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2 episodes with draping
2 episodes with draping
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2 episodes with draping
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I had a beautiful chat with Jessica-Belle on the podcast today. Recent bride, married at Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay. Editor and writer of For All Seasons. A few things we cover:
A scorching outdoor encounter in the dog days of summer. by TheSleepingKing. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. You know the worst thing about the Midwest? August. Sure, there are other things. But after three straight weeks of 98 degrees and 90% humidity you don't really care that Kansas is a thing. You just want out – to escape the stifling grassland; preferably to a place where you don't need to swim through the steam to reach the next air-conditioned oasis. Where I work we need to maintain a minimum staffing level to fulfill our obligations. So vacation requests are handled on a first come first serve basis. First person to request time off gets first pick of available dates. Usually I get in early, guaranteeing myself at least one week that I want. But by the time I remembered to request this year, my only option for a summer break was the final week in August.Monday and Tuesday were a bust. Too hot to leave the house. I tried Monday morning, heading out to my favorite brunch spot for an omelet. But after burning my hand on the gear shift lever at 10:00 am I decided to pack it in. The weather app promised cooler temperatures mid-to-late-week, so I set about crafting a plan to salvage what was left of my vacation. There's a state park a few hours north, on the edge of a popular college town. I'd hiked there several times before. It was quiet, with a decent elevation and full tree canopy, and a 15-foot waterfall at the crux of the two longest trails. Temps in the mid-eighties were still warmer than I preferred. But after months of being stuck in a warehouse 10 hours a day, a little time outside seemed…necessary. I texted my friend Natalie, curious if she'd want to tag along. She was fun, outdoorsy, and never seemed too busy for an adventure. And sometimes, if we'd both had a few drinks, you might find her with her head in my lap, cock in her mouth and my fingers slowly circling her clit; agreeing this was a great way to spend an evening. But this time I struck out. I was on my own. I'd have to make the best of it. Every hotel in town was booked for Friday night (damn college football weekend), so I reserved a room for Wednesday and Thursday and headed out after lunch. Two hours and three Interstates later I pulled into a parking lot already half-filled with cars. I intended to drop my bag in the room and lap the short trail before dinner. That plan screeched to halt the moment I shut off the car. Cooler temperatures midweek my ass. It was 90 degrees at 4:15. The air saturated my clothes as I trudged across the pavement, and by the time I arrived at the check-in desk I knew I was done for the day. Cranking up the air in the room I decided to catch up on some streaming shows before heading across the parking lot to a local burger joint for a lite supper. But soon the sun disappeared behind a fortress of darkened clouds. The wind whipped up and the rain poured down in sheets, lashing the windows and transforming the parking lot into a rippling black pond. I watched for a while, checking the weather report to find nothing about precipitation. If Thursday was anything like this…. Eventually the rain stopped, and I headed out for dinner. It was cooler now – high 70s or so, and the squall had dried the air enough for the wind to wick away the water instead of steaming me in a sauna. I picked a seat in the corner of the restaurant patio and settled in for a meal. The dining room filled up quickly. Mostly locals – you could tell by the comfortable clothes and their rapport with the bartenders. But midway through my second beer, three young women rounded the corner from the waiting area, following the hostess to a four-top across the aisle from me beneath the center awning. And they were obviously based somewhere else. Two of them looked similar, (sisters maybe? cousins?) with straight blonde hair and big broad smiles. They dressed like they'd come straight from the yacht club: white shorts, striped navy tees and deck shoes; one with a denim jacket, the other in a hat. The third was taller with rectangular glasses, buoyant, gently curled auburn hair, and a short powder blue A-line summer dress accentuating the tone and length of her legs. She caught me looking as they stopped at their table. I turned away quickly, smiling to myself, disappointed, yet amused that I wasn't as discrete as I used to be. I took a full swig of beer and set the mug gently on the coaster before glancing back toward their table. The brunette had switched places with her friends, taking the seat on the far side of the circle, just about facing me. For a while I kept my eyes to myself. They ordered drinks and struck up a lively conversation. My burger and fries arrived, and I concentrated on securing the toppings so as not to make a fool of myself the first time I bit into it. But as I worked my way through the meal my attention began to wander. First to the parking lot. Then to the bar. And finally, to the beauty at the table twelve feet away. I stole glances between french fries and over the rim of my glass, careful to look away the moment before she turned her head or shifted her eyes toward me. Despite my best efforts she caught me once or twice. I flashed a smile, she did the same, we both looked away until the next time it happened. I was always drawn back. Her face was so bright, skin glowing in the warmth of the pendant lights. She shifted in her chair, slouching a little, stretching her legs to the edge of the aisle and crossing them at the ankles. Her dress rode high up her thighs, the shadow of the fabric and the table above shielding me from what lay beneath. I pretended I hadn't noticed, drawing out a sip of beer until she returned to her conversation. Inappropriate thoughts crept through my mind. I prodded them, trying to keep them at bay. She was at least ten – if not fifteen years younger. I was here to hike, not ogle women just barely out of college. The waiter stopped by my table, asking if I needed anything. I should have asked for the cheque. It would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, I asked for ice cream. It was still warm out, seemed reasonable. A few minutes later I spotted him heading my way, a tray with a tall bowl and several margaritas balanced on one hand. As he stopped to set the bowl in front of me, movement behind him caught my eye. I looked past to the ladies' table to catch the brunette uncross her ankles and ease her outside leg into the aisle, her knees drifting apart just far enough to show me smooth, plump pussy lips unencumbered by fabric or modesty. I froze, staring. Drinking it in. “Everything okay sir,” the waiter inquired, snapping me back to the moment. I tore my eyes away and looked up, then down at the ice cream, then up again, trying to reset my brain. “Yes,” I replied, “thank you. It looks…delicious.” I don't think I was talking about ice cream. And from the way his forehead wrinkled I think he knew that. I dipped the spoon in and took a bite. He nodded and moved past me to the table waiting on drinks. Staring at the bowl I tried to collect my thoughts. But all I could picture was the perfect pocket of pleasure framed between those gently tanned thighs. I lifted my head. Her legs remained splayed, treasure visible. Leaning back in her seat she lifted one foot, skimming her calf up over her shin until one knee rested over the other, closing the curtain on my view. Our gaze met. The corners of her mouth curled up and her eyebrows shrugged, and I felt the stir in my groin as I realized that perhaps…I was meant to see what I saw. I smiled a little. Then stopped. Her friends had turned to watch me, giggling into the hands covering their mouths. I scooped a spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into mine, staring at the table. Nothing like looking creepy in front of attractive women half your age. I decided to finish my dessert and keep my eyes to myself, get back to my room before embarrassing myself further. Before I could execute my plan, the women settled their tab and left. Through the glass I watched them skip across the parking lot toward the hotel, laughing with each other along the way. Something slipped from the brunette's swinging hand, and when she stooped to pick it up she looked back in my direction. I flinched, wanting to turn away. But I couldn't. She was mesmerizing. She flashed a smile, then ran to catch up with her friends. I waited until I was sure they were settled in their rooms before heading back to mine. I ambled into the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. I was in good shape for 40 plus. Ten years ago I might have made a pass at them; bought them a round, slid over to their table, try to talk one into joining me in my room. Instead…I took a shower, cranked up the air conditioning, and went to bed. Thursday morning I grabbed some apples from the breakfast bar, threw on a tee shirt and cargo shorts and prepared to hit the trail. It was a little after 8:00, about 75 degrees. The weather app promised 85 by 2:00 pm, which gave me plenty of time to loop the long trails before the heat became oppressive. Armed with two frozen water bottles and the fruit in a small backpack I caught a ride share to the park and headed out. The forest was teaming with life. Birds of all feathers chattered in the trees while rabbits and squirrels and other small creatures darted about in the in the brush below. The canopy was lush and thick, filtering much of the early light and heavily shading the first few miles, making for a pleasant hike. But the trail was overgrown from nearly two years of under use. The deeper I forged into the trees the more difficult it became to stay on track. And the leaves that earlier shielded me from the sun now trapped its heat beneath them, turning a warm walk in a light breeze into a hot slog through a noisy sauna. I didn't remember the route as well as I thought, and before I knew it, I was lost. I took a seat on a fallen log and fished a bottle out of the backpack. The ice had melted but the water was still cool. After half the bottle I traded it for my phone and tried to figure out where the hell I was. Reception was spotty and the GPS couldn't decide between several locations. From the lay of the land and direction of my hike I decided to head northeast. At some point I would run into the river, which would lead me back to my trail. I finished the first bottle and resumed walking. The temperature continued to climb, humidity trapping sweat on my skin. The skitter of critters through the underbrush ceased and the bird songs faded into the heat. An eerie quiet settled in, tempered by the crunch of fallen twigs underfoot. My limbs felt dull and heavy and a thought repeated in my head. You should have stayed home. I was looking for a place to rest when I finally heard it. Running water. In spite of myself I picked up the pace, oblivious to the incline I'd been descending the past few minutes. Up ahead the canopy thinned, tree trunks spacing out along the edge of a clearing. Picking through the tall grass I emerged into the sunlight onto the smooth flat rocks forming the edge of the river. Marked with a boulder on the far bank was the entrance to the second trail. To my right, Lost River Falls. Fifteen feet up, the black shale outcropping curved into a gentle crescent. The lazy river curled over the edge in a soft, thin sheet, spilling into a shallow pool before funneling through a narrow channel to the river basin and snaking on downstream. Now high in the sky, the sun blazed the sparkling water white, casting a rainbow over the riverbank and a deep shadow on the vertical rock beneath the ledge. The gentle roar swelled in my ears. I intended to cross to the trail and head back, but it was so hot, and the mist in the air felt so enticing. I turned toward the falls, threading my way along the bank over the channel to the edge of the pool. On a rock nearby I set down my pack, flanking it with my boots moments later. Peeling of the sweat-soaked tee shirt I waded into the water. The pool was warmer than I expected, but much cooler than the air, instantly soothing my feet. I shuffled along the shale bottom until the water sloshed around my calves. Reaching out I pierced the curtain, splashing droplets over my face and chest. Drawing a deep breath, I closed my eyes and stepped into the falls. I stayed a minute, despite the chill, the water flushing the ick of the morning off my skin. It beat on my back and shoulders, leeching heat from my muscles and ache from my bones. I ducked under and out several times, like it was a rolling ocean wave on a Caribbean beach. Cleansed and refreshed, I returned to the rock. I rung out the shirt and laid it flat over the adjacent stone, then fished the second water bottle from the backpack. Bottle to my lips I soaked up the view. Vibrant green forest, shimmering white water, worn black rock winding through the landscape. I smiled to myself. Sure it was hot, but it beat the hell out of being stuck in the warehouse. The snap of a twig behind me drew my attention. Setting the bottle on the backpack I glanced over my shoulder and caught a figure crossing my periphery on the opposite bank. Shielding my eyes, I turned for a better look. And was not disappointed. At the far end of the crescent in a bright blue skort and a radiant white rash guard stood the brunette from the restaurant. She had clearly been hiking for some time. Her skin glistened with sweat, and the glossy fabric of her shirt clung to every curve of her torso. Her legs – long and lean – planted her firmly on the uneven ground. Her curls were tied back in a ponytail, exposing her face to the sun. I couldn't help but stare. She looked like a model in a Patagonia catalog. And it took only a moment before all I could think about was her in that blue dress, slouched in that chair, sipping her drink while showing me the world. The shriek of a hawk overhead broke my trance. I found her smiling at me, her head cocked to the side, eyebrows raised. Flustered, I acknowledged her presence and turned away. I needed to collect my shit and go; salvage whatever was left of my dignity. I stuffed the bottle back in the pack and shook out my shirt, hauling it on over my head. Soon it would weigh me down and I would need to take it off, but for now it was a cold towel on the back of my neck and that was just fine. Something disturbed the water behind me. Snapping up the backpack I turned to investigate. She stood before the falls, her back to me, gazing up at the gleaming ribbon spilling from above. The bands of a black sports bra crisscrossed her back, the rash guard scrunched in her fist was tossed casually into the grass on the far bank. Her hands disappeared in front of her, then reappeared above her head, taking the sports bra with them. Tipping her head back, she eased into the liquid curtain. The water sheared around her, cutting a sexy silhouette in the high noon sun. My cock stirred to life, craving the view from the other side of the falls. I knew I should get moving – I didn't want to be busted again. But something gripped me, held me in place, my imagination in overdrive. “Still just looking, huh.” I whipped my head back and forth searching for the source of the voice, before realizing it could only have one origin. I turned back. She had stepped back from the water, her fingers twisting round her ponytail, pulling out the band. With a flip of her wrists her curls burst out, slapping down over her back. She peered over her shoulder. A chill shot down my spine. Her eyes narrowed, the corners of mouth creasing up. She skimmed her hands along her sides and over her hips until her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her skort and the material bunched in her fists. She tugged them down slowly, a perfectly rounded bare ass rising like a sunrise over the fabric horizon. Watching me, she straightened up, skort slipping down her legs into the pool. “You know,” she said, tipping her head back, “it's better over here.” My dick strained against my shorts, drawn like a magnet to that little gap between the tops of her thighs and the base of her cheeks. She returned to the falls, disappearing under the water. The backpack slipped from my fingers, sluffing off the rock and into the grass. My head spinning, I waded toward her. She emerged from the cascade facing me. Rivulets of water streamed down her face. They trickled over her breasts; firm and high on her chest, dark nipples pointed upward, soliciting a touch. The streams continued down the flat of her belly, curling in at her hips and under her mound, before spiraling round her thighs and calves and melting into the pool. She poked two fingers under my chin and lifted it. “My eyes are up here.” “Sorry,” I replied, just a little nervous. “I'm easily distracted.” Her bright baby blues lingered on my face a moment before roaming down my body to the prominent bulge below my waist. Looking up, she smiled. “But not shy, I see.” She peeled off my shirt and threw it aside, then flattened her hands against my skin. They were soft, and cool from the water, a welcome disruption of the sizzling heat. I reached out, skimming my hands over the base of her ribs, then down to her waist and the curve of her hips. She leaned in, pressing them into mine, trapping my erection between us. A twinge shot through my core. I sighed. She had me. My attention wandered up to her breasts, cupping one sumptuous orb in each palm. Her head lolled, eyes fluttering, biting her bottom lip. I gave a gentle squeeze, dimpling the flesh and rolling my thumbs across her nipples. Her chest thrust forward, a groan escaping her throat. Leaning over I swirled my tongue over one before suckling it into my mouth. She shivered beneath me, drawing her breath between her teeth. I traded one for the other, back and forth, marveling at the tone and texture of the most perfect pair I'd ever laid lips on. She clutched at the back of my head, insisting I continue teasing her while clumsily fumbling with the clasp on my waistband. I kneaded her breasts in my palms, their mass resisting, plumping into the space between my fingers. I growled, invigorated by the memory of how pliable the body can be in its youth. Winning her battle with the clasp she stripped off my shorts and sprang my cock from its fabric prison. It jumped at the brush of her wrist and flexed in her grip as she tried to close her slender fingers around the shaft. The heat radiated out, warming her fist. She exhaled in my ear and followed up with a whisper barely audible above the falls. “Fuck me.” I plucked her nipple from my mouth and looked her in the eyes. “Here?” “Right here,” she confirmed, “right now.” I glanced around the clearing and into the woods. “Are you sure?” She snatched my hand from her breast and shoved it between her legs, curling my middle finger and dragging it through her slit. She was soaked, slick with her cream. “Right now,” she repeated. My hips swung forward with no input from my brain, prodding her belly with the tip of my dick. “What if someone sees us?” She hooked her arms around my neck. A devilish smirk creased her lips. There is nothing sexier than a woman who knows exactly what she wants. Well,“ she said softly, “then we should make sure they get a good show.” She pulled herself tight to my chest, transferring her weight to my shoulders. I braced myself as her legs left the water – first one, then the other – wrapping themselves around my waist. I held her buttocks tight in each hand, my penis pressed flat against her labia. Shifting my weight and dipping my hips I maneuvered the tip between those velvety lower lips and thrust myself into her pussy. She gasped – her mouth round, eyes bulging – as her canal expanded to accommodate the intruder. She fit like a glove two sizes too small, squeezing me tighter than I'd felt in years. Her gaze locked with mine she ground against me, acclimating to my girth with tiny strokes. Her shock turned slowly to lust. I lifted her ass and pulled it down on my dick, matching my thrusts to the undulation of her hips. Her juices seeped around me, oozing out over my balls. She lowered her head, moaning into my neck. Warm and clammy, our skin clung together, friction heating whatever slivers of space remained between us. Her writhing shuffled us toward the falls. The air was cooler here. It drew me closer. And before I knew it, we entered the deluge. I bristled at the cold, muscles contracting, pushing my cock deeper inside. She leaned away, gaining more leverage to rock her hips. The water forked around her tits, pooling in the crook of our bodies before spilling over into the river. I carried her through a little further, flattening her against the black rock wall. We hit with a thud and a grunt, her legs slipping from their position. I dipped down and hooked my arms under her thighs, lifting and throwing her calves up over my shoulders. With something to brace her now I pulled my cock back, teasing her with the glans before plunging back in to the hilt. “Ugh.” Her spine curled backward, stretching her abdomen and pointing her toes. Her squeals were like spurs in my sides, pumping my penis through that slippery steaming tunnel. She glared at me, jaw clenched, lip quivering each time I crashed inside. Her breathing grew ragged and short. “Wha…,” she stammered, “wha…what's your name?” Fuck. We hadn't even introduced ourselves. I leaned in hard, pinning her back to the rock and her knees to her shoulders. “Lucas,” I said. Clasping my face in her hands she smashed her lips into mine. “Fuck me Lucas,” she growled. “Make me cum.” A wave rippled through my groin, clenching everything below my waist. I held her tight as I could, racking her frame with the force of each thrust. Her grunts were like drumbeats, the driving rhythm to the symphony of our encounter. Her body coiled and shook and flexed, faster and stronger with each passing moment until suddenly, everything froze. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her mouth gaped in a silent scream. Her legs trembled and her body shuddered, and her pussy gripped my cock like a vice as she gushed around it. She clawed my back, the sting of her nails accentuating each contraction. I nuzzled my head into the crook of her neck, holding on, riding out the storm. Finally, I felt her chest heave, heard the breath rush past my ear. Her body began to relax, her limbs growing heavy in my arms and around my neck. Short, sweet whimpers disintegrated into a delirious giggle, sprinkled with curses once her lips could form the words. I eased off her chest and loosened my hold, allowing her legs to slip off my shoulders. Like jelly they tumbled over my arms and out of my grasp, her feet splashing in the water below. I pinched her waist and held her up while she regained her balance. She touched her twitching fingers to my cheeks, her thumbs clipping at my lips. She smiled. But said nothing. Her hands slipped down to my chest and gave a gentle push. I pulled away, springing my cock from her furnace into the open air. She eyed it hungrily, bobbing before her, coated in her cream and glistening in the sunlight. Her gaze fixed she rolled her body, flattening her palms and smushing her boobs against the rock wall. She wiggled her feet apart and dipped her back, pushing that bubble butt into my groin and trapping my erection between her cheeks. She humped against me, slathering my penis in a warm sloppy mixture of pre-cum, grool and sweat. The shivering thrill coursed through my shaft. My stomach flopped and my balls tightened, anxious to release their boiling burden. Prying her buttocks apart I leveled my dick and plunged it back into her pussy. She screamed into her shoulder, leaving teeth marks in her skin. She sagged at the knees, changing the shape of her channel and scrubbing new sensations into my glans. I clutched her hips in both hands, mesmerized by the curves of her ass, rippling with each collision. The urgency of our undulations increased, and it occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to enjoy this much longer. She threw herself back, impaling her sodden vagina on my cock. The squelching pricked my ears. Her whimpers and moans raised the hair on my arms. And soon my entire body buzzed with the current of an orgasm coiling to strike. I curled forward, laying my weight on her back. Skimming her belly I cupped her breasts, relishing the firmness in my fingers and tugging them down as I thrust up inside. With only moments before I'd lose control I pressed my lips against her ear. “What's your name,” I whispered. She gasped, her pussy constricting around my shaft. “Devon,” she panted, turning her head. Our eyes met. I held myself still inside her. “Suck my cock Devon,” I growled. “Make me cum.” She responded immediately, squirming out of my grasp and twisting around, sinking to her haunches. Her lips sealed around my dick, gliding up and down with ease, her tongue curling around the underside of the head and rod. My neck craned, jaw tight, muscles straining. I gathered fistfuls of her hair and scrunched it on the top of her head. The dam burst. And a summer's worth of hot, thick cum erupted into her mouth. The release roiled me to my core; my hips convulsing, penis throbbing. Rope after rope burst from my dick, each shot a miniature climax amplifying the whole. Her lips kept moving, up to my glans and down to the root, milking every drop she could. I could feel her throat working, trying to keep up. But there was too much to contain, and it spilled from the corners of her mouth and down her chin to her tits. I struggled to keep my balance. My head was spinning and my heart was pounding, and I didn't recognize the noises escaping my throat. I hoped the waterfall would cover them because I couldn't hold them in. I tried to pull away, but she dug her fingers into the meat of my ass, fixing me in place and draining my balls into her cheeks. Eventually the maelstrom subsided. The last remaining strands of cum oozed out over her tongue, pooling together for one final swallow. Dexterity returning to my fingers I raked hair out of her face and flipped it gently over her shoulders. She looked up at me, brazen and cool, clearly enjoying the fruits of her labor almost as much as I was. She slipped her lips off my cock with an audible pop. Watching me carefully she twisted her neck and worked her way down to the base of the shaft, slurping each testicle into her mouth. My dick skipped across her face, catching on her nose and leaving fine white threads in her dark manicured eyebrows. She continued for several minutes, working her lips and tongue, bathing my balls and polishing my penis with her saliva. It didn't take long before my erection was again as hard as it was when she'd freed it from my shorts. It ached in the heat of her mouth. Doubling over I took hold of her head and gently pulled away. She looked up at me. Pouted. I sighed, my lips breaking into a broad smile. She returned the gesture, adding a flip of her eyebrows. Releasing her I maneuvered past, slumping against the wall. I gathered myself, chest swelling with the rising mist. My head began to clear, my body relax, soothed by the colossal dopamine release that I only now discerned I was unfortunately too unfamiliar with. Devon straightened up beside me, unsteady on wobbly legs. She mimicked my pose and stretched her neck, delighting in the sunlight baking her face. Snaking a hand between her thighs she scooped out her cum with her middle finger and sensually tucked it into her mouth. She looked over, eyes lively, lips puckered around the digit. With her free hand she took hold of mine and backed away, dragging me with her under the falls. We showered together in the river, cooling our lust and rinsing away the evidence. We lingered in the water until we were cold before separating to recover our clothes. Five minutes and a few stolen glances later we met again at the trail marker on the far bank. We stood there together in awkward silence – strangely so, considering the intimacy of what we had done. Finally, I broke the ice. “It was umm…nice to meet you,” I offered, shifting the straps of the backpack over my shoulders. She looked away, smiling, picking at the hem of her skort. “Same,” she replied. I waited for more, but there was none. “I had a good time,” I added, unsure of why. She turned her head toward me. Nodded a little. “Not bad for an old guy.” “Oh wow,” I laughed, rubbing my palms in my eyes. She giggled next to me. Draping her arms around my neck she stretched up and kissed me on the lips. “What?” she protested. “I like old guys.” She unzipped the pocket in her skort and fished around inside. Withdrawing a key card, she pressed it into my palm. “Springhill,” she said. “Room 404. Come by around 10:00 – if you're interested.” I squeezed her hand in mine. “What about your friends,” I asked. She shrugged, bouncing her eyebrows. “Maybe they'll like you too.” by TheSleepingKing for Literotica. story audio, podcast, tryst, fling, spontaneous, stranger, anonymous, hike, park, vacation, kansas, waterfall, public, exhibitionist, seduction,
A scorching outdoor encounter in the dog days of summer. by TheSleepingKing. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. You know the worst thing about the Midwest? August. Sure, there are other things. But after three straight weeks of 98 degrees and 90% humidity you don't really care that Kansas is a thing. You just want out – to escape the stifling grassland; preferably to a place where you don't need to swim through the steam to reach the next air-conditioned oasis. Where I work we need to maintain a minimum staffing level to fulfill our obligations. So vacation requests are handled on a first come first serve basis. First person to request time off gets first pick of available dates. Usually I get in early, guaranteeing myself at least one week that I want. But by the time I remembered to request this year, my only option for a summer break was the final week in August.Monday and Tuesday were a bust. Too hot to leave the house. I tried Monday morning, heading out to my favorite brunch spot for an omelet. But after burning my hand on the gear shift lever at 10:00 am I decided to pack it in. The weather app promised cooler temperatures mid-to-late-week, so I set about crafting a plan to salvage what was left of my vacation. There's a state park a few hours north, on the edge of a popular college town. I'd hiked there several times before. It was quiet, with a decent elevation and full tree canopy, and a 15-foot waterfall at the crux of the two longest trails. Temps in the mid-eighties were still warmer than I preferred. But after months of being stuck in a warehouse 10 hours a day, a little time outside seemed…necessary. I texted my friend Natalie, curious if she'd want to tag along. She was fun, outdoorsy, and never seemed too busy for an adventure. And sometimes, if we'd both had a few drinks, you might find her with her head in my lap, cock in her mouth and my fingers slowly circling her clit; agreeing this was a great way to spend an evening. But this time I struck out. I was on my own. I'd have to make the best of it. Every hotel in town was booked for Friday night (damn college football weekend), so I reserved a room for Wednesday and Thursday and headed out after lunch. Two hours and three Interstates later I pulled into a parking lot already half-filled with cars. I intended to drop my bag in the room and lap the short trail before dinner. That plan screeched to halt the moment I shut off the car. Cooler temperatures midweek my ass. It was 90 degrees at 4:15. The air saturated my clothes as I trudged across the pavement, and by the time I arrived at the check-in desk I knew I was done for the day. Cranking up the air in the room I decided to catch up on some streaming shows before heading across the parking lot to a local burger joint for a lite supper. But soon the sun disappeared behind a fortress of darkened clouds. The wind whipped up and the rain poured down in sheets, lashing the windows and transforming the parking lot into a rippling black pond. I watched for a while, checking the weather report to find nothing about precipitation. If Thursday was anything like this…. Eventually the rain stopped, and I headed out for dinner. It was cooler now – high 70s or so, and the squall had dried the air enough for the wind to wick away the water instead of steaming me in a sauna. I picked a seat in the corner of the restaurant patio and settled in for a meal. The dining room filled up quickly. Mostly locals – you could tell by the comfortable clothes and their rapport with the bartenders. But midway through my second beer, three young women rounded the corner from the waiting area, following the hostess to a four-top across the aisle from me beneath the center awning. And they were obviously based somewhere else. Two of them looked similar, (sisters maybe? cousins?) with straight blonde hair and big broad smiles. They dressed like they'd come straight from the yacht club: white shorts, striped navy tees and deck shoes; one with a denim jacket, the other in a hat. The third was taller with rectangular glasses, buoyant, gently curled auburn hair, and a short powder blue A-line summer dress accentuating the tone and length of her legs. She caught me looking as they stopped at their table. I turned away quickly, smiling to myself, disappointed, yet amused that I wasn't as discrete as I used to be. I took a full swig of beer and set the mug gently on the coaster before glancing back toward their table. The brunette had switched places with her friends, taking the seat on the far side of the circle, just about facing me. For a while I kept my eyes to myself. They ordered drinks and struck up a lively conversation. My burger and fries arrived, and I concentrated on securing the toppings so as not to make a fool of myself the first time I bit into it. But as I worked my way through the meal my attention began to wander. First to the parking lot. Then to the bar. And finally, to the beauty at the table twelve feet away. I stole glances between french fries and over the rim of my glass, careful to look away the moment before she turned her head or shifted her eyes toward me. Despite my best efforts she caught me once or twice. I flashed a smile, she did the same, we both looked away until the next time it happened. I was always drawn back. Her face was so bright, skin glowing in the warmth of the pendant lights. She shifted in her chair, slouching a little, stretching her legs to the edge of the aisle and crossing them at the ankles. Her dress rode high up her thighs, the shadow of the fabric and the table above shielding me from what lay beneath. I pretended I hadn't noticed, drawing out a sip of beer until she returned to her conversation. Inappropriate thoughts crept through my mind. I prodded them, trying to keep them at bay. She was at least ten – if not fifteen years younger. I was here to hike, not ogle women just barely out of college. The waiter stopped by my table, asking if I needed anything. I should have asked for the cheque. It would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, I asked for ice cream. It was still warm out, seemed reasonable. A few minutes later I spotted him heading my way, a tray with a tall bowl and several margaritas balanced on one hand. As he stopped to set the bowl in front of me, movement behind him caught my eye. I looked past to the ladies' table to catch the brunette uncross her ankles and ease her outside leg into the aisle, her knees drifting apart just far enough to show me smooth, plump pussy lips unencumbered by fabric or modesty. I froze, staring. Drinking it in. “Everything okay sir,” the waiter inquired, snapping me back to the moment. I tore my eyes away and looked up, then down at the ice cream, then up again, trying to reset my brain. “Yes,” I replied, “thank you. It looks…delicious.” I don't think I was talking about ice cream. And from the way his forehead wrinkled I think he knew that. I dipped the spoon in and took a bite. He nodded and moved past me to the table waiting on drinks. Staring at the bowl I tried to collect my thoughts. But all I could picture was the perfect pocket of pleasure framed between those gently tanned thighs. I lifted my head. Her legs remained splayed, treasure visible. Leaning back in her seat she lifted one foot, skimming her calf up over her shin until one knee rested over the other, closing the curtain on my view. Our gaze met. The corners of her mouth curled up and her eyebrows shrugged, and I felt the stir in my groin as I realized that perhaps…I was meant to see what I saw. I smiled a little. Then stopped. Her friends had turned to watch me, giggling into the hands covering their mouths. I scooped a spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into mine, staring at the table. Nothing like looking creepy in front of attractive women half your age. I decided to finish my dessert and keep my eyes to myself, get back to my room before embarrassing myself further. Before I could execute my plan, the women settled their tab and left. Through the glass I watched them skip across the parking lot toward the hotel, laughing with each other along the way. Something slipped from the brunette's swinging hand, and when she stooped to pick it up she looked back in my direction. I flinched, wanting to turn away. But I couldn't. She was mesmerizing. She flashed a smile, then ran to catch up with her friends. I waited until I was sure they were settled in their rooms before heading back to mine. I ambled into the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. I was in good shape for 40 plus. Ten years ago I might have made a pass at them; bought them a round, slid over to their table, try to talk one into joining me in my room. Instead…I took a shower, cranked up the air conditioning, and went to bed. Thursday morning I grabbed some apples from the breakfast bar, threw on a tee shirt and cargo shorts and prepared to hit the trail. It was a little after 8:00, about 75 degrees. The weather app promised 85 by 2:00 pm, which gave me plenty of time to loop the long trails before the heat became oppressive. Armed with two frozen water bottles and the fruit in a small backpack I caught a ride share to the park and headed out. The forest was teaming with life. Birds of all feathers chattered in the trees while rabbits and squirrels and other small creatures darted about in the in the brush below. The canopy was lush and thick, filtering much of the early light and heavily shading the first few miles, making for a pleasant hike. But the trail was overgrown from nearly two years of under use. The deeper I forged into the trees the more difficult it became to stay on track. And the leaves that earlier shielded me from the sun now trapped its heat beneath them, turning a warm walk in a light breeze into a hot slog through a noisy sauna. I didn't remember the route as well as I thought, and before I knew it, I was lost. I took a seat on a fallen log and fished a bottle out of the backpack. The ice had melted but the water was still cool. After half the bottle I traded it for my phone and tried to figure out where the hell I was. Reception was spotty and the GPS couldn't decide between several locations. From the lay of the land and direction of my hike I decided to head northeast. At some point I would run into the river, which would lead me back to my trail. I finished the first bottle and resumed walking. The temperature continued to climb, humidity trapping sweat on my skin. The skitter of critters through the underbrush ceased and the bird songs faded into the heat. An eerie quiet settled in, tempered by the crunch of fallen twigs underfoot. My limbs felt dull and heavy and a thought repeated in my head. You should have stayed home. I was looking for a place to rest when I finally heard it. Running water. In spite of myself I picked up the pace, oblivious to the incline I'd been descending the past few minutes. Up ahead the canopy thinned, tree trunks spacing out along the edge of a clearing. Picking through the tall grass I emerged into the sunlight onto the smooth flat rocks forming the edge of the river. Marked with a boulder on the far bank was the entrance to the second trail. To my right, Lost River Falls. Fifteen feet up, the black shale outcropping curved into a gentle crescent. The lazy river curled over the edge in a soft, thin sheet, spilling into a shallow pool before funneling through a narrow channel to the river basin and snaking on downstream. Now high in the sky, the sun blazed the sparkling water white, casting a rainbow over the riverbank and a deep shadow on the vertical rock beneath the ledge. The gentle roar swelled in my ears. I intended to cross to the trail and head back, but it was so hot, and the mist in the air felt so enticing. I turned toward the falls, threading my way along the bank over the channel to the edge of the pool. On a rock nearby I set down my pack, flanking it with my boots moments later. Peeling of the sweat-soaked tee shirt I waded into the water. The pool was warmer than I expected, but much cooler than the air, instantly soothing my feet. I shuffled along the shale bottom until the water sloshed around my calves. Reaching out I pierced the curtain, splashing droplets over my face and chest. Drawing a deep breath, I closed my eyes and stepped into the falls. I stayed a minute, despite the chill, the water flushing the ick of the morning off my skin. It beat on my back and shoulders, leeching heat from my muscles and ache from my bones. I ducked under and out several times, like it was a rolling ocean wave on a Caribbean beach. Cleansed and refreshed, I returned to the rock. I rung out the shirt and laid it flat over the adjacent stone, then fished the second water bottle from the backpack. Bottle to my lips I soaked up the view. Vibrant green forest, shimmering white water, worn black rock winding through the landscape. I smiled to myself. Sure it was hot, but it beat the hell out of being stuck in the warehouse. The snap of a twig behind me drew my attention. Setting the bottle on the backpack I glanced over my shoulder and caught a figure crossing my periphery on the opposite bank. Shielding my eyes, I turned for a better look. And was not disappointed. At the far end of the crescent in a bright blue skort and a radiant white rash guard stood the brunette from the restaurant. She had clearly been hiking for some time. Her skin glistened with sweat, and the glossy fabric of her shirt clung to every curve of her torso. Her legs – long and lean – planted her firmly on the uneven ground. Her curls were tied back in a ponytail, exposing her face to the sun. I couldn't help but stare. She looked like a model in a Patagonia catalog. And it took only a moment before all I could think about was her in that blue dress, slouched in that chair, sipping her drink while showing me the world. The shriek of a hawk overhead broke my trance. I found her smiling at me, her head cocked to the side, eyebrows raised. Flustered, I acknowledged her presence and turned away. I needed to collect my shit and go; salvage whatever was left of my dignity. I stuffed the bottle back in the pack and shook out my shirt, hauling it on over my head. Soon it would weigh me down and I would need to take it off, but for now it was a cold towel on the back of my neck and that was just fine. Something disturbed the water behind me. Snapping up the backpack I turned to investigate. She stood before the falls, her back to me, gazing up at the gleaming ribbon spilling from above. The bands of a black sports bra crisscrossed her back, the rash guard scrunched in her fist was tossed casually into the grass on the far bank. Her hands disappeared in front of her, then reappeared above her head, taking the sports bra with them. Tipping her head back, she eased into the liquid curtain. The water sheared around her, cutting a sexy silhouette in the high noon sun. My cock stirred to life, craving the view from the other side of the falls. I knew I should get moving – I didn't want to be busted again. But something gripped me, held me in place, my imagination in overdrive. “Still just looking, huh.” I whipped my head back and forth searching for the source of the voice, before realizing it could only have one origin. I turned back. She had stepped back from the water, her fingers twisting round her ponytail, pulling out the band. With a flip of her wrists her curls burst out, slapping down over her back. She peered over her shoulder. A chill shot down my spine. Her eyes narrowed, the corners of mouth creasing up. She skimmed her hands along her sides and over her hips until her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her skort and the material bunched in her fists. She tugged them down slowly, a perfectly rounded bare ass rising like a sunrise over the fabric horizon. Watching me, she straightened up, skort slipping down her legs into the pool. “You know,” she said, tipping her head back, “it's better over here.” My dick strained against my shorts, drawn like a magnet to that little gap between the tops of her thighs and the base of her cheeks. She returned to the falls, disappearing under the water. The backpack slipped from my fingers, sluffing off the rock and into the grass. My head spinning, I waded toward her. She emerged from the cascade facing me. Rivulets of water streamed down her face. They trickled over her breasts; firm and high on her chest, dark nipples pointed upward, soliciting a touch. The streams continued down the flat of her belly, curling in at her hips and under her mound, before spiraling round her thighs and calves and melting into the pool. She poked two fingers under my chin and lifted it. “My eyes are up here.” “Sorry,” I replied, just a little nervous. “I'm easily distracted.” Her bright baby blues lingered on my face a moment before roaming down my body to the prominent bulge below my waist. Looking up, she smiled. “But not shy, I see.” She peeled off my shirt and threw it aside, then flattened her hands against my skin. They were soft, and cool from the water, a welcome disruption of the sizzling heat. I reached out, skimming my hands over the base of her ribs, then down to her waist and the curve of her hips. She leaned in, pressing them into mine, trapping my erection between us. A twinge shot through my core. I sighed. She had me. My attention wandered up to her breasts, cupping one sumptuous orb in each palm. Her head lolled, eyes fluttering, biting her bottom lip. I gave a gentle squeeze, dimpling the flesh and rolling my thumbs across her nipples. Her chest thrust forward, a groan escaping her throat. Leaning over I swirled my tongue over one before suckling it into my mouth. She shivered beneath me, drawing her breath between her teeth. I traded one for the other, back and forth, marveling at the tone and texture of the most perfect pair I'd ever laid lips on. She clutched at the back of my head, insisting I continue teasing her while clumsily fumbling with the clasp on my waistband. I kneaded her breasts in my palms, their mass resisting, plumping into the space between my fingers. I growled, invigorated by the memory of how pliable the body can be in its youth. Winning her battle with the clasp she stripped off my shorts and sprang my cock from its fabric prison. It jumped at the brush of her wrist and flexed in her grip as she tried to close her slender fingers around the shaft. The heat radiated out, warming her fist. She exhaled in my ear and followed up with a whisper barely audible above the falls. “Fuck me.” I plucked her nipple from my mouth and looked her in the eyes. “Here?” “Right here,” she confirmed, “right now.” I glanced around the clearing and into the woods. “Are you sure?” She snatched my hand from her breast and shoved it between her legs, curling my middle finger and dragging it through her slit. She was soaked, slick with her cream. “Right now,” she repeated. My hips swung forward with no input from my brain, prodding her belly with the tip of my dick. “What if someone sees us?” She hooked her arms around my neck. A devilish smirk creased her lips. There is nothing sexier than a woman who knows exactly what she wants. Well,“ she said softly, “then we should make sure they get a good show.” She pulled herself tight to my chest, transferring her weight to my shoulders. I braced myself as her legs left the water – first one, then the other – wrapping themselves around my waist. I held her buttocks tight in each hand, my penis pressed flat against her labia. Shifting my weight and dipping my hips I maneuvered the tip between those velvety lower lips and thrust myself into her pussy. She gasped – her mouth round, eyes bulging – as her canal expanded to accommodate the intruder. She fit like a glove two sizes too small, squeezing me tighter than I'd felt in years. Her gaze locked with mine she ground against me, acclimating to my girth with tiny strokes. Her shock turned slowly to lust. I lifted her ass and pulled it down on my dick, matching my thrusts to the undulation of her hips. Her juices seeped around me, oozing out over my balls. She lowered her head, moaning into my neck. Warm and clammy, our skin clung together, friction heating whatever slivers of space remained between us. Her writhing shuffled us toward the falls. The air was cooler here. It drew me closer. And before I knew it, we entered the deluge. I bristled at the cold, muscles contracting, pushing my cock deeper inside. She leaned away, gaining more leverage to rock her hips. The water forked around her tits, pooling in the crook of our bodies before spilling over into the river. I carried her through a little further, flattening her against the black rock wall. We hit with a thud and a grunt, her legs slipping from their position. I dipped down and hooked my arms under her thighs, lifting and throwing her calves up over my shoulders. With something to brace her now I pulled my cock back, teasing her with the glans before plunging back in to the hilt. “Ugh.” Her spine curled backward, stretching her abdomen and pointing her toes. Her squeals were like spurs in my sides, pumping my penis through that slippery steaming tunnel. She glared at me, jaw clenched, lip quivering each time I crashed inside. Her breathing grew ragged and short. “Wha…,” she stammered, “wha…what's your name?” Fuck. We hadn't even introduced ourselves. I leaned in hard, pinning her back to the rock and her knees to her shoulders. “Lucas,” I said. Clasping my face in her hands she smashed her lips into mine. “Fuck me Lucas,” she growled. “Make me cum.” A wave rippled through my groin, clenching everything below my waist. I held her tight as I could, racking her frame with the force of each thrust. Her grunts were like drumbeats, the driving rhythm to the symphony of our encounter. Her body coiled and shook and flexed, faster and stronger with each passing moment until suddenly, everything froze. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her mouth gaped in a silent scream. Her legs trembled and her body shuddered, and her pussy gripped my cock like a vice as she gushed around it. She clawed my back, the sting of her nails accentuating each contraction. I nuzzled my head into the crook of her neck, holding on, riding out the storm. Finally, I felt her chest heave, heard the breath rush past my ear. Her body began to relax, her limbs growing heavy in my arms and around my neck. Short, sweet whimpers disintegrated into a delirious giggle, sprinkled with curses once her lips could form the words. I eased off her chest and loosened my hold, allowing her legs to slip off my shoulders. Like jelly they tumbled over my arms and out of my grasp, her feet splashing in the water below. I pinched her waist and held her up while she regained her balance. She touched her twitching fingers to my cheeks, her thumbs clipping at my lips. She smiled. But said nothing. Her hands slipped down to my chest and gave a gentle push. I pulled away, springing my cock from her furnace into the open air. She eyed it hungrily, bobbing before her, coated in her cream and glistening in the sunlight. Her gaze fixed she rolled her body, flattening her palms and smushing her boobs against the rock wall. She wiggled her feet apart and dipped her back, pushing that bubble butt into my groin and trapping my erection between her cheeks. She humped against me, slathering my penis in a warm sloppy mixture of pre-cum, grool and sweat. The shivering thrill coursed through my shaft. My stomach flopped and my balls tightened, anxious to release their boiling burden. Prying her buttocks apart I leveled my dick and plunged it back into her pussy. She screamed into her shoulder, leaving teeth marks in her skin. She sagged at the knees, changing the shape of her channel and scrubbing new sensations into my glans. I clutched her hips in both hands, mesmerized by the curves of her ass, rippling with each collision. The urgency of our undulations increased, and it occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to enjoy this much longer. She threw herself back, impaling her sodden vagina on my cock. The squelching pricked my ears. Her whimpers and moans raised the hair on my arms. And soon my entire body buzzed with the current of an orgasm coiling to strike. I curled forward, laying my weight on her back. Skimming her belly I cupped her breasts, relishing the firmness in my fingers and tugging them down as I thrust up inside. With only moments before I'd lose control I pressed my lips against her ear. “What's your name,” I whispered. She gasped, her pussy constricting around my shaft. “Devon,” she panted, turning her head. Our eyes met. I held myself still inside her. “Suck my cock Devon,” I growled. “Make me cum.” She responded immediately, squirming out of my grasp and twisting around, sinking to her haunches. Her lips sealed around my dick, gliding up and down with ease, her tongue curling around the underside of the head and rod. My neck craned, jaw tight, muscles straining. I gathered fistfuls of her hair and scrunched it on the top of her head. The dam burst. And a summer's worth of hot, thick cum erupted into her mouth. The release roiled me to my core; my hips convulsing, penis throbbing. Rope after rope burst from my dick, each shot a miniature climax amplifying the whole. Her lips kept moving, up to my glans and down to the root, milking every drop she could. I could feel her throat working, trying to keep up. But there was too much to contain, and it spilled from the corners of her mouth and down her chin to her tits. I struggled to keep my balance. My head was spinning and my heart was pounding, and I didn't recognize the noises escaping my throat. I hoped the waterfall would cover them because I couldn't hold them in. I tried to pull away, but she dug her fingers into the meat of my ass, fixing me in place and draining my balls into her cheeks. Eventually the maelstrom subsided. The last remaining strands of cum oozed out over her tongue, pooling together for one final swallow. Dexterity returning to my fingers I raked hair out of her face and flipped it gently over her shoulders. She looked up at me, brazen and cool, clearly enjoying the fruits of her labor almost as much as I was. She slipped her lips off my cock with an audible pop. Watching me carefully she twisted her neck and worked her way down to the base of the shaft, slurping each testicle into her mouth. My dick skipped across her face, catching on her nose and leaving fine white threads in her dark manicured eyebrows. She continued for several minutes, working her lips and tongue, bathing my balls and polishing my penis with her saliva. It didn't take long before my erection was again as hard as it was when she'd freed it from my shorts. It ached in the heat of her mouth. Doubling over I took hold of her head and gently pulled away. She looked up at me. Pouted. I sighed, my lips breaking into a broad smile. She returned the gesture, adding a flip of her eyebrows. Releasing her I maneuvered past, slumping against the wall. I gathered myself, chest swelling with the rising mist. My head began to clear, my body relax, soothed by the colossal dopamine release that I only now discerned I was unfortunately too unfamiliar with. Devon straightened up beside me, unsteady on wobbly legs. She mimicked my pose and stretched her neck, delighting in the sunlight baking her face. Snaking a hand between her thighs she scooped out her cum with her middle finger and sensually tucked it into her mouth. She looked over, eyes lively, lips puckered around the digit. With her free hand she took hold of mine and backed away, dragging me with her under the falls. We showered together in the river, cooling our lust and rinsing away the evidence. We lingered in the water until we were cold before separating to recover our clothes. Five minutes and a few stolen glances later we met again at the trail marker on the far bank. We stood there together in awkward silence – strangely so, considering the intimacy of what we had done. Finally, I broke the ice. “It was umm…nice to meet you,” I offered, shifting the straps of the backpack over my shoulders. She looked away, smiling, picking at the hem of her skort. “Same,” she replied. I waited for more, but there was none. “I had a good time,” I added, unsure of why. She turned her head toward me. Nodded a little. “Not bad for an old guy.” “Oh wow,” I laughed, rubbing my palms in my eyes. She giggled next to me. Draping her arms around my neck she stretched up and kissed me on the lips. “What?” she protested. “I like old guys.” She unzipped the pocket in her skort and fished around inside. Withdrawing a key card, she pressed it into my palm. “Springhill,” she said. “Room 404. Come by around 10:00 – if you're interested.” I squeezed her hand in mine. “What about your friends,” I asked. She shrugged, bouncing her eyebrows. “Maybe they'll like you too.” by TheSleepingKing for Literotica. story audio, podcast, tryst, fling, spontaneous, stranger, anonymous, hike, park, vacation, kansas, waterfall, public, exhibitionist, seduction,
A scorching outdoor encounter in the dog days of summer. by TheSleepingKing. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. You know the worst thing about the Midwest? August. Sure, there are other things. But after three straight weeks of 98 degrees and 90% humidity you don't really care that Kansas is a thing. You just want out – to escape the stifling grassland; preferably to a place where you don't need to swim through the steam to reach the next air-conditioned oasis. Where I work we need to maintain a minimum staffing level to fulfill our obligations. So vacation requests are handled on a first come first serve basis. First person to request time off gets first pick of available dates. Usually I get in early, guaranteeing myself at least one week that I want. But by the time I remembered to request this year, my only option for a summer break was the final week in August.Monday and Tuesday were a bust. Too hot to leave the house. I tried Monday morning, heading out to my favorite brunch spot for an omelet. But after burning my hand on the gear shift lever at 10:00 am I decided to pack it in. The weather app promised cooler temperatures mid-to-late-week, so I set about crafting a plan to salvage what was left of my vacation. There's a state park a few hours north, on the edge of a popular college town. I'd hiked there several times before. It was quiet, with a decent elevation and full tree canopy, and a 15-foot waterfall at the crux of the two longest trails. Temps in the mid-eighties were still warmer than I preferred. But after months of being stuck in a warehouse 10 hours a day, a little time outside seemed…necessary. I texted my friend Natalie, curious if she'd want to tag along. She was fun, outdoorsy, and never seemed too busy for an adventure. And sometimes, if we'd both had a few drinks, you might find her with her head in my lap, cock in her mouth and my fingers slowly circling her clit; agreeing this was a great way to spend an evening. But this time I struck out. I was on my own. I'd have to make the best of it. Every hotel in town was booked for Friday night (damn college football weekend), so I reserved a room for Wednesday and Thursday and headed out after lunch. Two hours and three Interstates later I pulled into a parking lot already half-filled with cars. I intended to drop my bag in the room and lap the short trail before dinner. That plan screeched to halt the moment I shut off the car. Cooler temperatures midweek my ass. It was 90 degrees at 4:15. The air saturated my clothes as I trudged across the pavement, and by the time I arrived at the check-in desk I knew I was done for the day. Cranking up the air in the room I decided to catch up on some streaming shows before heading across the parking lot to a local burger joint for a lite supper. But soon the sun disappeared behind a fortress of darkened clouds. The wind whipped up and the rain poured down in sheets, lashing the windows and transforming the parking lot into a rippling black pond. I watched for a while, checking the weather report to find nothing about precipitation. If Thursday was anything like this…. Eventually the rain stopped, and I headed out for dinner. It was cooler now – high 70s or so, and the squall had dried the air enough for the wind to wick away the water instead of steaming me in a sauna. I picked a seat in the corner of the restaurant patio and settled in for a meal. The dining room filled up quickly. Mostly locals – you could tell by the comfortable clothes and their rapport with the bartenders. But midway through my second beer, three young women rounded the corner from the waiting area, following the hostess to a four-top across the aisle from me beneath the center awning. And they were obviously based somewhere else. Two of them looked similar, (sisters maybe? cousins?) with straight blonde hair and big broad smiles. They dressed like they'd come straight from the yacht club: white shorts, striped navy tees and deck shoes; one with a denim jacket, the other in a hat. The third was taller with rectangular glasses, buoyant, gently curled auburn hair, and a short powder blue A-line summer dress accentuating the tone and length of her legs. She caught me looking as they stopped at their table. I turned away quickly, smiling to myself, disappointed, yet amused that I wasn't as discrete as I used to be. I took a full swig of beer and set the mug gently on the coaster before glancing back toward their table. The brunette had switched places with her friends, taking the seat on the far side of the circle, just about facing me. For a while I kept my eyes to myself. They ordered drinks and struck up a lively conversation. My burger and fries arrived, and I concentrated on securing the toppings so as not to make a fool of myself the first time I bit into it. But as I worked my way through the meal my attention began to wander. First to the parking lot. Then to the bar. And finally, to the beauty at the table twelve feet away. I stole glances between french fries and over the rim of my glass, careful to look away the moment before she turned her head or shifted her eyes toward me. Despite my best efforts she caught me once or twice. I flashed a smile, she did the same, we both looked away until the next time it happened. I was always drawn back. Her face was so bright, skin glowing in the warmth of the pendant lights. She shifted in her chair, slouching a little, stretching her legs to the edge of the aisle and crossing them at the ankles. Her dress rode high up her thighs, the shadow of the fabric and the table above shielding me from what lay beneath. I pretended I hadn't noticed, drawing out a sip of beer until she returned to her conversation. Inappropriate thoughts crept through my mind. I prodded them, trying to keep them at bay. She was at least ten – if not fifteen years younger. I was here to hike, not ogle women just barely out of college. The waiter stopped by my table, asking if I needed anything. I should have asked for the cheque. It would have been the smart thing to do. Instead, I asked for ice cream. It was still warm out, seemed reasonable. A few minutes later I spotted him heading my way, a tray with a tall bowl and several margaritas balanced on one hand. As he stopped to set the bowl in front of me, movement behind him caught my eye. I looked past to the ladies' table to catch the brunette uncross her ankles and ease her outside leg into the aisle, her knees drifting apart just far enough to show me smooth, plump pussy lips unencumbered by fabric or modesty. I froze, staring. Drinking it in. “Everything okay sir,” the waiter inquired, snapping me back to the moment. I tore my eyes away and looked up, then down at the ice cream, then up again, trying to reset my brain. “Yes,” I replied, “thank you. It looks…delicious.” I don't think I was talking about ice cream. And from the way his forehead wrinkled I think he knew that. I dipped the spoon in and took a bite. He nodded and moved past me to the table waiting on drinks. Staring at the bowl I tried to collect my thoughts. But all I could picture was the perfect pocket of pleasure framed between those gently tanned thighs. I lifted my head. Her legs remained splayed, treasure visible. Leaning back in her seat she lifted one foot, skimming her calf up over her shin until one knee rested over the other, closing the curtain on my view. Our gaze met. The corners of her mouth curled up and her eyebrows shrugged, and I felt the stir in my groin as I realized that perhaps…I was meant to see what I saw. I smiled a little. Then stopped. Her friends had turned to watch me, giggling into the hands covering their mouths. I scooped a spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into mine, staring at the table. Nothing like looking creepy in front of attractive women half your age. I decided to finish my dessert and keep my eyes to myself, get back to my room before embarrassing myself further. Before I could execute my plan, the women settled their tab and left. Through the glass I watched them skip across the parking lot toward the hotel, laughing with each other along the way. Something slipped from the brunette's swinging hand, and when she stooped to pick it up she looked back in my direction. I flinched, wanting to turn away. But I couldn't. She was mesmerizing. She flashed a smile, then ran to catch up with her friends. I waited until I was sure they were settled in their rooms before heading back to mine. I ambled into the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. I was in good shape for 40 plus. Ten years ago I might have made a pass at them; bought them a round, slid over to their table, try to talk one into joining me in my room. Instead…I took a shower, cranked up the air conditioning, and went to bed. Thursday morning I grabbed some apples from the breakfast bar, threw on a tee shirt and cargo shorts and prepared to hit the trail. It was a little after 8:00, about 75 degrees. The weather app promised 85 by 2:00 pm, which gave me plenty of time to loop the long trails before the heat became oppressive. Armed with two frozen water bottles and the fruit in a small backpack I caught a ride share to the park and headed out. The forest was teaming with life. Birds of all feathers chattered in the trees while rabbits and squirrels and other small creatures darted about in the in the brush below. The canopy was lush and thick, filtering much of the early light and heavily shading the first few miles, making for a pleasant hike. But the trail was overgrown from nearly two years of under use. The deeper I forged into the trees the more difficult it became to stay on track. And the leaves that earlier shielded me from the sun now trapped its heat beneath them, turning a warm walk in a light breeze into a hot slog through a noisy sauna. I didn't remember the route as well as I thought, and before I knew it, I was lost. I took a seat on a fallen log and fished a bottle out of the backpack. The ice had melted but the water was still cool. After half the bottle I traded it for my phone and tried to figure out where the hell I was. Reception was spotty and the GPS couldn't decide between several locations. From the lay of the land and direction of my hike I decided to head northeast. At some point I would run into the river, which would lead me back to my trail. I finished the first bottle and resumed walking. The temperature continued to climb, humidity trapping sweat on my skin. The skitter of critters through the underbrush ceased and the bird songs faded into the heat. An eerie quiet settled in, tempered by the crunch of fallen twigs underfoot. My limbs felt dull and heavy and a thought repeated in my head. You should have stayed home. I was looking for a place to rest when I finally heard it. Running water. In spite of myself I picked up the pace, oblivious to the incline I'd been descending the past few minutes. Up ahead the canopy thinned, tree trunks spacing out along the edge of a clearing. Picking through the tall grass I emerged into the sunlight onto the smooth flat rocks forming the edge of the river. Marked with a boulder on the far bank was the entrance to the second trail. To my right, Lost River Falls. Fifteen feet up, the black shale outcropping curved into a gentle crescent. The lazy river curled over the edge in a soft, thin sheet, spilling into a shallow pool before funneling through a narrow channel to the river basin and snaking on downstream. Now high in the sky, the sun blazed the sparkling water white, casting a rainbow over the riverbank and a deep shadow on the vertical rock beneath the ledge. The gentle roar swelled in my ears. I intended to cross to the trail and head back, but it was so hot, and the mist in the air felt so enticing. I turned toward the falls, threading my way along the bank over the channel to the edge of the pool. On a rock nearby I set down my pack, flanking it with my boots moments later. Peeling of the sweat-soaked tee shirt I waded into the water. The pool was warmer than I expected, but much cooler than the air, instantly soothing my feet. I shuffled along the shale bottom until the water sloshed around my calves. Reaching out I pierced the curtain, splashing droplets over my face and chest. Drawing a deep breath, I closed my eyes and stepped into the falls. I stayed a minute, despite the chill, the water flushing the ick of the morning off my skin. It beat on my back and shoulders, leeching heat from my muscles and ache from my bones. I ducked under and out several times, like it was a rolling ocean wave on a Caribbean beach. Cleansed and refreshed, I returned to the rock. I rung out the shirt and laid it flat over the adjacent stone, then fished the second water bottle from the backpack. Bottle to my lips I soaked up the view. Vibrant green forest, shimmering white water, worn black rock winding through the landscape. I smiled to myself. Sure it was hot, but it beat the hell out of being stuck in the warehouse. The snap of a twig behind me drew my attention. Setting the bottle on the backpack I glanced over my shoulder and caught a figure crossing my periphery on the opposite bank. Shielding my eyes, I turned for a better look. And was not disappointed. At the far end of the crescent in a bright blue skort and a radiant white rash guard stood the brunette from the restaurant. She had clearly been hiking for some time. Her skin glistened with sweat, and the glossy fabric of her shirt clung to every curve of her torso. Her legs – long and lean – planted her firmly on the uneven ground. Her curls were tied back in a ponytail, exposing her face to the sun. I couldn't help but stare. She looked like a model in a Patagonia catalog. And it took only a moment before all I could think about was her in that blue dress, slouched in that chair, sipping her drink while showing me the world. The shriek of a hawk overhead broke my trance. I found her smiling at me, her head cocked to the side, eyebrows raised. Flustered, I acknowledged her presence and turned away. I needed to collect my shit and go; salvage whatever was left of my dignity. I stuffed the bottle back in the pack and shook out my shirt, hauling it on over my head. Soon it would weigh me down and I would need to take it off, but for now it was a cold towel on the back of my neck and that was just fine. Something disturbed the water behind me. Snapping up the backpack I turned to investigate. She stood before the falls, her back to me, gazing up at the gleaming ribbon spilling from above. The bands of a black sports bra crisscrossed her back, the rash guard scrunched in her fist was tossed casually into the grass on the far bank. Her hands disappeared in front of her, then reappeared above her head, taking the sports bra with them. Tipping her head back, she eased into the liquid curtain. The water sheared around her, cutting a sexy silhouette in the high noon sun. My cock stirred to life, craving the view from the other side of the falls. I knew I should get moving – I didn't want to be busted again. But something gripped me, held me in place, my imagination in overdrive. “Still just looking, huh.” I whipped my head back and forth searching for the source of the voice, before realizing it could only have one origin. I turned back. She had stepped back from the water, her fingers twisting round her ponytail, pulling out the band. With a flip of her wrists her curls burst out, slapping down over her back. She peered over her shoulder. A chill shot down my spine. Her eyes narrowed, the corners of mouth creasing up. She skimmed her hands along her sides and over her hips until her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her skort and the material bunched in her fists. She tugged them down slowly, a perfectly rounded bare ass rising like a sunrise over the fabric horizon. Watching me, she straightened up, skort slipping down her legs into the pool. “You know,” she said, tipping her head back, “it's better over here.” My dick strained against my shorts, drawn like a magnet to that little gap between the tops of her thighs and the base of her cheeks. She returned to the falls, disappearing under the water. The backpack slipped from my fingers, sluffing off the rock and into the grass. My head spinning, I waded toward her. She emerged from the cascade facing me. Rivulets of water streamed down her face. They trickled over her breasts; firm and high on her chest, dark nipples pointed upward, soliciting a touch. The streams continued down the flat of her belly, curling in at her hips and under her mound, before spiraling round her thighs and calves and melting into the pool. She poked two fingers under my chin and lifted it. “My eyes are up here.” “Sorry,” I replied, just a little nervous. “I'm easily distracted.” Her bright baby blues lingered on my face a moment before roaming down my body to the prominent bulge below my waist. Looking up, she smiled. “But not shy, I see.” She peeled off my shirt and threw it aside, then flattened her hands against my skin. They were soft, and cool from the water, a welcome disruption of the sizzling heat. I reached out, skimming my hands over the base of her ribs, then down to her waist and the curve of her hips. She leaned in, pressing them into mine, trapping my erection between us. A twinge shot through my core. I sighed. She had me. My attention wandered up to her breasts, cupping one sumptuous orb in each palm. Her head lolled, eyes fluttering, biting her bottom lip. I gave a gentle squeeze, dimpling the flesh and rolling my thumbs across her nipples. Her chest thrust forward, a groan escaping her throat. Leaning over I swirled my tongue over one before suckling it into my mouth. She shivered beneath me, drawing her breath between her teeth. I traded one for the other, back and forth, marveling at the tone and texture of the most perfect pair I'd ever laid lips on. She clutched at the back of my head, insisting I continue teasing her while clumsily fumbling with the clasp on my waistband. I kneaded her breasts in my palms, their mass resisting, plumping into the space between my fingers. I growled, invigorated by the memory of how pliable the body can be in its youth. Winning her battle with the clasp she stripped off my shorts and sprang my cock from its fabric prison. It jumped at the brush of her wrist and flexed in her grip as she tried to close her slender fingers around the shaft. The heat radiated out, warming her fist. She exhaled in my ear and followed up with a whisper barely audible above the falls. “Fuck me.” I plucked her nipple from my mouth and looked her in the eyes. “Here?” “Right here,” she confirmed, “right now.” I glanced around the clearing and into the woods. “Are you sure?” She snatched my hand from her breast and shoved it between her legs, curling my middle finger and dragging it through her slit. She was soaked, slick with her cream. “Right now,” she repeated. My hips swung forward with no input from my brain, prodding her belly with the tip of my dick. “What if someone sees us?” She hooked her arms around my neck. A devilish smirk creased her lips. There is nothing sexier than a woman who knows exactly what she wants. Well,“ she said softly, “then we should make sure they get a good show.” She pulled herself tight to my chest, transferring her weight to my shoulders. I braced myself as her legs left the water – first one, then the other – wrapping themselves around my waist. I held her buttocks tight in each hand, my penis pressed flat against her labia. Shifting my weight and dipping my hips I maneuvered the tip between those velvety lower lips and thrust myself into her pussy. She gasped – her mouth round, eyes bulging – as her canal expanded to accommodate the intruder. She fit like a glove two sizes too small, squeezing me tighter than I'd felt in years. Her gaze locked with mine she ground against me, acclimating to my girth with tiny strokes. Her shock turned slowly to lust. I lifted her ass and pulled it down on my dick, matching my thrusts to the undulation of her hips. Her juices seeped around me, oozing out over my balls. She lowered her head, moaning into my neck. Warm and clammy, our skin clung together, friction heating whatever slivers of space remained between us. Her writhing shuffled us toward the falls. The air was cooler here. It drew me closer. And before I knew it, we entered the deluge. I bristled at the cold, muscles contracting, pushing my cock deeper inside. She leaned away, gaining more leverage to rock her hips. The water forked around her tits, pooling in the crook of our bodies before spilling over into the river. I carried her through a little further, flattening her against the black rock wall. We hit with a thud and a grunt, her legs slipping from their position. I dipped down and hooked my arms under her thighs, lifting and throwing her calves up over my shoulders. With something to brace her now I pulled my cock back, teasing her with the glans before plunging back in to the hilt. “Ugh.” Her spine curled backward, stretching her abdomen and pointing her toes. Her squeals were like spurs in my sides, pumping my penis through that slippery steaming tunnel. She glared at me, jaw clenched, lip quivering each time I crashed inside. Her breathing grew ragged and short. “Wha…,” she stammered, “wha…what's your name?” Fuck. We hadn't even introduced ourselves. I leaned in hard, pinning her back to the rock and her knees to her shoulders. “Lucas,” I said. Clasping my face in her hands she smashed her lips into mine. “Fuck me Lucas,” she growled. “Make me cum.” A wave rippled through my groin, clenching everything below my waist. I held her tight as I could, racking her frame with the force of each thrust. Her grunts were like drumbeats, the driving rhythm to the symphony of our encounter. Her body coiled and shook and flexed, faster and stronger with each passing moment until suddenly, everything froze. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her mouth gaped in a silent scream. Her legs trembled and her body shuddered, and her pussy gripped my cock like a vice as she gushed around it. She clawed my back, the sting of her nails accentuating each contraction. I nuzzled my head into the crook of her neck, holding on, riding out the storm. Finally, I felt her chest heave, heard the breath rush past my ear. Her body began to relax, her limbs growing heavy in my arms and around my neck. Short, sweet whimpers disintegrated into a delirious giggle, sprinkled with curses once her lips could form the words. I eased off her chest and loosened my hold, allowing her legs to slip off my shoulders. Like jelly they tumbled over my arms and out of my grasp, her feet splashing in the water below. I pinched her waist and held her up while she regained her balance. She touched her twitching fingers to my cheeks, her thumbs clipping at my lips. She smiled. But said nothing. Her hands slipped down to my chest and gave a gentle push. I pulled away, springing my cock from her furnace into the open air. She eyed it hungrily, bobbing before her, coated in her cream and glistening in the sunlight. Her gaze fixed she rolled her body, flattening her palms and smushing her boobs against the rock wall. She wiggled her feet apart and dipped her back, pushing that bubble butt into my groin and trapping my erection between her cheeks. She humped against me, slathering my penis in a warm sloppy mixture of pre-cum, grool and sweat. The shivering thrill coursed through my shaft. My stomach flopped and my balls tightened, anxious to release their boiling burden. Prying her buttocks apart I leveled my dick and plunged it back into her pussy. She screamed into her shoulder, leaving teeth marks in her skin. She sagged at the knees, changing the shape of her channel and scrubbing new sensations into my glans. I clutched her hips in both hands, mesmerized by the curves of her ass, rippling with each collision. The urgency of our undulations increased, and it occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to enjoy this much longer. She threw herself back, impaling her sodden vagina on my cock. The squelching pricked my ears. Her whimpers and moans raised the hair on my arms. And soon my entire body buzzed with the current of an orgasm coiling to strike. I curled forward, laying my weight on her back. Skimming her belly I cupped her breasts, relishing the firmness in my fingers and tugging them down as I thrust up inside. With only moments before I'd lose control I pressed my lips against her ear. “What's your name,” I whispered. She gasped, her pussy constricting around my shaft. “Devon,” she panted, turning her head. Our eyes met. I held myself still inside her. “Suck my cock Devon,” I growled. “Make me cum.” She responded immediately, squirming out of my grasp and twisting around, sinking to her haunches. Her lips sealed around my dick, gliding up and down with ease, her tongue curling around the underside of the head and rod. My neck craned, jaw tight, muscles straining. I gathered fistfuls of her hair and scrunched it on the top of her head. The dam burst. And a summer's worth of hot, thick cum erupted into her mouth. The release roiled me to my core; my hips convulsing, penis throbbing. Rope after rope burst from my dick, each shot a miniature climax amplifying the whole. Her lips kept moving, up to my glans and down to the root, milking every drop she could. I could feel her throat working, trying to keep up. But there was too much to contain, and it spilled from the corners of her mouth and down her chin to her tits. I struggled to keep my balance. My head was spinning and my heart was pounding, and I didn't recognize the noises escaping my throat. I hoped the waterfall would cover them because I couldn't hold them in. I tried to pull away, but she dug her fingers into the meat of my ass, fixing me in place and draining my balls into her cheeks. Eventually the maelstrom subsided. The last remaining strands of cum oozed out over her tongue, pooling together for one final swallow. Dexterity returning to my fingers I raked hair out of her face and flipped it gently over her shoulders. She looked up at me, brazen and cool, clearly enjoying the fruits of her labor almost as much as I was. She slipped her lips off my cock with an audible pop. Watching me carefully she twisted her neck and worked her way down to the base of the shaft, slurping each testicle into her mouth. My dick skipped across her face, catching on her nose and leaving fine white threads in her dark manicured eyebrows. She continued for several minutes, working her lips and tongue, bathing my balls and polishing my penis with her saliva. It didn't take long before my erection was again as hard as it was when she'd freed it from my shorts. It ached in the heat of her mouth. Doubling over I took hold of her head and gently pulled away. She looked up at me. Pouted. I sighed, my lips breaking into a broad smile. She returned the gesture, adding a flip of her eyebrows. Releasing her I maneuvered past, slumping against the wall. I gathered myself, chest swelling with the rising mist. My head began to clear, my body relax, soothed by the colossal dopamine release that I only now discerned I was unfortunately too unfamiliar with. Devon straightened up beside me, unsteady on wobbly legs. She mimicked my pose and stretched her neck, delighting in the sunlight baking her face. Snaking a hand between her thighs she scooped out her cum with her middle finger and sensually tucked it into her mouth. She looked over, eyes lively, lips puckered around the digit. With her free hand she took hold of mine and backed away, dragging me with her under the falls. We showered together in the river, cooling our lust and rinsing away the evidence. We lingered in the water until we were cold before separating to recover our clothes. Five minutes and a few stolen glances later we met again at the trail marker on the far bank. We stood there together in awkward silence – strangely so, considering the intimacy of what we had done. Finally, I broke the ice. “It was umm…nice to meet you,” I offered, shifting the straps of the backpack over my shoulders. She looked away, smiling, picking at the hem of her skort. “Same,” she replied. I waited for more, but there was none. “I had a good time,” I added, unsure of why. She turned her head toward me. Nodded a little. “Not bad for an old guy.” “Oh wow,” I laughed, rubbing my palms in my eyes. She giggled next to me. Draping her arms around my neck she stretched up and kissed me on the lips. “What?” she protested. “I like old guys.” She unzipped the pocket in her skort and fished around inside. Withdrawing a key card, she pressed it into my palm. “Springhill,” she said. “Room 404. Come by around 10:00 – if you're interested.” I squeezed her hand in mine. “What about your friends,” I asked. She shrugged, bouncing her eyebrows. “Maybe they'll like you too.” by TheSleepingKing for Literotica. story audio, podcast, tryst, fling, spontaneous, stranger, anonymous, hike, park, vacation, kansas, waterfall, public, exhibitionist, seduction,
Curious about the art of wedding decor? Looking to create a dreamy ambiance for your special day? What questions do you need to ask your venue about adding wedding decor? What are some decor trends happening right now? This podcast is for engaged couples who are stressed out with wedding planning and family expectations but want a fun wedding day. In today's edition, join our journey of discovery with Jim Powers of CJC Lighting and Production discussing the significance of wedding drapery and decor. Jim elaborates on how these elements can drastically enhance a venue, turning it from dull to magnificent. He covers essential questions to ask your venue, offers insights into the latest decor trends, and provides practical advice on budgeting for drapes and lighting. The discussion highlights popular decor trends, such as ceiling draping and floor-to-ceiling draping in ballrooms, and concludes with practical advice on budgeting, getting multiple quotes and tips like having a clear vision, and sharing reference photos. Learn valuable insights and expert advice for couples planning their wedding decor and lighting for a stress-free and memorable event. The Stress-free Wedding Planning Podcast #93 - The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Memorable Atmosphere with Draping and Wedding Decor Host: Sal & Sam Music: "Sam's Tune" by Rick Anthony Guest: Jim Powers of CJC Lighting and Production TIMESTAMP 00:00 Introduction to The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Memorable Atmosphere with Draping and Wedding Decor 02:30 CJC Lighting and Production social media 03:30 Diving Deep into Wedding Decor with Jim Powers 04:30 Working with other vendors 05:30 The Importance of Venue Coordination and Insurance 07:00 Budgeting for Your Dream Wedding Decor 07:45 Pipe and Drape explained 09:00 The results of Pipe and Drape 10:30 Wedding Tips Wednesday 13:45 Questions couples should ask 15:00 Trends for Wedding Decor 16:00 On-site technician 17:00 More important questions to ask 17:30 CJC Lighting and Production social media 18:00 Final Thoughts and Podcast Wrap-up 19:00 Close Get your FREE no-obligation report TODAY: "8 QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK A WEDDING PROFESSIONAL BEFORE BOOKING THEM" http://forms.aweber.com/form/55/756659955.htm Music List Giveaway https://www.afterhourseventsofne.com/guestcontact *** Join us in the Stress-free Wedding Planning Facebook group https://urlgeni.us/facebook/stress-free-wedding-planning Sponsored in part by Clear Vision Productions and the Wedding Styles of CT Wedding Shows. https://www.weddingstylesofct.com/ https://www.theclearvisionagency.com/ Wedding Tip Wednesday on the Stress-free Wedding Planning Podcast is sponsored by EMERGE Cosmetics – 10% OFF promo code: SF1 https://shopemergecosmetics.com/ Copyright © 2024 Atmosphere Productions LLC All Rights Reserved. Produced By Atmosphere Productions in association with After Hours Events of New England https://atmosphere-productions.com https://www.afterhourseventsofne.com #stressfreeweddingplanning #stressfreeweddingplanningpodcast #ctweddingdj #atmosphereproductions #afterhourseventsofne #cvpevents #clearvisionproductions #theclearvisionagency #dreamwedding #WalkDownTheAisle
Curious about the art of wedding decor? Looking to create a dreamy ambiance for your special day? What questions do you need to ask your venue about adding wedding decor? What are some decor trends happening right now? This podcast is for engaged couples who are stressed out with wedding planning and family expectations but want a fun wedding day. In today's edition, join our journey of discovery with Jim Powers of CJC Lighting and Production discussing the significance of wedding drapery and decor. Jim elaborates on how these elements can drastically enhance a venue, turning it from dull to magnificent. He covers essential questions to ask your venue, offers insights into the latest decor trends, and provides practical advice on budgeting for drapes and lighting. The discussion highlights popular decor trends, such as ceiling draping and floor-to-ceiling draping in ballrooms, and concludes with practical advice on budgeting, getting multiple quotes and tips like having a clear vision, and sharing reference photos. Learn valuable insights and expert advice for couples planning their wedding decor and lighting for a stress-free and memorable event. The Stress-free Wedding Planning Podcast #93 - The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Memorable Atmosphere with Draping and Wedding Decor Host: Sal & Sam Music: "Sam's Tune" by Rick Anthony Guest: Jim Powers of CJC Lighting and Production TIMESTAMP 00:00 Introduction to The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Memorable Atmosphere with Draping and Wedding Decor 02:30 CJC Lighting and Production social media 03:30 Diving Deep into Wedding Decor with Jim Powers 04:30 Working with other vendors 05:30 The Importance of Venue Coordination and Insurance 07:00 Budgeting for Your Dream Wedding Decor 07:45 Pipe and Drape explained 09:00 The results of Pipe and Drape 10:30 Wedding Tips Wednesday 13:45 Questions couples should ask 15:00 Trends for Wedding Decor 16:00 On-site technician 17:00 More important questions to ask 17:30 CJC Lighting and Production social media 18:00 Final Thoughts and Podcast Wrap-up 19:00 Close Get your FREE no-obligation report TODAY: "8 QUESTIONS YOU MUST ASK A WEDDING PROFESSIONAL BEFORE BOOKING THEM" http://forms.aweber.com/form/55/756659955.htm Music List Giveaway https://www.afterhourseventsofne.com/guestcontact *** Join us in the Stress-free Wedding Planning Facebook group https://urlgeni.us/facebook/stress-free-wedding-planning Sponsored in part by Clear Vision Productions and the Wedding Styles of CT Wedding Shows. https://www.weddingstylesofct.com/ https://www.theclearvisionagency.com/ Wedding Tip Wednesday on the Stress-free Wedding Planning Podcast is sponsored by EMERGE Cosmetics – 10% OFF promo code: SF1 https://shopemergecosmetics.com/ Copyright © 2024 Atmosphere Productions LLC All Rights Reserved. Produced By Atmosphere Productions in association with After Hours Events of New England https://atmosphere-productions.com https://www.afterhourseventsofne.com #stressfreeweddingplanning #stressfreeweddingplanningpodcast #ctweddingdj #atmosphereproductions #afterhourseventsofne #cvpevents #clearvisionproductions #theclearvisionagency #dreamwedding #WalkDownTheAisle
Hello friends, today we will be getting Jeannie B. ASMR for a photoshoot. Here's Jeannie's channel https://www.youtube.com/@JeannieBASMR I'll gently fix her hair and try on different scarfs to fit her beautiful ensemble. Enjoy! ♥ #ASMR #GentleWhispering #perfectionist --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-gentlewhispering/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-gentlewhispering/support
In This Episode 0.10 I wanna ask about the effect of Ruching/ Gathering and Draping. – Are they curved lines and do they add volume and curves to our body? Why do you recommend ruching/ gathering and draping top to hide big belly? How can those details make tummy area smaller? – What are…
Sponsor: Clo3D Foundations For Intimate Apparel Online Course Use code: Underdressed for 20% off Larissa's Brand https://www.entrechatdance.com/ https://www.instagram.com/entrechatdance/ The Squad https://www.thesquadnation.com/ https://www.instagram.com/thesquad_nation/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-squad-creative-consulting-group/ https://www.facebook.com/sqdnation Hanky Panky https://www.hankypanky.com/ Bibliography Design, Sewing, & Construction: Armillas, Alexandra. “Sewing Techniques to Create Luxurious Couture Lingerie,” ThreadsMagazine.com, Retrieved from: https://www. threadsmagazine.com/2008/11/20/create-couture-lingerie-2 Accessed January 14, 2023 Betzina, Sandra. “Sewing Lycra Blends,” ThreadsMagazine.com, Retrieved from: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/project-guides/sewing-with-knits/sewing-lycra-blends Accessed August 26, 2022 Busque, Pamela. “Elastic Fact File” Threads Magazine, October/ November 2004, 51. Cloake, Dawn. Lingerie Design on the Stand. London, B.T. Batsford, 2000 Cole, Julie (Julie Christine). Patternmaking with Stretch Knit Fabrics. New York: Fairchild Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., 2016. Collins Brealey, Julie. Making Corsets. Marlborough, The Crowood Press, 2021. The Editors of Cy DeCosse Incorporated. Singer Sewing Reference Library: Sewing Lingerie. Minnetonka, Cy DeCosse Incorporated, 1991. Czachor, Sharon. Sewing with Knits and Stretch Fabrics. New York, NY: Fairchild Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc., 2016. Haggar, Ann. Pattern Cutting for Lingerie, Beachwear and Leisurewear, Second Edition. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2004 Gibb, Helen. Ribbonwork: The Complete Guide. Iola, Krause Publications, 2004. Joseph-Armstrong, Helen. Draping for Apparel Design. New York: Fairchild Publications, 2000.
Fashion designer and educator ChaCha N. Hudson discusses the draping process and how she approaches practicing and teaching draping.
"Think about draping with everybody, especially younger females. Think a little bit about how you are moving that drape around, whether you need more than one drape, whether you have the patient move the drape. Just thinking about the patient adjusting their own clothing, it kind of makes sense from a dignity point of view." Patient dignity is at the core of this discussion with Dr Jennifer Beecker as she joins Kirk on the podcast to discuss her article "Draping in Dermatology: A Patient's Perspective" from the November-December edition of the JCMS. Kirk describes this conversation as "practice changing," including "subtle changes we're going to make to increase that comfort level in the exam room for patients as well as ourselves." Dr Jennifer Beecker is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa and Research Director for the Division of Dermatology at the Ottawa Hospital where she founded the Pigmented Lesion and Melanoma Clinic. She is also the current president of the Canadian Dermatology Association.For more great CDA podcasts, be sure to check out Dermalogues, our residents podcast, hosted by my colleague Dr Kerri Purdy. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.For more on the work of the Canadian Dermatology Association, please visit our website at dermatology.ca JCMS Author Interviews is produced by the CDA and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions in Ottawa. Our theme music was composed by Lee Rosevere.
Electromagnetic draping of merging neutron stars by Maxim Lyutikov. on Wednesday 30 November We first derive a set of equations describing general stationary configurations of relativistic force-free plasma, without assuming any geometric symmetries. We then demonstrate that electromagnetic interaction of merging neutron stars is necessarily dissipative due to the effect of electromagnetic draping - creation of dissipative regions near the star (in the single-magnetized case) or at the magnetospheric boundary (in the double-magnetized case). Our results indicate that even in the single magnetized case we expect that relativistic jets (or ``tongues'') are produced, with correspondingly beamed emission pattern. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.14433v2
Electromagnetic draping of merging neutron stars by Maxim Lyutikov. on Wednesday 30 November We first derive a set of equations describing general stationary configurations of relativistic force-free plasma, without assuming any geometric symmetries. We then demonstrate that electromagnetic interaction of merging neutron stars is necessarily dissipative due to the effect of electromagnetic draping - creation of dissipative regions near the star (in the single-magnetized case) or at the magnetospheric boundary (in the double-magnetized case). Our results indicate that even in the single magnetized case we expect that relativistic jets (or ``tongues'') are produced, with correspondingly beamed emission pattern. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.14433v2
Electromagnetic draping of merging neutron stars by Maxim Lyutikov. on Tuesday 29 November We first derive a set of equations describing general stationary configurations of relativistic force-free plasma, without assuming any geometric symmetries. We then demonstrate that electromagnetic interaction of merging neutron stars is necessarily dissipative due to the effect of electromagnetic draping - creation of dissipative regions near the star (in the single-magnetized case) or at the magnetospheric boundary (in the double-magnetized case). Our results indicate that even in the single magnetized case we expect that relativistic jets (or ``tongues'') are produced, with correspondingly beamed emission pattern. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.14433v1
Electromagnetic draping of merging neutron stars by Maxim Lyutikov. on Monday 28 November We first derive a set of equations describing general stationary configurations of relativistic force-free plasma, without assuming any geometric symmetries. We then demonstrate that electromagnetic interaction of merging neutron stars is necessarily dissipative due to the effect of electromagnetic draping - creation of dissipative regions near the star (in the single-magnetized case) or at the magnetospheric boundary (in the double-magnetized case). Our results indicate that even in the single magnetized case we expect that relativistic jets (or ``tongues'') are produced, with correspondingly beamed emission pattern. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.14433v1
Magnetic field draping around clumpy high-velocity clouds in galactic halo by Seoyoung Lyla Jung et al. on Tuesday 18 October Throughout the passage within the Galactic halo, high-velocity clouds (HVCs) sweep up ambient magnetic fields and form stretched and draped configurations of magnetic fields around them. This magnetized layer at the cloud-halo interface can suppress the mixing between the cloud and the surrounding halo gas. For simplicity, many earlier numerical studies adopt spherically symmetric uniform-density clouds as initial conditions. However, observations of HVCs indicate that the clouds are clumpy and turbulent. In this paper, we perform 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the evolution of clouds with more a realistic initial density distribution. In the parameter regime of our models, simple spherical clouds only grow from the onset of the simulations, while clumpy clouds lose cold gas at early times and then start to grow unless they have very low metallicity. Some massive clumps composing a clumpy cloud share broad similarities with single uniform-density clouds in that they have clear head-tail morphology and magnetic fields draped around themselves. Such similarities are marginal among clumps in the wake of the cloud. With magnetic fields present, the growth of hydrodynamic instabilities is suppressed along the direction of the cloud's motion. Efficient radiative cooling leads to a compact cloud with rich clumps and filaments condensed from the surrounding gas. The slope of the initial density power spectrum is closely related to the density contrast within a clumpy cloud. It, therefore, determines how fast the material is pushed out of the initial cloud and mixed with the halo gas. arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.09722v1
Draping authority Karolyn Kiisel talks about her opera costuming work, the essential dress form, and even her preferred draping fabric.
Have you ever wanted to see some Karma given to those annoying scammers who bilk people out of millions of dollars? Well, you now have your chance & my Insane FL Nephew, "Pancho Guero", says it is the most righteous prank EVER! You'll also find out why "Pancho" has a grave dug in his back yard. He had his own stupidity happen at his FL home! If you've ever spotted a vending machine & sudden got the "munchies", now you'll hear about a vending machine that could ultimately GIVE you the "munchies". NASA wants to contact extraterrestrial life with naked pictures from Earth...and it's sounds out of this world! Plus, there's more "other-worldly" stupidity waiting in this week's episode... Why Your Farts Smells So Much Nastier in the Shower; Woman Pees Off the Side of Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" Ride; A Burglar Stole a Lawn Mower...But Mowed the Victim's Front & Back Lawns with It First; Some Perv in FL FaceTimed Random People with His Junk Out; Guy Thought He Saw a Guy Stealing from Grocery Store...So He Shot Him; A Guy Didn't Add Milk to His Cereal, & It Punctured His Lung; A Trespasser Tried to Hide from Police by Draping a Sheet Over Himself; 7-y/o Girl Goes Viral On TikTok After 1st Communion “Wine Chug”; ‘Dead' woman bangs on coffin to say she's alive during her own funeral; An Alligator Broke into a Couple's Garage and Drank Their Diet Coke; CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders; Husband Expects His New-Mom Wife To Cook For Him At 2AM; 2 Hospitalized After Fight Over Doughnuts; Satanic Temple Sues PA School Over Rejection of ‘After School Satan Club'; A Guy Who Had to Grow a New Weiner on His Forearm Is Finally Whole Again; What Your Hand Would Look Like if It Was Designed for Self-Pleasure. The wisdom of my Insane FL Nephew is being tapped again by 2 more who want to "ASK PANCHO" about "I'm In A Mouse Hunt" & "I'm In A Mouse Hunt". We'll have more "Insane Games" to play along with "Pancho" to see if you can guess the answer faster than he can! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/eriklane/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/eriklane/support
जानिये कविता बर्डिया के जीवन से जुड़े प्रेरक अनुभवों के बारे में। कविता पेशे से एक लाइफ, रिलेशनशिप एवं पेरेंटिंग कोच, साड़ी ड्रेपिंग आर्टिस्ट, ब्लॉगर और यूट्यूबर हैं। इनके तीन यूट्यूब चैनल्स है, जिनमें ये अलगअलग तरह से साड़ी ड्रेपिंग के नए और आसान तरीके अपने दर्शकों को बताती है, ये प्रेरक वीडियोज़ भी अपने चैनल पोस्ट करती है। इसके अलावा इनका एक कुकिंग चैनल ऐसा भी है, जहां ये लोगों को कुकिंग से सम्बंधित टिप्स देती है। जी हाँ रेस्टोरेंट स्टाइल वाले लजीज़ और ज़ायकेदार व्यंजन बनाने की बहुत ही आसान रेसीपी वाली वीडियोज कविता अपने यूट्यूब चैनल पर अपलोड करती है।आपको बतादें 23 साल की उम्र में अपना वैवाहिक जीवन शुरू करने के बाद जहां कविता ने शादी के बाद अपने घर परिवार की ज़िम्मेदारियाँ बखूबी संभाली। वही अपने पेशेवर जीवन को भी आगे बढ़ाया। हालांकि इनकी इस जर्नी के बीच कई उतार-चढ़ाव भी आये। एक वक़्त ऐसा भी आया जब इन्होंने अपने जीवनसाथी को खो दिया। पति के निधन के बाद इनका असली संघर्ष शुरू हुआ। लेकिन फिर भी इन्होंने बिना रुके अपने बच्चे के साथ इस सफर को जारी रखा और आखिरकार एक मजबूत महिला के रूप आगे बढ़ते हुए आज एक सफल मुकाम हासिल किया है। पूरी कहानी पढ़ें: https://stories.workmob.com/kavita-bardia-influencers-bloggersवर्कमोब द्वारा #मेरीकहानी कार्यक्रम के माध्यम से एक नयी पहल शुरू की गयी है जिसके ज़रिये हर कोई छोटे बड़े बिज़नेस ओनर्स अपनी प्रेरक कहानियों को यहाँ सभी के साथ साझा कर सकते है। क्योंकि हर शख्स की कहानी में है वो बात जो जीवन को बदलकर एक नयी दिशा दिखाएगी, और ज़िन्दगी में ले आएगी आशा की एक नयी चमकती किरण। #प्रेरककहानियाँ #कविताबर्डिया #लाइफकोच #रिलेशनशिपकोच #पेरेंटिंगकोच #साड़ीड्रेपिंग #ब्लॉगर #यूट्यूबर जानिए वर्कमोब के बारे में: जुड़िये वर्कमोब पर अपनी कहानी साझा करने और प्रेरणादायक कहानियाँ देखने के लिए। ये एक ऐसा मंच है जहां आप पेशेवरों, लघु व्यापारियों, उद्यमियों और सामाजिक कार्यकर्ताओं की वीडियो कहानियां देख सकते हैं और दूसरों को प्रेरित करने के लिए अपनी व्यक्तिगत और व्यावसायिक कहानी सभी के साथ साझा कर सकते हैं। आपकी कहानी में लोगों को आशा देने, प्रेरणा देने और दूसरों का जीवन बदलने में मदद करने की एक अद्भुत क्षमता है। यह 100% मुफ़्त है। इस लिंक पर क्लिक करें और देखें प्रेरक कहानियां https://stories.workmob.com/हमारे ऐप्प को डाउनलोड करें:Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.workmobiOS: https://apps.apple.com/in/app/workmob/id901802570
Get ready for twists and Gaming Hut turns as beloved Patreon backer Terry Robinson asks for advice on genre shifts on the tabletop. The Tradecraft Hut finds intrigue behind an old-timey Canadian historical footnote with a profile on Thomas Miller Beach, infiltrator of the Fenians. In part two of our Mythos Hut series on creating […]
Ryan and Lola are back with another Ask Us Anything episode! This time we discuss: self promotion strategies, the question "is APP membership worth it?", how to help clients understand pricing, setting jewelry stock levels, the role of music in the studio and how we set a calming tone, and managing our anxiety at work. We also touch on the giant asteroid hurtling towards our industry, big corporations copying the "piercing studio aesthetic" to attract customers. Visit www.patreon.com/ryanpba for on-demand access to over a dozen hour+ long videos on a variety of subjects such as NEEDLES, TAPERS, and the new DRAPING presentation. Sign up for Ryan's August 8 2021 webinar on BEVEL THEORY at: https://forms.gle/Fh9HweRp2WyMNGZT7.
Ryan and Lola are back with another Ask Us Anything episode, this time we discuss septums and spectators. With covid restrictions easing some piercers are doing their first septum piercings in over a year. That can make a tricky piercing even more stressful. We discuss how we are getting our groove back with septums, and some tips and tricks for piercers using septum clamps. We also answer the question "do you allow spectators in the piercing room" and the reasoning behind our answers. Stay tuned for the continuation of this chat in mid July 2021 where we discuss even more subjects! This episode is also available in video format at www.patreon.com/ryanpba along with the new TAPERS webinar now! In mid July 2021 I will also be publishing a new presentation all about DRAPING for supporters at patreon. And don't forget you can sign up for my August 8th 2021 BEVEL THEORY webinar + workshop at: https://forms.gle/1rRRVv7fKqQw795k7.
Make your Mom's Fairy Garden a place that has a feeling of abundance! Gifts, flowers, and ribbons can all hang from every part of this Fairy garden! Listen in and next week we will put it all together!
Thoughtful conversation with Bav Tailor, CEO and founder of her conscious luxury brand Bav Tailor.What you will learn:- her definition of modesty- what is conscious luxury ?- her inspiring career in the fashion and luxury industry- how and why she decided to launch her brand (her entrepreneurial journey)- the strong values of her brand- the importance of sustainability and high-quality fabrics- how has the pandemic affected her brand?- how she sees the positivity in everything :)- the different projects she's working on- her secret daily rituals to maintain her wellness and positivity (while working hard) at any circumstancesand much moreTo find Bav Tailor:https://www.bavtailor.com/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/bavtailor/If you liked this conversation you will also like this onehttps://podcast.almaze.com/11To find Almazehttps://www.almaze.com/Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/almazewomen
The pastors reflect on the consequences of elevating Christianity to a political ideology and ponder the dangers of believers failing to separate their faith from their politics.
Karameli and Katie get pretty passionate about Karameli's favorite "D" word. Let's talk draping and safety! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Chapter 18 begins with a quote from Bette Davis: I’d marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he’d be dead within a year. On a Saturday following the first week of shooting, I woke, and for…
Fascia and myofascial release have started to make a name for themselves in the health and wellness world, but what is it and why does it matter? We brought on Dr. Ariele Foster, Physical Therapist, Yoga Teacher, & Founder of YogaAnatomyAcademy.com, to help us understand fascia (or the stuff between the stuff as she likes to call it.) She breaks down what fascia is and its role in the body while also sharing some simple techniques for practicing myofascial release on yourself. And, true to our belief in no B.S. allowed, Dr. Foster explains why practicing myofascial release fits in as self-care AFTER you are taking care of your body’s fundamental physical needs by drinking enough water, getting enough sleep & movement, and eating more veggies. In the “You Want Me To Do What??” section, Shanna shares about her experience using myofascial techniques on herself as well as getting treated by a credentialed practitioner. Also, Nicole chimes in with her thoughts on the fascia-focused yoga class that she tried out. Episode Recap: Interview with Dr. Ariele Foster - 2:42, “You Want Me To Do What??” section - 42:15 Highlights: The medical definition of fascia: a layer of fibrous tissue. Fascia is a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other. Dr. Foster simplifies this into real human-speak in that fascia is “the stuff between the stuff.” Fascia is very slow healing. This means that lingering pain that you may feel after an injury or surgery, even years afterwards, may be from the fascia continuing to heal. Myofascial Release (MFR) deals with the nervous system and is used as a way to signal to the nervous system to relax. You should not feel pain when doing or getting MFR done! You may feel discomfort, but you should not feel pain. Multiple techniques and gadgets exist for using when practicing MFR. The main thing to be aware of when doing MFR is that any technique or gadget used should not cause more pain during or after practicing it. And you should definitely not experience bruising. #1 thing our fascia needs to stay healthy & happy is movement - Motion is Lotion Water/hydration is important for healthy fascia Myofascial Release (MFR) techniques: Draping - pause & rest your body part over an object to let your body weight aid in the release. This is good to do with your feet (eg. standing on or putting pressure through your foot on a tennis ball) or in places you are not cutting off blood supply Oscillate - create pressure on one area and do a gentle rocking back & forth Plowing - apply pressure and slowly move the pressure up/down *Important not to go too fast with any MFR technique Dr. Foster’s top tips for keeping fascia happy: Move your body Eat lots of veggies & plant-based foods Keep sugar consumption low Stay hydrated Eat enough fiber Get your macronutrients, including protein Play around with adding chia seeds & gelatinous foods into your diet Resources: Where to find Dr. Ariele Foster: Instagram: @dr.ariele.foster Facebook: facebook.com/SacredSourceYoga Website: http://sacredsourceyoga.com/ YouTube: youtube.com/c/SacredSourceYoga Where to find Yoga Anatomy Academy: Instagram: @yogaanatomyacademy Facebook: facebook.com/yogaanatomyacademy Website: yogaanatomyacademy.com Way of the Happy Fascia Course: https://yogaanatomyacademy.com/product/way-of-the-happy-fascia-online-course/
Hannah Draper comes on the show and talks to me about her childhood, her father's death and how this show has helped her. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shannon-standiford/message
This week's episode is sponsored by: Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy. We all have it, we all snicker about it. Fun Fur. Whether it’s eyelash, boucle, or just generally furry, it’s hard to find projects for novelty yarn. With a sweet face, spiraling horns, and delightfully rotund body, Friendsheep by Cate Carter-Evans lets you transform your novelty and textured yarns into sweet, fleecy little friends. Pattern available on Ravelry; more info at infinitetwist.com Have you ever had to frog because you forgot a step several rows back? Or lost your spot because you dropped your magnet board or lost track with your highlighter tape? Instead of wrestling with paper, use the knitCompanion app. It keeps you on track so you can knit more and frog less. knitCompanion works with ALL your patterns and is available for apple, android and kindle fire devices. Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com Lisa has her own vision of the world and the colors in these hand dyed mill spun yarns are from deep in her imagination or from just outside, in her gardens, where Mother Nature gets it right. Three decades of taking fleeces through all forms of preparation have led to the conclusion that life is too short to spin with second rate fibers and so everything that you find within this section is pure heaven to spin. From long wools to downy cashmere, you can feel confident that they are the best that can run through your fingers. Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com LoLo Body Care, formally Bar-Maids, creates exceptional moisturizers hand-poured by staff who add a good dose of heartfelt love to each one. Most all their supplies are made in the US, and their beeswax sourced from a local farm. Besides quality, the value of their product lies in that they last a very long time and are loved to the very last bit. They built their brand on being eco-friendly and their new packaging rocks. Their customers and customer service are rare and treasured jewels. On the Needles:(0:43) Jasmin finished the first sleeve and is about halfway through the second on her her Embrace Octopus pullover in Oink Pigments “Motion of the Ocean” and “Hibiscus Kiss”. #projectsweaterchest Gigi is working on Opus the Octopus. Two tentacles are done. She finished four eye lids. We mention an article in Threads Magazine on pressing while sewing (article is no longer available) Jasmin cast on a Match and Move shawl (by Martina Behm #behmalong) in Black Cat Fibers Nomad Sock “Copyrights”. Jasmin needs to think about her FoolProof cowl in Alexandra the Art of Yarn, Sun River base in “persimmon” and “Espresso”. Gigi is working on he Ochre cardigan out of Lisa Souza yarn, in a denim color with Knitcompanion. Jasmin is working on the Cardizen in Onyx Fiber Arts Gigi is working on the Clockwork by Stephen West, in grey and white Oink Pigments yarn. The stripes are done, she needs to finish the border. Gigi cast on the herringbone shawlPointed Firs in Outlaw yarn: Polwarth , Alpaca, Possum in a pale smoky grey. Jasmin has finished her Ursa pullover in Knitted Wit Aran Shimmer Gigi had set up a preemie hat kit. She knitted a bunch, cast on some more, and they are in various states of construction. Three hats are finished. In Stitches (28:38) #MeMadeMay is almost over! Jasmin is wearing a dress that Gigi made in the Draping class at West Valley College, and some Southern Comfort by LoLo Body Care. Gigi is wearing the A-line skirt she made in the Beginning Clothing Construction at West Valley College. Events(33:10) knitty.comhttps://knitty.com/sos.php has a comprehensive list of events that have been canceled Stash Dash 2020 Dates 5/22 to 8/22/20 #teamcuteknitter #beatbostonjen Fiberworld 2020 Mother Knows Best:(38:50) Nothing is too hard! When Knitting Attacks: (46:26) Gigi was attacked by the Pointed Firs, Ochre cardigan, and Clockwork. Jasmin is working on the Octopus sweater. Blueprint/Craftsy is going out of business Straw into Gold:(53:07) Spinning with Rex, winding bobbins. Knits in Space:(55:10) Birds of Prey soundtrack! Jasmin has started a quarantine journal, and a quarantine cookbook. Also Quarantinis! And Sew On:(59:13) Gigi is working on the embroidery project from the Couture Embellishments class. It is a Persian floral motif. Gigi finished the third half-lined nightshirt, but needs to weave in ends. The saga of the missing box of presser feet continues. Korean pattern saga: Gigi dug out a pink and red floral from the stash, washed and dried it. She wants to use the sloper from last semesters class. She ordered a book from the teacher on how to use the sloper.
In this episode we dive deep in the beautiful and creative world of draping! This is both of our favourite ways to work and we've packed this episode full of do's, don't's and handy tips and tricks!
In this weeks episode we discuss our trip to Fancy Tiger Crafts to take Draping 101 class with Alison Hughes of Beatrice Forms! For photos and a full list of show notes please visit our website at https://www.sewingfortheweekend.com/
Digital Pratik Reloaded | Blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Digital Marketing & Personal Branding
On episode #359 of the Digital Pratik Show, I am discussing Personal Branding of a Porn Star, Women Draping Saree & Nude Yoga Girl.-Hope this episode adds value to your life :)-► Subscribe to my FB Messenger Bot for exclusive vip content & updates: digitalpratik.com/vip-► Subscribe to my YouTube channel here: digitalpratik.com/youtube-► So who is Digital Pratik?-He is a 30 years old dude who is a 3 times proud dropout by choice from final year of engineering and a very proud Digital Marketing Consultant & Personal Branding Expert and someone who is a hard core practitioner of social media platforms. He preaches & teaches his tagline to everyone which is Learn, Apply & Share which he calls the LAS Formula.-Daily he learns something new in his life, daily he applies that something new which he has learnt in his life and daily he shares that something new, which he has learnt and applied in his life, with other people through creative #socialmediacontent !-Started his journey with only Rs. 300 on his name in the bank account, he started with call center jobs in 2010 and started learning digital marketing as a side hustle.-► Here are a few links to know more about me & my work:-1.) Digital Pratik is India's A listed Digital experts under 35, which is a big achievement: https://www.ibtimes.co.in/digital-marketing-not-easy-thing-today-too-much-competition-market-digital-pratik-799706-2.) https://digitalpratik.com/about is my story-3.) https://instagram.com/digitalpratik where i am treated as a popular social media content creator-4.) Visit this link: https://digitalpratik.com/bot & it will open up in your Facebook Messenger.-► WOULD LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA:-Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Snapchat | YouTubeWebsite | My Story | TikTok | Digital Pratik Gifs
Welcome to the Haunted House of Strahd! Beware flying dummy vampires and teenagers dressed as creepy clowns!
Welcome to the Haunted House of Strahd! Beware flying dummy vampires and teenagers dressed as creepy clowns!
Lanto Griffin almost quit golf with under $200 to his name. A week and a half ago he became a PGA Tour winner. We discuss his journey, have some laughs, and even experience some emotions. We dream about what it'll be like playing in the Masters this spring. Plus, we breakdown the Asian swing (turns out there's A LOT of people in Asia), and Tiger's return and upcoming Presidents Cup picks.
Who do you trust? Draping seems like a small thing, but it can make or break your experience with a massage. We also discuss Natalie Imbruglia songs and Project Pegasus. www.GoodLifeRenton.com
Overcast Link. My Guest this week is Mason Peck, Professor of Aerospace and Systems engineering at Cornell University and former Chief Technologist at NASA. Previously Mason was a was a Principal Fellow at Honeywell Aerospace and has an extremely colorful history we get into during the podcast. The topic of this conversation is how NASA works, alternatives to the current innovation ecosystem - like crowdsourcing and philanthropy, and also the interplay between government, academia, and private industry. Key Takeaways You can have an organization full of smart motivated people that doesn't produce great results if all the incentives are set up to avoid risk. There's been a shift in where different parts of the innovation pipeline happen. More has shifted universities and startups from larger companies and the government but the systems of support haven't caught up. Taking a portfolio approach to technology and innovation is a powerful concept that we don't think about enough. Links Mason’s Lab (Space System Design Studio) Website Mason on Twitter (@spacecraftlab) The Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Directorate) Breakthrough Starshot Mars One Transcript Intro [00:00:00] This podcast I talk to Mason Peck about NASA alternatives to the current Innovation ecosystem like crowdsourcing and philanthropy and also the interplay between government Academia and Private Industry. Officially Mason is a professor of Aerospace and systems engineering at Cornell University, but I think of him as Cornell space exploration guy. He's done research on everything from doing construction in space using superconductors to making spacecraft that can fit in the palm of your hand and cost cents instead of millions of dollars from 2011 to 2013. He served as NASA's Chief technologist. Don't worry. We'll get into what that means in the podcast before becoming a professor. What is a Chief Technologist Ben: You spent several years as the chief technologist at Nasa. Can you explain for us what the chief technologist at Nasa actually does. I think that it's a usual role that many people have not heard of. Mason: Sure, NASA's [00:01:00] Chief technologist sets strategy and priorities for NASA's. Let's call them technology Investments. It's helpful to think of it in investment context because it really is that you know, what you're doing is spending money taxpayer money. You want to be a responsible Steward of that money. You're spending that money on. Something like a bet that you hope will pay off in the future. So taking a portfolio approach that problem probably makes sense. At least it made sense to me. I was the chief technologist for NASA for the over two years started in the end of 2011 and continued to little bit into 2014, but mostly it was the two years 2012-2013. And I may just offer it was a wonderful time to be doing that difficult from the standpoint of the budget. There are a lot of challenges at that time budgetarily, but good from the standpoint of lots of great support from the White House the office of Science and Technology policy when I was there was particularly aggressive and committed and [00:02:00] passionate about doing what they thought was the best for the nation and the just the degree of energy and expertise some of those people made it a wonderful ecosystem to work in. How long term were bets? Ben: Awesome, and going off of that portfolio approach with the bats. how long term were those bets? Like what was the the time scale on them? Mason: In the portfolio approach that we tried to? Take some of those bets were the long game. I suppose, you know, 20 years out. There was a program known as NIAC Nayak the NASA Innovative advanced concepts program, which placed bets on to keep using this metaphor. Ideas that probably would pay off in a couple of decades. And by the way, that seems like a hopelessly long time but for spacecraft that's maybe a generation of spacecraft. In fact spacecraft Generations in technological sense almost mirrors the human Generations, if you think of a human generation being 20 years, you could [00:03:00] probably look across the history of space technology. In spot these Rafi 20-year slices where things seem to happen. So some of the investors are definitely 20 years plus others, whereas near term as possible, but it's not just the the duration of time that is how long it would take for these Investments to pay off. It was also about the type of investment that is the ways in which technology was done. Different types of tech investment So, If I can go on about that briefly the me, please you say that it's one thing to as one thing to solicit ideas from the traditional offers of technology or DARPA calls the performers, you know, you go to a Lockheed Martin or university what I've Cornell University of just for one example, you go to university and you ask for a certain result and then they can probably deliver that kind of result. There's all the non-traditional offers. For example, when the NASA we would start these challenges or competitions. [00:04:00] The idea was to bring in non-traditional providers people who normally wouldn't have bothered or even have been considered qualified to solve a NASA problem, but through a challenge like a coding challenge a hackathon or maybe a more substantial dollar amount. Prize offered a million dollars for electric aircraft or something through that mechanism you bringing different kinds of people to solve the problem and that's not only the other that's not the only other dimension. Another dimension is whether the problem you're solving is something that is a known problem or something you feel like if you build it they will come. Either that freezes the death to death to investment, right if you say something like I've got this great idea but no one's asking for a right now, but trust me if we build it somebody it will buy it that is not what a venture capitalist for example wants to hear right? However. It is a distinct type of futurism, right? Mission Pull vs Mission Push There's what we call pull and push Mission pull refers to [00:05:00] when we have a mission that NASA let's say returning samples from the surface of Mars or sending humans to a distant star. I mean, these are not necessarily necessary. What's this if they are then? The Jews demand certain technological solutions certain Innovations, or if you come up with idea that no one's asking for is their value in that and I'll give you the example of a say spacecraft that are the size of your fingernail right now. You probably know been that this is a topic we were working out of Cornell. I guarantee you no one's asking for that. I can prove that by virtue of how many proposals have been turned down. The basic fact is there are uses for this now. Maybe there aren't enough that are compelling and I'll accept that but the reason no one's asking is because no one knows it can exist and that's not a reason to say no, so. Again, think of the mission pull versus what we call technology push direction if we can come up with a solution that people maybe could use [00:06:00] a little value in working on that think of the dimension. As I said before of different kinds of offers. What are the sources for technology and then of course, there's the timeframe Dimension. So there's at least three dimensions that you might think of for the. Portfolio of Technology Investments That least we took it to kind of NASA and that maybe helps other environments to Non-traditional vs Traditional Offers Ben: yeah, are there some good examples of non-traditional offers really succeeding where the traditional offers did not. Mason: Yes, two ways to answer that one is for some problems. They are simply not profitable for a lot of companies even as an example. I major company might spend a hundred thousand to maybe over a billion dollars, maybe multiple millions of dollars. Just writing the proposal to a government agency do some work and it's not at all an exaggeration. You know, that's really not the [00:07:00] case. Where a small mom-and-pop company. But for larger companies, I see a Honeywell or a Boeing or Lockheed or some other defense kind tractor, you know for sure they spend that kind of money. So the and that's the total money. They spend let alone The Profit they might get in that which is maybe on the order of 10% or something. So you got to really want. To do this work to invest the money for a proposal into it and something at the scale of I mentioned Nayak before right the NASA innovated the best huh something that small it's simply not worth large company writing a proposal that they're not going to get there not even get the cost of proposal back probably now there may be other reasons, but let's let's give me those for a second. Let's think about the the other way of answering that question. What am I people who just want to work with NASA? There are people out there that are passionate. About what NASA doesn't and you do you'll be hard pressed by the way to find other government agencies and probably even other businesses with the brand loyalty if you like or their reputation that in Mass it has yeah, so I'll [00:08:00] give you the example of Tom ditto titl was his last name. He's got had a couple of Nyack Awards over the years. The first one was I think in 2005 ish? He had this brilliant idea for a new kind of spectrometer. And for your I know you probably know but not everyone knows this spectrometer is a device that looks at it a light and finds out what colors it is. And I'm looking at the Spectrum of a let's say reflected light off of a rock or something will tell you about its chemical may make up so spectrometers the useful thing for astronomy. Well, Tom didn't came up with the idea of using diffraction grating. It's that that colorful rainbow mirror looking stuff. There was all the rage in the 1970s. So but he had a way of using that to make a spectrometer and he would have been a very long spectrometer. In fact, maybe even on the surface of the Moon a super long kilometers long spectrometer arguably a crazy idea, but absolutely brilliant and solve the problem, but NASA didn't even know it needed to solve. Once against problem [00:09:00] that no Lockheed would propose but a Tom ditto would so Tom just wanted to work on this and he had a passion for it. He solved the problem and that was a cool example, and there's others just like it's so in an environment where you have Innovation where people can. Contribute, I guess I'll stay out of the goodness of their heart or because I like the idea of the challenge or maybe even for relatively small price. You'll get different kinds of solutions and that's an interesting possibility. What would you do to unlock grassroots innovators? Ben: how would you encourage that even further? So say you you control the entire United States government? what would you do Beyond Nyack anything to sort of unlock those people? Mason: To clarify for your listeners. I have no plans to take over the government. Yes. I'm willing if someone like to offer me the job, but that's not my forte. Well, so again, I let me let me go back to the example of prizes and challenges. This is a big deal with in the Obama Administration. [00:10:00] They were faced with this awkward problem of having lots of great ideas and basically no money to work within a Congress that was not supportive. (Prizes and Challenges) So what do you do? Well, you open up these opportunities to the nation maybe even to the world. So if you can come up with an away with a way of articulating the value of contributing, you know again in a way that makes the public or maybe just a few individuals wants to help. Depend on that altruistic nature that some people have that's when we dissolve a problem because it doesn't work in all cases. So rather than just offering a challenge where if you do it you get a medal. What about offering a prize prize competitions are interesting because first of all the the organization that offers the price doesn't necessarily spend money until they get a result. For example, the the orteig prize remember this one. This was the one that encouraged transatlantic flight. Yes. So, you know that that's one way to go. A $20,000 prize and [00:11:00] then you win it and you pay off your mortgage there have been others. Like I birthed an said that building the gossamer Albatross was away from to pay off his mortgage. And so there are there are some folks who are motivated by the prospect of a prize and again from for the funders perspective from a funding perspective. You're not going to pay until and unless you can get the solution you want. So that's interesting the other interesting feature about crowdsourcing a solution like that is you might get. People applying to solve your problem and you get the best one out of a thousand compare that to a typical again since we're talking Aerospace a typical Aerospace Contracting opportunity. You'll probably get responses that say NASA would offer millions of dollars for a new rocket. You're going to get doesn't maybe responses to that of which a half dozen maybe will be credible and it's going to be The Usual Suspects. It'll be it'll be Boeing and Lockheed and orbital sciences and maybe a few others well. What if that one in a thousand Solutions the one you really want offering an [00:12:00] opportunity that solicits such a large number of potential inputs really allows you to pick that best one the again the 2 Sigma 3 Sigma Solution which is kind of exciting possibility. So that's another way to go. How do you pull out good ideas when they take resources? Ben: to Riff on that how other good ways of. Judging a solution before it requires a large amount of investment. So with this Crown funny I can imagine that it would get a lot of people. With ideas and you'd be able to go through the ideas and if there's one that immediately stands out as better than the rest or is very clearly feasible often with things. You don't actually know if it's a good idea until you've tested it and you poured some resources into it and people might not have those. So is there any trick to pulling out those ideas? Mason: One interesting interesting fact [00:13:00] about prize competitions is pretty clearly. You have to pitch it at the right dollar amount, you know after ten bucks, you're not going to get in. This is really what you want a prize where the prize might be the say 20 billion dollars the investment necessary to. That twenty billion dollars might be so prohibitive that you're only going to get a few players and once again, probably the usual suspects right? For instance. Let's say that we offered twenty billion dollars for whoever first built at the hotel on the moon. Okay, it sounds like an interesting idea maybe but to develop that infrastructure that capability is going to cost billions begin with and and maybe someone will win the 20 billion dollar Enterprise, but I really need to get what you want. So first of all the the scale of the prize. Matters, but let me go back to this portfolio idea we were talking about before if you have the freedom to manage a portfolio of Technology investment your opportunity then is to think about those high-risk investments. Just the way you would have to say in your own eventual portfolio think about high risk Investments as a way to pick winners [00:14:00] you invest a little bit the high-risk stuff across the large board and maybe a few of them. But you have to be winners. Well, then maybe you go investible bit more in those and soon as saying the case of Nayak, right? And let's say that we like to Tom Dittos spectrometer so much that the $100,000 that he got for building this which is not peanuts by the way, but it's still small from Aerospace perspective that hundred thousand dollars a small investment. But in a subsequent phase maybe he gets ten times that amount of money maybe he starts a small company. I think he is company something like ditto tool and die company or something like this maybe ditto Tool company gets a factor of 10 or investment in the in a follow-on phase. In fact, maybe even a subsequent phase could be a hundred times as much. So as time goes on as the maturity of the technology increases as you continually refine the portfolio allowing the failed investment to just sort of Fall by the wayside. You can concentrate on those ones that are [00:15:00] successful which is first of all a reason why you have to invest in some high-risk stuff. You got to take some risks right and then second if you. And if you have a portfolio approach you have the opportunity to use statistics to your benefit. I can let's say if I'm NASA invest in a hundred a crazy ideas every year and if only one or two of them pan out, well, that's great those one or two. Probably something I really care about. How do you incentivize innovation within NASA? Ben: that makes a lot of sense and in that portfolio. So in a in excellent Financial portfolio, you measure success by how much money you get by your return. There's a number and that's you want to maximize that number that you're getting back NASA's portfolio doesn't quite fit into that. So, how do you how do you measure how well a portfolio is doing? How do you incentivize people? To within NASA to really push the best Innovations forward. [00:16:00] Mason: Yeah several things going on there. First of all, you got to take a look at the organization's culture. You have to take a look at how they respond to Innovation. My experience with NASA is that it's full of brilliant and committed people at the same time. There's a tendency for the younger folks to be very forward-looking and interestingly for the most senior leadership be fairly forward-looking somewhere in the middle. There's a like a lot of problem, but it would have a low spot would have us soft spot where people in more than elsewhere can be. (Risk aversion) Careerist that is the not so willing to take risks. They want to keep their jobs. They want to be seen as effective. And again taking on risks can be not looked upon well that in their opinion. So so that's tricky right here these different populations in any large organization and you got to come up with a way of communicating the value of innovation across the board, right? That's one of the challenges making this sort of thing work. Suppose a lot more that you can see about about culture and I [00:17:00] suppose every culture is a little different but one of those the hardest parts in making Innovation stick is to communicate to folks that it's a permanent solution what I found again using NASA's an example, and I've also work with other companies by the way for which this is true. There's a tendency to think that these technology investment initiatives or this Innovation is initiative is just the flavor of the day, you know, it's it's a it's our flash in the pan or whatever metaphor you like. It's a temporary State of Affairs. So there are people who are afraid if they start to go to heavy toward Innovation and man maybe quit their job of doing program management and study to become a radical innovator. That whatever leadership has been pushing that is going to disappear eventually and it'll go back to business as usual and then they'll be left without a job. Right? So there's risk seen in this process of taking an innovation because you not so sure how permanent is going to be. So, you know, how do you Embrace that problem as someone trying to effect change just [00:18:00] promising it's not going to go away probably won't convince folks. They've been around long enough. It's in your organization's happen. They've seen issues come and go how do you convince them? So I wish I had an answer to that other than to say that it's only through longevity of an innovation process that people really start to embrace it and what I'm talking about when I say longevity. I mean really on the order of five plus years you really would like to have almost a generation of folks grow up in an environment where that Innovation is taken to be the order of the day. Strengths and Weaknesses of each sector Ben: something like that. I've I don't have an answer to but that I see consistently is that there are these these timescale mismatches where people's careers are sort of judged in maybe two to five year segments where if you nothing's happened in the past two to five years. People are like well, what are you what are you doing? And then the really the the Innovations take something like. You know seven to 10 years to to really mature so it's very [00:19:00] hard to align those incentives and I'm just always always looking for answers around that. I you mentioned that you've seen this at a bunch of different organizations you've literally been in every every sector right you've been in Industry. You've been in Academia you've been in government. Do you have any sense of what role each of them should ideally occupy in an innovation ecosystem and what strengths and weaknesses each has. Mason: That's a wonderful question and probably beyond my Ken but I will I will offer for those of your listeners and you as well who want to go back rewind a little bit to the World War II time frame thinking about this fellow named vannevar Bush and then you've probably encountered thanks to him and his Innovations we have what we have now where [00:20:00] universities take on what we call fundamental research which combines both basic and applied research and then come. The government take on the next step which is implementation in to say potentially demonstration or something operational system. This is at least the way it's shaking out maybe the original town with a bit different but that's kind of how it shakes it out and people are fond of pointing to this Gap or this where they call it the. This Chasm between the Innovation that happens in universities and then the need for near term profit making investments in companies or low-risk politically safe Investments of the level of the government. There's a gap in their right and how do you feel that Gap? There are organizations like DARPA the defense Advanced research projects agency that are meant to fill that Gap and their NASA. We try creating programs that would fill that Gap and not surprisingly. There are there are still problems with that. So. We think of universities think of companies think of government that are clearly different motivations that drive each one of these. [00:21:00] I wonder if there isn't a different motivation entirely that might be more Global more Universal at the moment. We don't have it if we were ever. Oh, I don't know set upon by an alien horde we might pull together as a as a nation as a world and in all contribute a little bit differently to the way things are going but at the moment without any obvious. I'm cataclysm on the horizon and some might argue about climate change for the say we don't all agree that there's a cataclysm on Horizon. We're in these silos. So universities we innovate in a certain way. We innovate at the level of again. I'll call it basic and applied research. The government innovated the level when it works. Well policy when it doesn't work. Well the government tries to solve its own problems using its own expertise really really in my opinion. They should be going outside for that expertise and businesses solve problems in a way that maximizes shareholder value probably in the relatively near term. These are all I mean perfectly successful ways of pulling on [00:22:00] Innovation, but they're not the same. And they do lead to very idiosyncratic Solutions. Again. The question is isn't there something more General and broader. What do you think? What's the correct system? Ben: I would have I think I mean, I definitely you're the one being interviewed but I think that there's you've completely identified that Gap and I think that in my mind there's what it should really be is. Sort of a pipeline and that looking at what needs to be done and who is best incentivised to do it. So for example, the. It's stuff where there's this very long long time Horizon uncertain outcomes sort of like big our research would come from universities with some light support from the government. But then as soon as that needed to be pulled together into something that required a lot of [00:23:00] coordination and a lot of money then perhaps the government or a company would come in depending on. What the real outcome would be but you know if I had a real and like the whole point of all of this is to try to figure out a real answer. I don't have a good one at the moment. (Shift in funding methods) Mason: Yes, happy birthday thinking about this other thing. I guess I could offer is the way we fund research in this country has as changed over the years there was a time and it might surprise some of your listeners to think about this there was a time when as a university researcher. You probably didn't write any Grant proposals or if you did it was one every few years. These days most people in say my position where I'm working at a well-regarded research-intensive university. I write 10 to 20 individual research proposals a year of which a small faction or funded is probably less than 10% or funded. And I think I'm actually doing pretty [00:24:00] well frankly for that ten percent. There are folks who go years without getting any of proposal from the despite submitting hundreds of Grant proposals for the amount of time involved in writing these proposals. It's worse and worse every year the money gets Tighter and Tighter and you know, what do you do one answer is that we've. We've morphed toward this model and maybe it's not what we all want what we have right now in a previous age where the government more directly supported universities where research was done regardless of funding you got different outcomes, but that was a relatively short period of time in our in our history. If you go back a little farther this a 19th century before for the most part research was done either by the independently wealthy or by people with some kind of philanthropic back. You know the prince of some new name your favorite to European potentate, the I the prince of whatever would would fund your research into discovering new molecules. And that was just the way it worked. Yeah. So these models have changed [00:25:00] radically over the years and interesting question is where this might go if in fact something like crowdsourcing or. The ubiquity of information and access to it through the internet really matures to inform how we do research. I do not know what the future holds. I know you've been thinking about the sorts of things in the past. Yeah, but it's interesting question. But what this looks like what the research infrastructure or ecosystem looks like when we can vote up or down a good research projects. Or maybe when crowdfunding can be the basis for what research gets undertaken may not be good. But it's another way to do it. How good is crowdfunding Ben: Would you trust a large population of people to be able to. Would you trust them to allocate research dollars? I ask this based on the fact that you see a lot of these articles shouting an outrage that the government is funding someone to I don't know like walk around [00:26:00] and look at snails or something ridiculous. But then you could make the argument that well you look at snails enough and then you find this one snail that has some chemical compound that then could be synthesized into medicine. So would you trust crowdfunding? What would that get become Mason: I probably wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them. I guessed another way to think about it is there are I probably would not trust the crowd to vote for one thing. I might be trust them statistically if we could fund many things out of such a population and that's where again the benefit of large numbers comes in. I even though I think that the public generally might get some things wrong from time to time and maybe somewhat credulous and believe strange things on the whole they're strangely predictive. I'll give you another quick story about that please years ago was probably 10 years ago DARPA had this interesting idea. Don't remember exactly who DARPA but isn't. [00:27:00] Dandiya, if you look at how crowd Source information works, it seems surprisingly accurate and predictive. So what if we created a stock market for terrorist attacks, and we had people as actually placed bets on but you know invest in Futures, but. Terrorist attract attack Futures the the outcome would be people voting to maximize their return on their Investments would use all that work release or most information that we know is out there and would identify the most likely terrorist outcomes of those terrorists outcomes associated with say that again that are continually Rising stock something out there. Is motivating people to think that that's like the outcome now to issues, of course number one is incredibly crass and in extremely poor taste to defy such a thing [00:28:00] and. And Interpol was I think a little tone deaf, you know offering that as a project because it was very quickly jumped on by the me. Yeah. I can't believe how horrible these people are really thinking but they're not wrong in that the right kind of crowdsourcing can in fact the almost prescient almost almost. Telepathic or psychic in its ability to predict some things but not all things and that's where I say. You want to have a managed portfolio of this stuff. So every now and then maybe more often than not the crowd will be wrong. But if you give them the chance to run lots of different things, you'll both encourage A diversity of opinion which leads to different kinds of solutions now, that's a good thing and probably a statistical. Draping over all the different possibilities so that eventually the right answer can come out. So I think those two ingredients probably could make it work, but I'm very speculative about this right now. And again the DARPA stories interesting cautionary tale because as soon as that became public it just that went away in a [00:29:00] hurry. What happened to grants? Ben: just to go back you mentioned that until recently people do University Research only had to write one Grant every few years was that because the great sizes were much larger. Were they getting money from outside sources? Why was that? What changed? Mason: Yeah, that's interesting cause and effect will bit muddled and you can find other people probably better explain this history. But my quick version is something like this the kinds of research that we're done in the University's the kind of research was much more skewed toward the basic end of things pencil and paper theoretical development. And also the let's just be frank we knew less than we know now. So coming up with new stuff is a larger maybe than it was before I know if that's fair but I think that's just some research part of it. Yeah. So well there there you go. So first of all, we were solving different problems right now though. We are taking on a lot of the problems that actually you to be done in Industry. The famous example, of course is Bell [00:30:00] Labs right out of which the transistor came these days. The transistor will be developed within University and to develop a transistor or something analogous to it requires significant infrastructure Investments, not just pencil and paper. So even though the theory behind some conductors came out of University the actual practice of it came out of bell labs and there have been plenty of other examples like this. So I think actually industry has skewed away from doing research. Although there's a bit of emotion back toward it now, but it's nowhere what it used to be and then necessarily universities have taken a non not out of a sense of obligation, but rather because it's you know, there's a void and they rush to fill. But to fill it we need more money. So where does the money come from either comes from profit centers or come from the government with the government reducing tax income and also research investments in trouble for the 1980s. Now there's a new kind of Gap. It's the research Gap. So for the most part Industries not doing it and when University does do it. [00:31:00] It's spending a lot of a server for just bringing the funding. Got it. So you'd also argue probably that the universities are you not the best place for this to be done? You know, there is a lot of my opinion a lot of value in companies developing intellectual property. They keep it to themselves. They can make a profit on it. That's a huge motivator. What we do need a verse These almost exclusively is open. We publish it and basically anyone can pick it up and use it. What do you think of breakthrough starshot and philanthropy? Ben: that makes a lot of sense. You also mentioned that farther in the past a lot. There was a lot of funding that was being done by wealthy individuals and you're an advisor for breakthrough starshot. I believe which as far as I can tell is almost entirely bankrolled by wealthy individuals it seems like. Breakthrough starshot is sort of something that in the past. We would have expected NASA to do. Do you think that what do you what do you think about this [00:32:00] shift? Do you think that the wealthy individuals are going to start filling in that Gap where the pros and cons there? Mason: Well, first of all, I think that's a lot of what think it's a fact a lot of wealthy people certainly in the US have been filling that Gap. They have been funding a lot of research more than in the past. The the cliche is you start your computer. Can you sell it you make a billion dollars in new investment with that you really care about which is space exploration and that that that pattern has been repeated over and over Elon Musk for sure. Jeff Bezos for blue origin and there's been plenty of examples of this so, I don't know maybe maybe it's more than just a cliche. But anyway the going back to this question of will private individual Step Up. We have to an extent but they all have a certain something in it for [00:33:00] themselves that that was always the case has always been the case for privately funded science. Remember there are foundations. Now that still do fund Sciences. There's not as much there used to be but there are still these foundations, right? So the question is what kind of science do you get when you have a billionaire from to your. There's always going to be some idiosyncrasy associated with it and what we can take the Breakthrough starshot project as an example. Personally. I think it's a fantastic project. And for those of you who don't know the Breakthrough starshot project consists of coming up with a 20-year plan to build a spacecraft that could launch again in 20 years and take maybe 20 years to reach the closest star Proxima Centauri or maybe Alpha Centauri with the goal of returning some science data. Another three or four years after that depending on the light travel time. So that's a long duration project meets almost at the scale of a medieval Cathedral. I doubt that many of us on The Advisory Board will even [00:34:00] be alive to see that data come back if it ever does so it's not dangerous undertaking. It probably makes sense for that reason for it to be privately funded or funded by something like, you know a church, but these days the church does not fund science that way so it's not not a critique, but it's just it doesn't do that. Yeah, the way that they may be used to fund building Cathedrals. So these large projects like Cathedrals or Starships probably deserve a special kind of funding one thing I've discovered about em, it's not my own Discovery plenty of other people know this as well. I was just late to realizing it. Congress wants to fund things that they can take credit for okay, so it's going to be 2 4 or 6 years time frame at most where they want to see a return on their investment their investment being stepping up to be sure that some product project is funded. But so that's their return on investment timeframe and industries return on investment time frames in the sale of months. It takes [00:35:00] something like a billionaire or some other kind of philanthropic effort to fund a project that is longer than a few years. So if we really have aspirations that lie along this axis this temporal axis that makes us want to get a result in decades from now. We're going to have to look for funding source. That is not something governmental throughly not up to Industry. So I think there's a place for private investment for foundations or philanthropic. God is definitely that kind of thing so that you're not going to get funded by you know, the Air Force. Let's say or by orbital Sciences Corporation of Northrop Grumman Corporation, Concerns about philanthropic time scales Ben: one concern that I always have about. Philanthropic efforts is as you said there has to be something in it for people and when you're not able to get sort of a return on investment that's in money. Sometimes I've seen people be less patient because they [00:36:00] want to see progress on on a shorter time scale. Do you do worry about that at all? Mason: Well, you know as I said, there's always this risk if you have a single investor, let's say again some billionaire to be named later that he or she will pull out the funding based on some whim they decide rather than funding a Starship that rather fun to the purchase of a massive sculpture massive bronze bust of him or herself to be placed in his front yard. Who knows? Yeah, and I'm not speaking about Yuri Milner here. Let me say for my few interactions of him. He seems like a legitimately. Two passionate scientist you really does care about knowledge for the sake of humanity. But it's also clear that he wants to be known as the person who successfully they support this work and things nothing wrong with that. So just like other examples the past of philanthropic contributions. You you probably want your name attached to these discoveries and that's again, that's fine [00:37:00] with me. Experience With Different Organizations Ben: and shifting gears a little bit. You've had your research funded by many different organizations both inside the government and in Private Industry. Have you had different experiences with that? And which ones are your favorite or what did your favorite ones do and what is your least favorite ones do? Mason: So that's a long story. So I'm gonna give you an answer which sounds like I'm itself said during and that maybe that's correct. The answer is when you get left alone to do the job. It works really well. Now I totally understand that if let's say I'm a member of a government organization or industry. I need to feel that my money is being well spent I want to check in and I don't want to end up with a yoyodyne propulsion systems. If you remember the movie Buckaroo Banzai, you don't want that kind of contractor gone amok kind of phenomenon. I get that [00:38:00] at the same time too much micromanagement sort of defeats the purpose of doing fundamental research. You know, the whole idea is we don't have a thing yet. We need to create that thing and that Act of Creation is not something you can exactly legislator specify the requirements. So I'm a little uneasy at of the idea about the idea that very tight control over the act of invention is going to give you a good result at the same time. Yeah, you need to be responsible stewards of whatever money you're using to fund Sky research. So I see where that comes comes from. I don't want to give a specific example that's going to get me in trouble with the essential functions, but I will say it government agency a government agency collaborating with us on a project. The project involved a few technological innovations after we scoped out the project with this government agency, the the folks involved at the government agency and supervising our work decided that work was so cool. They want to do it themselves. So they went ahead and try to make themselves removing. [00:39:00] Most of what I viewed as the really Innovative parts of the work leaving us with some fairly wrote tasks which there were still paying for. So, I guess I'm kind of glad to take the money but. Then the problem was because he's relatively unimaginative tasks the government agency decided it would be very helpful for us to be very tightly supervised to do these simple tasks. They were very good at and that led to a lot of in my opinion wasted money on things some example for this example is we were building an object out of some official part. Some of you can find at a hardware store, right? The reason we were doing so is because those parts a lot of design margin that is to say you could you can pressurize them or you could add electricity or whatever it was and the parts would not fail. They were made for Consumer use their super safe and excessively over design and it which is great actually very safe. But the sponsor wanted us to do value in [00:40:00] all these with a super detailed analysis using what's known as finite element analysis element analysis where you break it into little mathematical chunks and put in the computer. They wanted us to test it. They want to do all sorts of things for parts. You could buy at the hardware store which you buy every day without thinking about because they're super safe because they're built that way that was a ton of a waste of time. So so that was a very negative experience I think. II chalk it up to my naive tank and working with that sponsor. I now know what kind of work to specify for that sponsor at the same time. It was not going to be a relationship of whatever worked. Well for what it's worth. We took that project and we're doing ourselves now and we've made more progress in the last. Two years that we did in the two years previous where they were helping us. I guess we'll call it. So I'm glad to say that research is doing well now but it's only because we have a few resources internally that we can use to spend on the stuff. I'd rather not end on a cynical no Opera offer positive [00:41:00] version this case so the positive version and I will create the big breakthrough starshot with this positive version of those of us working on The Advisory Board. Sometimes get some funding. From the the foundation to see what that will really pay for a service but with that money I can do lots of cool stuff. So I've been able to turn a few students to we're solving some problems of interest of breakthrough starshot it when we've got some great results. It doesn't actually take that much as long as we have the researchers have some freedom to pursue the work on our own terms. So if there's a lesson there it's something along the lines of you need a light touch. Normal gostin, the former CEO of Lockheed said the best way he's ever found to manage people this pick the right folks be clear about what you want and then get out of their way. Yeah, and that's that's lucky to that's not just some pie-in-the-sky academic like me saying that so there's something to this in the lesson learned again is to have a light touch How do you change the 10 year goals 8 year political cycle mismatch? Ben: excellent. And then going back to [00:42:00] NASA briefly while I was working with you. I saw consistently that the executive branch would set tenure goals, but then. For political reasons those goals would change at most every eight years. And so you get this progress towards this 10-year goals and then it would change. Do you see any way to change that sort of unfortunate situation? Mason: Well, there have been wasted proposed for example for NASA again since I know that example really well, it has been proposed even in this most recent Congress that NASA should be funded on a 10-year time frame and the idea would be that a a congress whatever the hundred and some odd Congress whatever it is would set the budget for NASA appropriate the funds and get out of the way. So the idea is that again once a decade, maybe you would check in and change the objectives. So this is I think most people recognize that the best way to run these long-term [00:43:00] projects. If you keep changing course every two to six or eight years, you just have chaos. This is one of the main reasons why things like the James Webb Space Telescope the International Space Station space shuttle, these all have given mass of the reputation of going over budget. But I have to defend NASA in this case because NASA really is able to defend itself on the spaces. It's not NASA. Okay, it's Congress if you have a project. That is complicated and takes a long time. There's a natural funding profile that goes with this. It's a little bit at first while you get your feet under you and then there's a big lump in the middle and that tails off toward the end. This is standard funding profile. But NASA's budget from Congress is flat. So you end up very inefficiently smearing this money across a very long time which makes things inefficient expensive things. Don't go. Well, you lose good people along the way and you end up spending more in the long. This story has been told over and over again and Congress. They're smart people. Well, actually you may not think so, but they are [00:44:00] in my experience. They know what they're doing and they know that they're going to trade off between the right answer and the politically expedient answer the politically expedient answer is as long as they can be seen to having their finger on the button for NASA there there there folks will vote for them. So you understand that's what motivates them. So I would say if there's a way to make this work. Well, it's something like. Come up with a way for they can where they can get credit for things are working. Well without necessarily having to change what's going on. Yeah, and I don't have an answer probably make that work if that were possible that makes a lot of sense. What's the best way to make the world that has never been today? Ben: So I realize we're coming up on time. One of the the last things I want to ask you about was that some things that people might not have guessed about you is that you have a master's in English because. As your bio states that you thought that that was the way to make the world that has never been its by inspiring people with writing [00:45:00] and then you change track completely and well not completely but you figured out that engineering was sort of the best the best way to do that. Now, what what do you think? Do you still think that what you think the best way to enable the world that has never been? In today's here. And now Mason: I like the way you're asking that question it recalls that quote from Theodore Von Karman, right distinction between science engineering scientists create the world's or huh, scientists discover the world that is Engineers create the world that never was it's not exactly a way of claiming that Engineers are better than scientist. Is that really what it's about is about distinguishing between these two impulses. We have discovering the unknown and creating. What doesn't exist in my opinion both contribute to improving our lot as humans, so there's a place for both in a reason to have both let's not confuse one with the other. I have always been about creating things. I [00:46:00] suppose I get this from my parents. My dad's a writer. My mom has created many things over the years. She was an artist. She has been a an actress and a brilliant Coco to restaurant. She's a very much a polymath when it comes to things of all. So I probably get this from them at some level but I've always taken not to be one of the the Essential Elements of what it is to be human is to create to lie. If your impact on the world in a positive way at least an impact at all and positive is my choice. Okay suppose people choose to do negative things. So what I'm saying is that that impulse is always been part of what matters to me. When I was a young naive person, I thought I could have that impact through English literature. I still interested in this I still interested in writing and reading and I respect people who can make a career out us for a thing, but it wasn't what I was good at. So instead I felt like aerospace engineering particularly offered me the opportunity to [00:47:00] solve problems that haven't been solved and to make an impact that I felt like making. So I guess over the years I've discovered there are definitely different ways of looking at the world one of the most the way that I look at it another one of the ways that people get the world is what's the safest way I can keep my job and not get fired. And those are very different impulses and and look I recognize that my perspective here maybe comes across as I don't know what to elitist or entitled or first world or something where I'm saying that it's great to have the freedom to create and make an impact on the world. I see I clearly tightly to that value. At the same time, I recognize that not everybody has that opportunity. Sometimes you just gotta make do you got to do what you can keep your family fed? Keep your shoes on your feet and you don't have the freedom the luxury of being able to do everything exactly the way you want it. So I recognize I'm very fortunate in my career my life. So I do not in any way put down people who haven't got the bandwidth simply to set assignments sided set aside time to create. [00:48:00] But that is what matters to me and I'm very fortunate that I have a job that allows me to do that. Yeah, well said. Final Statements? Ben: So I do realize we're over time this was amazing by the way, so I just want to make sure that I there's any points that I didn't hit on absolutely want to give you a chance to talk about that. Mason: Well, I'm so glad that your interest in this question. How do we innovate? I will offer that when government works. Well, it enables people whatever works while it enables people to do their best in the service of our nation. Let's say when it doesn't work. Well it tries to prescribe to micro manage to get in the way so I am far from being an anti. It's very kind of person that I hope it doesn't come across. I think the right policies are essential. I mean policy you can look at is the software of our [00:49:00] lives here in an innovation when that software is written correctly the rules that we follow and we choose to follow they enable us to be successful when the software is not right everything falls apart. So, you know, I actually would not be averse to turning over some policy making the software Engineers because I think they have a sense of how to write good software and lawyers when they do their job. Well, you know that works out well too. Yeah, but unfortunately to be a software engineer and to affect society requires some additional kind of tranny. So if I want to close with a comment, it would be something along the lines of that. I don't see that much of a distinction in what people are capable of whether it's mathematics. Or history or philosophy or art or technology or science? These are all in my mind forms of the same thing. There are things of which we are all capable. I suppose there's some sabanci there who can do multi-digit multiplication in their heads, but I'm not interested in that because I have a computer. [00:50:00] So instead I take that multidisciplinary capability. We all have and my opinion were born with as a sign that. We shouldn't feel limited by what we think we're good at or not. And so those of you interested in creating an innovating don't feel that you are limited by what your label is if you're labeled as a software engineer, maybe policy is the right thing for you if your if your label Les a lawyer maybe you should think about going into space technology. I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that there's there's a lot of freedom that we all have for pursuing good ideas and we should take. Advantage of our rare position here at the beginning of the 21st century where we have these tools. We still have the resources. We wish to create we have this one chance. I think to make make our work right? Outro We got a lot out of this conversation. Here are some of my top takeaways. If you have an organization full of smart motivated people that doesn't produce great results. If all the incentives are set up to avoid [00:51:00] risk, there's been a shift in where different parts of the Innovation pipeline happen more is shifted to universities and startups away from larger companies and government but the systems of support having caught up to that change. Finally taking a portfolio approach to technology and Innovation is a powerful concept that we don't think about it enough. I hope you enjoyed that you'd like to reach out. You can find me on Twitter under app and Reinhart and I deeply appreciate any feedback you might have. Thank you.
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Many of of know how important glute massage can be (and how good it can feel!) but it's not always easy to talk about or suggest. How do we bring it up without sounding awkward? Listen in as we discuss this topic with Ian Harvey (the Massage Sloth). Check out some more tips on gluteal [...]
In my slow sewing July, I focused on sewing just one pink and white striped seersucker sleeveless blouse. Like my CA Summer skies shirt– (that was blue and white checked seersucker shirt ) I sewed and talked about last months show, my new sleeveless blouse, who I call Amaryllis (in honor of the musical, "The Music Man"), has quickly become an important staple of my summer wardrobe. And sewing a few more blouses, as a result of what I thought and learned about sewing this most recent garment, is something I’m considering when it comes to more summer sewing. In this month’s show 1)Pensamientos Primeros Slow Summer Sewing – Budgeting my sewing time and energy and coming out on top by improving sewing skills. Increasing my wardrobe choices. It’s about Feeling satisfied with my sewing recreation time and output. The show notes (http://EnchantedBySewing.blogspot.com) include links to the slow living movement, including the slow stitching movement. 2) Entonces, Technicos y Mas i) What’s a shirt what’s a blouse? ii) About Amaryllis, a summer blouse iii) Technicos –My Amarylis Blouse -More Seersucker Sewing - Sleeveless blouse facings -Seam Finishes - Cut and Pink -Altering a shirt pattern to become a blouse 3)Pensamientos Finales Blue Skies Sewing I can't sew it all at once, but I can dream
I know your June weather may not be the same as mine. Here in CA it’s time for summer skies, a little more heat, and a vacation feeling whether or not we’re able to leave town. (Hey, feel free to post about what kind of sewing your climate inspires below!) Sometimes I’m able to take an actual summer vacation and other years I focus on treating the summer like a vacation, even when I don’t leave the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live. This summer I was able to take a mini vacation weekend trip to Disneyland this year. As a matter of fact I just got back☺ I went with my beautiful, kind and funny , young adult daughter. Getting to bond her at this age is really fun! I took along a newly finished garment from my summer wardrobe on the trip and I’ll talk more about sewing that in the show. I’m going to continue to focus on treating the rest of the summer like a vacation, no matter what I get to do. And I’m going to continue to sew for my summer vacation, no matter how far afield of home I manage to go. This Month's Topics - Planning my Summer Vacation Sewing - What I've sewn for summer so far - Technicos/Techniques for Sewing Seersucker
Draping, cutting, sewing, and trim: these are the hallmarks of the milliner and mantua-maker’s craft. Apprentice Sarah Woodyard is near completion of her apprenticeship, and at the threshold of attaining journeywoman status.
- Pensamientos Primero Reflecting on Making For some people, sewing is just practical . For another segment of society, and I’m one of them, sewing is an important creative outlet that helps us to stay healthy and happy. -Entonces /Then She B. Coole Live talk from our local Makers Faire includes extempore interview with professional embroideress (Tapistres?) Barbara Coole (B. Coole) oB. Coole Shares •Thoughts on the realities of garment sewers investing both time and money into modern machine embroidery equipment and know-how •Her advice on choosing an embroidery machine -Pensimentos Finales: What I’m thinking now, when it comes to my dream embroidery machine ~ ~ ~
Fashion Studies students in the "ARTX422 Apparel Design: Draping" class demonstrating the process of utilizing draping techniques and dress forms to develop their creative ideas from the early inspiration stage to creating first garment samples
Christopher Gravely, an instructor at Brown Mackie College in Greenville, SC demonstrates how to properly drape the Mayo Stand. This skill is taught in the AD 1855 - Clinical Procedures course.
How to manipulate darts This tutorial will show you how to move a dart along the bodice with a slash and spread method and pivoting method. I will also show you how to remove the back shoulder dart.
How to manipulate darts This tutorial will show you how to move a dart along the bodice with a slash and spread method and pivoting method. I will also show you how to remove the back shoulder dart.
The Hawaii State Society officiates the King Kamehameha statue lei draping in Washington D.C. on Sunday, June 24.
This week: The Kirkland Museum visits an art controversy in Denver’s past, Christo gets permission to dress the Arkansas River in drapery, and Denver Post lists things to do in Colorado before you die. (Yes, guest on the Diatribe made that list. Ok, not really…) Co-hosts Josh Johnson, Jared Jacang Maher and Vanessa Martinez are joined by special […] Episode 44: Breakaway artists, Draping the Arkansas, and the Colorado bucket list editionDenver Diatribe
In 1810, Kamehameha I also known as Kamehameha the Great unified the Hawaiian islands under himself as one ruler. In 1871, Kamehameha V (Lot) declared a holiday in honor of his Great Grandfather. The holiday is celebrated in Hawaii on June 11 each year. One of the biggest components of the events surrounding Kamehameha Day is the adoring of the statues of Kamehameha the Great around the country. In Honolulu, large lei are draped on the statue in front of Aliiolani Hale to honor the king and his legacy. To further honor Kamehameha the Great, hula halau my perform in addition to other tributes left for the king at the base of the statue. The lei draped statue is a popular postcard picture sent by visitors to show their friends about their trip to Hawaii. To see pictures from different Lei Draping ceremonies, check out my Flickr collection For my other podcasts goto www.frikitikiproductions.com
How to Transfer your marking from Part 1 onto paper This tutorial explains how to transfer your marking, from Part 1, to create your block.
How to Transfer your marking from Part 1 onto paper This tutorial explains how to transfer your marking, from Part 1, to create your block.
How to drape the front and back bodice This tutorial explains how to drape the front and back bodice on your dress form.
How to drape the front and back bodice This tutorial explains how to drape the front and back bodice on your dress form.
Learn to drape this traditional women’s garment. This video introduces two different styles of sari draping, one from southern and the other from northern India. A perfect activity for students, requiring only a three-yard length of any colorful fabric.
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