more for the joke of it. Papyrus confronts him about it, [insert pun here] and he somehow pulls out before it’s even started.) 

He starts the campaign out strong, trying to gain respect in the community and presenting strategies for re-allocating their resources to improving the lifestyle of locals. But with Flowey as his campaign manager, this isn’t going to be a clean fight >:)

Flowey knows what makes people tick: empty promises, bribes, scandal, blackmail, slander. Again and again he offers to “help” Bear win the election. It starts off with harmless suggestions, nothing he’d feel... uncomfortable with. Just a little leverage. That’s all. At the start Bear insists that he’s better than that. He got into this thing to clean up this town, not step on monster’s toes to gain power. 

The town starts to divide into different sides of support. Everyone really gets into the festivity of the thing, with parades, posters, flyers and all sorts of stuff. Monsters raise good points and get inventive with how they sell their persona. Conversation on the UnderNet is abuzz about this new system and what it could mean for other locations such as Waterfall and Hotland in the future. Polls about who people think will win turn up in the newspaper. Mettaton starts a TV special promising full coverage of the story. There’s a new energy to the place that the monsters hadn’t even realised they’d been missing. 

Unbelievably, it’s the lesser encounter enemies that start to become the main demographics for voting. Making allowances for the anarchist desires of the teenage gangs in the woods, promising better treatment of Gyftrots in future with more efforts to raise awareness of the mistreatment during this gift-exchanging holiday, the removal of the snowball tax, distribution of more caps for icecaps, more union breaks for Royal Guardsman (Sans is mysteriously always suddenly very present when people bring up this one)

But the competition starts to become more ruthless (thanks to some intervention from anonymous plant sources) And slowly, as he gets more desperate, he gives in starts to try out some of Flowey’s “friendly suggestions”. (Thaaaaaats politics!)

I saw Dogamy with a certain bunny at Grillby’s the other night... Haha. Can’t you keep a collar on that husband of yours Dogaressa? 

What would Undyne say if she found out about all those “dog treats” you’ve been sniffing Doggo? My my, if someone were to... oh, I don’t know, tell her. What would she do I wonder?

So you want out of your job sending ice to the Core, Ice Wolf? ...I know a guy. That can be arranged.

One by one, the competition drops out in fear, stress or shame. There’s some last minute underdog candidate but they haven’t so much as shown their face since signing up (does it really even count as running if they just suddenly trot into the room and leave a paw print on the ballot paper and then running away again before people could make copies ; ) ??) Bear looks like he’s going to win. 

Feeling confident about his chances, the night before election he builds up his courage and goes to confess his feelings to the innkeeper. She rejects him because of the awful way he treated her sister, (Flowey had threatened to distribute her secret cinnamon bunny recipe to every vendor in the underground). He goes to Grillbys and tries to drink his feelings away. Grillby remains silent, but Bear knows he’s judging him. “Tt’s all that flower’s fault!” He’d moan. “I didn’t want this. I didn’t think it would be like this!” 

Flowey’s waiting for him outside when he leaves for the night. He’s not happy that his toy is acting so irresponsibly the day before election. They deserve a small scolding, a little reminder of who’s really in charge here. There’s too much at stake here. Once Bear becomes mayor, Snowdin will be his. An entire town in his pocket! The possibilities are endless... He can’t afford stupid mistakes so close to getting his prize. 

Bear, with a little liquid courage still in his system, stands up to Flowey. He says that he can’t take this anymore and has decided to step down. 

...

Flowey doesn’t like being told no. 

Perhaps he wasn’t clear enough. Did he honestly think that Flowey had dirt on every person in Snowdin and couldn’t tear his reputation apart too? “I’ll tell Asgore what you’ve done... I’ll tell him every single dirty crime you’ve committed for this. Hehehehe! We’re in this together you and I! To the very end.”

Bear has no choice. In dismay he goes back to his home, ashamed of the monster he has now become. 

The next day, Asgore himself visits Snowdin for the counting of the votes. Bear looks up at that stage like a man looking at his own guillotine. From the trees, Flowey watches with a keen eye. He’s already tampered with the votes. Snowdin’s as good as his. He just needs to make sure there’s no funny business. 

Bear searches through the crowd of people and spots the innkeeper. Walking over to her, he apologises for everything he’s done and what he’s about to do. “Wait, what? What you’re about to... Bear?” He’s already walking towards the stage. A fluffy white dog is sleeping on one side of the stage. It looks quite comfortable despite the noisy location. Asgore smiles at him as Bear takes his place on the stand. The dog is the first to speak. With a small yawn, it stands up and moves to the microphone. It lets out another yawn and a small bark before pantering back to it’s warm little spot on the wooden stand. 

Bear looks at it nervously. Dammit. Who’s supposed to say no to a speech as direct and persuasive as that?? He shuffles his cards and walks to the podium. Looking down at his furry paws, he can see them trembling. With a sigh he looks up at the crowd. He sees the faces of those he used to get here today. With one last glance, he tosses aside the notes carefully written by Flowey and tightens his grip on the microphone. 

Mettaton shoves BurgerPants, who’s carrying the heaps of camera equipment shakily in his hands. “ARE YOU FILMING THIS YOU WORTHLESS THING?” Last minute drama. How thrilling!! With a grumble he zooms in on the determined look in Bear’s eye.

“I would like to formally apologise for how I’ve acted. I started this simply wanting the best for my town and somewhere along the way, I lost that focus. To my fellow candidates, my fellow citizens of Snowdin, my fellow monsterkind: I am sorry for how I have behaved towards you. I... am unfit to be your mayor. For this reason,” He glances at the king, “I have decided to abdicate.” 

There are collective gasps from the crowd. Monsters watch in a mix of pride, shock and confusion as the tiny white dog receives a sash around it’s neck and licks Asgore’s face.

Flowey is seething in the background. How dare he?! A sick grin twist on his face. “Oh... you think you’re so clever do you??? We’ll see who’s clever you idiot.” 

Vines spread their way through the crowds of people without them noticing. 

Bear leans down and shakes Annoying Dog’s paw with a weak smile. It barks happily, but looks like it would rather be returning to its nap. 

Once in position, the green rope grows sharp thorns and becomes tense, tearing through the hoards of people. There are shrieks as all the monsters are suddenly raised in the air. Flowey emerges from the ground, a large smile on his face. “Sorry folks! Change of plan! Looks like it’s going to be a hostile takeover.” He cackles loudly. Monsters try and fail to struggle against him. 

“Bear, Bear, Bear!” He sighs in mock disappointment. “I had such high hopes for you! But now look what you’re gone and done! I tried to warn you, I really did. What is it with monsters and never,” He squeezes the monster tighter “following through?”

Bear is terrified. He’d never seen Flowey this dangerous before. Sure, there’d been that disturbing look to his face when he spoke about certain things... but never like this. “P-p-please...” He starts blubbering, scared for his life. 

This is starting to bore Flowey. He’d never be able to control the monsters properly after this point. As soon as he lets go of Asgore, he’s dust. In fact, in a few minutes Undyne’s probably going to arrive as well. Maybe he should just reset. 

A monster manages to wriggle their way out from his grip. Flowey sends bullets towards them flippantly, turning the thing to dust. “Here’s how this is going to work, pal. I’m going to kill you-” There’s a small wail at this.  “SHUT UP!” He screeches at him. “I’m going to kill you. And then I’m going to start turning the rest of these monsters to dust one by one until Undyne arrives. Unless Mr Asgore here takes me to the human souls.” It’s not a well thought out plan but this timeline’s already ruined anyway, it can’t hurt to be direct. 

Asgore lifts up his head in confusion, then it morphs into horror. He goes grim. 

“No.” 

Flowey starts laughing. “Hear that people?! KING ASGORE here, doesn’t think your lives are worth saving!” There are a few mumbles from the crowd. Asgore remains stoic. The good of monsterkind is worth more than the life of the individual. Flowey leans in closer to him. “You know, these worthless idiots do have a point. You’re a pretty sucky king, Fluffy buns.” He giggles at the stupid nickname. Asgore stares at him with an intense anger. “Let these people go.” Flowey tilts his head. “Sure thing! Will do! Just give me the souls.” The two are inches apart, glaring at eachother unwaveringly. 

A blue spear sails between the two. Ah. That’s his cue to leave. “Well, this has been fun!” He calls. “We should do it again sometime! Maybe next time you can play along a little better though, Bear?” 

Bear is in over his head here. He just hangs in Flowey’s vines, powerless. 

Flowey pulls back his attacks and disappears into the ground with a grin as the rest of the Royal Guard approaches. 

RESET. Continue?

#i've read too much finagl lately if you can't tell #meh #there was some good concepts that came out in this idea though #it's not really fleshed out enough for a full fanfic in my opinion #and i'd probably change the ending if i was going to make this proper #but yeah #fanfic idea #that ended up being really long

[networkingdefinition]

Massachusetts State Quotes

Official Website: Massachusetts State Quotes

  • And a special thank you to the citizens of Massachusetts: You are paying all the taxes, creating all the jobs, raising all the children. This government is yours. Thank you for letting me serve you. I love this job. – Mitt Romney • And I agree that the Democratic legislators in Massachusetts might have given some advice to Republicans in Congress about how to cooperate, but the fact of the matter is we used the same advisers and they say it’s the same plan. – Barack Obama • And of course coming from Massachusetts, Rocky Marciano was my favorite. – Robert Goulet • And some sad news… the first lesbian couple to legally get married in the state of Massachusetts has split up. They cited irreconcilable similarities. – Jay Leno • As an economics undergraduate, I also worked on a part-time basis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a company that was advising customers about portfolio decisions, writing reports. – Merton Miller

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Massachusett', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_massachusett').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_massachusett img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Basketball may have been invented in Massachusetts, but it was made for Indiana. – Bobby Knight • Because of my own family’s service (in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Massachusetts and New York National Guard), I am a strong supporter of the military and do believe that there are just wars. – Camille Paglia • Both my parents came from Russia and suddenly they wound up in Boston, Massachusetts, Brookline, Massachusetts and they felt the sun rose and set on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s backside because he meant so much to them. This was freedom. This was something totally different from the Russia they had left. – Mike Wallace • By the time I started high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. After graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts, I moved to New York City and worked for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. – Cynthia Voigt • By the way, if I have my own cult of personality with my own geodetic dome in western Massachusetts, I will have a hurt yurt for anyone who crosses me. – John Hodgman • Courage–judgment–integrity–dedication–these are the historic qualities of the Bay Colony and the Bay State….And these are the qualities which, with God’s help, this son of Massachusetts hopes will characterize our government’s conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead. – John F. Kennedy • Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts. – Mitt Romney • Even in Madison’s day, the practice of gerrymandering for partisan advantage was familiar. In the late seventeen-eighties, there were claims that Patrick Henry had tried to gerrymander Madison himself out of the First Congress. The term was coined during Madison’s Presidency, to mock Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, who in 1811 approved an election district that was said to look like a salamander. – Jeffrey Toobin • For me when I was growing up, some of the happiest times were when we went to a small island called Nantucket off Massachusetts. – Gwyneth Paltrow • Foreign diplomats could have modeled their conduct on the way the Negro postmen, Pullman porters, and dining car waiters of Roxbury [Massachusetts] acted, striding around as if they were wearing top hats and cutaways. – Malcolm X • From tea parties to the election in Massachusetts, we are witnessing the single greatest political pushback in American history. – Marco Rubio • Governor Romney has been a great success in business. He has been a great success as executive, as governor of Massachusetts. I think that’s the kind of guy we want in the White House. – Chris Christie • Henry Adams was scared shitless, politically, by the discovery that England isn’t alien to a boy from Boston, but it was true, and it is true. It’s a Boston and coastal Massachusetts thing. Henry Adams blocked it out. – William Monahan • I am told that there have been over the years a number of experiments taking place in places like Massachusetts Institute of Technology that have been entirely based on concepts raised by Star Trek. – Patrick Stewart • I can tell you, Massachusetts, fastest growing sector of our economy is clean energy and energy efficiency companies. And they’re growing faster than any other sector. – John F. Kerry • I can work in London. A British journalist asked me if I had any trouble working with an English crew, as an American, and I said I might have if I was from Scotland, but I’m from Massachusetts, which is sort of Oxfordshire, but more intellectual. That’s kind of unforgivable but you’ve got to let them have it. – William Monahan • I can’t imagine having a conversation about ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. – Niall Ferguson • I come to present the strong claims of suffering humanity. I come to place before the Legislature of Massachusetts the condition of the miserable, the desolate, the outcast. I come as the advocate of helpless, forgotten, insane men and women; of beings sunk to a condition from which the unconcerned world would start with real horror. – Dorothea Dix • I did one of the worst shows for that kind of thing in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is one of the most liberal spots on the planet. There were numerous people who walked out, somebody had thrown a beer, I had people yelling and screaming. – David Cross • I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both inperson and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait until they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already. – Henry David Thoreau • I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a little better than herself in these respects. – Henry David Thoreau • I don’t know if I ever mentioned back in 2002 we fought our way into a governor’s debate in Massachusetts where, you know, this was televised and I articulated our usual agenda: cut the military, put the dollars into true security here at home, provide healthcare as a human right, raise wages which needed to be living wages, green our energy system, equal marriage? – we were the only ones talking about it back in 2002. – Jill Stein • I grew up in a town called Hopedale, Massachusetts. I was born there in 1964, and the only thing I hate outside of myself is everything else. – Dana Gould • I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town. – Emeril Lagasse • I had a teacher’s degree and a degree in Oriental Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts. I thought I was going to India to study but all of a sudden, I had a career in music. It really surprised me. – Buffy Sainte-Marie • I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,–if ten honest men only,–ay, if one HONESTman, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever. – Henry David Thoreau • I noted, though, that other strong critics of Donald Trump did attend the inauguration. Hillary Clinton went. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders went. I saw Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. I saw Congressman James Clyburn, all of whom have been critics of Donald Trump. – Michel Martin • I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston and Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. – Daniel Webster • I think [John Adams’s] influence on the federal Constitution was indirect. Many including James Madison mocked the first volume of Adams’s Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787. But his Massachusetts constitution was a model for those who thought about stable popular governments, with its separation of powers, its bicameral legislature, its independent judiciary, and its strong executive. – Gordon S. Wood • I think it’s alright if the government wants to say, in the state of Massachusetts, in the state of New York, in the state of California, that civil ceremonies should be accepted, I think that should be fine. I don’t think that even those states that believe in civil marriages between homosexuals or ordained in a church should perform civil ceremonies. – Jimmy Carter • I think it’s unconscionable for a Senator from Massachusetts to come down here and tell the people of Florida what’s right for them. It’s arrogant and irresponsible. – Jeff Miller • I think that Governor Romney needs to talk about the fact that what he tried to do in the state of Massachusetts was him seeing what could be best for his state, but maybe it didn’t work out as well. – Allen West • I took part in a theatre festival in Massachusetts two summers after I graduated from college. Then I was in Los Angeles thinking: “I’m going to go to New York.” I’d decided that I would not have a chance of a film career, so I was about to make the move. I bought a plane ticket and found a place to live in New York, packed my bags and of course the universe “told me” that I was not meant to go. Suddenly, a week before I was supposed to leave, I had three job offers and one of them was my first movie. – Chris Pine • I took the T from Logan airport to Harvard Square. I hate driving in Boston. It’s the traffic that drives me spare, and the absolutely terrible manners of the motorists. Other New Englanders refer to Massachusetts drivers as “Massholes. – Geraldine Brooks • I used to live in New York City, then when my son was two years old we moved to Cambridge Massachusetts and we’ve been there ever since. My son is now twenty-nine years old, so we’ve been up there for a while. – Errol Morris • I was an actor as a kid in Boston. Then I went to art school with Brice Marden, the Massachusetts College of Art. So the hybrid of being an actor and artist is a director. – Arne Glimcher • I was born in Massachusetts and lived there until I was thirteen years old. – Robert Goulet • I was born in Taunton, Massachusetts on June 1, 1917, but I actually grew up in nearby New Bedford. – William Standish Knowles • I was born on a tiny cot in southwestern Massachusetts during World War II. A sickly child, I turned to photography to overcome my loneliness and isolation. – William Wegman • I was listening to music to kind of pump myself up and get psyched up, like I was listening to Iron Maiden and Misfits and Dead Kennedys, and it was like my ’80s Massachusetts parking-lot heavy metal and Guns N’ Roses. – Eli Roth • I went to high school in Lexington, Massachusetts, which in hindsight was very nice. – Eugene Mirman • I went to Massachusetts to make a difference. I didn’t go there to begin a political career running time and time again. I made a difference. I put in place the things I wanted to do. – Mitt Romney • I won the youth vote in Massachusetts and in California. I did very well with it in Ohio. – Hillary Clinton • If I lived in Massachusetts, I’d try to vote ten times … Yeah that’s right, I’d cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. Because that’s exactly what they are. – Ed Schultz • I’m a big believer in getting money from where the money is, and the money is in Washington. I learned from running the Olympics that you can get money there to help build economic opportunities. We actually got over $410 million from the federal government; that is a huge increase over anything ever done before. We did that by going after every agency of government. That kind of creativity I want to bring to everything we do (in Massachusetts). – Mitt Romney • I’m extremely proud of my family’s record of public service to Massachusetts and the nation. – Joseph P. Kennedy III • I’m from Boston, and in Boston, you are born with a baseball bat in your hand. And actually, most of the bats in Massachusetts are used off the field instead of on the field, and we all had baseball bats in our cars in high school. – Eli Roth • I’m from Connecticut, and we don’t have any dialects. Well, I don’t think we have any dialects, and yeah, it’s very complex. That Rhode Island/Massachusetts New England region is arguably the hardest dialect to nail. – Seth MacFarlane • I’m lucky to have been raised in the most beautiful place – Amherst, Massachusetts, state of my heart. I’m more patriotic to Massachusetts than to almost any place. – Uma Thurman • I’m with an old family” was the euphemism used to dignify the professions of white folks’ cooks and maids who talked so affectedly among their own kind in Roxbury [Massachusetts] that you couldn’t even understand them. – Malcolm X • In 1948 I entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, undecided between studies of chemistry and physics, but my first year convinced me that physics was more interesting to me. – Burton Richter • In Massachusetts they [Democratic politicians] steal, in California they feud, and in New York they lie. – Robert Kennedy • In Massachusetts, scientists have created the first human clone. The bad thing is that in thirty years, the clone will still be depressed because the Boston Red Sox will still have not won a World Series. – Craig Kilborn • In Massachusetts, where properly qualified ‘persons’ were allowed to practice law, the Supreme Court decided that a woman was not a ‘person,’ and a special act of the legislature had to be passed before Miss Lelia Robinson could be admitted to the bar. But today women are lawyers. – Lucy Stone • In Montana, they renamed a town after an all-time great, Joe Montana. Well, a town in Massachusetts changed their name to honor my guy Terry Bradshaw–Marblehead. – Howie Long • In the little town where I live in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, we now have a ‘Public Safety Complex’ around the corner from what used to be our hokey Andy Griffith-esque fire station. – Rachel Maddow • In the very next election, the American people elected 63 new Republicans to the House of Representatives – the largest sweep of Congress for any party since 1948. Even liberal Massachusetts elected a Republican senator solely because of his vow to vote against Obamacare. – Ann Coulter • Indeed, if I understand this global-warming business correctly, the danger is that the waters will rise and drown the whole of Massachusetts, New York City, Long Island, the California coast and a few big cities on the Great Lakes – in other words, every Democratic enclave will be wiped out leaving only the solid Republican heartland. Politically speaking, for conservatives there’s no downside to global warming. – Mark Steyn • It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre “kick”. Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly, no one can deny the existence of a profoundly morbid streak in the Puritan imagination. – H. P. Lovecraft • It is time to acknowledge the extraordinary sacrifice of all of our veterans. While many Massachusetts soldiers served our nation in a period technically dubbed ‘peacetime,’ they restored American pride in the wake of Vietnam and helped bring a successful end to the Cold War. The service of these men and women was not without cost. There are countless stories of soldiers who served with great distinction only to be denied veteran status after returning home. Every man and woman who volunteered to serve this country should be treated with the same degree of respect, gratitude and dignity. – Mitt Romney • It was [John’s Adams] Massachusetts constitution if anything that influenced people. – Gordon S. Wood • John Kerry’s victory over Howard Dean has completely changed the presidential race around. Now instead of the rich white guy from Yale who lives in the White house facing off against the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Vermont, he may have to face the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Massachusetts. It’s a whole different game. – Jay Leno • Just a small-scale cult of personality, maybe raise a geodetic dome out in western Massachusetts and make people wear jumpsuits and give all their possessions to me. – John Hodgman • Let me announce this to the American people tonight one of the best things about this debate, as a Democrat from Massachusetts, I have proposed eliminating, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax. – Richard Neal • Let me tell you the story about Massachusetts under Governor Romney. It did fall to 47th out of 50 in jobs creation. Wages went down when they were going up in the rest of the country. He left his successor with debt and a deficit, and manufacturing jobs left that state at twice the rate as the rest of the country. – Stephanie Cutter • Massachusetts became the first state to marry gay couples, though lawmakers say allowing gay couples to get married raises a lot of questions. You know, such as: does that best man invite both guys to the bachelor party? – Jay Leno • Massachusetts children cannot only lead the nation in test scores, they can be competitive with the best in the world. And the gap in achievement among races can virtually disappear. – Mitt Romney • Massachusetts constitution] was [John Adams] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates – that the executive represented the monarchical estate, the senate the aristocratic estate, and the house of representatives the estate of the people. – Gordon S. Wood • Massachusetts is the first state in America to reach full adulthood. The rest of America is still in adolescence. – Uwe Reinhardt • Massachusetts led the nation passing the first state minimum wage a century ago in June 1912, and with passage of an $11 state minimum wage … will be leading the nation again with a wage floor that is good for business, good for customers and good for our economy. – Holly Sklar • Massachusetts women as a rule adhere too strongly to old-time conventions. – Julia Ward Howe • Matt and I have set a date. Matt and I will tie the knot New Years Day in the town of Swampscott, Massachusetts. Reserve your hotel rooms now. I will be having a gay marriage. – Ben Affleck • Mitt Romney is a] Massachusetts moderate who, in fact, is pretty good at managing the decay.” He’s “given no evidence in his years in Massachusetts of any ability to change the culture or change the political structure. – Newt Gingrich • Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he’s fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn’t one of them. He’s a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it. – Deval Patrick • Mr. President, I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American. I speak for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause. – Daniel Webster • My daughter just graduated college and she’s a dance major. She’s done a couple of dance videos already and won Miss Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. She’s going out for Miss United States the second week of July, out in Las Vegas. She will probably wind up going to New York and trying the Broadway thing. – Doug Flutie • My father was in the coal business in West Virginia. Both dad and mother were, however, originally from Massachusetts; New England, to them, meant the place to go if you really wanted an education. – John Knowles • My grandfather on my mother’s side was a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; my other grandfather was a lawyer, and one time Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. – Kenneth G. Wilson • My intention was to enroll at McGill University but an unexpected series of events led me to study physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. – Sidney Altman • My mother was independent. She had grown up in Dalton and Pittsfield, in western Massachusetts, and she was one of the first women drivers in that area. – Julia Child • My next book is on the Salem witch trials. As a small-town Massachusetts girl, this makes me very happy. So does the reunion with documents! – Stacy Schiff • My understanding is that Kansas, Massachusetts, they’ve been more pioneers on the special education side. – Margaret Spellings • New Jersey boasts the highest percentage of passport holders (68%); Delaware (67%), Alaska (65%), Massachusetts (63%), New York (62%), and California (60%) are close behind. At the opposite end of the spectrum, less than one in five residents of Mississippi are passport holders, and just one in four residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Arkansas. – Richard Florida • No: until I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is endangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an estate at home by peaceful enterprise, I can afford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts, and her right to my property and life. It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case. – Henry David Thoreau • Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded–maybe you wouldn’t, maybe you have been around, maybe you have lived, maybe you have thought, maybe you have been hit–at how the daily rounds of injustice make their way through this marvelous thing that we call “due process. – Howard Zinn • Obviously, the technology community in Massachusetts competes in a global economy, and our efforts to create a more competitive environment recognizes that competitiveness at a local level. We’d expect employers in other states to use this site as they consider where in Massachusetts to locate or expand their presence. – Christopher Anderson • Of the creative spirits that flourished in Concord, Massachusetts, it might be said that Hawthorne loved men but felt estranged from them, Emerson loved ideas even more than men, and Thoreau loved himself. – Leon Edel • On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine,… I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there. – Henry David Thoreau • One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusetts to sing show tunes. – Sarah Vowell • Only a liberal senator from Massachusetts would say that a 49 percent increase in funding for education was not enough. – George W. Bush • Our nation is too different, too diverse to say that what works in Massachusetts is somehow going to be grabbed by the federal government, usurping the power of states and imposing a one-size-fits-all plan on the nation. That will not work. – Mitt Romney • Pennsylvania, the state that has produced two great men: Benjamin Franklin of Massachusetts, and Albert Gallatin of Switzerland. – John James Ingalls • Perhaps more significant than his experience in Europe, though, was [John] Adams’s experience in his own country, and his extensive reading on the history of the English constitution. In 1779, he had an opportunity to try out his ideas by framing the Massachusetts constitution. – Gordon S. Wood • PILGRIM, n. A traveler that is taken seriously. A Pilgrim Father was one who [was] not permitted to sing psalms through his nose [in Europe], followed it to Massachusetts, where he could personate God according to the dictates of his conscience. – Ambrose Bierce • Reforming the way the state works with businesses and providing incentives for employers will help preserve and create new jobs in Massachusetts. – Mitt Romney • Remember, we could solve this in a heartbeat with ranked-choice voting. The Democrats won’t pass it. This allows you to rank your choices and eliminates the intimidation and the fear. They won’t pass it; I know because I helped file the bill. Sixteen years ago in Massachusetts they could have solved the spoiler problem. They won’t do it because they rely on fear. The fact that they rely on fear tells you something very important. They are not on your side. For that reason alone, they do not deserve your vote. – Jill Stein • Republican Scott Brown lost his bid for Senate in New Hampshire last night, two years after he was voted out as Senator in Massachusetts. When asked what he was planning to do next, he said, ‘Are they still looking for a mayor in Toronto?’ – Jimmy Fallon • Roadrunner, roadrunner, going faster miles an hour. Gonna drive past the Stop ‘n’ Shop, with the radio on. I’m in love with Massachusetts and the neon when it’s cold outside. And the highway when it’s late at night. Got the radio on, I’m like the roadrunner. – Jonathan Richman • Scott Brown may be the last Republican to win a statewide fight in Massachusetts for a very long time. He caught the machine flat-footed in January 2010 when he out-hustled Martha Coakley and stole the Senate seat Ted Kennedy held all those years. And since then, the Democrats haven’t lost a single statewide fight. – Howie Carr • Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts has got to have Ted Kennedy rolling over in his grave, spilling his drink. – Ann Coulter • Sodomy will always be a sin with god, even if its legal in Massachusetts. – Gordon Klingenschmitt • The American servicemen and women of the Guard and Reserve leave their jobs, their spouses and their children to wear the uniform that defends our country. This selfless commitment should be honored by businesses across Massachusetts as we work to ensure they are treated fairly while they balance their employment responsibilities and obligations to the armed services. No business should ever put the bottom line ahead of America’s front line. – Mitt Romney • The available divorce data show that marital breakdown is now considerably more common in the Bible Belt than in the secular Northeast. . . . The percentages of broken families and unwed mothers remained higher in places like Arkansas and Oklahoma than in New York and Massachusetts. – Joe Conason • The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train children along chicken wire to make them grow in the right direction. Tying them to stakes is frowned upon, even in Massachusetts. – Ellen Goodman • The fact is I’ve been in Massachusetts for the last two weeks, and it seems over the last few days that the price is increasing by the hour at the pump, so there needs to be an aggressive investigation. – Marty Meehan • The first newspaper I worked on was the ‘Springfield Union’ in Springfield, Massachusetts. I wrote over a hundred letters to newspapers asking for work and got three responses, two no’s. – Tom Wolfe • The first time I ran for office in 2002, running for governor in Massachusetts against Mitt Romney, we actually worked with a Democratic legislator to file that bill, so that there would be no risk of splitting the vote. The Democrats had about 85% of the Legislature at that time. They could have easily protected their access to the governorship. But they refused to do so. They wouldn’t let the bill out of committee. – Jill Stein • The irony is that we’ve seen this model work really well in Massachusetts because Gov. Romney did a good thing, working with Democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. It hasn’t destroyed jobs. And as a consequence, we now have a system in which we have the opportunity to start bringing down costs as opposed to just leaving millions of people out in the cold.” “Gov. Romney said this has to be done on a bipartisan basis – Barack Obama • The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen states in the course of eleven years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrections. – Thomas Jefferson • The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes. The executive is stronger, with a limited veto; the senate is more formidable; and the judiciary is independent. – Gordon S. Wood • The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up by a special convention, and it provided for popular ratification – practices that were followed by the drafters of the federal Constitution of 1787 and subsequent state constitution-makers. – Gordon S. Wood • The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts blacks in the top ten percent of students, but at MIT this puts them in the bottom ten percent of the class. – Thomas Sowell • The Massachusetts Land Bank, during Colonial times, prospered, and brought prosperity to the community, until it was forcibly suppressed by special act of Parliament. – John Buchanan Robinson • The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific. – Albert Bushnell Hart • The old rule in Massachusetts politics is shape of the field determines the winner. If you have got a whole bunch of hawks, all the way from [Mike] Huckabee all the way across to [Chris]Christie, that covers the spectrum on every other issue, all hawks, all hawks, and one guy out there saying, not me, Jimmy Carter won that way back in `76. I know it`s 1,000 years ago. – Chris Matthews • the place (Dogtown, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, fh) is forsaken and majestically lovely as if nature had at last formed one spot where she can live for herself alone.. (it) looked like a cross between Easter Island and Stonehenge – essentially druidic in it appearance, it gives the feeling that an ancient race might turn up at any moment and renew an ageless rite there. – Marsden Hartley • The Senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security. – Dick Cheney • The Turkish Embassy in Washington is an ornate, eclectic building on the corner of Twenty-third Street and Massachusetts Avenue which was built originally for Edward Hamlin Everett, the man who put the crimp in bottle caps. – George W. S. Trow • There are now reports that President Obama will name Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of defense. Apparently this is part of America’s new defense strategy to bore our enemies to death. – Jay Leno • There is no one who’s gonna be sitting on that stage who has the record of job creation I have. There’s one in particular who’s created jobs all around the world. While he was the governor of Massachusetts he didn’t create many jobs. – Rick Perry • There’s nothing noble or selfless about politicians and there never has been. Putting it charitably, Profiles in Courage is a compendium of Democratic mythology, ghostwritten for an ambitious young Massachusetts Senator who never did a thing for himself if he could pay to have it done by others. – L. Neil Smith • They know your name, address, telephone number, credit card numbers, who ELSE is driving the car “for insurance”, … your driver’s license number. In the state of Massachusetts, this is the same number as that used for Social Security, unless you object to such use. In THAT case, you are ASSIGNED a number and you reside forever more on the list of “weird people who don’t give out their Social Security Number in Massachusetts.” – Arthur Miller • This is an issue just like 9/11. We didn’t decide we wanted to fight the war on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when? When the supreme courts in all the other states have succumbed to the Massachusetts version of the law? – Rick Santorum • This is something which I think this country needs… I want universal coverage! I want everyone in Massachusetts and in this country to have insurance. I support universal health care. – Mitt Romney • To me there is nothing more fraught with mystery & terror than a remote Massachusetts farmhouse against a lonely hill. Where else could an outbreak like the Salem witchcraft have occurred? – H. P. Lovecraft • To the second end, we hold that minimum wage commissions should be established in the Nation and in each State to inquire into wages paid in various industries and to determine the standard which the public ought to sanction as a minimum; and we believe that, as a present installment of what we hope for in the future, there should be at once established in the Nation and its several States minimum standards for the wages of women, taking the present Massachusetts law as a basis from which to start and on which to improve. – Theodore Roosevelt • To-day Massachusetts; and the whole of the American republic, from the border of Maine to the Pacific slopes, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, stand upon the immutable and everlasting principles of equal and exact justice. The days of unrequited labor are numbered with the past. Fugitive slave laws are only remembered as relics of that barbarism which John Wesley pronounced “the sum of all villainies,” and whose knowledge of its blighting effects was matured by his travels in Georgia and the Carolinas. – Horace Mann • Two [Massachusetts coal burning power plants] remain: Brayton Point in the South Coast region and Mt. Tom, just down the road. Within the next four years, both should shut down and Massachusetts should finally end all reliance on conventional coal generation. – Deval Patrick • Want to hear a sad story about the Dukakis campaign? The governor of Massachusetts, he lost his top naval advisor last week. His rubber ducky drowned in the bathtub. – Dan Quayle • We always spend the summer together. My wife and kids, we always go back to Massachusetts and spend the summer there near where my wife and I both grew up. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the summer to go elsewhere. – Steve Carell • We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won’t chip away at them. I believe they help protect us and provide for our safety. I’m sure my positions won’t make me the hero of the NRA. – Mitt Romney • We’ll be competitive with organized labor, we’re also competitive with regular, unorganized labor, working people who see their stakes and their future in the plans we’re putting forward to move Massachusetts forward. – Deval Patrick • What we want is not mainly to colonize Nebraska with free men, but to colonize Massachusetts with free men-to be free ourselves. As the enterprise of a few individuals, that is brave and practical; but as the enterprise of the State, it is cowardice and imbecility. What odds where we squat, or bow much ground we cover? It is not the soil that we would make free, but men. – Henry David Thoreau • What will people of the future think of us? Will they say, as Roger Williams said of the Massachusetts Indians, that we were wolves with the minds of men? Will they think that we resigned our humanity? They will have the right. – C.P. Snow • When abused children under court protection were studied in California and Massachusetts, it turned out that a disproportionate number of them were unattractive…abused kids had head and face proportions that made them look less infantile and cute. – Nancy Etcoff • When I was a kid, Eisenhower had been President forever, and all of a sudden, everything in the world was all about Jack Kennedy. I was 12, interested in politics; my father was from Massachusetts, had an accent like Kennedy. – James Ellroy • When I was Governor of Massachusetts, we worked to get Sable Island gas into New England. – Paul Cellucci • Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;–and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • With the presidential debates right around the corner, John Kerry is going to play Mitt Romney to help the President prepare for the debates. That’s kind of a stretch; a rich white guy from Massachusetts playing a rich white guy from Massachusetts. – Jay Leno • Without really analyzing it, I grew up in Massachusetts, so the Salem witch trials were always something that I was around. The average kindergartner probably doesn’t know about it, except that in Massachusetts, you do, because they’ll take you on field trips to see reenactments and stuff. – Rob Zombie • You go to towns in Massachusetts, Greenfield, first settled in 1686. Wouldn’t it be cool if it said, “Greenfield. First settled c. 13,000 B.P. or approximately 13,000 Before the Present. Resettled.” Maybe we could say even, “Resettled by whites,” Or, “Resettled anyway, 1686.” It would have a different impact. And of course it would help explain why the town is called Greenfield, because it was a green field and the fields were left by Native people who had already been farming them. – James W. Loewen

[equitiesstocks]

Massachusetts State Quotes

Official Website: Massachusetts State Quotes

  • And a special thank you to the citizens of Massachusetts: You are paying all the taxes, creating all the jobs, raising all the children. This government is yours. Thank you for letting me serve you. I love this job. – Mitt Romney • And I agree that the Democratic legislators in Massachusetts might have given some advice to Republicans in Congress about how to cooperate, but the fact of the matter is we used the same advisers and they say it’s the same plan. – Barack Obama • And of course coming from Massachusetts, Rocky Marciano was my favorite. – Robert Goulet • And some sad news… the first lesbian couple to legally get married in the state of Massachusetts has split up. They cited irreconcilable similarities. – Jay Leno • As an economics undergraduate, I also worked on a part-time basis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a company that was advising customers about portfolio decisions, writing reports. – Merton Miller

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Massachusett', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_massachusett').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_massachusett img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Basketball may have been invented in Massachusetts, but it was made for Indiana. – Bobby Knight • Because of my own family’s service (in the U.S. Army, Navy, and Massachusetts and New York National Guard), I am a strong supporter of the military and do believe that there are just wars. – Camille Paglia • Both my parents came from Russia and suddenly they wound up in Boston, Massachusetts, Brookline, Massachusetts and they felt the sun rose and set on Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s backside because he meant so much to them. This was freedom. This was something totally different from the Russia they had left. – Mike Wallace • By the time I started high school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. After graduating from Smith College in Massachusetts, I moved to New York City and worked for the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. – Cynthia Voigt • By the way, if I have my own cult of personality with my own geodetic dome in western Massachusetts, I will have a hurt yurt for anyone who crosses me. – John Hodgman • Courage–judgment–integrity–dedication–these are the historic qualities of the Bay Colony and the Bay State….And these are the qualities which, with God’s help, this son of Massachusetts hopes will characterize our government’s conduct in the four stormy years that lie ahead. – John F. Kennedy • Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts. – Mitt Romney • Even in Madison’s day, the practice of gerrymandering for partisan advantage was familiar. In the late seventeen-eighties, there were claims that Patrick Henry had tried to gerrymander Madison himself out of the First Congress. The term was coined during Madison’s Presidency, to mock Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, who in 1811 approved an election district that was said to look like a salamander. – Jeffrey Toobin • For me when I was growing up, some of the happiest times were when we went to a small island called Nantucket off Massachusetts. – Gwyneth Paltrow • Foreign diplomats could have modeled their conduct on the way the Negro postmen, Pullman porters, and dining car waiters of Roxbury [Massachusetts] acted, striding around as if they were wearing top hats and cutaways. – Malcolm X • From tea parties to the election in Massachusetts, we are witnessing the single greatest political pushback in American history. – Marco Rubio • Governor Romney has been a great success in business. He has been a great success as executive, as governor of Massachusetts. I think that’s the kind of guy we want in the White House. – Chris Christie • Henry Adams was scared shitless, politically, by the discovery that England isn’t alien to a boy from Boston, but it was true, and it is true. It’s a Boston and coastal Massachusetts thing. Henry Adams blocked it out. – William Monahan • I am told that there have been over the years a number of experiments taking place in places like Massachusetts Institute of Technology that have been entirely based on concepts raised by Star Trek. – Patrick Stewart • I can tell you, Massachusetts, fastest growing sector of our economy is clean energy and energy efficiency companies. And they’re growing faster than any other sector. – John F. Kerry • I can work in London. A British journalist asked me if I had any trouble working with an English crew, as an American, and I said I might have if I was from Scotland, but I’m from Massachusetts, which is sort of Oxfordshire, but more intellectual. That’s kind of unforgivable but you’ve got to let them have it. – William Monahan • I can’t imagine having a conversation about ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ in Cambridge, Massachusetts. – Niall Ferguson • I come to present the strong claims of suffering humanity. I come to place before the Legislature of Massachusetts the condition of the miserable, the desolate, the outcast. I come as the advocate of helpless, forgotten, insane men and women; of beings sunk to a condition from which the unconcerned world would start with real horror. – Dorothea Dix • I did one of the worst shows for that kind of thing in Northampton, Massachusetts, which is one of the most liberal spots on the planet. There were numerous people who walked out, somebody had thrown a beer, I had people yelling and screaming. – David Cross • I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both inperson and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait until they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already. – Henry David Thoreau • I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a little better than herself in these respects. – Henry David Thoreau • I don’t know if I ever mentioned back in 2002 we fought our way into a governor’s debate in Massachusetts where, you know, this was televised and I articulated our usual agenda: cut the military, put the dollars into true security here at home, provide healthcare as a human right, raise wages which needed to be living wages, green our energy system, equal marriage? – we were the only ones talking about it back in 2002. – Jill Stein • I grew up in a town called Hopedale, Massachusetts. I was born there in 1964, and the only thing I hate outside of myself is everything else. – Dana Gould • I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town. – Emeril Lagasse • I had a teacher’s degree and a degree in Oriental Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts. I thought I was going to India to study but all of a sudden, I had a career in music. It really surprised me. – Buffy Sainte-Marie • I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name,–if ten honest men only,–ay, if one HONESTman, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever. – Henry David Thoreau • I noted, though, that other strong critics of Donald Trump did attend the inauguration. Hillary Clinton went. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders went. I saw Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. I saw Congressman James Clyburn, all of whom have been critics of Donald Trump. – Michel Martin • I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston and Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. – Daniel Webster • I think [John Adams’s] influence on the federal Constitution was indirect. Many including James Madison mocked the first volume of Adams’s Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787. But his Massachusetts constitution was a model for those who thought about stable popular governments, with its separation of powers, its bicameral legislature, its independent judiciary, and its strong executive. – Gordon S. Wood • I think it’s alright if the government wants to say, in the state of Massachusetts, in the state of New York, in the state of California, that civil ceremonies should be accepted, I think that should be fine. I don’t think that even those states that believe in civil marriages between homosexuals or ordained in a church should perform civil ceremonies. – Jimmy Carter • I think it’s unconscionable for a Senator from Massachusetts to come down here and tell the people of Florida what’s right for them. It’s arrogant and irresponsible. – Jeff Miller • I think that Governor Romney needs to talk about the fact that what he tried to do in the state of Massachusetts was him seeing what could be best for his state, but maybe it didn’t work out as well. – Allen West • I took part in a theatre festival in Massachusetts two summers after I graduated from college. Then I was in Los Angeles thinking: “I’m going to go to New York.” I’d decided that I would not have a chance of a film career, so I was about to make the move. I bought a plane ticket and found a place to live in New York, packed my bags and of course the universe “told me” that I was not meant to go. Suddenly, a week before I was supposed to leave, I had three job offers and one of them was my first movie. – Chris Pine • I took the T from Logan airport to Harvard Square. I hate driving in Boston. It’s the traffic that drives me spare, and the absolutely terrible manners of the motorists. Other New Englanders refer to Massachusetts drivers as “Massholes. – Geraldine Brooks • I used to live in New York City, then when my son was two years old we moved to Cambridge Massachusetts and we’ve been there ever since. My son is now twenty-nine years old, so we’ve been up there for a while. – Errol Morris • I was an actor as a kid in Boston. Then I went to art school with Brice Marden, the Massachusetts College of Art. So the hybrid of being an actor and artist is a director. – Arne Glimcher • I was born in Massachusetts and lived there until I was thirteen years old. – Robert Goulet • I was born in Taunton, Massachusetts on June 1, 1917, but I actually grew up in nearby New Bedford. – William Standish Knowles • I was born on a tiny cot in southwestern Massachusetts during World War II. A sickly child, I turned to photography to overcome my loneliness and isolation. – William Wegman • I was listening to music to kind of pump myself up and get psyched up, like I was listening to Iron Maiden and Misfits and Dead Kennedys, and it was like my ’80s Massachusetts parking-lot heavy metal and Guns N’ Roses. – Eli Roth • I went to high school in Lexington, Massachusetts, which in hindsight was very nice. – Eugene Mirman • I went to Massachusetts to make a difference. I didn’t go there to begin a political career running time and time again. I made a difference. I put in place the things I wanted to do. – Mitt Romney • I won the youth vote in Massachusetts and in California. I did very well with it in Ohio. – Hillary Clinton • If I lived in Massachusetts, I’d try to vote ten times … Yeah that’s right, I’d cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. Because that’s exactly what they are. – Ed Schultz • I’m a big believer in getting money from where the money is, and the money is in Washington. I learned from running the Olympics that you can get money there to help build economic opportunities. We actually got over $410 million from the federal government; that is a huge increase over anything ever done before. We did that by going after every agency of government. That kind of creativity I want to bring to everything we do (in Massachusetts). – Mitt Romney • I’m extremely proud of my family’s record of public service to Massachusetts and the nation. – Joseph P. Kennedy III • I’m from Boston, and in Boston, you are born with a baseball bat in your hand. And actually, most of the bats in Massachusetts are used off the field instead of on the field, and we all had baseball bats in our cars in high school. – Eli Roth • I’m from Connecticut, and we don’t have any dialects. Well, I don’t think we have any dialects, and yeah, it’s very complex. That Rhode Island/Massachusetts New England region is arguably the hardest dialect to nail. – Seth MacFarlane • I’m lucky to have been raised in the most beautiful place – Amherst, Massachusetts, state of my heart. I’m more patriotic to Massachusetts than to almost any place. – Uma Thurman • I’m with an old family” was the euphemism used to dignify the professions of white folks’ cooks and maids who talked so affectedly among their own kind in Roxbury [Massachusetts] that you couldn’t even understand them. – Malcolm X • In 1948 I entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, undecided between studies of chemistry and physics, but my first year convinced me that physics was more interesting to me. – Burton Richter • In Massachusetts they [Democratic politicians] steal, in California they feud, and in New York they lie. – Robert Kennedy • In Massachusetts, scientists have created the first human clone. The bad thing is that in thirty years, the clone will still be depressed because the Boston Red Sox will still have not won a World Series. – Craig Kilborn • In Massachusetts, where properly qualified ‘persons’ were allowed to practice law, the Supreme Court decided that a woman was not a ‘person,’ and a special act of the legislature had to be passed before Miss Lelia Robinson could be admitted to the bar. But today women are lawyers. – Lucy Stone • In Montana, they renamed a town after an all-time great, Joe Montana. Well, a town in Massachusetts changed their name to honor my guy Terry Bradshaw–Marblehead. – Howie Long • In the little town where I live in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, we now have a ‘Public Safety Complex’ around the corner from what used to be our hokey Andy Griffith-esque fire station. – Rachel Maddow • In the very next election, the American people elected 63 new Republicans to the House of Representatives – the largest sweep of Congress for any party since 1948. Even liberal Massachusetts elected a Republican senator solely because of his vow to vote against Obamacare. – Ann Coulter • Indeed, if I understand this global-warming business correctly, the danger is that the waters will rise and drown the whole of Massachusetts, New York City, Long Island, the California coast and a few big cities on the Great Lakes – in other words, every Democratic enclave will be wiped out leaving only the solid Republican heartland. Politically speaking, for conservatives there’s no downside to global warming. – Mark Steyn • It is the night-black Massachusetts legendry which packs the really macabre “kick”. Here is material for a really profound study in group-neuroticism; for certainly, no one can deny the existence of a profoundly morbid streak in the Puritan imagination. – H. P. Lovecraft • It is time to acknowledge the extraordinary sacrifice of all of our veterans. While many Massachusetts soldiers served our nation in a period technically dubbed ‘peacetime,’ they restored American pride in the wake of Vietnam and helped bring a successful end to the Cold War. The service of these men and women was not without cost. There are countless stories of soldiers who served with great distinction only to be denied veteran status after returning home. Every man and woman who volunteered to serve this country should be treated with the same degree of respect, gratitude and dignity. – Mitt Romney • It was [John’s Adams] Massachusetts constitution if anything that influenced people. – Gordon S. Wood • John Kerry’s victory over Howard Dean has completely changed the presidential race around. Now instead of the rich white guy from Yale who lives in the White house facing off against the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Vermont, he may have to face the rich white guy from Yale who lives in Massachusetts. It’s a whole different game. – Jay Leno • Just a small-scale cult of personality, maybe raise a geodetic dome out in western Massachusetts and make people wear jumpsuits and give all their possessions to me. – John Hodgman • Let me announce this to the American people tonight one of the best things about this debate, as a Democrat from Massachusetts, I have proposed eliminating, getting rid of the alternative minimum tax. – Richard Neal • Let me tell you the story about Massachusetts under Governor Romney. It did fall to 47th out of 50 in jobs creation. Wages went down when they were going up in the rest of the country. He left his successor with debt and a deficit, and manufacturing jobs left that state at twice the rate as the rest of the country. – Stephanie Cutter • Massachusetts became the first state to marry gay couples, though lawmakers say allowing gay couples to get married raises a lot of questions. You know, such as: does that best man invite both guys to the bachelor party? – Jay Leno • Massachusetts children cannot only lead the nation in test scores, they can be competitive with the best in the world. And the gap in achievement among races can virtually disappear. – Mitt Romney • Massachusetts constitution] was [John Adams] attempt to justify that structure by the traditional notion of social estates – that the executive represented the monarchical estate, the senate the aristocratic estate, and the house of representatives the estate of the people. – Gordon S. Wood • Massachusetts is the first state in America to reach full adulthood. The rest of America is still in adolescence. – Uwe Reinhardt • Massachusetts led the nation passing the first state minimum wage a century ago in June 1912, and with passage of an $11 state minimum wage … will be leading the nation again with a wage floor that is good for business, good for customers and good for our economy. – Holly Sklar • Massachusetts women as a rule adhere too strongly to old-time conventions. – Julia Ward Howe • Matt and I have set a date. Matt and I will tie the knot New Years Day in the town of Swampscott, Massachusetts. Reserve your hotel rooms now. I will be having a gay marriage. – Ben Affleck • Mitt Romney is a] Massachusetts moderate who, in fact, is pretty good at managing the decay.” He’s “given no evidence in his years in Massachusetts of any ability to change the culture or change the political structure. – Newt Gingrich • Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he’s fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn’t one of them. He’s a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it. – Deval Patrick • Mr. President, I wish to speak today, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American. I speak for the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause. – Daniel Webster • My daughter just graduated college and she’s a dance major. She’s done a couple of dance videos already and won Miss Massachusetts a couple of weeks ago. She’s going out for Miss United States the second week of July, out in Las Vegas. She will probably wind up going to New York and trying the Broadway thing. – Doug Flutie • My father was in the coal business in West Virginia. Both dad and mother were, however, originally from Massachusetts; New England, to them, meant the place to go if you really wanted an education. – John Knowles • My grandfather on my mother’s side was a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; my other grandfather was a lawyer, and one time Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives. – Kenneth G. Wilson • My intention was to enroll at McGill University but an unexpected series of events led me to study physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. – Sidney Altman • My mother was independent. She had grown up in Dalton and Pittsfield, in western Massachusetts, and she was one of the first women drivers in that area. – Julia Child • My next book is on the Salem witch trials. As a small-town Massachusetts girl, this makes me very happy. So does the reunion with documents! – Stacy Schiff • My understanding is that Kansas, Massachusetts, they’ve been more pioneers on the special education side. – Margaret Spellings • New Jersey boasts the highest percentage of passport holders (68%); Delaware (67%), Alaska (65%), Massachusetts (63%), New York (62%), and California (60%) are close behind. At the opposite end of the spectrum, less than one in five residents of Mississippi are passport holders, and just one in four residents of West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Arkansas. – Richard Florida • No: until I want the protection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distant Southern port, where my liberty is endangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an estate at home by peaceful enterprise, I can afford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts, and her right to my property and life. It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case. – Henry David Thoreau • Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded–maybe you wouldn’t, maybe you have been around, maybe you have lived, maybe you have thought, maybe you have been hit–at how the daily rounds of injustice make their way through this marvelous thing that we call “due process. – Howard Zinn • Obviously, the technology community in Massachusetts competes in a global economy, and our efforts to create a more competitive environment recognizes that competitiveness at a local level. We’d expect employers in other states to use this site as they consider where in Massachusetts to locate or expand their presence. – Christopher Anderson • Of the creative spirits that flourished in Concord, Massachusetts, it might be said that Hawthorne loved men but felt estranged from them, Emerson loved ideas even more than men, and Thoreau loved himself. – Leon Edel • On the 31st of August, 1846, I left Concord in Massachusetts for Bangor and the backwoods of Maine,… I proposed to make excursions to Mount Ktaadn, the second highest mountain in New England, about thirty miles distant, and to some of the lakes of the Penobscot, either alone or with such company as I might pick up there. – Henry David Thoreau • One night last summer, all the killers in my head assembled on a stage in Massachusetts to sing show tunes. – Sarah Vowell • Only a liberal senator from Massachusetts would say that a 49 percent increase in funding for education was not enough. – George W. Bush • Our nation is too different, too diverse to say that what works in Massachusetts is somehow going to be grabbed by the federal government, usurping the power of states and imposing a one-size-fits-all plan on the nation. That will not work. – Mitt Romney • Pennsylvania, the state that has produced two great men: Benjamin Franklin of Massachusetts, and Albert Gallatin of Switzerland. – John James Ingalls • Perhaps more significant than his experience in Europe, though, was [John] Adams’s experience in his own country, and his extensive reading on the history of the English constitution. In 1779, he had an opportunity to try out his ideas by framing the Massachusetts constitution. – Gordon S. Wood • PILGRIM, n. A traveler that is taken seriously. A Pilgrim Father was one who [was] not permitted to sing psalms through his nose [in Europe], followed it to Massachusetts, where he could personate God according to the dictates of his conscience. – Ambrose Bierce • Reforming the way the state works with businesses and providing incentives for employers will help preserve and create new jobs in Massachusetts. – Mitt Romney • Remember, we could solve this in a heartbeat with ranked-choice voting. The Democrats won’t pass it. This allows you to rank your choices and eliminates the intimidation and the fear. They won’t pass it; I know because I helped file the bill. Sixteen years ago in Massachusetts they could have solved the spoiler problem. They won’t do it because they rely on fear. The fact that they rely on fear tells you something very important. They are not on your side. For that reason alone, they do not deserve your vote. – Jill Stein • Republican Scott Brown lost his bid for Senate in New Hampshire last night, two years after he was voted out as Senator in Massachusetts. When asked what he was planning to do next, he said, ‘Are they still looking for a mayor in Toronto?’ – Jimmy Fallon • Roadrunner, roadrunner, going faster miles an hour. Gonna drive past the Stop ‘n’ Shop, with the radio on. I’m in love with Massachusetts and the neon when it’s cold outside. And the highway when it’s late at night. Got the radio on, I’m like the roadrunner. – Jonathan Richman • Scott Brown may be the last Republican to win a statewide fight in Massachusetts for a very long time. He caught the machine flat-footed in January 2010 when he out-hustled Martha Coakley and stole the Senate seat Ted Kennedy held all those years. And since then, the Democrats haven’t lost a single statewide fight. – Howie Carr • Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts has got to have Ted Kennedy rolling over in his grave, spilling his drink. – Ann Coulter • Sodomy will always be a sin with god, even if its legal in Massachusetts. – Gordon Klingenschmitt • The American servicemen and women of the Guard and Reserve leave their jobs, their spouses and their children to wear the uniform that defends our country. This selfless commitment should be honored by businesses across Massachusetts as we work to ensure they are treated fairly while they balance their employment responsibilities and obligations to the armed services. No business should ever put the bottom line ahead of America’s front line. – Mitt Romney • The available divorce data show that marital breakdown is now considerably more common in the Bible Belt than in the secular Northeast. . . . The percentages of broken families and unwed mothers remained higher in places like Arkansas and Oklahoma than in New York and Massachusetts. – Joe Conason • The average parent may, for example, plant an artist or fertilize a ballet dancer and end up with a certified public accountant. We cannot train children along chicken wire to make them grow in the right direction. Tying them to stakes is frowned upon, even in Massachusetts. – Ellen Goodman • The fact is I’ve been in Massachusetts for the last two weeks, and it seems over the last few days that the price is increasing by the hour at the pump, so there needs to be an aggressive investigation. – Marty Meehan • The first newspaper I worked on was the ‘Springfield Union’ in Springfield, Massachusetts. I wrote over a hundred letters to newspapers asking for work and got three responses, two no’s. – Tom Wolfe • The first time I ran for office in 2002, running for governor in Massachusetts against Mitt Romney, we actually worked with a Democratic legislator to file that bill, so that there would be no risk of splitting the vote. The Democrats had about 85% of the Legislature at that time. They could have easily protected their access to the governorship. But they refused to do so. They wouldn’t let the bill out of committee. – Jill Stein • The irony is that we’ve seen this model work really well in Massachusetts because Gov. Romney did a good thing, working with Democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and, as a consequence, people are covered there. It hasn’t destroyed jobs. And as a consequence, we now have a system in which we have the opportunity to start bringing down costs as opposed to just leaving millions of people out in the cold.” “Gov. Romney said this has to be done on a bipartisan basis – Barack Obama • The late rebellion in Massachusetts has given more alarm than I think it should have done. Calculate that one rebellion in thirteen states in the course of eleven years, is but one for each state in a century and a half. No country should be so long without one. Nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrections. – Thomas Jefferson • The Massachusetts constitution was written much later than the other revolutionary state constitutions, and thus it avoids some of the earlier mistakes. The executive is stronger, with a limited veto; the senate is more formidable; and the judiciary is independent. – Gordon S. Wood • The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up by a special convention, and it provided for popular ratification – practices that were followed by the drafters of the federal Constitution of 1787 and subsequent state constitution-makers. – Gordon S. Wood • The Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepts blacks in the top ten percent of students, but at MIT this puts them in the bottom ten percent of the class. – Thomas Sowell • The Massachusetts Land Bank, during Colonial times, prospered, and brought prosperity to the community, until it was forcibly suppressed by special act of Parliament. – John Buchanan Robinson • The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific. – Albert Bushnell Hart • The old rule in Massachusetts politics is shape of the field determines the winner. If you have got a whole bunch of hawks, all the way from [Mike] Huckabee all the way across to [Chris]Christie, that covers the spectrum on every other issue, all hawks, all hawks, and one guy out there saying, not me, Jimmy Carter won that way back in `76. I know it`s 1,000 years ago. – Chris Matthews • the place (Dogtown, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, fh) is forsaken and majestically lovely as if nature had at last formed one spot where she can live for herself alone.. (it) looked like a cross between Easter Island and Stonehenge – essentially druidic in it appearance, it gives the feeling that an ancient race might turn up at any moment and renew an ageless rite there. – Marsden Hartley • The Senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security. – Dick Cheney • The Turkish Embassy in Washington is an ornate, eclectic building on the corner of Twenty-third Street and Massachusetts Avenue which was built originally for Edward Hamlin Everett, the man who put the crimp in bottle caps. – George W. S. Trow • There are now reports that President Obama will name Massachusetts Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of defense. Apparently this is part of America’s new defense strategy to bore our enemies to death. – Jay Leno • There is no one who’s gonna be sitting on that stage who has the record of job creation I have. There’s one in particular who’s created jobs all around the world. While he was the governor of Massachusetts he didn’t create many jobs. – Rick Perry • There’s nothing noble or selfless about politicians and there never has been. Putting it charitably, Profiles in Courage is a compendium of Democratic mythology, ghostwritten for an ambitious young Massachusetts Senator who never did a thing for himself if he could pay to have it done by others. – L. Neil Smith • They know your name, address, telephone number, credit card numbers, who ELSE is driving the car “for insurance”, … your driver’s license number. In the state of Massachusetts, this is the same number as that used for Social Security, unless you object to such use. In THAT case, you are ASSIGNED a number and you reside forever more on the list of “weird people who don’t give out their Social Security Number in Massachusetts.” – Arthur Miller • This is an issue just like 9/11. We didn’t decide we wanted to fight the war on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when? When the supreme courts in all the other states have succumbed to the Massachusetts version of the law? – Rick Santorum • This is something which I think this country needs… I want universal coverage! I want everyone in Massachusetts and in this country to have insurance. I support universal health care. – Mitt Romney • To me there is nothing more fraught with mystery & terror than a remote Massachusetts farmhouse against a lonely hill. Where else could an outbreak like the Salem witchcraft have occurred? – H. P. Lovecraft • To the second end, we hold that minimum wage commissions should be established in the Nation and in each State to inquire into wages paid in various industries and to determine the standard which the public ought to sanction as a minimum; and we believe that, as a present installment of what we hope for in the future, there should be at once established in the Nation and its several States minimum standards for the wages of women, taking the present Massachusetts law as a basis from which to start and on which to improve. – Theodore Roosevelt • To-day Massachusetts; and the whole of the American republic, from the border of Maine to the Pacific slopes, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, stand upon the immutable and everlasting principles of equal and exact justice. The days of unrequited labor are numbered with the past. Fugitive slave laws are only remembered as relics of that barbarism which John Wesley pronounced “the sum of all villainies,” and whose knowledge of its blighting effects was matured by his travels in Georgia and the Carolinas. – Horace Mann • Two [Massachusetts coal burning power plants] remain: Brayton Point in the South Coast region and Mt. Tom, just down the road. Within the next four years, both should shut down and Massachusetts should finally end all reliance on conventional coal generation. – Deval Patrick • Want to hear a sad story about the Dukakis campaign? The governor of Massachusetts, he lost his top naval advisor last week. His rubber ducky drowned in the bathtub. – Dan Quayle • We always spend the summer together. My wife and kids, we always go back to Massachusetts and spend the summer there near where my wife and I both grew up. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the summer to go elsewhere. – Steve Carell • We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts. I support them. I won’t chip away at them. I believe they help protect us and provide for our safety. I’m sure my positions won’t make me the hero of the NRA. – Mitt Romney • We’ll be competitive with organized labor, we’re also competitive with regular, unorganized labor, working people who see their stakes and their future in the plans we’re putting forward to move Massachusetts forward. – Deval Patrick • What we want is not mainly to colonize Nebraska with free men, but to colonize Massachusetts with free men-to be free ourselves. As the enterprise of a few individuals, that is brave and practical; but as the enterprise of the State, it is cowardice and imbecility. What odds where we squat, or bow much ground we cover? It is not the soil that we would make free, but men. – Henry David Thoreau • What will people of the future think of us? Will they say, as Roger Williams said of the Massachusetts Indians, that we were wolves with the minds of men? Will they think that we resigned our humanity? They will have the right. – C.P. Snow • When abused children under court protection were studied in California and Massachusetts, it turned out that a disproportionate number of them were unattractive…abused kids had head and face proportions that made them look less infantile and cute. – Nancy Etcoff • When I was a kid, Eisenhower had been President forever, and all of a sudden, everything in the world was all about Jack Kennedy. I was 12, interested in politics; my father was from Massachusetts, had an accent like Kennedy. – James Ellroy • When I was Governor of Massachusetts, we worked to get Sable Island gas into New England. – Paul Cellucci • Where the heart is, there the muses, there the gods sojourn, and not in any geography of fame. Massachusetts, Connecticut River, and Boston Bay, you think paltry places, and the ear loves names of foreign and classic topography. But here we are; and, if we tarry a little, we may come to learn that here is best. See to it, only, that thyself is here;–and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not absent from the chamber where thou sittest. – Ralph Waldo Emerson • With the presidential debates right around the corner, John Kerry is going to play Mitt Romney to help the President prepare for the debates. That’s kind of a stretch; a rich white guy from Massachusetts playing a rich white guy from Massachusetts. – Jay Leno • Without really analyzing it, I grew up in Massachusetts, so the Salem witch trials were always something that I was around. The average kindergartner probably doesn’t know about it, except that in Massachusetts, you do, because they’ll take you on field trips to see reenactments and stuff. – Rob Zombie • You go to towns in Massachusetts, Greenfield, first settled in 1686. Wouldn’t it be cool if it said, “Greenfield. First settled c. 13,000 B.P. or approximately 13,000 Before the Present. Resettled.” Maybe we could say even, “Resettled by whites,” Or, “Resettled anyway, 1686.” It would have a different impact. And of course it would help explain why the town is called Greenfield, because it was a green field and the fields were left by Native people who had already been farming them. – James W. Loewen

[coin-river-blog]

Here we go again. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez continues to separate herself from moderate Democrats. She has now gone on the record with some more devastatingly narrow opinions on capitalism itself. Speaking at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin Texas, the idiot firebrand had the following thing to say about our economic model:

“Capitalism is an ideology of capital – the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit…so to me capitalism is irredeemable.”

Bold statements like this are precisely the sort of thing that gets AOC compared to Trump. She speaks in an (apparently) off the cuff manner and spouts things that are frankly obtuse.

History Shows Ideological Balance Is Required

Anyone who knows anything about History knows that ultimately complete adherence to capitalism results in autocracy or monarchy. That’s why Europe has Kings and Queens and lots of capital re-resetting revolutions. The US is too young to have dealt with this absolute power situation because it was able to incorporate a lot of its French allies “Enlightenment” philosophy (separation of powers, a democratic republic etc,) into its founding after the War of Independence.

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At this point, AOC stopped reading the history book. While capitalism is often considered the polar opposite of socialism, the reality is entirely different in practice. Communism still needs someone to be in charge. That means wealth concentration gets equally as severe. Look at examples like the Soviet Union for evidence. Hoisting a communist ideologue, Stalin sure did like acquiring capital in the form of other nations under his iron curtain to teach them what was the best system of governance.

Socialism Doesn’t Have to Mean Grey Jumpsuits, Ask Norway

Successful socialism requires something that doesn’t happen very often; un-corruptible politicians. Hence why Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are so successful in the world’s quality of life rankings as they also rank highly in the corruption index. The Scandies aren’t perfect, but they do an excellent job of having a people-first mindset. US citizens tend to think that Norway’s economy wouldn’t work in the US because of all the different people and the sheer size of the population. Possibly, but it’s mainly because Washington DC is vastly more corrupt than Oslo. Add Norway’s trillion-dollar wealth fund to the mix, and you make every Norwegian technically a millionaire. It’s a great blend of capitalist success and a socialist conscience. Alexandria needs to understand that her moral bar is automatically higher because of her ideology, and she hasn’t got off to a great start.

Norway’s economic model proves Capitalism and Socialism can co-exist peacefully. | Image from Shutterstock

DC is Too Corrupt For Socialism

When you boil it down, Government’s work best when they provide what they promise. Do you want to live in a profoundly capitalist country? Ok great, keep more of your paycheck, but don’t complain when you have no healthcare and your jobs go to China. Do you want to be in a socialist country? No problem, you’ll have a lot taken care of for you but pay close attention if the money you spend and the services you get back don’t add up. #California.

Right now the United States walks a line between these two concepts but does both poorly. You have a right-wing leader championing tariffs, while high taxation is mostly spent on un-winnable wars thousands of miles away. Ocasio-Cortez knows that minorities have been failed by US fiscal policy, and Trump knows that globalists failed a white, formerly middle-class voter. They both have a massive political opportunity here because so many in the US have become disillusioned. All this while the Federal Reserve fans the fires of inequality with monetary policy that massively benefited those with existing assets.

The Poor Poorer so Long as The Rich Are Too

Watch Margret Thatcher stunningly demonstrate how easy it is to crush AOC’s point of view.

“You Will Also Go on Ze List”

If you want to have an i-phone to tweet on and a jet to fly to the Conference you can’t just say Capitalism has failed. You need a certain amount of capital in the system to make it all work; otherwise the world couldn’t support its current population. Remember the invention of domestic farming or agriculture is capitalism. Heck, so was being smarter than the Homo Erectus next to you.  Enter AOC threatening liberal moderates with a list. Where have I seen that before?

If you care a lot about the environment, don’t fly around on a jet all the time. If you think capitalism is the problem, stop tweeting. You can’t justify the need to get your message out by embodying things you believe are “irredeemable,” it makes you irredeemable by your own logic.

Keep the High Ground To Beat Trump

What’s ridiculous here is that obviously, the environment needs to be managed better. If you have a house with two people in it and then later that number grows to 10, it gets messier and hotter. Duh. Ocasio-Cortez is presenting a selfless message and applying it in a way which is dooming it. If I can rip it to shreds what do you think 100 high paid Republican strategists will do to her down the road? In the era of Trump, those who oppose him must maintain the high-ground both in message and in practice. AOC is diving into the mud for a street-fight.

Opinions expressed in this article belong to the author alone.

[jansegers]

Simple English Word List

SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. The total number of words in this corpus is well over the 100.000 words. a A.D. ability able about above absence abstinence abstract academic academy accent accept access accord account across act action active activity actual actually ad add addition adherent adjective adult advance advice affect after again against age agnostic agnosticism ago agree agreement agriculture air alcohol all allow ally almost alone along alphabet also although always amateur amendment among amount an analysis ancient and angel animal annals anonymous another answer anthropomorphism any anyone anything aphasia appear apple apply approach archaeology architecture area argue argument around arrange art article artificial artist ask aspect associate association astronomy at atheism atheist atomic attack attempt attribute audience author authority available average avoid award away B.C. baby back background backpack bad bah balance band baptism base basic basis battle BCE be bear beautiful beauty because become bed bee before begin behavior behind being belief believe believing belong below best better between beyond bias biblical bibliography big billion biological biology birth bit black blind blood blue body book born both bottom boundary box boy brain branch bring brown buffalo build building bull burn business but by c. ca. calendar call can cancer canon capital caption car carbon card carry case cassette cat category cathedral catholic cause cell center central century cerebral certain change chapel chapter character chemical chemistry child china China choice choir choose chronicle church circumcise circumcision cite citizen city civil civilian civilization claim clan class classical cleanup clear clergy click climate close closer clothes clothing coast coauthor code codex cognitive col cold collection college colonization colony color column com come commentary commission common commonly communicate communication communion communist community companion company compare competition complete complex compose composer computer concept conception concern condition confuse confusion congregational connect connection conquer conquest consciousness consider consistent constitution construct construction contain contemporary content context continent continue contrary control convention conversation conversion convert cook cooking copy core correct could council country course court cover covered create creation credit crime critical criticism crop cross crust cultural culture current currently daily damage dark data date day dead death debt decadence decadent decide declaration decline deconstruction deep define definition deity demonstrate denomination department depth describe description design detail determinism developed development device devil diagnosis dialect dictionary die difference different difficult difficulty diphthong dipstick direct directly dirt disagree disambiguation disbelief discipline discover discovery discussion disease disorder 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China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540

#SimpleWikipedia SimpleEnglish wordlist English words level1540 Inli nimi selo1540

[hawaiireview]

INTERVIEW: Stephanie Han

Navigating Place and Identity in Swimming in Hong Kong

Though your language, your passport, your husband, your education and everything about you says you should feel at ease in this room, you don’t. You take no pleasure in Hong Kong trailblazing. You were not an American trailblazer. You did not invent the nectarine, win an Olympic gold medal, star in a TV show, or lead Japanese American troops into battle. You hate the phrases ‘overcoming odds’, ‘defying stereotypes’ and ‘getting ahead.’ You don’t like the words ‘assimilation’, ‘model minority’ and ‘well-adjusted.’ This is why you left the U.S..

      (from "Invisible")

Stephanie Han, whose collection of short stories Swimming in Hong Kong came out early this year, gestures with her hands as she explains that while some writers save rejection letters, hers could fill filing cabinets.  The gestures convey the cabinets would be the large ones, probably four-drawer and tall. 

She began writing the stories for this collection twenty years ago, yet if it weren’t for the years “1982,” “1985,” and “1977” given in some chapter titles, it would be easy to assume the stories are set in present-day.  And this was one of the hurdles to publishing that Han faced.  “A lot of the things in the collection now are current – that’s why it’s published now,” she assessed during our talk.  “Although these relationships have occurred throughout time.”

Swimming in Hong Kong is centered on female protagonists, most of Korean descent or from Korea, and is set in Hong Kong, Korea, and the United States.  The book speaks with a multiplicity of voices: a Korean-American girl spending the summer with relatives in Seoul; a Korean-American college student navigating identity, feminism, and consent in New York; a little girl, who is Chinese, observing how her father is treated by white expatriates in Hong Kong during the World Cup…  The stories take the complicated issues of hyphenated identities, diaspora, power, colonialism, visibility versus invisibility, race, class, gender relations, and make them personal.  Swimming in Hong Kong was a finalist for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction as well as the Spokane Prize.  The stories’ voices speak with immediacy, and the narratives pursue social issues that are layered and complex. 

Han was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and has lived in the United States, Hong Kong, and Korea.  Her father, who was born in Seoul, was drafted as a U.S. military doctor, and her family moved every year until she was eight or nine, when they settled in Iowa.  She spent the summers of her childhood staying in a cottage at the Korean Care Home on Liliha Street in Hawai‘i, where her grandmother was the nursing home director.  Most of her adult life has been in California.  Han earned her MA from San Francisco State University, MFA from the University of Arizona, and was the first to earn a Ph.D. in English literature from the City University of Hong Kong.  She and her husband were part of the dotcom boom and bust – and when it busted, they moved to Hong Kong for better opportunities.  After years of living and working in Hong Kong, she and her husband have moved to Hawai‘i; she says that now, she would like to be in the West.  

We met in a little coffee shop in Waikiki, around the corner from the apartment where she and her family live.  As we sit across from each other drinking coffee and talking, I switch from typing her responses to writing because I think maybe I can write faster.  I don’t.  Stephanie talks quickly during our conversation, strings thoughts together between brief silences.

Brooke Jones:  Why do you want to be in the United States now?

Stephanie Han:  I want my son to have an American identity.  My husband is British, and expat, and because I’ve moved so much, I’m constantly in the position of being an outsider.  And in 2047, mainland China is taking over in Hong Kong.  The rule of law will not be in Hong Kong then, and it’s slowly being infringed on now; Hong Kong is not doing well with the Beijing government. So I wanted to leave Hong Kong.  

Despite what is happening in the United States, there is a way to remake an American identity.  There is potential here, and an energy here.  We are still a young nation, if you look at the trajectory of history – it is always four steps forward, three steps back.  We are now in a backward stage.  But it doesn’t make me think it is hopeless here forever.  Americans can be very open people; I’m talking in very broad terms about Americans, but we are a young nation.  We are also a nation that claims genocide, slavery, and massive inequality as part of its history.  The American project has a lot of problems, and there are also a lot of good things that have come from this national project.  It is easy for people to condemn, but I think that the very concept of nation also offers us some interesting possibilities, a way of restructuring and choosing who we want to be.  That said, there are 320 million people here, so it is difficult for all of us to be on the same page at any given time.  And too, why should we be beyond the basics – which I suppose is really the question. What are the minimal requirements that we expect as citizens?  I wanted my son to be a part of it.  And I think I can make a greater contribution as a citizen, or negotiate better from my in-between context, here.

BJ:  The stories in Swimming in Hong Kong include themes of identity and development of identity, insider vs. outsider, visibility and invisibility, and place and belonging.  How did these themes develop?

SH:  I wrote the book from 1997 to 2004 or 2005.  I did live in Korea for a year as a child.  My dad was a naturalized U.S. citizen.  My question had a lot to do with place – what does it mean to have a home? Asians don’t have a binding narrative.  If you’re Native American you have a narrative with genocide, Hispanic with language… Asians are not like that – they do not share a language, culture, anything.  As a result, we come into this Asian-American identity.  And it’s very problematic. It’s an artificial construct.  I think while I was writing during that time, I was trying to figure out what it meant to be an outsider and insider.  I don’t write like that anymore; I’m okay hovering, not in any place.  I’ve finally resolved that, more or less, Hawai‘i is both a physical place and memory to me, and the closest I have to a home. 

My peripatetic existence was amplified by marrying an expat.  I feel, however, it’s important to have a home and place to feel rooted – especially for our child.  It would be nice to stay in one place.  I’m sick and tired of buying the same thing from IKEA – you’re not going to take a knife block between countries.  You can look at moving as exciting or dynamic, or even as an incredible waste of money and time. It all depends on how you prioritize movement and place.  I’d be fine being in one place for a while, but I’m never going to say I’m going to be in a place permanently. It’s like a jinx.  Now it’s normal for me to be outside the conversation of where I am, on the borders or periphery.  

The big theme in the story collection is place.  My father was a medical doctor.  After he got his U.S. green card, he got drafted.  Because they were drafting medical doctors up to age thirty-five, we moved a lot when I was a kid because he was in active duty.  I was a military brat.  We lived on the base in San Francisco and in Korea.  I asked my mom, “Mom, where am I from?” and she answered, “Well, why don’t you list the places you’re from and ask people to pick a place?”  That’s why I read.  Reading offered me a world.  My 70s mom was not big on the touchy-feely sort of discussions of how one tries to belong and was quite casual. It was a different way of parenting.  She said, if you like to read – yeah, you can have a friend in a book.

BJ:  Did you have any siblings?  Sometimes that can help, give you someone to play with, sometimes not…

SH:  I have two younger sisters. We were close as a family because we had to move around a lot.  Then we lived in Iowa for a period of time, seven years.  I was thirteen years old when I went to boarding school; I didn’t want to live in Iowa.  The summer when I was twelve, I went to Korea, like the short story [from Swimming in Hong Kong, “My Friend Faith, 1977”].  My grandfather sent a plane ticket, like the story.  That really changed my life, going there.  After I came back, I decided I wanted to leave Iowa.  I didn’t want to be the only Asian.  There was one black kid in school, one other Asian kid.  Then they moved.  

While I was visiting Korea,  I spent two weeks in a bizarre camp.  You’d wake up every morning to the national anthem.  Brain-washing.  You had to promise to visit the Motherland, to build up resources.  They took us to the border to see North Korea – to see that we were under threat.  We had to get lectures on the military capacity of Korea, on the agricultural industry.  We had to wear these badges and sit in these steel chairs and watch.  Eventually they had to stop the camp – I think it became hard to control because there was a conflict between the Western teenage Koreans and the conservative Korean camp leaders.  But this was a very early government attempt to engage overseas Koreans with education to come back and return to the motherland.  

Seeing other Asian faces was a revolution for me, that’s what led me to leave Iowa.  

BJ:  Why did your parents or relatives decide to send you to that camp?

SH:  My uncle heard about this great Korean overseas camp, and I went for a couple weeks. I loved it.  I had pen pals after that.  I met Koreans from Queens, New York , and they’d tell me, yes there are other Koreans here.  But obviously the experience was so significant to me because I was culturally and socially isolated.

BJ:  Often, fiction is autobiographically inspired…

SH:  It can be, but it’s not [autobiographically inspired] for me.  I use it as a jumping-off point.  When I was in Korea and Hong Kong, I had African-American friends and heard about their negotiation of the place.  I’m not one of those people yearning for my homeland.  Korea has a lot of problems.  It’s very racist.  I’m not happy in a society where people are racist against black people or anyone who is non-Korean, for that matter.  That thinking deeply bothers me.  So I can’t get caught up in the “my homeland’ stuff and feel sentimental about Korea in that way as I am too critical and disturbed by this type of thinking.  I’m glad I went back to Korea; it resolved issues.  A part of me belongs there, and a big part doesn’t.  It’s too intolerant.  I can’t negotiate out of it completely because I am Asian, so when I am there, I am subject to a different level of scrutiny and ideology.  A lot of people who aren’t Asian are never accepted anyway, so they can negotiate out of it.  I can’t.  It’s hard. I don’t have legal standing in Hong Kong or Korea, so it’s hard for me to advocate for other people’s civil liberties as I have no voting rights there.  That’s part of the reason I came back, too – I want to participate as a citizen. I want to raise my voice.  There’s a lot of people who don’t care about that.  I can understand that, too.  But I’m too invested in the potential of what can be.  I want things to get better.

BJ:  The first story you wrote in the collection was “The Body Politic, 1982.” Did you begin with the idea that you were writing a collection of short stories?  How did the collection develop?  What was the process?

SH:  It was hell.  Each story was rejected one hundred times easily.  I was picked up by agents and dropped.  No Asian-Americans would publish me.  I quit taking it personally - what’s another rejection?  Who cares?  People save rejection letters; mine would be in the pounds.  But I get enough encouragement to keep writing, but I’m probably a masochist.  You see narratives like what I was writing now, but not fifteen years ago. 

 “The Body Politic” developed, shifted, was workshopped many times.  It was the last story to be published.  I think because it was the nature of that narrative: what is consent; feminism.  It’s not that it didn’t exist, but it’s far more mainstream now.  The people who didn’t like it and reacted poorly were Asian women.  Because people want to read literature with heroes and heroines that are lovable, defy all odds.  You want the Amy Tan character.  Americans want to read about winners.  One woman told me, I want her to stand up and punch him.  It makes people feel uncomfortable when a character isn’t lovable or heroic.

I’m more interested in imparting the narratives of women because our stories aren’t told as frequently as male POVs.  We’re not represented at the same level in literature.  We don’t appear in publishing, government, business, areas across the board – we are still under-represented.  I see narratives of women as more urgent.

BJ:  How did you find motivation to continue to write and submit in the face of so many rejections? 

SH:  I taught quite a bit and students have a way of inspiring you and encouraging you to keep going. I also had enough encouragement to keep plodding along. Writing is also how I express myself, so it isn't as if I could simply stop as I needed to communicate and obviously felt that there was someone on the other end who might want to read what I wrote, or share my outlook or perspective.

BJ:  All the stories feel very current.  If the dates weren’t in some of the titles, I would have thought they were set today.  

SH:  That’s actually why I put the dates on them.  I wanted to show that the questions are questions that have always been there, that some of these ideas we think are new are really not new, but we are now more comfortable discussing them.

In the class I teach at Hawai‘i Pacific University, the students are about eighteen.  Some female students said razors don’t get a luxury tax, but tampons, etc., do.  I’ve been teaching long enough that I know teenagers in freshman composition wouldn’t raise this question fifteen years ago.  We’re talking about it now.  It’s great.

After one hundred and fifty tries, it [“The Body Politic, 1982”] finally got published.  It got published after the book was released.  I am so glad.  It was the story that people felt hostile about.  

BJ:  What were your goals for the collection?

SH:  I just wanted it to be published.

I think about experimentation with different kinds of voices.  There are quite a few coming-of-age stories.  There’s an arc to that – moments of awakening, of urgency.  

BJ:  There are many voices in the stories, including child POVs.

SH:  I didn’t set out deliberately to write from the point of view of a young girl [in the story “Hong Kong Rebound”].  It was for a contest.  In 2002, I was in Hong Kong during the world cup.  Half the games were in Korea and half were in Japan.  It was an exciting time to be in Hong Kong.  People would stop in the middle of the street to watch; it was just a time of a lot of energy.  The South China Morning Post had a call for a story, and the prompt was “Rebound.” 

My father was staying with me.  I thought a lot about father-daughter relationships.  He was a very devoted father when I was a young child; he’d often take me to the zoo, spend time with me.  I was very lucky.

The story Hong Kong Rebound was written in 2002 and this was only five years after the Handover.  Mostly there were expats in the Central bars.  Locals were looking in at the bars but couldn’t afford beers that cost eight dollars.  People in the bars would put up black paper in the windows.  I witnessed this several times.  I remember an old man peeking in one corner, where there was a little scrap of window that wasn’t covered.  

So these were the three things that prompted the story.  And I thought, I’m going to write something.  The story won the award.  Sometimes, giving yourself parameters and boundaries is good, versus if everything is open and without any rules.  It had to be under 2500 words.

The swimming pool that Ruth and Froggy swim in [from the story “Swimming in Hong Kong,” also the book title] is covered now.  I used to swim there.  The roof was open, so you could see the sky.  They decided to cover it years later.  I got so mad, I wrote into the newspaper and cited facts about heated swimming pools and what have you.  I got really irate about it.  But they covered the pool, which is really too bad.  Hong Kong doesn’t have good urban planning and has a limited understanding of design in terms of allowing people to interact with nature.  On the other hand, everyone has health insurance.  No place is perfect.  

So the Hong Kong stories I wrote – I think they cover different aspects of Hong Kong life.  

BJ:  Could you tell us more about setting boundaries and parameters in writing?  For instance, do you generally find parameters and boundaries helpful when you write?  Do you set them for yourself?  What does that process look like?

SH:  Sometimes I find that having little rules can work in terms of helping you reign in your ideas.  If you say to yourself I want to write a 2000-word story, you can then easily eliminate the excess, and try to think of situations that will be well told in 2000 words.  Sometimes journals have requirements.  Often this is a way to force yourself into flexing your writing muscles.  I sometimes set artificial deadlines for myself too – I must finish X by Y date.  Really, no one is asking for it by Y, but setting up that date provides you with some sort of endpoint.

BJ:  You’ve written about writing into conflict and paradox.  What’s your process?  Do you experience any surprises while writing?

SH:  It works better for me to write into conflict and paradox.  We think we are one thing, but we are this other thing.  Humanity by its very nature is paradoxical and contrary.  I always tell my students to write into the conflict.  Start right before the problem explodes, because you can always backtrack a little.

Usually, I have an idea – that there’s a problem and a moment of grace about the problem.  And I thicken the story as I go along.  As you’re writing, things become more serendipitous.  

BJ:  Could you share a bit about teaching writing…

SH:  I teach at HPU, and I started a workshop series this fall.  I used to teach creative writing workshops in Hong Kong.  I like this idea of people feeling they can control their narrative.  People have a narrative; we all have stories inside of us.  The art of autobiography, it’s very much an American phenomenon.  Autobiography opens our nation – there’s more texture, we have a more porous surface, hearing these voices.  I feel it’s important for people to write their own story.  

These people who wax poetic about the writing life – I’m not one of those people.  Sometimes I think, I should do something else.  But I can’t think what else I would do.  Writing is a compulsion.  I’m a really terrible advocate for the writing life.  It’s not the only way to have a meaningful creative life.  I think what is important is understanding the power of your own narrative and your community’s narrative, and having or acquiring the skill to act as a citizen in terms of being able to write to communicate about a particular problem or idea. But I don’t think writing is the only means to a creative life. You must think of how you would like to communicate with the world—some do it through music, others through design, still others through physical gestures. Creativity takes many forms.

#fiction #stephanie han #swimming in hong kong #brooke jones