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acrosc · 4 years

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I love your Dad Gerry AU 🥺😍

<3<3 Thank you for this message, actually, Anon - because i JUST REALIZED that I keep forgetting to actually write out what all we’ve established thus far about the AU!

First off- this idea was kicked off by my hawaiian shirt Gerry drawing (or, as someone tagged it, “vacation jorts Gerry”, which had me fucking rolling), and @spasticarkayl saying how strong the dad energy was. He & @hatoratomoen and i have been collaboratively fleshing out out. I’ll put this whole AU (or. what we have of it so far) in bullet points here! For ur enjoyment & also for my own memory lol. AS FOLLOWS,

WHY HE’S A DAD:

- So. once upon a time, Archives days, Gerry is hunting down a Leitner (details?) to destroy it. the thing is, though - by the time he arrives, he very quickly realizes he is too late. The whole...family/cult/group/idk (details?) is in RUINS. everyone is dead. Except. Huddled away in a closet or smth, he finds two very young girls.

- Gerry knows what it’s like to be a scared traumatized kid. No fucking way is he leaving them. NO way. So he........well. he brings them back to the Archives? Because he has no idea what to do next and is kinda reeling.

- Idk anything about legal anything, but i assume kids (like most humans) need to have some kinda legal proof of who they are? Anyway. Gertrude helps make him all kinds of fake legal documents for the kids (don’t know their identities, and they’re very young) because fuck it lol and also she’d definitely know how to do that

- And thus.... Gerry just kind of.... accepts that’s what his life is now. He’s not too under the hold of the Eye or whatever, and he leaves.

- and he starts his new life.

HIM BEING A DAD (this is far less cohesive but it’s just a mess of us yelling good cute dad gerry content at each other):

- while he still dresses pretty goth, he also lets his daughters pick out clothes for him (ex: the hawaiian shirt). the only suggestion from them he will NOT tolerate is socks with sandals.

- he lets his kids dye their hair from a very young age, AND will give them punk-ass haircuts when they want (and will do it himself in a heartbeat if a barber is weird about it). parents in the suburbs give him looks but also like when does he Not get looks lol

- he reads them bedtime stories :’)

- he loves goofin around with them :’)

- IMPORTANTLY: he works so so hard and so passionately to give them the most normal and healthy and loving kind of childhood he can; the kind of childhood Mary never gave him even a sliver of.

- ALSO IMPORTANTLY: He tells the kids at first that.......like, listen, he knows he’s not their dad, so they don’t have to call him anything like that, he’s just Gerry, it’s fine. Then after a few months.. they start calling him dad. and he has to go to the bathroom to cry :’’)

EDIT: going to start throwing stuff for this au under a dad gerry au tag

#WOW IM SORRY THIS WAS LONG #gerry keay #gerard keay #the magnus archives #tma au #podcasts #gerry delano #before anyone is like WOW THIS IS WILDLY SPECIFIC listen i. yeah it is. but it is a cute-feel-good-AU. gerry deserves this tbh #spasticarkayl #auden talks #anon #ask #hatoratomoen #dad gerry

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ohpuckthat · 5 years

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Twitter Hunt Pt. 2 (Tyler Seguin)

Part One Here...

I was walking around Dallas with Brandon and Jo the day after the game, taking in as much as we could before we had to go back tomorrow. Last night, Tyler and I had planned to meet each other at a coffee shop downtown that he swore by. Around ten minutes before Tyler and I were supposed to meet, I had driven Brandon and Jo to have some mother/son time while at a movie theatre, planning to meet up at 6:30 back at the hotel to grab dinner together. When I had finally arrived downtown, I found a parking spot near the quaint cafe and then walked in to see Tyler sitting at a table in the back corner with a glass of water in front of him and staring intently at his phone. I slowly made my way over and took a seat in the chair across from him.

“Oh, hey. Sorry, just texting some of the guys.” He said, looking up from his phone at me.

“No worries. Sorry if you were waiting long, Brandon demanded to know where I was going. Jo thought it’d be best if we didn’t tell him. He’d probably want to tag along.”

“Not that I don’t love the little guy, but I’m kind of glad he didn’t come. I wanted to get to know you a bit better.”

“He’s definitely one of a kind. He’s one of the reasons I love my job so much.”

“Me too. I mean, seeing all these people wearing my jersey? I used to be one of those kids.”

“Me too, well I still am.” I said, before we both started laughing. We continued getting to know each other until a server came to take our orders. As per Tyler’s recommendation, I ordered a coffee and a stack of their pancakes. She wrote our orders down before making her way back towards the kitchen.

“I normally don’t get pancakes. I’m more of a french toast kind of girl.” I admitted.

“I swear, the pancakes here are amazing. Sometimes I get weird looks for ordering them for dinner.” He said, adding a belly laugh at the end. I couldn’t help but admire the way his face crinkled and his hands moving to clutch his stomach. Even though what he said wasn’t funny in the slightest, just seeing him laugh was contagious enough for me to join in. Once our laughter died down slightly, we continued asking each other basic questions like full name, where we’re originally from, and our favourite colours. Soon after we had ordered, our coffees came and I leaned over to grab some cream and sugar to fix the cup of joe in front of me. As I brought the mug to my lips, my phone started ringing. The Dallas Stars goal song played, signalling it was Jo calling.

“I am so sorry, I have to take this.” I said, tilting the phone slightly to show him who was calling before answering. “Hello?”

“Hey Y/N. Brandon passed out in the middle of the movie so we are currently on our way to a hospital to get him checked out. We probably won’t be able to make it back to the hotel on time for dinner.” I could hear the tears in her voice. This would be the first time in two years that Brandon had to be rushed to the hospital and I could tell she was scared.

“That’s completely fine. Um, text me where they take you guys and I’ll meet you there.” I said, ignoring the concerned look on Tyler’s face.

“No, enjoy your time with Tyler. It’s probably nothing but I just wanted to make sure.”

“You did the right thing Jo. I’ll come sit with you okay? Just let me know where you guys are headed.”

“I’ll text you when we get there.”

“Alright, I will see you soon.” I hung up the phone and went to grab some cash from my purse to pay for the uneaten meal on the way.

“What’s going on?” Tyler asked as I placed a twenty on the table.

“Something happened with Brandon and he and Jo are on their way to a hospital. I really have to go.” I stood up and hiked the purse up onto my shoulder. “I’m really sorry to cut this short.”

“Let me drive you.” He said, getting up and placing some money on the table as well.

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“I’m offering. Plus, it’ll be nice to see Brandon again before you guys leave.” I looked at him before nodding and making my way to the door, Tyler right behind me. He pointed to a small black car before placing his hand on the small of my back and ushering me towards the passengers side door. He opened the door and then shut it when I finally sat down before running around the car and getting into the drivers seat. I grabbed my phone once more and saw that Jo had texted me their location and we were on our way.

“So you have the Dallas Stars goal song as your ringtone eh?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him. I could tell he was a little tense with how nervous I was but I appreciated him trying to get my mind off of the situation at hand.

“Not my regular ringtone. I always set personalized ringtones for the people I’m travelling with. I went to Disney in Paris with a little girl just last month and she asked me to set her ringtone as Goofy’s laugh.” I laughed slightly at the memory before realizing that we had arrived at the hospital.

I texted Jo that we were here and she quickly replied that they were already set up in a room and that the front desk knew I was coming. I opened the door and walked in with Tyler, his hand finding it’s way to intertwine with mine, his thumb rubbing my knuckles trying to calm me down. I quickly squeezed his hand before asking the man behind the desk where I could find Brandon. He pointed to a hall and gave us the room number. I thanked him and pulled Tyler towards Brandon’s room. When I walked in, Jo was sitting in a chair that had been brought to the edge of the bed and Brandon was laying down, half awake.

“Hey buddy. How you feeling?” I asked, walking towards his bed, letting go of Tyler’s hand in the process.

“What is Tyler Seguin doing here?” He asked, completely ignoring my question.

“I heard what happened and I thought I would come see how you were?” He said, walking forward to stand next to me. I looked at Jo and saw her nod towards the door. I leaned up to Tyler’s ear and whispered that we would be back in a second and asked him if he was going to be okay to hang out with Brandon for a bit. He quickly turned and nodded before walking to the bed and sitting the chair Jo was just in. We walked out to the hallway before Jo broke down.

“One second he was fine and the next, he was on the ground.” She sobbed into my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. This had only happened to me once before. A kid hospitalized as their dream was being fulfilled. All I could do was rub her back and let her get it all out. After a few minutes, she separated from me and took both of my hands. “Thank you so much for being here. You are an angel.” I pulled her into another hug before we headed back into the room. Tyler had migrated from the chair to sitting on the end of the bed playing cards with Brandon.

“I win!” Brandon yelled, placing down the last card from his hand.

“You cheated!” Tyler yelled back, throwing his stack of cards down after.

“Boys, boys. Stop yelling. People are trying to heal here.” Jo said, walking over to her chair. I made my way over to the bed and sat next to Tyler.

“Did you seriously play cards with him?” I asked Tyler, pointing towards Brandon, slightly laughing.

“Yeah. He asked nicely so I thought we’d play. He played me!” Even before Tyler could finish his sentence, Jo, Brandon, and I were laughing so hard, our stomachs hurt.

“I learned my lesson on the plane ride here.” I said, once the laughing died down. I leaned over to Tyler and layed my head on his shoulder. I was too focused on Brandon’s laughter to notice the smile on Tyler’s face. Before I could stop it, a yawn made it’s way out of my mouth.

“Y/N, they want to keep Brandon overnight. Why don’t you head back to the hotel and meet us back here tomorrow morning?” Jo said, noticing my yawn.

“Yeah, I also left my car downtown so I should probably go pick that up.” I got up and hugged them both before Tyler and I made our way back to his car. As soon as we got in, tears started rolling down my face. Tyler turned to me but didn’t say anything. He started the car and then placed his hand onto my thigh. He started driving but went the opposite way of downtown.

“Where are we going?” I asked quietly, my voice coming out hoarse.

“Oh, uh. I was just thinking that you shouldn’t be alone tonight. I can bring you back to your hotel room but I have a guest room open but I guess I shouldn’t have just assumed.”

“That would actually be great. Thank you.” We stayed quiet for the rest of the ride to his place, with only the radio playing very low. He pulled into his driveway and then made his way into his garage. He turned the ignition off and then got out of the car and ran around to open my car door. I quietly thanked him as I slid out. He lead me inside and we were swarmed by his pack of dogs. I quickly leaned down and gave the dogs some love. “Hello. Who are you?” I asked them in a baby-esque voice.

“That’s Marshall, Cash, and Gerry.” He said, pointing to each dog. I ended up on my butt with all the dogs swarming me.

“Alright boys, leave her alone.” He said, pulling them off. He led them to the backyard and then walked back to where I was still sitting on his floor. He held his hand out and then pulled me up onto my feet once I grabbed his hand.

We spent most of the night watching a few movies in his media room. For only a moment, I forgot about why I was here and I just enjoyed being here with Tyler. But once that moment was gone, I thought about Brandon sitting in a hospital bed with Jo, not knowing what was going on. Looking over at Tyler, I couldn’t help but think about what could happen if I didn’t have to leave. We both knew that whatever was going on with us, it couldn’t last. I tried to soak up as much as I could, commit as much to memory before I would have to go back. I tried to push it all back before closing my eyes and eventually falling asleep.

A few days had passed and Brandon was finally cleared to fly back home. As elated as I was to go home, I couldn’t help but feel blue about leaving Dallas and Tyler. Throughout our visit here, Tyler and I had gotten a lot closer than I could have even imagined. As we sat in the airport, Jo and I were chatting and Brandon was on my phone, playing one of the many games I had downloaded for him. From our seats, Jo and I could hear him giggle every now and then, smiles lighting up our faces. After a bit, Brandon started shifting in his seat. Jo took that as a clue and brought him to the washroom, giving me some alone time with my thoughts. They returned not long after, but had acquired a few people along the way. I turned around and saw Brandon leading a group of Dallas Stars towards me, Tyler right beside Brandon. I slowly stood up and walked over to the group.

“Let’s leave the love birds alone.” Captain Jamie said, ushering the boys, who had been making kissy noises and cheering, over to where Jo, Brandon and I had been sitting previously.

“I’m sorry about them.” He said, scratching the back of his neck.

“It’s all good. It’s... charming in a way.”

“I just knew that I couldn’t let you leave without seeing you again.”

“That is so cheesy.”

“But true. I don’t know when I’m going to see you next but I know I do want to see you again.”

“Really?” I asked, smirking slightly.

“Yeah. There’s also something that I wanted to do since the first time we met.” He leant in and whispered in my ear “Am I coming off too strong?” I shook my head before placing my hands on his shoulders, his hands finding my waist, and before he kissed me. From behind us we could hear the boys cheering, but, as cliche as it sounded, it felt like there was nothing else in the world except for us. We separated and I hid myself in his chest. I could feel him swatting his hand towards the boys before kissing the top of my head. I lifted my head up and smiled with him. Before we could say anything, they called to start boarding.

“I guess that’s my cue.” I said, frowning slightly.

“We’ll see each other again. I promise.” He said, kissing my forehead. I nodded before walking towards Jo and the boys. We all said our goodbyes before we boarded. I took my phone out to turn it off but saw a message from Tyler.

from @/tseguin92

sorry for all the commotion... but damn was it ever worth it 😉 i'll see you soon.

from @/yourusername

see you soon cheese ball 😉

#tyler seguin imagine #tyler seguin imagines #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #tylerseguin

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lilized · 6 years

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R76 Summer Event - Sports!

(With very little actual Sports involved, sorry I just wanted an excuse to write r76 discussing being dads)

For @ufficiosulretro , my partner in crime, who’s not feeling well and headcanons Pharah playing basket cause Gabe taught her. Love you!

Summer in Gibraltar was hot. It would have been lovely if only Jack could have spent it on the beach instead of drowning in paperwork. He glared down at the last report from Gérard in Rome.

Bet you’re in some nice Italian romantic spot with you’re hot dancer friend, goddamn you. I wanted to take a boat and go swim with the dolphins, but noooo, you just had to go bust international crime lords in August, Gerry.

Do not call me Gerry, you uncultured American swine.

Jack knew that making up banter in his head was a gateway to madness, he just couldn’t decide if he should blame the temperature or the boredom.

“Look, Jack, look!” Fareeha’s voice was a balm to his soul. He dropped the e-pad to his knee and raised his eyes from the screen.

Fareeha played around in the sun with the energy only a ten-year-old could possibly have. The basketball was too big for her little hands, but that didn’t discourage her from being halfway to mastering the bouncing of it. She took it with both hands and hurled it toward the basket, Gabe pretended to try to stop it, but let the ball fly over him. Fareeha cheered excitedly when she scored.

Jack clapped animatedly “Wow! I want you on my team next time I play against this guy.”

Fareeha gave him a bright smile, and Jack’s felt a warmth spreading in his chest that had nothing to do with the stifling summer. The girl had been standing alone and moping not two hours earlier. Ana was on a mission, and she had instructed her not to leave the base. Gabriel had found her, cleared his schedule for the day, and dragged Jack’s out of his office. That’s how he ended up under a beach umbrella, doing paperwork on a deckchair and watching Gabriel teaching Fareeha how to play basketball.

“Come on, Jack, play with us!”

Damn, he should have worn sunglasses, he could tell Fareeha already picked up the weakness on his face.

“Just one game.” She singsonged. Her smile was all sparkly white teeth.

“Just one game, Jack.” Gabe echoed her. Gabe’s bronze skin glistened in the sun in a very distracting way. “Just one.” He conceded.

Gabriel and Fareeha shared a triumphant high-five when Jack rose from his chair.

Despite his best intentions he ended up playing the day away. Jack insisted he just had to have Fareeha’s help and they teamed up against Gabe, who took the chance of having an adversary over ten to show off his basketball skill. There may have been actual stars in Fareeha’s big chocolate brown eyes when Gabe slam dunked.

“I want to do that.” She said pointing at Gabe.

“When you’re a bit taller, I’ll teach you,” Gabriel promised, tickling her side as he passed them by. Jack bent his legs and reached Fareeha’s at eye level. “Or…” He wiggled his eyebrows and tapped his own shoulders. She didn’t even stop thinking about it for a second, quite his mother’s daughter.

“Hey, no fair!” Gabe said throwing his arms in the air when Fareeha scored riding Jack on his shoulders.

When Ana came back for Fareeha, it still felt too soon. Gabe hugged him from behind while Jack was still waving at the little girl.

“Still think a Watchpoint is a terrible environment to raise a child?” Gabe murmured resting his chin on Jack’s shoulder.

“I don’t want to be one of those fathers.” Jack sighed. “Barely being there, missing all the important stuff, give my kid the impression my job is more important...” He turned to wrap his arms around Gabe “I’m told I’m a terrible enough husband already.”

Gabe laughed and kissed him “The worst.” He said while their lips were still almost touching. “You should take that husband of yours to dinner since the world seems to not be on fire for once.”

Jack smirked and opened his mouth to promise all kind of things to make up to Gabriel, just in time for his communicator to chirp.

Gabriel rolled his eyes “You got to be fucking kidding me.”

Jack scowled at Gabe “This is on you, you jinxed it.” He said before getting the comm out of his pocket. “Morrison.”

“Strike Commander, Chief Engineer Torbjӧrn is waiting for you for the debriefing on Operation Canyon.”

Fuck, he completely forgot about that.

“I’ll be right there.” Jack hurriedly kissed Gabriel’s cheek “Sorry, babe, have to convince Torbs to infiltrate a gang of bikers back home.”

“You’re right, I can’t possibly inflict you on any small child.” Gabe crossed his arms and let out a disappointed sigh that was mostly faked. At least Jack hoped so.

“We should adopt a teenager, so they can just skip to the part where they hate us.” He said gathering his things as quickly as possible.

“Hate you maybe. I’d be the cool dad, Jack.” Gabriel pulled him in for one last deep kiss. Jack could tell Gabe’s fingers were ruffling his hair worse than all the basketball did, Torbjӧrn would look at him and knew exactly why he was late.

It took all is no small amount of willpower to separate from Gabe.

“Tell me more about this biker gang when you come back home tonight.”

Gabriel pinched his ass as he walked away, Jack raised an eyebrow and curled his lips.

“I sure hope we can do something better tonight than discuss the Deadlocks.”

Notes: I remember seeing a really funny piece of art on tumblr with Torb working undercover in Deadlock in his Biker skin, talking to McCree, which inspired me on that one point. (Basically that Overwatch did some recon, kept tabs on them, then at some point passed the whole operation to BW.)

For the life of me, I can’t remember the artist. If anyone else knows what I’m talking about, please let me know, I’d love to tag them.

edit: Thanks to @narugakaruga who found the @plaugued-h-doctorate ‘s art I was talking about!

#reaper76summerevent #reaper76 #r76 #morreyeson #dads feelings #my second entry is here whooo #jack morrison #gabriel reyes #fareeha amari #overwatch #my writing

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mitchbeck · 4 years

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CANTLON: SANTOS TOP MAN IN THE EHL

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings NEWINGTON, CT - Spending time with a league commissioner provides a glimpse into just how harried and crazed of a life that it can be. It also reveals a greater appreciation as to how difficult the business side of hockey can be. Mike Santos, is in his fourth season as the Executive Director of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL), a USA Hockey Tier III league that held one of their six Showcase events of its season last week at the Newington Ice Arena. A showcase events allows the public to see another level of junior hockey, but more importantly, it provides an opportunity for collegiate coaches and scouts, the chance to look for prospects to fill roster openings. The host team, the Connecticut Chiefs, includes ex-Hartford Whaler, Yvon “Ike” Corriveau, as an operator. There's another Connecticut team in the league, the RoughRiders. They are coached by Eric Lind (New Canaan/Avon Old Farms) who played for three Danbury minor pro teams, the Trashers (UHL), the Mad Hatters (EPHL), and the Whalers (FHL). Several other coaches have Connecticut ties. Chris Cerrella is the Head Coach of the New Hampshire Avalanche (Quinnipiac University/New Haven Knights (UHL). He was also the coach of the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack for six years. Adam Houli (Gunnery Prep/Trinity College) (NESCAC) and Danbury Whalers) (FHL) coaches the New Jersey 87’s. Three hours with Santos was like hanging with Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco, “Lets walk and talk." Santos, who started out his hockey executive life as the marketing director for the departed New Haven Nighthawks. Now, as EHL commissioner, on this day he was an uncle, commissioner, business trade analyst, well-informed fan and he is all of those things to the EHL. Hockey, for the Massachusetts native and Florida resident, is in his DNA. His sneakers get a frequent work out at these Showcases and as Commissioner, he makes the final call. Santos demonstrated his avuncular side while chatting with one of the youngest players in the league, Cole Scott, of the East Coast Wizards (Bedford, MA). Santos inquired and encouraged Scott's play. He asked how he was doing at school and wondered if he had a driving companion? “Hockey is a lot of retail at this level. There's a lot more hands-on work and one-on-one communication that's required.” Santos then walked to his left and handled a delicate and thorny issue tactfully about a potential ownership change with one of his teams and then arranged a meeting with an interested party. “We had our Board of Governors meeting yesterday and, like any league, there are a variety of issues we're dealing with. There are different owners, all with their own issues. You would be amazed how it permeates to the youngest levels of hockey. You would be amazed how many youth teams that are actually owned by someone. We’re talking 10, 11, 12-year-olds. It's more complicated at this level dealing with people and egos. There’s never a dull moment,” Santos, who also serves on USA hockey junior and legal councils, said. One of many stories Santos shared that best exemplifies the trials and tribulations he encounters was regarding the handling of player safety, which has progressed at all levels in the past five years and become priority number one. “One young man barks at the referee one too many times and gets hit with a misconduct for not having his mouthpiece in. The coach calls later all upset. He’s concerned the player is being scouted by such-and-such schools today and they hit him with a misconduct for not having on a mouthpiece. We don’t enforce that here.” Santos shoots back, “Are you serious ? Really? Its on page one of the league handbook. It's a policy directive from USA Hockey. You want to argue that before a judge if some kid’s parents are suing because the kid suffered a head injury in a league game? Tell the judge, we have the rule, but we don’t enforce it…ooh that would go over just great,” Santos said with a very heavy dose of sarcasm in his still audible Massachusetts accent. Point noted and he takes out his cell phone to show pictures of another player who was injured in the league recently and the dental damage from wearing just a half visor not understanding why any player would not opt for full face protection. Santos career has prepared him well. He worked for the NHL as a Manager of Special Events in Montreal and New York and in 1993 he ran the NHL Draft in Hartford. He was also on the management side of the game serving as an assistant GM/Director of Hockey Ops with the New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. He has also helped to run the AHL operations of their affiliates in Lowell, Rochester, Milwaukee, and San Antonio. Santos was the Commissioner and President of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) where he steered the league out of chaos and into prosperity. He was also the President of the Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) for two seasons. Santos has seen the game grow in quality, financially, and in complexity. He also has a JD degree from St. John’s University. Two areas where he sees big changes being needed are in the cost of equipment, and in better development programs for officiating, and growing college hockey properly. Walking through the pro shop, Santos stops to look at the racks of the shiny graphite sticks. “What’s the real difference in the weight and technology of these sticks,” he said while sampling a few. “(Not much), and look at the price tag. $250 per stick. Get a dozen of those, that’s more than $3,000, and if they break, which they invariably do, that’s a lot of money for a kid. Outfitting a growing kid at like $2,000 or more is something that has to get addressed or we're gonna price out certain kids from the game. "I remember as a kid we used any stick we could get. In high school, we got Christian sticks for free. The coach would drop a box in the center of locker room, so I used them. In college, there was a choice of Titan or KOHO. I still only managed a couple of goals a season. It wasn’t the stick. There are no wood sticks anymore. Major League Baseball still mandates wood bats. The NHL has a chance to do the same thing, but chose another path. I’m not sure what the formula is to deal with this, but the costs associated with the game from ice time to the equipment is considerable,” said Santos, a Boston College grad with a Masters degree from the US Sports Academy. His lawyer skills came in handy with the NAHL. He helped to draft a constitution, and put a solid structure in place. The league is still in business and thriving. The players in the USHL, or NAHL, that are future college prospects, can go to, or come to the league if need be, in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility and elevate their game. It's now coast-to-coast and a major component for Division I college hockey. The EHL is on the same path. "More kids are playing out West, and the non-traditional markets are no longer non-traditional any longer. Now we have more kids from Texas, Arizona and Southern California playing hockey. Clearly, we have players for all levels, including Division I, and we have a great many Division II and III schools here today. The player pool is spread throughout the country and with the high quality college club programs too. I was in Los Angeles last summer walking by a construction site near UCLA. I ask the guy, 'What are you building?' A new football building. The other one is like 10-15 years old. The money is there, and all the work the Kings have done out there, I think both USC, and UCLA could both have D1 teams. They both had very strong club programs for years. Arizona State’s new building will be ready in two years. Washington, Oregon, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas have the resources, the land, and the program infrastructure to do this. The players are available. It's having the access. If you want to really grow the game nationally, that's very important and necessary with the amount of hockey being played out West.” Next Santos went rink-side to watch some game action with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) head coach, Sean Walsh. They witness a kid nailing another kid in the corner with a head shot with about five seconds left in the game. A game misconduct was handed out. Santos' keen eye for detail watches the post-game interaction with the head coach of the kid hit with the game misconduct. “Look at him, trying to work over the ref and the assistant with the linesman. It was the right call. The game’s over and you drill a kid like that, no need for it.” He walks away as the linesman leaves the arena to chat with him about the play. A few head coaches stop by to chat on a few things going on at the Showcase. He inquires how their hotel accommodations were. Then his phone rings and a former NHL’er involved with one of the teams is calling to discuss future scheduling. Santos starts running down a composite game structure off the top of his head for total games played, home and away, and the regional opponents that are possible without blinking or looking anything up. “Things are always evolving and you’re often planning ahead on one subject or another. Junior hockey is changing and you have to keep adapting and these showcases are an example of the growth of the game. The kids are coming from many different places and we give them an avenue to do so.” Santos and the EHL's work will always be a part of the growing showcase of the mosaic of hockey in the US. Read the full article

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one-true-houselight · 7 years

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Monday means Writing

This is an essay I wrote in response to the assignment ‘What is Theatre to you?” (Names taken out for privacy.”

What is Theatre? I sit in the laundry room of my dorm trying to write a paper about theatre that isn’t painful to read. I slowly go back in my memory; I stand in my workplace at 3am, trying to say goodbye to a second family. I cower on a staircase in the same place two years prior, frozen by fear. I explain to someone that I can, in fact, operate a drill. In fact, I do that at my high school for five years. Three years before that, I sing the only song I know on the karaoke machine from the expansion stage a long forgotten middle school parent built in our cafeteria. I learn to coil cables and test microphones as a excitable eight year old in my church. I finally shut up as an egotistical kid at the end of a drama camp in Hawai’i. These are the defining moments of what I have become, and what I’m still becoming, because of theatre. Theatre is my life. It has shown me my strength, it has taught me my limits. It has given me a reason to live, which I have needed. And these snapshots of my life scratch the surface of explaining how this art does that. I lived in Hawai’i for three and a half years. In that time, I learned how to ice skate, saw an erupting volcano, learned and promptly forgot bits and pieces of both Hawaiian and Japanese, and interacted extensively with a community theatre organization. That community theatre was called Honolulu Theater for Youth, or HTY for short. My family did everything from watching shows to attending workshops; from helping renovate their theater space to, and here the story really begins, signing me up for acting camps. Now, it would be easy to expect a story of me taking to it instantly, and finding a new passion in this wonderful thing called Show Business, capital S capital B. This is not one of those stories. I was a short six year old and a horrific diva. I wanted to control everything, I didn't want to play the games. I am grateful I am writing this paper because it is proof that those instructors were imbibed with the grace not to literally murder me. But then why do I even bring up this camp if it did nothing to interest me in theatre? Because it taught me something later down the road. We were doing a final ‘performance’ (read: played improv games) for the parents at the end of the camp, and one of the things we did was play a game called ‘statues’. This game involved staying quiet and still. We had played it many times over the duration of the camp, and it was the bane of my existence. But for this performance, I actually settled down and played. And I enjoyed it, amazingly enough. And though I cringe every time I look back at this time in my life, I can still see that the things I experienced with HTY have stayed with me through the years; I remember plays about the Korean War, about Hawaiian cultural legends who became my cultural legends. I saw my first parodies and satires here. And all this is why when I got back into theatre, I decided I want to eventually open my own community theater. I want to reach people through this art form I love the same way HTY reached me, and have reached thousands of other people. This wasn’t the spark, but it was the fire starter you put in to keep the fire burning once that spark does come along. After we moved to Virginia, we quickly found a nearby church that had fun music and nice people. I was eight, and though I liked church, I was usually pretty antsy. After a few weeks of watching the sound guy set up each week (we sat right in front of the choir area), he came up and asked if I wanted to help. I excitedly hopped up, and started learning stuff. I learned how the channel on the box the mic plugged into corresponded to the channel on the board, how to sound check (making many counting jokes in the process), and what all those darn knobs do on the board. I promptly forgot most of that last one, but the sound guy (whose name is Gerry) was always happy to explain. I got to take home a dead cable and practice coiling, which I enjoyed an inordinate amount. And I still do. This was my first experience in tech. And even though I retained at most 50% of the information, that means I retained 50% of the information about sound. It gave me confidence to go into other situations and say “Hey, I know sound basics”. It was an environment where it didn’t even occur to me that being a girl had anything to do with what I worked on. And I continued to help with sound at that church for over 10 years, even after I became part of the choir I so admired. Lessons I learned from that badly placed sound board still come back to me. I made friends with the adults that helped Gerry. It reminded me that small stuff like coiling a cable could be relaxing and even joyful. It acted as another fire starter for when theatre would become a part of my life. In sixth grade, I thought I was going to play soccer in the spring. So my dad, a track star back in the day, convinced me to try out for track in the fall. Shockingly enough, when I refused to run a mile and could barely breathe after the events I actually did attempt, I was cut from tryouts almost immediately. And I have never been more pleased with rejection in my life. After that, my mom convinced me to reluctantly try out for A Christmas Carol. Fast forward to that spring. After A Christmas Carol, I did Suessical Jr., which was wonderful. At the after cast-party, someone pulled out a karaoke machine, and I volunteered to go first. I got up there and started reading through the song list. And I knew none of them. Until I got to one a friend had introduced me to not four months prior; “Fireflies” by Owl City. I picked it, because I love that song, and started singing. A bunch of people who had become my friends over this show started clapping with beat, and sang all the responses. And in that moment, I knew that this is where I belonged. I had moved four times in my life, so I was used to things in life not lasting. But this was different. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be friends with all of them, I would be friends with some of them for a long time. And everything about theatre worked for me; the show, the performing, the jokes. It was an intersection of everything. It was here where I started to remember HTY, and see what I could do for people. And I have always remembered singing “Fireflies” with those people as the true spark of my love for theatre. I have been woodworking with my dad for many years. I helped build stuff for my sixth and seventh grade shows, as well as just around the house stuff. Lowes was a wonderful place for me. Still is, I suppose. I started going to set builds at my high school the spring before I started attending. And my skills definitely improved over the years, as skills are apt to do. And it was these set builds that helped me realize how much I enjoy tech. There was something about working for hours and creating something that sat with me for longer than acting ever did. But it also started showing me more important, concrete lessons. I learned to know my strengths, when it was good to learn, and when getting things done was more important. I learned when to insist I knew how to do something, and when to not fight that battle. Especially the latter. It’s hard, when you feel like any sign of weakness is a betrayal of yourself and your gender, to let it go when it isn't an issue. And I didn't learn it completely in any sense of the word. I still haven't completely learned it. But those Saturdays were where I learned a lot about myself and the people I was working with in high school. The summer of my junior year, I had accepted a job at my Tae Kwon Do place as a camp counselor for some ungodly reason. I was only scheduled to work the month of August, which is why when my dad asked if I want to do another camp in August I initially said no. He explained that a friend of his tagged him in a post from a local theater we had attended a couple of times. This theater, the Hylton Performing Arts Center, was starting up something called ‘Tech Boot Camp’; a week long thing where you were taught technical theater by the people who work there as technicians. And to sweeten the deal, after the camp you were allowed to volunteer at their shows. My parents finally convinced me to skip a week of work to do this, saying it would help with my goals and be a good experience. This right here is what English teachers call foreshadowing. But I’ll get to that later. Anyway, we start the first day on intros and lights. Which means going up to the fifth floor tech level and the follow spot booth. Fun Fact about Erika <last name>; I am afraid of heights. <Unparliamentary language deleted> terrified. So I hung back in the follow spot booth, and prayed fervently as we walked along. Then we got to another set of stairs. Another woman and I could not continue, so one of the counselors stays with us. Then everyone went downstairs, and I couldn't move. Eventually, the same counselor brought me down the elevator and calmed me down. Throughout the week, I pushed myself to confront the heights with help from all four counselors. By the end, even though it was one of the best experiences of my life, I was convinced I would not be invited back. But the main production person came and specifically said they wanted me back because I had been so engaged, and another person said that they too were scared of heights, and that it was ok. And this camp wasn’t where I learned any lessons, or where I found a new love or passion. Those came later. But it shows a starting point, and it is important to my journey in theatre to see this stop. A little over two years after that camp, I am a paid employee. Those four counselors, along with all the other HPAC production and other staff, are my best friends and a second family. I learned so many things, a mere fraction of which was stagehand related. I have conquered a list of anxieties and fears longer than a cue-to-cue rehearsal. These people helped me decide to seek help for my clinical anxiety, and did everything they could to help ever since then. No activity has helped me more with my self-confidence and esteem. No group of people has taught me more about friendship and family. This was the first place I wanted to go after I reported my parent’s abuse, and it was a haven whenever I needed it. I figured out a lot about myself, and it was (and is) where I could start rebuilding a person I could look at in the mirror. It showed me how much I fit into theatre, how I really could make it in this world. And now I have a gaggle of brothers and sisters who will always be there to lend advice, make a joke, or just listen. I could write pages about this, but I think it is summed up best by how we parted before I came to Tech. It’s 3am. I hug every single person as they walk out, sharing a quick whispered conversation. Until it is just me and the counselor who helped me at camp, the man who was the first to adopt me, who is one of the only ones who knows I might not be alive the next day, who knows everything about me like they all do. And we both stand there, trying not to cry. Tech theatre, like I mentioned above, is an almost magical intersection of many of my complexities. It requires a lot of movement, which is one of the ways I deal with my anxiety. It is ever-changing, and yet still has constants and rules and stuff I can organize. There is always new stuff to learn, and people who can and will teach it to me. It lets my strengths be used, and it lets my limits be set. I have learned to not be a diva, to find the little things I can do, to find families, to do what I can the best I can, and that there is nothing I can’t do if I want to do it. I feel that tech is the best way I have to help people, and I am thankful for all the experiences that have helped show me that. I am excited to keep learning. I am glad I have stayed alive, and theatre is a big reason that is the case. And now, as I sit in the lounge (the laundry long done), I hold back all the emotion from these recollections. I store it, and use it to fuel my journey into the unknown.

At the end I included a note about how I’m getting help for the mental health issues discussed here so I didn’t worry my professors.

#I write sometimes #essay #theatre #tech theatre #more about me #I highly doubt you want to but ok to reblog

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kazosa · 7 years

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Second Chances - Jeff x Reader: Chapter 24

Summary: Reader and Jeff work a project and become fast friends. The project ends and they go their separate ways, neither forgetting the other. With Hollywood being a small community, you two bump into one another either at events or projects, but there is always something keeping you apart. Will the obstacles ever end? Chapter 24 Summary: P.S. I Love You!! Warnings: language (as usual), SUUUPPAAAA FLUFFFFFF, put pictures in this one A/N: Please leave comments or let me know if you want to be tagged, etc. Only one more chapter after this one. I can’t believe it! Word count: 2300 Catch up here: Masterlist Tags: @jml509 @jasoncrouse @yellatthetopofyourlungs @bookchic20 @prettyepiic @rizflo-blog @curious-sub7 @backseat-negan @warriorqueen1991 @fairytale07 @sup–ernova

FLASHBACK Sandy liked (Y|N), she liked her a lot. It was obvious to her and Richard that their son was smitten with the girl. She could see what it was Jeff liked about her. She had this quiet way about her, but it was easy to see that she would fight like a hellcat for a worthy cause. Sandy noticed right away that, despite her age, she was wise beyond her years and that she could easily keep up with her son. They liked a lot of the same things and both she and Richard could tell that it was all genuine. They’d been fooled in the past. (Y|N) was different. She’d talked to Richard about her plan and he’d agreed with her. She told Jeff to meet her and Richard in the living room. It took her a little bit to find the small box. She grabbed it out of the drawer and went down to meet her men. “What’s this all about, Mom,” Jeff asked her. “Your mom and I needed to talk to you about (Y|N),” Richard started. Jeff laid his head back on the couch cushion. They’d tried to warn him about Anya years ago. “Mom, Dad, I swear, (Y|N) is different, I really like her a lot. She’s cool as hell, she learned to ride a bike, she doesn’t take any shit from anybody. I really want you guys to like her. Hell, she even likes Norman, thinks he’s sweet.” “Honey,” Sandy held up her hand to quiet Jeff, “we like her.” Jeff looked to his dad who nodded, “Could tell right away, son.” “So, what’s this about then?” he was completely confused. Sandy turned the box over in her hand. She held it out to Jeff for him to take. “That was your grandmother’s, not my mom, your dad’s. It came to us when she passed. Since I already have one, your dad and I thought maybe you’d like to give it to that sweet girl of yours.”

A few weeks before Supernatural wrapped for the season (watching the Impala get destroyed hurt the car lover in you), Jeff was getting a lot of attention for both John Winchester and Denny Duquette. His manager was getting in a ton of scripts and one day Jeff had brought home a small stack that had made the cut. He was busy with one and you picked up the one on top that looked like he’d already read it. Sitting down with him on the couch, you started reading it. It was your usual spot for script reading so you had your notebook for making notes as you read and a box of tissues handy if it made you cry. Every time there was a letter from Gerry, you got misty. Jeff seemed oblivious to your tissue usage until it got closer to the end. “Sweetheart, you okay?” he asked. You sniffled, “Jeff, you gotta do this one.” You almost never told him which parts he needed to pursue. He was a big boy and could make his own decisions. “Yeah, this one is really good. It’ll be a good date movie. The TV shows are cool and pay the bills and all, but this… your character gets the girl…and it’s in Ireland and you know what that means.” He grinned at you showing off those dimples you loved. “Castles,” you said at the same time. He called his manager right away and that decision started a whirlwind of activity that culminated in you and Jeff on an airplane to Dublin.

Prior to leaving for Dublin, you and Jeff had spent a few weeks in upstate New York while Jeff got guitar lessons from Nancy flippin Wilson! Every day when Jeff would get back from a lesson, you would pump him for information. He happily geeked out with you and told you every detail. When he wasn’t practicing guitar, he was listening to Irish dialect CDs. There was nothing in this world hotter than a hot guy playing guitar and speaking with a sexy fucking accent. Jeff was the hottest guy you had ever known and he was yours. You were only a few hours into your flight to Dublin. You looked over at your boyfriend. He had on his headphones and glasses listening to the dialect cd and reading through his script. He was whispering the words and you couldn’t help yourself from giggling. Jeff just flipped you off and kept going, you snickered and went back to your book.

Ireland Finally, after two consecutive weeks of work, Jeff got a day off. He had two whole days that he could spend with you before he had to go back to set, then there was one more week of work in Ireland, if all things went well. You didn’t have much to do, since you weren’t working, but you did visit the set so you could hang out with Jeff when he wasn’t busy. You didn’t want to do too much around Dublin without him and you only got a few hours here and there with him each day. Now that Jeff had a day off, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. The bed thudded against the wall as Jeff jumped onto the bed next to you. “Sweetheart,” he said into your neck, “Babe, you gotta get up, c’mon!’ Groaning as you sat up, “I’m up, I’m up!” You looked at him suspiciously. He was showered and dressed in dark gray slacks and a white button-down shirt. “Did I sleep too late? What time is it?” “No, you’re good. If you get going now, we can still make brunch then get going on the tours,” he said, clearly excited. Normally, you both were not morning people and his cheerful awakeness was a little irritating. Brunch? “Everything okay?” you asked. In the almost seven years you’d known Jeff, you couldn’t remember a single time either of you two had ever gone to brunch, certainly not together. “Sweetheart, everything is perfect,” he told you. You still gave him side-eye, but you went to get in the shower. It didn’t take you long to get ready. The longest part was getting your hair dry. With as windy as it was in Ireland, you were begging for a rats nest if you didn’t dry or put your hair up in some way. Since Jeff was looking snazzy, you put on some leggings and a tunic and your brown leather booties. You thought you looked pretty cute and when you were ready, you and Jeff set off for the day. It took a couple of hours to get to Waterford, but it was worth it. You and Jeff took a tour of the House of Waterford Crystal. Everything was so beautiful. You wanted everything in there. Jeff brought you over to a collection of champagne flutes he liked, the little tag said it was the “Lismore” cut. It was gorgeous. There was a whole set of champagne flutes in that cut.

“What a lovely couple you two are!” the sales floor lady spoke to you both. “Are you planning a wedding?” Jeff was damn near beaming. You didn’t know what to say. It always flustered you when people noticed that you and Jeff were a couple. He pulled you into his side, saving you from having to say anything. “We’re just looking but these really jumped out at us,” he said to the lady. “Excellent taste, that is our most popular cut,” she said, “Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with.” “Thank you,” Jeff said. Marrying Jeff was not something you thought about often, but it had crossed your mind more than once. There wasn’t anybody you would rather be with. You didn’t need a ring to know where your heart was. You’d never talked about it with him though. You weren’t even sure if it was something he wanted. The idea of marrying him didn’t scare you, but maybe starting a family did. Bisou was practically your baby… having an actual child to take care of… well, if Jeff was there… “You ready to go to the castle now,” Jeff was looking down at you. His voice snapped you out of your daze. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The tour around the castle and grounds took a long time. It was almost dusk when the guide released the visitors from the tour. Jeff was getting nervous, but he tried his best to hide it from her. He almost lost it at the House of Waterford when the sales lady asked them if they were planning a wedding. He’d arranged for a room at the castle and was planning on taking her to dinner in the castle restaurant. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend his two days off. She’d been thrilled they wouldn’t have to take a cab back to Dublin that night, she’d just wished she had a change of clothes. He loved that she was geeking out as much as he was about staying in a castle for the night. It was just one of the many things that made her perfect for him. She really was his best friend. She laughed at all of his stupid jokes. She meant the world to him and he wanted her with him always. He proudly led her down the stairs, her hand in the crook of his elbow, and into the castle restaurant. The little box was in his pocket, like it had been all day. Still, he patted his leg to make sure it was still there. The firmness of the box reassured him. The host found you a table that had an intimate setting somewhat private from the rest of the diners. He knew a long time ago that she was the one. Even his parents had known. When he took her to meet them, they had given him a ring for this occasion. It was perfect, too. Jeff knew she would love it and it made him really happy that his parents had welcomed her so quickly. It was nice being in Vancouver for part of the year. While filming Supernatural, they had gone to visit his mom and dad a couple times and each time was just as nice as the first. Jeff looked across the table at his beautiful girl eating her roasted chicken and smiled. She always got chicken when she was unfamiliar with a menu. She always said, “It’s really hard to fuck up chicken.” He tended to agree, but he was more willing to try different foods than her, too. Half the time, she shared her chicken with him. “Sweetheart,” he said softly, still a hint of a smile on his face. He waited for her to look up at him. “Yes, my love?” she said. He loved it when she said that. It let him know she was relaxed and in the moment. “You look so beautiful tonight,” he said, enjoying the blush rising on her cheeks, compliments were still hard for her to accept. He laid his right hand across the table for her to take. (Y|N) wiped her fingers on the linen napkin before taking his hand. “Thank you,” she said, covering her smile with her other hand. He looked at the star necklace that always hung around her neck. He’d given it to her almost seven years ago as a reminder that he believed in her and that she had kicked ass on her first job. She said she would always wear it, and she had. He never saw her without it. The same could be said for the earrings he’d given her for her birthday a few years ago. If he tried to call her out on her sentimentality, she would deny it and say, “I just love them” or that “they were the best presents I ever got.” Hell, he was getting emotional just thinking about it. “You know there’s only one thing missing from your outfit,” he said and she looked down at her clothes, but didn’t let go of his hand. She looked up with a “what?” expression in her eyes. “I was wondering, if I gave you something, would you wear it always, like you do the necklace?” “And earrings,” she said tossing her hair back, showing the earrings as a reminder. God, I love her so much.

“Do I get a present?!” you asked? The day had already been amazing, and now getting a gift? It couldn’t get much better. Jeff looked a little bit emotional to you, but you dismissed it quickly. He felt things deeply and when he wanted to do something special for you, he sometimes got a little teary, but nothing too dramatic. It always came from a happy place. You waited as he pulled something out of his pocket. “(Y|N), do you know I love you with all of my heart?” he began. Oh shit… what is he doing?! “Yes,” you were scared, heart thumping a frantic beat. It didn’t dawn on you what he was doing when he slipped out of his seat and knelt on the floor next to you. “Would you do me the honor of wearing this,” he opened a small box you hadn’t even noticed, “and be mine forever? Will you marry me?”

Later, she was in a panic, said she couldn’t remember if she had said “yes” or not. He honestly thought she might pass out when he asked her. He held up her hand in his and showed her the ring he’d put on her left hand. He’d never seen her like this. She was almost crying, couldn’t stop smiling.

He was lying in bed in a castle, a fucking castle, and he had his future wife lying next to him. It always sounded like bullshit or a cliché when you’d hear people say, “Make me the happiest man alive…” Well, it wasn’t bullshit, it was the fucking truth. He thought he might explode, he was so happy.

#second chances #reader insert #jeffrey dean morgan #jeff x reader #kazosa #chapter 24 #only one more!

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chrisabraham · 7 years

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Improve your Google search results right now

Because so many people presumably make so much money “doing SEO,” there’s a lot of confusion as to what Search Engine Optimization is and all the little things that you can do right now, today, to improve your the results on your SERP — search engine results page. OK, let’s start:

Go Rewrite As Many Titles as You Have Time For Right Now: According to Moz, “Google typically displays the first 50-60 characters of a title tag. If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly.” You should keep the titles concise, but also descriptive. Don’t be cute. All of my titles are cute and I waste them. Remember, all anybody knows about any of your pages — including Google’s spiders and bots — is the title of your pages. So, if your title currently is Check Out My Latest Project you really should actually describe subject of the blog post or site page.

Don’t Let Google Define Your Page Descriptions for You — Do It Yourself: You don’t have to care about the description of your page. There’s two ways to get a little control: rewrite your first paragraph to describe what your page is about exactly the way journalists and reporters are supposed to, in the first paragraph. According to Moz, “Meta descriptions can be any length, but search engines generally truncate snippets longer than 160 characters. It is best to keep meta descriptions long enough that they’re sufficiently descriptive, but shorter than that 160-character limit.” So, if you don’t actually write a meta description, Google will always steal your first 160 characters. If your site allows you to write a summary or your page allows you to define a description, do it. And, if you come up with an excellent summary for your page, that description should include similar turns of phrase and keywords in both your title and your full content. And, if you really like your summary description, then please be sure to integrate it into your writing. Make it better, make it newer, and take it out of “archive,” which is what Google does if you don’t update your site’s content and copy every once in a while.

Add 500 Words to a Product or Service Page by COB: Over 90% of all the outdated, over-synthesized, or over-edited sites I have seen just don’t have enough text for Google to really get a handle on. Everybody’s trying to be so succinct. I blame the elevator speech for this. We’ve boiled our business plans and our visions and mission statements down so far — a réduction, if you will — that they’re worthless to both Google and to someone who actually wants to use your website — your corporate site, your only cornerstone, your online HQ, your Internet everything! Why are you keeping it so brief? Why are you being so sneaky? Why don’t you sit down, fire up a stogie, pour yourself a deep one, and let’s talk about who you are, what you really do, why you’ve been so inspired, and what your real and true capabilities are. Like in long form. And, if all of this text and all these words break the aesthetics of your proper website, then be sure to share all of these cigar and rum moments on your blog or on a deeper, secondary page.

Links Keyword Phrases from Content Pages to About and Offerings Pages Immédiatement: You probably haven’t done the most effective thing you can do on your own site right now: every time you see a mention of your products, your services, or the names of your employees, executives, and cast of characters, you should hyperlink them all to the pages on which they live. For example, if I mention Mike Moran, I link him to his page here on Biznology; and, if I am doing this right, I will link my name, Chris Abraham, to my page here, as well. See, I also linked Biznology above. See, it’s as easy as that. You should really do it.

Add ALT Text to All Your Photos and Images Right this Minute: All modern content management systems (CMS) have someplace to customize all the images on your site. Even if you don’t know how, ask your geek. If you still have your website designer on speed dial, maybe you can encourage your web designer or your template-developer to help you out. Most downloadable templates these days make it easy to associate words with photos and words with images. Now, baby we can do it take the time, do it right, we can do it, baby, do it tonight! Why didn’t your web developer do it? Laziness. It’s probably even in your contract. You didn’t care at the time. The more pretty images, the better. But now you need to care. Why? Because Google can only read — and index and return results for — text so if a lot of your site is made up of images and graphics and graphics of text (are you kidding me), then they’re all invisible to Google. You always need to look at your site as if you were blind or visually impaired.

Connect Your Site Immediately to Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Webmasters: You really should have done this already. Click me: Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Webmasters — also, if you don’t have an SEO tool for your site, look into Yoast SEO for Drupal or Yoast SEO for WordPress. They have the tools required to make it super-simple to make all the proper connections you need. Also, bonus points: Google Analytics.

Optimize Your Images If That’s Something You Can Easily Do Soon: Don’t assume that your CMS automagically takes your 4MB and 2MB and 10MB and 14MB(!)images and squishes them down from your crazy 8 megapixel cameraphone photos to images that are especially optimized for the web. All of your 5184 × 3456 pixel images really need to be brought down to 1600×800 pixels — or even smaller. If you can’t get your images under control via your server or your CMS then you’re going to need to use Photoshop or something else. If your images are too big, your site will take too long to load; and, if you make your visitors’ experience shitty, then Google will tax you and your search results will suffer.

Get a Faster Web Hosting Company and Learn About Caching and CDNs: Google be taxing! If your site isn’t mobile native or friendly: TAX! If your images are huge and fat and take forever to load: TAX! And, if your site isn’t responsive in the “hand-off” between when someone clicks on your Google Search result, then TAX! Is all your JavaScript and CSS cluttering up the page (instead of actual content): TAX! So, you’ll need to spend some money on getting the fast server, the server with RAM and an SSD HD, super-close access to the Internet Backbone, with the ability to scale if you get a flood of visitors, or don’t get flooded if someone else on your shared server scores a sticky meme. More than the $3.95 that you’re spending now or the half-assed server setup that your CMS website service providers have you on (they need to make as much delta as possible, right, we’re capitalists, after all). And, even then, you need to learn about how to make your slow-ass database-backed websites, your WordPress or Drupal or whatever site, faster through caching. WordPress caching’s pretty easy. And then, since you can’t be in all places at once, a content delivery network (CDN) allows you to distribute your site and all its contents across the globe. I have sorted out how to use CloudFlare for free over on my “I don’t want to be fat, sick, and weak forever” blog, RNNR. Not only do CDNs help quicken up your site, they also make proximity to the server a non-issue. If your servers are in Northern California and someone’s checking out your site in London would need to burrow through MAE-East to get to it. But, with a CDN, presumably there’d be a working copy of RNNR somewhere in the UK. All of this is worth looking into. At least for SEO, at least for Google. Because, if all things are equal, then the speed, quickness, and responsiveness if your site is going to be the x-factor.

Write a Blog Post About Everything On Your Site As Soon As You Can: See what I am doing right now? You might thing that we’re doing all of this to help you. Naw, I am doing these blog posts once-a-week, on Biznology, for close to six years, for me and for my SEO and for Mike Moran and for his SEO. Do you like my posts? Yes? Good! Because Google loves engagement and popularity and visits and social shares and reshares and retweets. I have been taking my own advice since 1999. I don’t do this for you, I don’t do this for Mike, I don’t do this for anyone besides as a burnt sacrifice and offering to the altar of Google Search. You should start blogging. Not for me, not for fame, not to pursue your writer’s life, and not to scratch your mentor’s it, but for Google. To Google Be the Glory Forever and Ever, Amen. And, don’t start your blog in WordPress.com or on Medium.com or on Blogger/Blogspot, but on your own domain. Like, on Gerris Corp’s site, the blog post is gerriscorp.com/blog — you should do it like this.

Good luck. This should get you through today. Let me know if I missed anything down in the comments. I hope it’s useful for you. If you won’t do it, make me! I actually consult on SEO — check me out over on www.chrisabraham.com or email me at [email protected].

Via Biznology

#SERP #SERPs #Search #Google Search #search engine services #search engine optimization #search marketing #SEO

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chrisabraham · 7 years

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Improve your Google search results right now

Via Biznology

#SERP #SERPs #Search #Google Search #search engine services #search engine optimization #search marketing #SEO

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