My Obsession With The Supremes free essay sample

Is it unusual for a seventeen-year old Hispanic boy to imagine himself in the sixties singing as one of the Supremes? The thought seems to become more of an obsession and a dream every day. Every time I hear one of their songs, even in a rush, I have to stop and listen to the entire song and nothing else exists. I mention the Supremes’ name at least five times a day. I know the lyrics to all of their songs and I’ve seen enough performances online to imitate their mouths, their dance moves, and that huge smile Diana Ross gives in every performance. In my eyes, I am the fourth Supreme. Every obsession has some bad consequences. I sometimes did not concentrate well on tests because I was more focused on a Supremes song stuck in my head and my grade reflected my negligence. If I hear a song that is not sung by the Supremes, I almost immediately categorize it as tawdry, because all I want to hear are the Supremes and no else. We will write a custom essay sample on My Obsession With The Supremes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And because I strive so hard to be like them, at least in voice, I actually challenge my voice too much instead of changing it to a comfortable key. And then I get discouraged about singing instead of trying to build it so I can eventually sing some of their songs. But the obsession has some good results too. It’s helped me tremendously in conversation with my family and even some of my friends. And I found that, we can talk and feel for each other through their songs. They have given me great advice with â€Å"You Can’t Hurry Love†. I cheer for them like they were my best friends when they sing â€Å"Back in My Arms Again† and â€Å"I Hear a Symphony†. And I cry for them whenever I hear â€Å"Where Did Our Love Go† or â€Å"Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone†. The true essence of my adoration for them is the package and the image they projected. They managed to be embraced by both whites and blacks in a time of civil rights and this inspires me to new heights because it proves to me that, no matter what the circumstances, your dreams are really possible, no matter what the odds. They were extremely hard workers, which leaves me in awe and adoration because every performance had tight harmonies and perfect dance timing. And, as an aspiring writer, they are great storytellers. Every note they sing conveys emotion, drama, and excitement. I can never hear a song of theirs the same way twice. As my all-time favorite performers, â€Å"supreme† really is the best word to describe their importance and value to me. I’m glad they existed and, to quote their most famous song, they’ll always be my â€Å"Baby Loves†.

Extremophiles essays

Extremophiles essays The term extremophiles is applied to groups of microorganisms that live and thrive in places where most living creatures could not survive. Extremophiles can be grouped into two categories; Bacteria, simple celled creatures whose cells lack a nucleus, and eukarya, whose cells are more complex. The habitats of extremophiles include a wide range of environments each containing its own unique creature specially adapted to that particular place. Each of those groups has a lot of commercial and scientific value that scientists are exploring eagerly. The first group of extremophiles is the Thermophiles. By definition these are microbes that thrive in very hot environments. To be considered an extremophile in this type environment, the microbe needs to be able to thrive and reproduce in temperatures in excesses of 45 degrees Celsius. There is a second class of thermophiles called hyperthermophiles, which enjoy temperatures above 80 degrees Celsius. There are a select few that can actually survive at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius, the boiling point of water. As a comparison, no multicellular animals or plants have been found that can tolerate an environment above 50 degrees Celsius. The discovery of these interesting creatures is very recent, with the first discoveries dating back about thirty years ago and recent discoveries being more and more common with commercial potential driving the research. One of the main uses of these types of microbes is in the revolutionary PCR technology. PCR stands for polymerase chain reaction. This technology is the basis for forensic science, biological research, medical diagnosis and screening for genetic susceptibility for diseases like cancer, etc. In PCR, an enzyme called DNA polymerase copies repeatedly a snippet of DNA producing an enormous supply. The process requires both a hot and cold temperature at different points in the process. By using ...

Legal Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Legal Issue - Essay Example In turn, a disability is (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; or (B) a record of such impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.[5] The EEOC defines "a mental impairment" as "any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, Bi-Polar Disorder II, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities,"[6] for purposes of the ADA.[7] Thus, the question becomes whether this impairment substantially limits a major life activity.[8] Interacting with others is a major life activity under the ADA Interacting with others is indisputably an activity of central importance to daily life, and the EEOC has recognized it as a major life activity in its compliance manual.[9] Additionally, interacting with others is considered a major life activity under the Rehabilitation Act, and such recognition under the ADA would serve the legislative purpose of rectifying stereotypes about the mentally disabled.[10] Neither the Supreme Court nor the Second Circuit have addressed the issue of whether interacting with others is a major life activity.[11] The only circuit to have squarely addressed the issue has adopted it as a major life activity,[12] and no circuit has held that interacting with others is not a major life activity.[13] An Appellate Court has de novo review of a lower court's conclusion that the ability to interact with o thers is a major life activity.[14] In Toyota, the Supreme Court explained that "the term major life activity as used in the ADA, refers to those activities that are of central importance to daily life."[15] Because major life activity is not defined in the ADA, it should be construed according to its ordinary and natural meaning.[16] The plain meaning of the word "major" denotes an activity that is important and significant,[17] as well as basic. It is an "activity that the average person in the general population can perform with little or no difficulty."[18] Interact is defined by the dictionary to mean to "act upon one another."[19] Interacting with others is an important and significant function and "easily falls within the definition of 'major life activity.'"[20] - quoted properly referenced It is necessary for

The Unconventional Depiction of Women in Japanese Films Essay

The Unconventional Depiction of Women in Japanese Films - Essay Example Women, as portrayed in Japanese films are meek and a follower of men. They are the guardians of the house and children and the helper of men, they are the ones that fall in the background but very much important nonetheless. Men are driven by pride; they would do things that are out of their league for the sake of containing and maintaining their pride, their ego, their dignity. Men are depicted as great thinkers and they invent something new every day and by nature they are competitive and easily driven by a desire for power and glory, whether it is for a higher rank or for the love of someone, even love becomes a game, even life or freedom will be put at stake just to prove that they are better than someone else, they like to gamble and they rarely think of the outcome before they do crazy stunts and acts recklessly. They like the thrills and the element of danger and adventure, a male figure will grow in his appearance and expand his understanding but in spirit, he remains a boy who likes challenges and unbelievable stunts and plot to make it better than it was before. They do not easily accept defeat and they do not easily give in and in fact, most of the time, not at all. Although women are devious in ways a man will never understand, they are the keepers of the house and will be as gentle as an angel even when angered or wronged but they unleash a fury greater than hell when forced to it. Most women think of not just of herself but the whole package, of the people around her and of what an action may cause to the generalized public.... Men are depicted as great thinkers and they invent something new everyday and by nature they are competitive and easily driven for a desire of power and glory, whether it is for a higher rank or for the love of someone, even love becomes a game, even life or freedom will be put at stake just to prove that they are better than someone else, they like to gamble and they rarely think of the outcome before they do crazy stunts and acts recklessly. They like the thrills and the element of danger and adventure, a male figure will grow in his appearance and expand his understanding but in spirit he remains a boy who likes challenges and unbelievable stunts and plot to make it better than it was before. They do not easily accept defeat and they do not easily give in and in fact, most of the time, not at all. Although women are devious in ways a man will never understand, they are the keepers of the house and will be as gentle as an angel even when angered or wronged but the unleash a fury greater than hell when forced to it. Most women think of not just of herself but the whole package, of the people around her and of what an action ma cause to the generalized public but women are just as human as a man and therefore are not an exception to crime and they also has faults and they also commit devious crimes but this population is at least just 20% of the total, unlike with men who are more exposed to the brutal reality of having power in the society. Women are more likely to be the victim of a crime than a man, women are not born weak but they are being dominated over by men and since women believes in love more than men does. Since women are the

Virtue ethics Essay Example for Free

Virtue ethics Essay Boxing is a violent sport full of hate where the only objective is to knock your opponent unconscious. This is a very quick and biased view of boxing because if you study boxing closer it helps teach the person about their moral character. Boxing helps teach people to â€Å"get off the canvas and roll with the punches† (Marino, 2010, para 8) and to face their fears, two important lessons to get through life. Throughout the article written by Marino, he educates about Aristotelian ethics and uses boxing as a real-life example. I believe that Marino’s invocation of Aristotelian ethics is well articulated, and I agree with his application through boxing relating it to your life. Aristotelian ethics and boxing can relate to the rights and responsibility lens; boxing can help develop our moral lives and can clearly define and educate people about Aristotle’s definition of courage. The sport of boxing and comparing it to real-life morals and virtues is extremely well done by Gordon Marino using Aristotelian ethics. The moral virtues that Aristotle preached such as â€Å"qualities, temperance, justice, pride, and truthfulness† (Marino, 2010, para.11) all can be directly applied to Kantian ethics and the rights/responsibility lens (DesJardins, 2012). Boxing is a man versus man, woman versus woman sport which â€Å"can compel a person to take a quick self-inventory and gut check about what he or she is willing to endure and risk† (Marino, 2010, para. 4). The rights and responsibility lens are all about the self, honesty, responsibility, temperance, completing your duties and following the rules (Ethics games, 2012). All these values and characteristics are important in boxing and are all needed to find out who you truly are. Boxing teaches individuals self-discipline, responsibility, courage, and â€Å"what physical and psychic powers they possess – of how much, or how little, they are capable† (Marino, 2010, para. 5). Marino (2010) writes that Aristotle while talking about excellence, states â€Å"it is not enough to know, but we must try to have to use it† (para. 10). Boxing, unlike many other sports, accomplishes this within the first sparring session. Boxing is not only a sport that allows individuals to release anger but can also help improve ones moral character. As Marino (2010) states, life requires toughness and resiliency because it is filled with blows. Being inside a boxing ring will teach you about your own toughness and resiliency and let you face fear. Facing these fears, no matter how big or small, will make you come out with a greater understanding of your moral self. Boxers are faced with fear, but after months of training they are able to cope with their fears and can start to see things that emotions blinded them from earlier. â€Å"By getting into the ring with our fears, we will be less likely to succumb to trepidation when doing the right thing demands to take a hit† (Marino, 2010, para. 14). In doing this, you realize what it takes to overcome fear and will not crumble to this pressure when faced with real-life situations. Boxing is the best sport to use to enhance Aristotle’s view of courage because boxing is all about building up yourself, learning what you are made of, identifying your breaking point to go past it, and to face fear and move past it. All these values help individuals deeper understand Aristotle’s definition of courage. According to Marino (2010), Aristotle’s definition of â€Å"courage is a mean between rashness and cowardliness; that is, between having too little trepidation and too much† (para.12). This means you need to find a middle ground between having too much fear that something may happen and having no fear at all. In order to find this happy medium a person must practise, experience, and face fear to develop their courage. Boxing is perfect for developing Aristotelian courage because boxers â€Å"become more at home with feeling afraid. Fear is painful, but it can be faced, and in time a boxer learns not to panic about the blows that will be coming his way† (Marino, 2010, para. 13). This means that with time, boxers find that perfect mean between rashness and cowardliness. Marino’s invocation of Aristotelian ethics is thoughtful, and his application to real-life through boxing is the perfect match. Boxing is said to help develop our moral lives and can be a clear cut definition of Aristotle’s definition of courage. The moral virtues taught by Aristotle align with the rights and responsibility lens and focuses on the self, honesty, temperance, and completing your duties. Boxing helps an individual face their fears, identify their breaking point, struggle to exceed that point, and get through anything. This will allow a person to develop their moral character by not crumbling under pressure in real-life situations and by finding the perfect middle between rashness and cowardliness. References DesJardins, J. , (2014). An Introduction to Business Ethics. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Ethics Games, (2012). Ethical Lens Inventory. Retrieved from http://www. ethicsgame. com/Exec/Eli/EthicalLensResults. aspx? R=1 Marino, G. , (2010, September 15). The New York Times. The Opinionator: Boxing Lessons. Retrieved from http://opinionator. blogs. nytimes. com/2010/09/15/boxing-lessons/? _php=true_type=blogs_r=0.

Downfall of the Governess in The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Essay

Downfall of the Governess in The Turn of the Screw by Henry James In the governess's insane pseudo-reality and through her chilling behavior, she managed to bring downfall to Flora and Miles, the children of Bly. With compulsively obsessive actions, irrational assumptions, and demented hallucinations, the governess perceived ghosts bearing evil intentions were attempting to corrupt and destroy the children she had taken the role of care for. In reality, the governess herself brought tragedy to the children through her own selfishness and insanity. From the first interactions with the young children, the governess's infatuation with their uncle, her employer, eventually proved to be her own failure in every fashion. In talk with the head maid, Ms. Grose, the governess explained her meeting with her employer and how she had fallen in love with him on their first meeting. Ms. Grose then began to explain that that was the nature of the her employer, to draw a women he could entrust his estate to, and that the governess was not the only one so taken by him to leave the infatuated governess without further communication. In restless sleep and longing for contact with those outside of Bly-- particularly her employer-- the governess placed hope in chance meetings of random individuals. In her walk in the yard, the governess began to wish for the sight of her employer who she was still madly in love with. The governess's desire to see him and receive his reassuring approval conceived the ghost of what was later revealed to be Peter Quint she believed she had seen. Later in her climax of interaction with her ghosts, the governess is afraid that the master will come home, for she is fearful of what he will think of her. ... ...d in the governess's eyes. After feeling she had lost Flora to the ghost, when in reality the governess had scared the child to death, Miles still shown to be a ray of hope for the demented governess. She refused to leave him alone and began to become angry and suspicious of his corruption when he would ask of his desire for schooling. In the governess's last attempt to consume the children for herself, she sends Ms. Grose away with the sickly Flora and keeps Miles with her at Bly. After her last vision of Quint and with Miles dilapidated in her ineludable arms, the governess frightens Miles so that he collapses and dies, by the governess's conniving will, and to her own bane. Although the governess seemed to have good intentions, her root of mind was self-serving and deceptive. Works Cited: James, Henry. "The Turn of the Screw." Esch and Warren 1-85.

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 11

Chapter 11 A SLUG TRAIL OF GOOD CHEER He might have been made of polished mahogany except that when he moved, he moved like liquid. The stage lights reflected green and red off his bald head as he swayed on the stool and teased the strings of a blond Stratocaster with the severed neck of a beer bottle. His name was Catfish Jefferson, and he was seventy, or eighty, or one hundred years old, and not unlike Roberto the fruit bat, he wore sunglasses indoors. Catfish was a bluesman, and on the night before the night before Christmas, he was singing up a forlorn twelve-bar blues fog in the Head of the Slug saloon. Caught my baby boning Santa, Underneath the mistletoe (Lawd have mercy). Caught my baby boning Santa, Underneath the mistletoe. Used to be my Christmas angel, Now she just a Christmas ho. â€Å"I hear dat!† shouted Gabe Fenton. â€Å"Sho-nufF, sho-nuff. True dat, my brutha.† Theophilus Crowe looked at his friend, just one in a whole line of awkward, heartbroken men at the bar, rocking almost in rhythm to the beat, and shook his head. â€Å"Could you possibly be any whiter?† Theo asked. â€Å"I gots the blues up in me,† Gabe said. â€Å"She sho-nuff did me wrong.† Gabe had been drinking. Theo, while not quite sober, had not. (He had shared a toothpick-thin spliff of Big Sur polio weed with Catfish Jefferson between sets, the two of them standing in the back parking lot of the Slug, trying to coax fire out of a disposable lighter in a forty-knot wind.) â€Å"Didn't think you muthafuckas had weather here,† Catfish croaked, having sucked the joint so far down that the ember looked like the burning eye of a demon staring out of a cave of dark finger and lip. (The calluses on the tips of his fingers were impervious to the heat.) â€Å"El Ni;o,† Theo said, letting loose a blast of smoke. â€Å"Say what?† â€Å"It's a warm ocean current in the Pacific. Comes up the coast every ten years or so. Screws up the fishing, brings torrential rains, storms. They think we might be having an El Nià ±o this year.† â€Å"When will they know?† The bluesman had put on his leather fedora and was holding it fast against the wind. â€Å"Usually after everything floods, the wine crop is ruined, and a lot of cliffside houses slide into the ocean.† â€Å"And dat because the water too warm?† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"No wonder the whole country hate your ass,† said Catfish. â€Å"Let's go inside fo' my narrow ass gets blowed back to Clarksville.† â€Å"It's not that bad,† said Theo. â€Å"I think it'll blow over.† Winter denial – Theo did it, most Californians did it – they assumed that because the weather was nice most of the time, it would be nice all of the time, and so, in the midst of a rainstorm, you'd find people outdoors without an umbrella, or when nights dipped into the thirties, you'd still see someone dip-pumping his gas in surfer shorts and a tank top. So even as the National Weather Service was telling the Central Coast to batten down the hatches, as they were about to get the storm of the decade, and even though winds were gusting to fifty knots a full day before the storm made landfall, the people of Pine Cove carried on with their holiday routine like nothing out of the ordinary could happen to them. Winter denial: therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude – the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the misfortune of California. The country said: â€Å"Look at them, with their fitness and their tans, their beaches and their movie stars, their Silicon Valley and silicone breasts, their orange bridge and their palm trees. God, I hate those smug, sunshiny bastards!† Because if you're up to your navel in a snowdrift in Ohio, nothing warms your heart like the sight of California on fire. If you're shoveling silt out of your basement in the Fargo flood zone, nothing brightens your day like watching a Malibu mansion tumbling down a cliff into the sea. And if a tornado just peppered the land around your Oklahoma town with random trailer trash and redneck nuggets, then you can find a quantum of solace in the fact that the earth actually opened up in the San Fernando Valley and swallowed a whole caravan of commuting SUVs. Mavis Sand even indulged in a little California Schadenfreude, and she was a Californian born and raised. Secretly, she wished for and enjoyed the forest fires every year. Not so much because she liked watching the state burn down, but because for Mavis's money, there was nothing better than watching a burly man in rubber handling a hefty hose, and during the fires, there were plenty of those on the news. â€Å"Fruitcake?† Mavis said, offering a suspicious slice on a dessert plate to Gabe Fenton, who was drunkenly trying to convince Theo Crowe that he had a genetic predisposition toward the blues, using some impressively large words that no one but he understood, and periodically asking if he could get an ;amen; and â€Å"five up high,† which, as it turned out, he could not. What he could get was fruitcake. â€Å"Mercy, mercy, my momma done made a fruitcake look just like that,† Gabe howled. â€Å"Lawd rest her soul.† Gabe reached for the plate, but Theo intercepted it and held it out of the biologist's reach. â€Å"First,† Theo said, â€Å"your mother was an anthro professor and never baked a thing in her life, and second, she is not dead, and third, you are an atheist.† â€Å"Can I get an amen?!† Gabe countered. Theo raised an eyebrow of accusation toward Mavis. â€Å"I thought we talked about no fruitcake this year.† The prior Christmas, Mavis's fruitcake had put two people into detox. She'd sworn that it would be the last year. Mavis shrugged. â€Å"This cake's nearly a virgin. There's only a quart of rum and barely a handful of Vicodin.† â€Å"Let's not,† Theo said, handing the plate back. â€Å"Fine,† Mavis said. â€Å"But get your buddy off his blues jag. He's embarrassing me. And I once blew a burro in a nightclub and wasn't embarrassed, so that's saying something.† â€Å"Jeez, Mavis,† Theo said, trying to shake the picture from his mind. â€Å"What? I didn't have my glasses on. I thought he was a hirsute insurance salesman with talent.† â€Å"I'd better get him home,† Theo said, nudging Gabe, who had turned his attention to a young woman on his right who was wearing a low-cut red sweater and had been moving from stool to stool all night long, waiting for someone to talk to her. â€Å"Hi,† Gabe said to the woman's cleavage. â€Å"I'm not involved in the human experience and I have no redeeming qualities as a man.† â€Å"Me either,† said Tucker Case, from the stool on the other side of the red-sweater woman. â€Å"Do people keep telling you that you're a psychopath, too? I hate that.† Tucker Case, under several layers of glibness and guile, was actually quite broken up over his breakup with Lena Marquez. It wasn't so much that she had become a part of his life in the two days he had known her, but that she had begun to represent hope. And as the Buddha said: â€Å"Hope is merely another face of desire. And desire is a motherfucker.† He'd gone out seeking human company to help dilute the disappointment. In another time, he'd have picked up the first woman he encountered, but his man-slut days had left him lonelier than ever, and he would not tread that lubricious path again. â€Å"So,† Tuck said to Gabe, â€Å"did you just get dumped?† â€Å"She led me on,† Gabe said. â€Å"She tore my guts out. Evil, thy name is woman!† â€Å"Don't talk to him,† Theo said, taking Gabe by the shoulder and unsuccessfully trying to pull him off his bar stool. â€Å"This guy's no good.† The young woman sitting between Tuck and Gabe looked from one to the other, then to Theo, then at her breasts, then at the men, as if to say, Are you guys blind? I've been sitting here all night, with these, and you're going to ignore me. Tucker Case was ignoring her – well, except for inspecting her sweater cakes as he talked to Gabe and Theo. â€Å"Look, Constable, maybe we got off on the wrong foot –  » â€Å"Wrong foot?† Theo's voice almost broke. As upset as he appeared, he appeared to be talking to the woman in the red sweater's breasts, rather than to Tucker Case, who was only a foot beyond them. â€Å"You threatened me.† â€Å"He did?† said Gabe, angling for a better look down the red sweater. â€Å"That's harsh, buddy. Theo just got thrown out of the house.† â€Å"Can you believe guys our age can still fall so hard?† Tuck said to Theo, looking up from the cleavage to convey his sincerity. He felt bad about blackmailing Theo, but, much like helping Lena hide the body, sometimes certain unpleasantries needed to be done, and being a pilot and a man of action, he did them. â€Å"What are you talking about?† Theo asked. â€Å"Well, Lena and I have parted ways, Constable. Shortly after you and I spoke this morning.† â€Å"Really?† Now Theo looked up from the woolly mounds of intrigue. â€Å"Really,† Tuck said. â€Å"And I'm sorry things happened the way they did.† â€Å"That doesn't really change anything, does it?† â€Å"Would it make a difference if I told you that I absolutely did not harm this alleged Dale Pearson, and neither did Lena?† â€Å"I don't think he was alleged,† said Gabe, slurring at the breasts. â€Å"I'm pretty sure he was confirmed Dale Pearson.† â€Å"Whatever,† said Tuck. â€Å"Would that change anything? Would you believe that?† Theo didn't speak right away but appeared to be waiting for an answer from the decolletage oracle. When he looked up at Tuck again he said, â€Å"Yeah, I believe you.† Tuck nearly aspirated the ginger ale he was drinking. When he stopped sputtering he said, â€Å"Wow, you suck as a lawman, Theo. You can't just believe a strange guy who tells you something in a bar.† Tuck wasn't accustomed to being believed by anyone, so to have someone take him at face value†¦ â€Å"Hey, hey, hey,† said Gabe. â€Å"That's uncalled for –  » â€Å"Well, fuck you guys!† said the woman in the red sweater. She jumped up from her stool and snatched her keys off the bar. â€Å"I am a person, too, you know? And these are not speakerphones,† she said, grabbing her breasts underneath and shaking them at the offenders, her keys jingling cheerfully as she did, completely defusing the effect of her anger. â€Å"Oh – my – God,† said Gabe. â€Å"You can't just ignore a person like that! Besides, you're all too old and you're losers and I'd rather be alone on Christmas than spend five minutes with any of you horn dogs!† And with that she threw some cash on the bar, turned, and stormed out of the bar. Because they were men, Theo, Tuck, and Gabe watched her ass as she walked away. â€Å"Too old?† Tuck said. â€Å"She was what, twenty-seven, twenty-eight?† â€Å"Yeah,† Theo said. â€Å"Late twenties, maybe early thirties. I didn't think we were ignoring her.† Mavis Sand took the money off the bar and shook her head. â€Å"You were all paying her proper attention. Woman's got some issues when she's jealous of her own parts.† â€Å"I was thinking about icebergs,† said Gabe. â€Å"About how only ten percent of them show above the surface, yet below lies the really dangerous part. Oh, no, I got the blues on me again.† His head hit the bar and bounced. Tuck looked to Theo. â€Å"You want some help getting him to the car?† â€Å"He's a very smart guy,† said Theo. â€Å"He has a couple of Ph.D.s.† â€Å"Okay. Do you want some help getting the doctor to the car?† Theo was trying to get a shoulder under Gabe's arm, but given that he was nearly a foot taller than his friend, things weren't working very well. â€Å"Theo,† Mavis barked. â€Å"Don't be such a friggin' wanker. Let the man help you.† After three unsuccessful attempts at hefting the bag of sand that was Gabe Fenton, Theo nodded to Tuck. They each took an arm and walked/dragged the biologist toward the back door. â€Å"If he hurls I'm aiming him at you,† Theo said. â€Å"Lena loved these shoes,† said Tuck. â€Å"But you do what you feel like you need to.† â€Å"I have no sex appeal, a rum-pa-pa-pum,† sang Gabe Fenton, in spirit with the season. â€Å"My social skills are nil, a rum-pa-pa-pum.† â€Å"Did that actually rhyme?† asked Tuck. â€Å"He's a bright guy,† said Theo. Mavis creaked ahead of them and held the door. â€Å"So, I'll see you pathetic losers at the Lonesome Christmas party, right?† They stopped, looked at one another, felt camaraderie in their collective loserdom, and reluctantly nodded. â€Å"My lunch is coming up, a rum-pa-pa-pum,† sang Gabe. Meanwhile, the girls were running around the Santa Rosa Chapel, putting up decorations and preparing the table settings for a Lonesome Christmas. Lena Marquez was making her third circumnavigation of the room with a stepladder, some masking tape, and rolls of green and red crepe paper the size of truck tires. (Price Club in San Junipero only sold one size, evidently so you could decorate your entire ocean liner without making two trips.) The act of serial festooning had taken Lena's mind off her troubles, but now the little chapel was starting to resemble nothing more than the nest of a color-blind Ewok. If someone didn't intervene soon the Lonesome Christmas guests would be in danger of being asphyxiated in a festive dungeon of holiday bondage. Fortunately, as Lena was moving the ladder to make her fourth round, Molly Michon snaked a foot inside and pulled the chapel's double doors open; the wind from the growing storm swept in and tore the paper from the walls. â€Å"Well, fuck!† said Lena. The crepe paper swam in a vortex around the middle of the room, then settled into a great wad under one of the buffet tables Molly had set up to one side. â€Å"I told you a staple gun would work better than masking tape,† Molly said. She was holding three stainless-steel pans of lasagna and still managed to get the oak double doors closed against the wind with her feet. She was agile that way. â€Å"This is a historical landmark, Molly. You can't just go shooting staples into the walls.† â€Å"Right, like that matters after Armageddon. Take these downstairs to the fridge,† Molly said, handing the pans to Lena. â€Å"I'll get you the staple gun out of my car.† â€Å"What does that mean?† Lena asked. â€Å"Do you mean our relationships?† But Molly had bounded back out through the double doors into the wind. She'd been making more and more cryptic comments like that lately. Like she was talking to someone in the room besides Lena. It was strange. Lena shrugged and headed back to the little room behind the altar and the steps that led downstairs. Lena didn't like going into the basement of the chapel. It wasn't really a basement; it was more of a cellar: sandstone walls that smelled of damp earth, a concrete floor that had been poured without a vapor barrier fifty years after the cellar had been dug and so seeped moisture and formed a fine slime on top in the winter. Even when the stove was cranked and an electric heater turned on, it was never warm. Besides, the old, empty pews stored down there cast shadows that made her feel as if people were watching her. â€Å"Mmmm, lasagna,† said Marty in the Morning, your drive-time dead guy in the a.m. â€Å"Dudes and dudettes, the little lady has certainly outdone herself this time. Get a whiff of that?† The graveyard was abuzz with moldy anticipation of the Lonesome Christmas party. â€Å"It's highly inappropriate, that's what it is,† said Esther. â€Å"I suppose it's better than that horrible Mavis Sand woman barbecuing again. And how is it that she's still alive, anyway? She's older than I am.† â€Å"Than dirt, you mean?† said Jimmy Antalvo, whose faceprint was still embedded in a telephone pole on the Pacific Coast Highway, where he'd hit it at age nineteen. â€Å"Please, child, if you must be rude, at least be original,† said Malcolm Cowley. â€Å"Don't compound the tedium with cliche.† â€Å"My wife used to put a layer of hot Italian sausage between every layer of cheese and noodles,† said Arthur Tannbeau. â€Å"Now, that was some good eatin'.† â€Å"Sort of explains the heart attack, too, doesn't it?† said Bess Leander. Being poisoned had left a bitter taste in her mouth that seven years of death could not wash away. â€Å"I thought we agreed not to talk about COD guilt,† said Arthur. â€Å"Didn't we agree on that?† COD was shorthand of the dead for Cause of Death. â€Å"We did agree,† said Marty in the Morning. â€Å"I do hope that they sing ‘Good King Wenceslas, † said Esther. â€Å"Shut the fuck up about ‘Good King Wenceslas, would you? No one knows the words to ‘Good King Wenceslas, no one ever has.† â€Å"My, my, the new guy is cranky,† said Warren Talbot, who had once been a painter of landscapes but after liver failure at seventy was fertilizing one. â€Å"Well, it's gonna be a great party to listen to,† said Marty in the Morning. â€Å"Did you hear the constable's wife talking about Armageddon? She's definitely taking a cruise down the Big Nutty.† â€Å"I am not!† shouted Molly, who had come down to the basement to help Lena clear space in the two refrigerators for the salads and desserts that they had yet to unload. â€Å"Who are you talking to?† said Lena, a little frightened at the outburst. â€Å"I think I've made my point,† said Marty in the Morning.