text:
Twitter nowadays has little to do with birds and everything to do with people, but the underlying idea is the same. Birds tweet to make noise and people tweet to make noise. Twitter is not a place for deep conversation. It is a place for shallow discussion, impetuous thrusts, and angry barbs. It is not communication, it is twitter.
I won’t deny that there is good in everything including Twitter. It enables people across the world to process world events together. It allows any individual to broadcast to the entire world. But tools are only as good as those who use them, and Twitter is not often used for enlightening conversation.
Twitter is for the birds. Language is for people. Our sages described the human as a communicator because language is our strength. Language is the most effective tool for discovery of self and of others. Through language, we discover ourselves—we examine our inner depths. Through language we discover others—we communicate and form bonds. Language is thus the polar opposite of twitter. That is why language is for humans and twitter is for the birds—people communicate, birds tweet. When people start communicating through twitter, we lose respect for humanity because we lose our human core.
Despite what you may think, rest assured that this is not a bash-Twitter essay. I brought up twitter to draw a contrast between proper communication and shallow twitter. Language is about communication, twitter is about noise. In language we communicate ideas, in twitter we communicate words. In language the words form letters, in twitter the letters form words.
Let’s talk about that for a moment. When I want to communicate, I think about an idea, and then choose the words to convey it. I hardly pay any attention to the letters I form, the vowels and consonants—the noise—that make up my words and convey my ideas. Those come to me almost unbidden.
When birds tweet, they do the very opposite. They don’t start with ideas. The start with consonants and vowels. They start with noise. Their letters make no sense. With training and practice, parrots can be trained to put letters in sequences that sound like words. They can be further trained to string words together in a sequence that forms a sentence. In the end, it might even seem that the parrot conveyed an idea, but this is not language, it is twitter. The parrot has no interest in the idea and doesn’t know what it is saying. It claps out a string of letters that happen to sound like a word.
So, in language the words form the letters. In twitter the letters form the words. Those are complete opposites. And the difference is that language helps me uncover myself and communicate to you. It helps us form bonds. It helps to convey ideas on one level, feelings on another level, and our very selves at the highest level. Twitter conveys nothing. It is just noise. It might be disguised to sound like communication, but it lacks every vestige of language. It is not language. It is twitter.
People who gossip use language, the tool for bonding, to disparage people and destroy bonds. Instead of communicating to connect, they communicate to corrupt. It isn’t only a crime against another, it is a crime against language—humanity’s core gift. When language is corrupted, all communication ceases. All bonding ceases. All self discovery ceases and all connections cease.
This isn’t merely a crime against one person. It is a crime against humanity. And the harshness of the crime lies in the fact that it isn’t immediately apparent. On the surface, gossip sounds and feels like communication. It has all the hallmarks of language. There are letters, words, and ideas. There are groups of people who seem to bond over the enjoyable morsel of gossip.
But under the surface, none of these exist. The bonding is artificial because those who seem to celebrate the gossiper secretly vow not to trust him or her. They know that the gossiper can never be entrusted with their vulnerabilities. Language is about sharing ourselves with others, but no one will share with a gossiper. It feels like the gossiper is connecting through gossip, but gossip actually destroys those connections.
Similarly, it sounds as if the gossiper uses language to communicate, but this isn’t language. It sounds like it contains letters, words, and ideas, but it is twitter not language. Language begins with ideas that find expression in sentences that are strung together by words and are expressed through letters. Gossip is a collection of letters that form words that string together sentences. But it doesn’t lead to communication. It doesn’t lead to bonding. And if it doesn’t lead to bonding, it isn’t language. It’s just noise. It is twitter.
In biblical days, when people gossiped, they were afflicted with a skin condition called Tzaraas. After the Tzaraas faded, the Metzora was required to take two identical birds, slaughter one and dispatch the other to fly across the fields. Seven days later, the Metzora would bring more conventional offerings to atone for the sins that led to the Tzaraas.
What is the purpose of this unusual and in fact unique ritual? Why the birds, why two birds, and why slaughter one and send the other away?
By now, you might already suspect where I am going with this. The Metzora was afflicted because of gossip. Gossip is a crime against language because we use consonants and vowels to achieve the very opposite of what language is meant too achieve. Instead of bonding, the Metzora distances. Instead of communicating, the Metzora tweets.
The process of repentance requires that the Metzora contemplate the sin and identify where he went wrong. Precisely because gossip looks like communicating, it is important to identify precisely how it differs from language.
To this end, the Metzora takes two identical birds and slaughters one. As the bird is slaughtered, the Metzora contemplates that he used language to slaughter friendships and relationships, to destroy reputations and people, rather than to bond and to communicate.
As the second bird is dispatched to fly across the fields over distant horizons, the Metzora contemplates that true communication, proper use of language, entails the sharing not only of ideas but of one’s very self. On the deepest level, language enables us to convey our subconscious thoughts, ideas that even we were not aware we had. Language enables us to convey our very selves. Language is the medium for all relationships and in a relationship two people fuse. The medium for such fusion is language.
Language is meant to help us convey aspects of ourselves that are beyond even our recognition like the bird who flies away to a place that is beyond our field of vision. This realization enables the Metzora to repent for his devastating abuse of language—his crime against humanity.
He was then repatriated into the community and invited to converse. Now that he knew how to use language, he was meant to begin his journey on the road of communication.
We don’t have Tzaraas today, but we still have language, and we still have gossip, and the road is still open for repentance.
 This essay is loosely based on Or Hatorah, Vayikra:3, pp. 819-822.
Jacob sent a message to his brother Esau. (1) When messages are sent we usually focus on the message, not the messenger, but this essay is actually about the messenger.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


text: P.S. I think my daughter is up to 5 tardies this year in first grade. Hey, I can't help it...I'm not a morning person, and we live a half hour from school!

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


text:
It’s Tuesday so that means it’s time for the second of my Tuesday treats. This weeks outfit is also Topshop! I’ve always loved Topshop but I am obsessed with absolutely everything they have at the moment. I really love these shoes too and think they look great with this outfit so they make the cut again this week. I think this similar Miss Selfridge pair are bit more within my budget though. I love this clutch too! I have had my eye on it for a while as a potential bag for my grad next month. It all depends on the shoes and I am still on the hunt for them so I will keep you posted when I finally get a pair.
What do you think of this weeks look?

industry_corpus2: Others


text:
Homemade spicy cheese dip, served with tortilla chips.
A large tortilla bowl stuffed with refried beans, lettuce, Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream. Tossed with homemade house dressing and your choice of meat.
Meat tacos. Served with rice, refried beans, lettuce, cheese, pico de gallo and sour cream.
Sauteed shrimp with olive oil, garlic, red pepper and white wine. Served with bread.
Marinated tilapia tips in our homemade Peruvian style spicy citrus sauce.
Lightly breaded, served with fire and ice dipping sauce and cocktail sauce.
Grilled shrimp dipped in our homemade citrus juice, served with mango salsa and green tomatillo sauce.
Flour tortilla with cheese, served with pico de gallo and sour cream.
Flour tortilla baked with cheese and chicken or beef.
Tortilla chips topped with melted cheese, refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalapeno peppers and sour cream.
Tortilla chips topped with melted cheese and refried beans. Served with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream.
Blend of avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, onions and peppers. Served with tortilla chips.
Creamy homemade fish broth with shrimp, scallops, mussels, chopped red bell peppers.
Homemade chicken broth with chicken, rice, chopped onions and cilantro.
Oaxaca-style tortilla soup, made with our homemade chicken broth, guajillo, chicken, chopped onions, cilantro, avocado, Monterrey Jack cheese and tortilla chips.
Chili meat sauce with lean ground beef.
Chili meat sauce made with lean ground beef.
Fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms and avocados, topped with house dressing and choice of meat.
Grilled shrimp with romaine lettuce, spinach, avocado mango, apple, pears, heat of palm, dried cranberries and chopped walnuts. Topped with homemade vinaigrette dressing.
Slices of fresh avocado, fresh chopped iceberg lettuce, hearts of palm, tomatoes, topped with homemade vinaigrette dressing.
Romaine lettuce, choice of meat, tossed in homemade Ceasar dressing and topped with tortilla chips.
Fresh romaine, BBQ chicken breast, corn and black beans salsa, scallions, tomato, pepper jack cheese, tortilla strips and tossed with ranch dressing.
1/2 roasted chicken in Criollo sauce, with sauteed onions and peppers, served with rice and steamed veggies.
Peruvian style sirloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos. Served with rice and over fries.
Peruvian style tender chicken tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos. Served over rice and fries.
Grilled marinated flank steak with fresh rosemary, garlic, cilantro and olive oil. Served with choice of side.
Shredded beef stewed with tomato sauce. Served with rice, black beans and fried plantains.
Roasted Cuban style morsels of pork, marinated in homemade Criollo sauce. Served with rice, black beans and plantains.
Grilled chicken breast topped with fresh spinach and melted Monterey Jack cheese. Served with rice and veggies.
Grilled sirloin steak. Served with fries and steamed veggies.
Sirloin steak, topped with homemade creamy sauteed mushroom brandy sauce, served with rice and steamed vegetables.
Slow cooked baby back ribs smothered in a delicious homemade BBQ sauce. Served with fries and homemade coleslaw.
1/2 lb. of grilled skirt steak. Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
1/2 lb. of chicken. Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
Broiled lobster tail with choice of meat. Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
Grilled assorted fresh veggies, onions, green peppers, squash, zucchini, carrots and red bell peppers. Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
Spicy grilled shrimp marinated in our blend of Latin spices. Served on a hot skillet. Served with frijoles a la charra, rice, tortillas, pico de gallo, cheese and sour cream.
Beef and chicken. Served with pico de gallo, frijoles a la Charra, rice, flour tortillas, and sour cream or cheese.
Large flour tortilla stuffed with cheese, rice and refried beans. Topped with cheese and homemade Guajillo sauce. Served with pico de gallo and sour cream.
Large flour tortilla stuffed with cheese, rice and refried beans. Quickly deep fried served with pico de gallo and sour cream.
Cajun-style rice cooked with chicken and shrimp andouille sausage with sauteed onions, green peppers, celery and homemade Cajun spices.
Shrimp, scallops, mussels, andouille sausage and chicken cooked in Cajun spices and tossed with penne pasta and cream sauce.
Salmon grilled to perfection, topped with homemade seafood sauce. Served with veggies and rice.
Golden fried tilpaia, stuffed with coleslaw, tomatillo sauce, pickled red onions in a flour or corn tortillas and served with rice and black beans.
Beef chile relleno topped with homemade ranchero sauce, chicken tamale and your choice of enchilada. Served with rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo and sour cream.
Cheese chile relleno topped with homemade ranchero sauce, corn tamale and your choice of enchilada. Served with rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo and sour cream.
Served with rice, your choice of beans, pico de gallo, sour cream and topped with homemade Guajillo sauce.
2 rolled com tortillas smothered in homemade sauce. Served with rice and your choice of beans.
3 soft corn tortillas chopped with grilled chicken smothered in Guajillo sauce topped with pickled onions and cilantro.
Slow cooked pork tacos topped with pickled onions and queso fresco.
3 Logan's Mexican sausage tacos topped with pickled onions, avocados, and queso fresco.
Soft corn tortillas chopped with grilled beef, smothered in Guajillo sauce topped with pickled onions and cilantro.
Soft corn tortillas chopped with grilled chicken, smothered in Guajillo sauce topped with pickled onions and cilantro.
3 soft corn tortillas with chopped grilled chicken or beef with onions and cilantro. Served with rice and black beans.
Fried tilapia tacos topped with shredded cabbage and carrot salad and homemade avocado sauce.
3 soft corn tortillas chopped with grilled beef smothered in Guajillo sauce topped with pickled onions and cliantro.
Shrimp tacos topped with shredded cabbage and carrot salad and homemade avocado sauce.
Angus beef with American cheese, bacon, iceberg, tomatoes, onions and pickles. Served with french fries.
Angus beef with Cajun spices, pepper jack cheese and pico de gallo. Served with fries.
Angus beef with American and Swiss cheeses, sauteed mushrooms, onions and fried egg. Served with fries.
Roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, topped with mustard and pickles in a toasted baguette. Served with fries.
Four baby cheeseburgers with American cheese and thousand island and fries.
Grilled chicken breast, avocado, pico de gallo, iceberg lettuce, cheddar, pepper jack cheese and serrano cilantro pesto and served with fries.
Delicious creamy vanilla-flavored custard topped with caramel.
Vanilla ice cream covered with our special crunchy cereal coating. Fried and served over a flaky flour tortilla covered with cinnamon sugar and topped with chocolate syrup.
A popular homemade Latin American sponge cake made with warm mixture of 3 types of milk.
Chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and topped with chocolate syrup.
Homemade puffed Mexican pastries, topped with honey, cinnamon and powdered sugar. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
8 oz. grilled steak. Served with fries and steamed veggies.
NY steak seared with pepper, corn and sauteed mushrooms in cream brandy sauce. Served with rice, veggies and a Caesar side salad.
Slow cooked baby back ribs smothered in a delicious homemade BBQ sauce, served with fries.
Slow cooked baby back ribs smothered in a delicious homemade BBQ sauce served with fries.
Poblano pepper stuffed with monterey jack cheese. Served with ranchera sauce, rice and black beans.
Poblano pepper stuffed with mexican picadillo with mexican tomato sauce.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


text:
University of New Mexico Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-826-34056-6.
Schizophrenia is a brain disorder or mental illness in which people interpret reality abnormally. Josie Mendez-Negrete recounts her experiences as the mother of an adult son, Tito, who is schizophrenic in A Life on Hold: Living with Schizophrenia. In the preface she states, "After more than twenty years of living inside mental illness as the mother of a son with schizophrenia, I continue to be in awe of Tito's ability to makes sense of and deal with his life." That shows her love. Even more, though, it shows that she sees her son's strengths as well as his disabilities, and she knows that the mentally ill have a great deal to contribute, despite their conditions.
Mendez-Negrete weaves powerful accounts of her visits to her son with factual information from professional literature. She shows how schizophrenia has taken a bite out of her son, leaving him incapable of sustaining normal relationships, holding a job, or living independently. She goes on to show how his condition affects the whole family. Then she adds her insights as a caring, concerned, loving, educated, intelligent mother who tries to take responsibility for her son's protection and lifestyle while living her own life as a sociologist and teacher.
In short, accessible chapters, Mendez-Negrete writes about the fractured realities that schizophrenics experience. These include voices telling them what to do, delusions, cigarettes (as both a calming tool and a type of currency), self-medication in an attempt to feel better, and the horrors of board-and-care warehousing.
There is a fair amount of repetition in the stories, but there is also repetition in the life of the schizophrenic. We hear directly from Tito, who picks up the conversation in each new visit where it left off the last time he saw his mother. Mendez-Negrete is a skilled listener as well as an articulate writer. One of the best gifts she can give her son is the patience to wait while he expresses his thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and desires.
Tito's repetitions remind me of two teenage boys in our church who happen to be autistic. One of them shakes your hand and turns you back to back so he can measure how much taller he is than you are, much like a child standing up against a wall. His brother is more verbal and more athletic, but neither one relates to the world like a normal teenager. Both of them recognize their limitations. They know they will not grow out of this. They've helped me understand Tito's limitations and their mother reminds me a bit of the author because of her patience and love.
This is a book for everyone who has ever loved, taught, or lived in the same neighborhood with someone struggling with mental limitations. It will make you appreciate what is right in your life and what is right in the human race.
Josie Mendez-Negrete is a sociologist who teaches Mexican American studies in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is also the author of Las hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed. Her son, Tito, is schizophrenic.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


text:
While the Ravens did not have a player lead at their position during the fan voting this season, the Pro Bowl selection process also considers equally the input of players and coaches. Voting concluded last week.
Yanda’s seventh Pro Bowl selection in 12 seasons was a reward for his comeback from a largely lost 2017 and a grueling offseason. He played in just two games last year before suffering a season-ending ankle injury, and shoulder surgery kept him from the team’s five preseason games this year.
Those setbacks have not limited his ability or availability. Analytics website Pro Football Focus rates Yanda as the No. 3 guard in the NFL. He has become one of the driving forces behind the Ravens’ revitalized running game, which has eclipsed 200 yards in four of the past five games and helped power a playoff chase. And since the Ravens’ season-opening blowout of the Buffalo Bills, the 34-year-old has missed just one offensive snap.
The Ravens’ defensive representatives were far less of a sure thing. The unit leads the NFL in yards allowed per game, but some of its biggest names — Mosley, Weddle and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs — struggled at times this year. And while third-year defensive tackle Michael Pierce and second-year cornerback Marlon Humphrey continued their ascent, they lacked for big plays or impressive stats.
Having a No. 1 defense hasn’t guaranteed heavy Pro Bowl representation. Two years ago, the top-ranked Houston Texans’ unit had only outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney selected. In 2012, the Pittsburgh Steelers led the league in total defense but had no one voted to the Pro Bowl.
Mosley’s selection, his fourth in five seasons in Baltimore, marks the completion of one preseason goal. Some of his others — lead the NFL in tackles, lead all linebackers in interceptions — have proven perhaps too ambitious, but he has again demonstrated his value in the final season of his rookie contract.
Mosley, 26, by far leads the team in total tackles (91) and solo tackles (62) — Weddle is next closest, with 66 and 53, respectively — and is behind only Suggs in tackles for loss (five). When Mosley was sidelined early in the Ravens’ Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals with a bone bruise, the defense went on to allow a season high in yards.
Weddle has taken criticism this season for his play in open-field situations, and he has just three passes defended and no interceptions through 14 games. But the defense’s signal-caller leads the team in snaps (894, nearly 98 percent), and coaches and teammates have praised his indispensability to the Ravens’ presnap reads and movement.
This is the third Pro Bowl selection in as many years for Weddle, 33, who joined the Ravens in 2016. He was a three-time selection in his first nine years with the San Diego Chargers.
"The quarterback of the back end," defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale called him Tuesday, before selections were announced. "I think that if you asked opposing quarterbacks ... I think he gives them an issue with the way he moves around and orchestrates the back end. And he helps us disguising different things. So I think that's his value. Obviously, being the Pro Bowl safety that he is, that's his value, and he's doing it really well this year as well."
Tucker, the most accurate kicker in the NFL history, is 28-for-30 on field-goal attempts this season, with blocked kicks accounting for both misses. But the one extra-point attempt he missed this season — the first of his college and NFL careers — cost the Ravens a chance to force overtime in the final seconds of a loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Stanley, meanwhile, has played through injuries this season to reliably protect the blind side of quarterbacks Joe Flacco and now Lamar Jackson. He’s rated the No. 19 offensive tackle overall by Pro Football Focus.
Humphrey, whom Martindale on Tuesday called the team’s top cornerback, was the team’s most notable snub.
Wide receivers: Keenan Allen, L.A. Chargers ; Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh; x-Tyreek Hill, Kansas City: x-DeAndre Hopkins, Houston.
Running backs: x-James Conner, Pittsburgh, Melvin Gordon, L.A. Chargers; Phillip Lindsay, Denver.

industry_corpus2: Sports


text: This bright clear wine is a delicate light gold in colour and evokes aromas of subtle passionfruit on the nose. The palate displays gentle flavours of vanilla ad pineapple which combine beautifully to give this Fume a lovely soft rounded mouthfeel. Match with soft cheeses for a divine experience.

industry_corpus2: Agriculture & Fisheries


text:
Hello Spring! Goodbye 2017 MIPS Submission Season!
By Carol Zindler – Now that the first MIPS submission is over, and that other regulatory hurdle (tax-day) is behind us, we can finally enjoy spring and get ready to ease into summer, right?

industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


text:
Then, it’s one thing crossing over the split of Caye Caulker by land but imagine viewing it from above seeing all the formation of how the hurricane just divided the caye into two separate parts. Further down the path of the Reef you will be able to see the most popular snorkeling site in Belize, Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The flight continues further along the reef where you can be dazzled by the water view that borders our Reef until arriving to the final destination of Azul Resort.
[Astrum Helicopters] After leaving from the Belize International Airport, the flight takes you over the mainland and directly into the crystal Blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. You will quickly have the Reef in view where you will fly over Gallows Pt. At the cross over of the reef you will view the rushing waves that fight to get across the reef. Keep your eyes open too; you may be one of the lucky few who get to see sharks, dolphins, sting rays, manatees or crocodiles along the way.
Your journey comes to an end as we head to back to Turneffe Islands, and then the main reef on your way to your final destination Azul Resort.

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


text:
According to the Daily Mirror, Paul Pogba was in a celebratory mood with his Manchester United teammates after it was confirmed Jose Mourinho has been sacked as the club’s manager.
The whole mood at the Manchester United training ground changed dramatically on Tuesday following Mourinho’s dismissal.
Pogba, who had been involved in a long-running feud with manager Mourinho, high-fived teammates once they were told the news by the Old Trafford giants’ executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
The Frenchman was left on the bench for the humiliating defeat at Liverpool on Sunday that proved to be Mourinho’s final game in charge, the now ex-United boss blanking him again after a recall for a Champions League dead-rubber defeat away to Valencia four days earlier.
Pogba’s Instagram account also featured a post with a photo of him smiling alongside the words “Caption This” shortly after the story of Mourinho’s sacking first broke. It was later deleted, and blamed on unfortunately-timed pre-scheduled posts connected to an Adidas advertising campaign. England left-back Luke Shaw also arrived at the training ground smiling.
It is believed he had faced renewed problems with Mourinho, who criticised him repeatedly during his two and a half year reign, following recent performances. The dressing room could not contain their relief at the Special One’s departure and one source said: “No-one wants to see anyone lose their job, but it was a completely different mood as players were happy again, smiling and could get on with training.
Pogba was the biggest victim of Mourinho’s management as a midfielder who had been key to France’s World Cup triumph in Russia last summer was frozen out to such an extent he was desperate to leave Old Trafford in January. But United now insist the 25-year-old will not be sold in next month and hope Mourinho’s dismissal will help change the mood — and the club’s fortunes.


text:
I love myself and my dog!!
Personality type : Too personal to disclose in public!
Fav food : From 1 to 10, it's just BIRYANI..!! Otherwise, auron ka sar!
I hate : Late nights!!!


text:
The robin is a symbol of new growth. A robin totem is a reminder to stimulate new growth in all areas of your life, and to believe in yourself as you move forward. The robin symbolizes the ability to will new growth into your life.
Any bird lover would be delighted to have this little robin.
This tiny beaded robin is made to perch and looks darling sitting on the edge of a book shelf, candle holder, or whatever decorative item you feel needs a little extra sparkle.


text:
Despite Kíli's best attempts to convince himself that Bilbo would be safer in the Shire, and the dwarf spent a sleepless night trying to do exactly that, his mood was sour when his brother finally roused him from his bed. For there was a sick feeling in his stomach, a warning that said this wasn't right, and he could barely find the heart to eat. Instead the archer found himself looking out the windows of the tavern while his companions laughed and joked over breakfast, hoping beyond hope that he might see Bilbo there. But the hobbit did not appear and when Thorin cajoled his company into motion, their burglar was still nowhere to be seen.
However, if Kíli's memory served, Bilbo had been quite late the first time, late enough that the dwarves had almost left without him once before. So even though the hobbit had never agreed to come with them – in fact, he had most emphatically refused the invitation – there was still a chance that he might change his mind.
Besides, the once-king did not want to ruin the joyful mood with his own dark premonitions, not when this quest was as much his Fíli’s dream as their uncle’s and there was no need to speak of danger now. The dwarves should be able to manage without their burglar until they reached Mirkwood since Gandalf had been the one to save them from the trolls and goblins and Kíli was hoping to avoid those pitfalls entirely.
So the archer plastered an excited smile on his face and tried not to look back toward Hobbiton too often even as he became increasingly sure that Bilbo would not appear. However, when Nori started giving odds on whether their burglar would join them, the once-king still laid his coin on Bilbo because he would rather lose the money than admit he'd given up.
The once-king pulled his pony to a halt, twisting around in his saddle to see Bilbo sprinting down the path, Balin’s contract flapping like a banner in his wake. This was more like the burglar that Kíli remembered, the hobbit's eyes lit up with excitement and his travel pack bouncing on his back. This was more like his Bilbo and the archer was so very happy that the hobbit had changed his mind.
Indeed, the knot in the dwarf's stomach was finally easing now that Thorin’s company was complete again, his careful justifications nothing compared to the reality of Bilbo standing there. Because the burglar’s presence should keep the coming journey much closer to the once-king's memories and thus give him every possible advantage in his quest to keep his kin alive. If this would also allow Kíli a chance to court his hobbit, well that was just a bonus; although the dwarf couldn’t deny that he was looking forward to their travels with more anticipation now.
So Kíli might have been grinning like an idiot when Thorin told his sister-sons to find their burglar a pony, he and Fíli lifting Bilbo up despite his protests that he could walk just fine. But how could the archer hold back a smile when the hobbit's mistrust of his pony was so very adorable and the future was looking much brighter than it had been before?
Indeed, with Bilbo there amongst them, the beginning of the dwarves’ quest passed much as the once-king remembered; it was only Kíli who had changed. The archer simply could not summon the same lighthearted exuberance that he had known in the past despite the younger body that he wore. He tried, Mahal knew he tried, but that first rush of elation at seeing his companions wore off within a week.
Because the grief that Kíli had carried on his heart for decades did not fade just because time had warped around him, the once-king terrified that he would fail his purpose and be forced to live that pain again.
It was bad enough in memory when every glance at Fíli contained an echo of his brother’s bloodstained body and he could not look at Bilbo without remembering the way his hobbit had gasped when impaled. Kíli would never forget that sound, not if he lived another hundred lifetimes after this.
So the once-king smiled less than he used to and when they were not paying attention, he watched his companions with the desperation of someone who was not quite sure that this was real. Every time he fell asleep, the dwarf could not be sure that his kindred would still be there in the morning and he tried to embed each moment into his mind against such a possibility. For Kíli could not bear the thought of forgetting the way that Fíli's eyes crinkled up when he smiled or how Thorin always frowned when he didn't want to admit that he was lost. He didn't want to forget the light of Bilbo's smile or the sweet sound of his laughter, though the dwarf had not quite found the courage to state his admiration yet.
Kíli was too busy trying to maintain his masquerade, a task that should not have been as difficult as he found it now. But when he tried to act like his younger self in mind as well as body, the once-king always went too far. The dwarf could never seem to remember the line between youth and stupidity until he crossed it and the way that Thorin sighed at his missteps didn't help.
His uncle had a way of making him feel guilty for his actions, young and foolish as he had not felt since first taking the throne of Erebor. Indeed, the dwarf lord's disappointed gaze was far worse than any lecture and when Kíli and Fíli decided to tease their hobbit about his nervousness one evening – the description of an orcish raid both meant to needle the hobbit and harden him toward the dangers yet to come – the once-king thought that Thorin might strike him then and there.
“You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?” the dwarf lord snarled, glaring down at his sister-sons.
“We didn't mean anything by it.” Kíli protested, his shoulders hunching defensively. He hadn't meant to upset his uncle; he'd only wanted Bilbo to look at him again. But the once-king couldn't seem to stop acting like an idiot when Thorin was watching and he didn't know what was wrong with him. Because it was not inexperience as the older dwarf believed, his uncle taking his sister-son’s protest as another example of imbecility.
“No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world,” Thorin told him dismissively and that just wasn't fair at all.
You are wrong, uncle. I know far too much of it.
What did it matter if he and Fíli teased their hobbit? It's not as though Thorin was the only one who had suffered loss at orcish hands. But he was the only one who stalked off to brood in the darkness of the evening, the dwarf lord staring over the edge of the cliff top as though to find all answers there.
Truly, Kíli's uncle was far more stern than he had remembered, the pontificating speeches replaced with gloomy majesty. For Thorin offered no words to explain his sharp reaction and while the once-king knew the reason of it, Bilbo was staring after the dwarf lord with utter confusion on his face. Confusion that Kíli might have eased in different circumstances, but as he could not remember how much he was supposed to know about his people’s history, it fell to Balin to reassure their burglar instead.
The old warrior told Bilbo of Azanulbizar, the battle that had graced Thorin with his epithet many years ago. Balin had always been a gifted storyteller and the rest of their company soon gathered around to listen, entranced by the scenes of loss and glory that the dwarf painted with his words. But as gifted as Balin was, Kíli had seen battles that did not end in victory; he had known this gruesome carnage and he could not share the admiration that the others seemed to feel.
Thráin's attack on the Misty Mountains had been ill-advised, his grandfather more interested in revenge than the safety of his people, and while Azog’s actions had been unforgivable, all the once-king could think about were the lives that had been lost.
Although, as the story continued, the archer had to wonder if Balin had heard a different version of the tale. For Kíli could have sworn that Thrór had already been dead when the War of the Dwarves and Orcs ended at Azanulbizar – indeed Azog’s murder of his great-grandfather had been the cause of it – and Dáin II, not Thorin, had slain the Defiler. But perhaps Balin was simply tailoring his words to his audience since this was not Dáin's company and when the old dwarf finished, Bilbo was not the only one with moisture in his eyes. Even Kíli was affected, not by the images of glory but by the parallels to his kin’s final moments on the plains of Erebor.
However, if the once-king was successful then these losses would be nothing more than an unpleasant memory, the echo of a nightmare that would not come to pass. So when the company lay down to sleep again, the archer vowed that he would work harder to win his uncle’s approval in the days to come.
For while Kíli didn’t yet have a concrete plan for making his fellow kings see reason sooner, being invited to Thorin’s council would be a good place to start. If the dwarf lord thought his sister-son had some insight to offer than he might actually listen when Kíli urged him to peace instead of conflict and preparing for the Battle of the Five Armies would be far more straightforward if Erebor was actually part of the process this time around.
Unfortunately, winning his uncle over was easier said than done because Thorin seemed to grow more disdainful of Bilbo with every league they traveled and it was difficult for Kíli to stop himself from standing up in their burglar’s defense. The hobbit might not be a travel-hardened warrior, but he was doing his best without complaining and Thorin should have had the decency to recognize his heart. However, the dwarf lord refused to see that Bilbo was trying and Kíli feared that arguing with his uncle now would ruin his chances of convincing him to listen later on.
So no matter how much the once-king loved their burglar, he did not dare take this risk with his companions’ lives. All Kíli could do was comfort Bilbo when Thorin had been particularly harsh, showing the hobbit the correct way to tie a snare, skin a rabbit, or groom his pony so that he would not make the same mistakes again.
Bilbo seemed to appreciate the dwarf’s assistance if his grateful smiles were any indication and Kíli's heart fluttered every time the burglar grinned at him. Though the once-king still had not told Bilbo of his true feelings, deciding that it would be better to gain the hobbit’s friendship before making any further overtures. For their burglar did not know Kíli yet, not the way the dwarf knew him, and he could wait until Bilbo began to show the brilliance that he held inside. Which would hopefully be soon since the once-king was coming closer to punching his uncle in the face with every day that passed.
Although, in truth, it wasn’t only Thorin’s moods that were bothering the archer, it was his unthinking assumption of obedience. Understandable, perhaps, but Kíli had been King Under the Mountain for decades and while he had never asked for that burden, he was out of the habit of taking orders now.
Indeed, the discordance between his current role and his ruling instincts was making the once-king tetchy and while he managed to hide his irritation from the others, his brother saw through him too easily. Fíli knew him better than anyone – or rather he knew the old Kíli – and despite the archer's best efforts, the other dwarf could tell that something was not right.
“What has been the matter with you lately?” Fíli asked one evening after Thorin had told his sister-sons to watch the ponies, Kíli wincing guiltily beneath his brother's worried stare.
Come on; get it together, the once-king told himself. I can't give the game away when we haven't even crossed the Misty Mountains yet. What nonsense would the old Kíli have spouted off? Something about our uncle or archery?
Truthfully, the dwarf was sorely tempted to spill the whole story despite his earlier resolution to hold his secrets close. He had never enjoyed hiding things from his brother, largely because he was awful at it, and seven decades of separation had not changed everything.
“I- What?” Fíli responded, eyebrows shooting up in bafflement.
“Think about it, brother. We're going to march up to Erebor, find our great-grandfather's secret door and then what? Hope that Smaug died of old age somehow? That's not a plan; that's a suicide mission,” the archer babbled, the torrent of words distracting the other dwarf from his original question quite effectively.
“Don't be silly, Kíli. That's why we brought the wizard and the burglar along. Even if Thorin hasn't shared every detail of his strategy, he's our uncle and we should have faith in him.” Fíli's reply was earnest and clearly meant to be a comfort, but it left the once-king shaking his head in disbelief.
The dwarf couldn’t understand how he and his brother had ever followed anyone so blindly, this quest built on nothing but an axe and a prayer. Indeed Fíli, who had always stood so tall in the archer's memories, now seemed impossibly young instead; impossibly young but no less stubborn when he thought that he was right.
So while this had not been Kíli's intention, he and Fíli were soon in the midst of a heated argument. His brother refused to see the truth of his words, defending their mission's reckless disregard for common sense or survival instincts until the once-king wanted to shake him violently.
No, Fíli. We are not, the once-king thought, visions of that blood-soaked battlefield swimming through his head.
There had definitely been two ponies tied to the tree across the way, a tree that had somehow been uprooted without either of the dwarves noticing. Damn it! I can't afford to drop my guard like this. This is exactly the sort of thing that I was just worrying about.
While Fíli walked over to inspect the wreckage for clues, as soon as he saw the gaping hole in the ground, Kíli knew exactly what had happened here. Only mountain trolls could have caused such damage, but the once-king had not been expecting to reach their cave so soon. He could have sworn that the company should have had at least another week of travel before it ran into these creatures – indeed, he had been planning to steer their path a little south around that time – but he must have misjudged their route somehow.
Not that this was too surprising considering how long it had been since the once-king had traveled the Great East Road and how little attention he had paid to landmarks the first time around. Truthfully, Kíli's sense of time had felt off ever since he had woken up back in his younger body and this wasn't the first landmark that hadn't appeared just when he thought it should.
But whatever was wrong with the archer's internal clock wasn't important at the moment; the only thing that mattered was ensuring that their company survived this night again.
“Thorin doesn't need to know about this, does he?” Fíli asked beside him and although their reasons likely differed, the once-king was quick to agree.
Although the dwarves had managed to escape from the trolls once, it would be better to keep the company from being captured in the first place and so Kíli needed to think of a way to get their ponies back. Thorin and the others would never agree to leave without them and telling his companions what had happened would only lead to a fight.
However, just as Kíli was cursing his lack of imagination, Bilbo arrived with dinner and the once-king was sure that his problems had been solved. Because the archer knew that their hobbit could be incredibly sneaky when he put his mind to it; he just needed a push in the right direction now.
The hobbit was, if not exactly willing, easy enough to drag along in their wake and thus the trio followed the trail of broken branches toward the trolls' hiding place. This was hardly a difficult feat of tracking since the path was wide enough that Fíli and Kíli could have walked abreast if they so desired and soon the red glow of the creatures' fire was visible through the trees.
“What is it?” Bilbo asked as harsh laughter drifted to their ears and the once-king did not need to see his enemy in order to murmur, “Trolls,” in reply.
Indeed two trolls were visible sitting by a stew pot when the dwarves dashed closer, their burglar trailing after them somewhat reluctantly. While Bilbo was clearly nervous about the situation, he had not run away and Kíli was certain that his hobbit would find the courage to do what was needed here. Indeed, when the third troll rejoined his companions with another pony held beneath each arm, it was Bilbo who spoke first.
“N- n- no,” the hobbit protested, looking back at Kíli with pleading eyes.
That gaze should be counted as a dangerous weapon and indeed, it took a great deal of willpower for the archer to keep from giving in. But he managed somehow, his mind reminding his heart that this was the best path open to them now. For if their burglar could release the ponies without alerting the trolls to his presence, then the company could ride out of here without any trouble and at least one more dwarf would know of Bilbo's usefulness.
The once-king needed Bilbo to know that he would never allow anything to hurt him and his actions now were not meant to be cruel. He only wanted his hobbit to have as much faith in himself as Kíli did and proving his courage here would be the first step toward showing everyone. Because one of these days Thorin was going to eat his scornful words and the archer fully intended to be there when he choked that bitter mouthful down.
“If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl,” Fíli added when their burglar kept hesitating, the other dwarf pushing Bilbo forward again and then pulling his brother with him out of sight.
Bilbo looked almost betrayed when he glanced back to see that the two dwarves had disappeared and for a moment, Kíli wasn't sure whether he would follow through. But then the burglar squared his shoulders and began creeping toward the ponies, ducking close to the ground so that the trolls would not notice him.
Indeed, their enemies were quite busy bickering amongst themselves and the hobbit reached their ponies without incident, though the once-king kept one hand on the hilt of his sword just in case. Kíli might trust Bilbo with his life – and he really did – but the dwarf was still going to be prepared to leap to the rescue if anything went wrong. And it seemed that a rescue might soon be required because after reaching the ponies, their burglar just sat there tugging at the trolls' pen ineffectually.
Curse my close-shorn beard; he doesn't have his ring yet! Kíli realized with a start when the trolls began to argue more fiercely and Bilbo remained visible, freezing in place until the monsters settled down. Or his sword. Damn it all!
The archer had quite forgotten that his hobbit began their journey without even a dagger to his name; indeed, he would have given him a weapon with which to cut the ropes if he’d remembered – it's not as though Fíli didn't have blades to spare. But now Kíli could only watch, praying that their burglar remained unseen and cursing violently when the Valar decided not to answer him.
For one of the trolls grabbed Bilbo when the hobbit tried to steal his weapon and Kíli could not remain hidden after that.
“Fíli, go summon the others! Now!” the once-king ordered as he pulled his sword free of its sheath and thankfully his brother did not question his newfound authority. Instead the older dwarf just nodded sharply and sprinted off through the trees, leaving Kíli alone to confront their enemies.
The three trolls were gathered around Bilbo, poking and prodding the hobbit as he dangled from their fingers, and while he had refused to give up his friends so far, the once-king didn’t want to see him suffer for his bravery. So the archer ran into the clearing and slashed one troll across the leg to get his foes’ attention before shouting, “Drop him!” as fiercely as he could.
“You what?” one of the trolls replied, looking down at the dwarf with confusion on its face. He’d forgotten how stupid these monsters were, stupid and yet extremely dangerous, and he needed to get his hobbit out of their hands as soon as possible.
“I said, drop him!” Kíli shouted again, spinning his sword around dramatically. While the move was a little flashier than necessary, the dwarf couldn’t entirely resist the urge to show off for his burglar and it served its purpose well enough. Because the troll holding Bilbo proceeded to throw him directly at the once-king, who dropped his sword to grab the hobbit from the air.
They tumbled onto the ground together, Kíli shielding the burglar’s body from the impact, and although this was hardly the time, the once-king couldn’t help but flush at the feel of his hobbit in his arms. Bilbo was pressed against him almost from head to toe, warm and soft and incredibly inviting, but he only had a moment to enjoy it before the rest of their company was rushing into the clearing with a dwarvish battle cry. So Kíli shoved his more lustful thoughts from his mind and helped Bilbo back to his feet, pushing the hobbit toward the safety of the trees before join his kindred in their fight.
However, while the archer had grown more comfortable with his current body over the course of their travels, he quickly discovered that he was still far from battle-ready now. Indeed, the fire burning in the once-king’s blood might have added strength to his blows, but that was slim comfort when his hands refused to follow direction properly.
Half of Kíli's strikes completely failed to hit their target, only Fíli's intervention saving his brother from serious injury. The few blows that the dwarf did land flew more on instinct than strategy, muscle memory guiding him where conscious thought could not. Clearly the once-king would need to train harder because this was just pathetic and he could not afford to acquit himself so badly in the defense of Erebor.
Only, as it turned out, Kíli's sudden incompetence did not make a difference because it was soon obvious that the dwarves would not win this day with the weapons that they had. The best of the Blue Mountain's smithies could not pierce the mountain trolls’ tough hides and while the old stories hinted at such natural armor, the company had not had the chance to test this truth the last time they were here.
In fact, Kíli and his kindred had been captured with embarrassing ease and the once-king was proud that they’d put on a better show tonight. Yet the archer’s satisfaction disappeared when he saw one of the trolls grab Bilbo, the entire company freezing as their hobbit was held up in front of them.
“Bilbo!” the once-king shouted, only his uncle's arm across his chest stopping him from charging forward foolishly. Kíli could not hope to reach their burglar before he was torn apart and trying to do so would be suicide, no matter how much the dwarf might wish otherwise.
So the once-king threw his blade down with a curse as the rest of Thorin’s company surrendered, his mood darkening further when Bilbo was thrown down next to him. This wasn't right – his hobbit was supposed to remain free in order to save the dwarves from being eaten – and yet it seemed that Kíli’s attempts to make things better had only screwed them up instead.
At least Gandalf was still out there somewhere but there was no guarantee that he would return in time. Not when the trolls were far too eager to begin their feasting, lashing several of Kíli's companions together for roasting and tying the rest in burlap sacks upon the ground.
We cannot die like this. Not so painfully nor so far from our goal. The idea was unthinkable and yet no matter how fiercely the archer struggled, he could not free himself. Indeed, none of the company managed to get loose before the trolls had finished building a spit on which to cook their captives and so the dwarves’ only chance of survival was to delay until dawn or the wizard came to save their lives again.
The hobbit soon drew their captors into a heated discussion of cooking techniques and while Kíli was too busy counting down the minutes until sunrise to pay much attention to the details of their conversation, he felt a surge of pride at Bilbo’s cleverness. Being captured hadn’t stopped the burglar from working to save his companions and surely after this, Thorin would have to acknowledge his bravery.
But then one of the trolls grabbed Bombur and lifted him above his mouth, the sight nearly sending the once-king down into a morass of painful memories. Death was too close, the echo of Kíli's grief twisting a knife deep within his spirit, and the dwarf pulled himself back from the edge of panic just in time to hear Bilbo declare that the company was infested with parasites.
“We don’t have parasites! You have parasites!” the once-king shouted back, insulted that his hobbit would ever suggest such a thing. Sure Kíli might be looking a little scruffy after several weeks of travel but that was no reason for Bilbo to say he was diseased.
If the burglar actually thought he was infected with something awful then the dwarf might never be able to win him over and this thought was so awful that Thorin had to kick Kíli in the side before he realized what was really going on. Of course their hobbit was just trying to stop Bombur from being eaten and the archer was so embarrassed about his confusion that he threw his own voice into the ruse a bit too enthusiastically.
“Who’s that?” “No idea.” “Can we eat him too?” the trolls asked in quick succession, their curiosity proving to be their doom.
For the wizard wasted no time in slamming his staff down on the stone beneath his feet, the enormous boulder splitting in two so that the sun shone directly onto the mountain trolls. The creatures screamed as this light fell upon them, their skin sizzling and crackling audibly.
A few seconds later, there was only rock where living flesh had been and the entire company let out a resounding cheer at their close escape. It serves them right, Kíli thought to himself, looking at the trolls as he waited for Gandalf to come down and cut his companions free. That was just as unpleasant the second time around.
Indeed, his back was aching from hours spent in such an awkward position on the ground and when he regained his feet again, the once-king stretched out his shoulders with a groan of relief. Only then did Kíli seek out his hobbit so that he could apologize for nearly ruining everything.
“That was some quick thinking back there, Bilbo; I'm just sorry that my thickheadedness almost messed it up for you,” the archer said, truly mortified at his own stupidity.
The burglar's voice sounded almost admiring and Kíli could not stop himself from flushing slightly when Bilbo reached out to touch his hand. He finally seemed to be making progress with his hobbit and he probably would have blurted out something utterly embarrassing if Thorin hadn’t interrupted them right then.
Kíli's uncle didn’t seem to care that Bilbo had helped to save his life, choosing to ignore the burglar's courage under fire in favor of his earlier mistakes, and watching Bilbo’s face fall beneath the weight of Thorin’s anger was almost more than the once-king could take.
“I- I just wanted to get our ponies,” the hobbit stammered weakly and before Kíli could come to his defense, Thorin rounded on his sister-son as well.
While Kíli was sorely tempted to refute this accusation – asking how, exactly, he and his brother were supposed to chase off a bunch of mountain trolls would be a good place to start – he knew that Thorin’s words were driven as much by worry as true irritation and he was simply happy that Bilbo wasn’t the focus of his uncle’s wrath anymore. So Kíli just nodded along as the dwarf lord continued ranting, trying to appear contrite even though he wasn't really listening and eventually Thorin stalked off again.
“Don't let him get to you,” the archer told Bilbo once his uncle was out of earshot, patting the hobbit on his shoulder and then calling Fíli over to do as Thorin asked. For as much as Kíli would have liked to hold Bilbo close until the burglar stopped shaking, he hadn't earned the right. Not in this lifetime, not yet, and his long years of pining meant nothing to his hobbit now.
This would be so much easier if I weren’t the only one who remembered, the once-king thought somewhat despondently as he and Fíli rounded up the company's mounts. Although I would not wish the knowledge of their future deaths on anyone.
But Kíli's mood improved slightly when Thorin took several of his companions to search the trolls' hideout and Bilbo returned with a familiar weapon in his hands. That sword had served his hobbit well in the once-king's memory, indeed it had slain an orcish general, and the dwarf was happy to know that his love would have protection when peril threatened once again.
Although, the archer was not expecting that moment to arrive quite as soon as it did, the company’s discussion of what to do next suddenly interrupted by a mad wizard on a sleigh. Not just a sleigh, but a sleigh pulled by rabbits and Kíli would definitely have remembered seeing such a thing before.
So the dwarf could say with certainty that he had never met this Radagast, nor had he heard such dire warnings in his last lifetime. While Gandalf had periodically disappeared on some unknown wizard’s business, that business had never followed him back to his companions, and Kíli dearly wanted to know just what in Mahal’s name was happening. But before the archer could ask, all conversation was cut short as an echoing howl sounded through the trees.
“Was that a wolf? Are there… are there wolves out here?” Bilbo asked, looking around nervously.
“Wolves? No, that is not a wolf,” Bofur told him, seconds before a warg leaped into the midst of their company.
While Thorin brought down this beast quickly with one strong blow from Orcrist – the dwarf lord's weapon back in his hands where it belonged – another warg was close behind it and Kíli's arrow barely slowed it down. Of course, this was hardly surprising since the once-king missed his target yet again but perhaps the archer could be forgiven for his distraction because none of this was right.
None of this should be happening and yet the dwarf could not deny the truth before his eyes. He must have changed something, altered the pace of his company just by being different than he had been before. Because the dwarves should not have met the trolls so early in their journey and they certainly should not have been attacked by wargs before reaching Rivendell. But whatever the once-king had missed, it was too late to fix it now.
This was ill news indeed since the company could not hope to fight off an entire pack of wargs and riders, not when they'd barely had any chance to rest after the trolls' attack. Indeed, Kíli and the others had been awake for more than a day by this point and the once-king did not like to think that some tiny act on his part had so endangered all their lives.
To make matters worse, the dwarves' ponies had bolted when the wargs appeared and they would never be able to outrun their enemies on foot. But then Radagast volunteered to draw off the warg pack with his rabbits and while Kíli worried for the brown wizard's safety, the company could not afford to refuse his gesture now.
So the once-king told himself that Radagast would be fine and indeed, if anyone could escape unharmed from a warg pack, it would be this wizard because his sleigh burst from the copse as though pulled by Arien herself.
“Come and get me,” Radagast shouted with a wild peal of laughter and the wargs raced after him, the group soon disappearing out of sight behind a hill.
Once the orcs were gone, Thorin's company left the shelter of the trees, Gandalf leading them eastward across the rocky plain. They ran for what seemed like ages over rolling hills covered with stones and scrub brush, only luck keeping one of the dwarves from turning an ankle in some hidden gopher hole.
Across such ground, the warg pack would have caught them easily without Radagast's assistance and yet, the brown wizard couldn't seem to shake his pursuers off. His rabbits were fast but the wargs were damnably persistent and his twisting path forced the dwarves to stop and hide more than once. They threw themselves down in the grass or under overhanging boulders, waiting anxiously until the orcs turned away again, and all Kíli could think about was how much he hated this. He hated the ever present danger threatening his kindred and the overwhelming fear that he would fail them all again.
So by the time one of the warg scouts stumbled upon the company’s latest hiding place, the archer’s hands were already shaking with worry and exhaustion and his tension ratcheted up tenfold when Thorin ordered him to take the rider out. Because Kíli needed to kill this orc before he could warn his fellows and if once-king had been himself, he would have slain beast and rider with one shot.
But he wasn't himself, was he? The dwarf was an old soul shoved back in his younger body and while his sword hand was slowly growing stronger, his aim had not recovered yet.
So while Kíli did manage to hit the orc, he caught his foe in the shoulder instead of the throat as he intended, and the orc nearly managed to sound his horn before the archer released another shot. This arrow brought both creatures down, the rest of Thorin's company leaping forward to finish off their enemies. But while the orc fell silently, the warg was a different matter and the rest of its pack could not have missed the tortured screams that it let out before it died.
The dwarves' enemies had been alerted because Kíli could not do the job he had been given and Thorin's annoyed glare made him cringe inside. The archer should have done better; he had been the goddamned Lord of Silver Fountains after all and he had bested Bard the Dragonslayer in a contest once or twice.
So the once-king was damn well going to act like he had deserved the crown his people gave him and when the warg pack managed to corner its prey near a large group of boulders, Kíli stood tall against the tide. Not that this made the archer's aim any better but he would fight until his quiver was empty in the defense of his kin. Indeed, the dwarf shot arrow after arrow as he slowly retreated toward the rocks with the rest of his company, thinning out their enemies as best he could.
However, even if Kíli had been able to hit more than half his targets, arrows alone would not have won this fight. The dwarves needed a miracle and he was rather hoping that their wizard might think of something clever soon. But when the archer glanced back at the boulders, Gandalf was nowhere to be seen and none of the company seemed to know where he had gone when Kíli asked.
If the wizard had abandoned them, the once-king would curse Gandalf’s name upon his dying breath as the faithless friend that he had proved to be. For the once-king might have forgiven the wizard for leaving his company at Mirkwood – and he had, reluctantly – but to disappear now would be a far worse crime than that.
“Come on, move! Quickly, all of you!” Thorin ordered, the other dwarves running toward the crevice that Gandalf had uncovered while Kíli and his uncle stayed back to cover their retreat.
Only once the rest of their companions were safe within the rocks did Thorin shout for his sister-son to join him, the archer slinging his bow across his shoulders and sprinting toward the stones. He leaped into the gap moments before his uncle, the two dwarves sliding to a stop at the bottom and then turning to face the opening warily.
Kíli fully expected the dwarves’ enemies to follow them into the crevice and he knocked another arrow for the moment that a silhouette appeared against the sky. But it seemed that his arrow would not be needed because the sound of the company's panting was soon drowned out by the echoing peal of hunting horns. The rumble of hooves and the wet thunk of steel through skin told the rest of the story, the orc who fell at Thorin's feet moments later proving it beyond a doubt.
Because that was an elvish arrow buried in the creature's flesh and Kíli was pleased to know that Elrond was still a worthwhile ally in this life. Indeed, something in the once-king eased when Gandalf led the company further into the rocks and their path came out inside the hidden valley of Rivendell.
Whatever dangers lay in the world outside, Rivendell had always been a place of rest and healing and the archer could not understand why his uncle was so angry that Gandalf had brought them here. Hadn’t the company meant to seek Lord Elrond’s counsel since no one else in the Westlands could read the dwarf lord’s map? Kíli certainly hoped that Thorin hadn’t been intending to find Thrór's hidden door without even the map’s short verse to guide them, particularly since the once-king had forgotten several of the lines.
But when Elrond returned from orc hunting, Kíli's uncle greeted the elf lord with far more suspicion than was warranted. For while Thorin had always spoken of Thranduil with this sort of deep-seated hatred, Durin’s Folk and the Western elves should have been allies if not the closest friends.
To make the situation even weirder, the archer was the only one who seemed surprised by his uncle’s words and actions, the rest of the company responding with just as much suspicion when Elrond welcomed them in Sindarin. He was offering food and shelter but Glóin and the other dwarves reacted as though he’d offered insult and surely the once-king could not be the only one who spoke the elvish tongue?
Not that Kíli was supposed to know Sindarin fluently, but he was prepared to make up months of private study to explain his sudden talent if it would stop a needless fight. However, that turned out to be unnecessary for Gandalf stepped forward to tell his companions the truth of Elrond's hospitality.
After a brief discussion, food proved more powerful than suspicion and even Thorin relaxed somewhat once Elrond's steward led the company to a well-laden table, enough food and drink to satisfy even the largest appetite. Admittedly there was more greenery and less meat than most dwarves preferred in their repast but Kíli, at least, was too starved to care.
So the once-king dug in with a will and by the time Elrond joined the company, he was feeling much more himself. He joked with Dwalin, laughed at Ori and listened with interest when their host explained the history of the blades that Thorin and Gandalf had taken from the troll hoard earlier that day. Indeed, Kíli might have carried Orcrist in his uncle's memory, but he had forgotten that the wizard's sword had earned a name as well. Glamdring and Orcrist would serve their new masters proudly, though it was the as yet unnamed Sting which Kíli was still most pleased to see.
However, that blade was not part of Elrond's story and when the elf returned Orcrist to Thorin, the dwarf lord thanked him almost civilly. So perhaps Thorin's earlier rudeness had simply been due to exhaustion and his dislike of being rescued rather than some deeper conflict, which meant that the rest of the dwarves' stay in Rivendell should pass peacefully.
Truthfully, Kíli was quite looking forward to a few weeks of rest in which to practice his archery and create a better plan. The once-king needed to use the years the Valar gave him to anticipate the coming dangers and avoid them instead of running around in a panic every time a monster howled.
The archer also planned to use this time to talk to his hobbit because Bilbo was never going to fall back in love with him again if all of their conversations were interrupted by Thorin's glaring or one of Bofur's stupid jokes. Kíli needed to show his hobbit that he wasn't actually as foolish as he'd probably seemed during the first part of their journey and these two weeks in Rivendell would be the dwarf's best chance to start courting the burglar properly.
The once-king would have time to state his intentions since the company had to wait for the moon to be aligned correctly before Elrond could read Thráin's map and so he did not think much of it when Thorin, Bilbo, Balin and Gandalf went to meet with the elf lord later on that night. Kíli was busy enjoying a late-night meal with his companions, snacking on fire-roasted sausages while he and Fíli traded jokes back and forth.
One lighthearted evening would be just the thing to put him in the right mood for romance since Bilbo did not need to know about his sorrows yet. Perhaps someday far in the future, Kíli might be able to tell his hobbit about the life that he had lived without him, but it would doubtlessly be better to stick to flowers and stories from his childhood for now. For the once-king had seen some lovely violets on the way into Rivendell and Bilbo had always enjoyed his descriptions of the fire moon near Dunland when Kíli had told the tale before.
So even though Thorin and his companions returned too late for the once-king to speak with Bilbo again that evening, he was not particularly worried about the missed opportunity. Kíli would have days to woo his hobbit before the dwarves left Rivendell and a good night's sleep might lower his chances of making a complete fool of himself.
But instead of waking comfortably to the fresh scent of elvish bread rolls, the archer was shaken from a sound sleep before the crack of dawn. He looked around in confusion to see the other dwarves packing up their gear, Thorin ordering his sister-son to his feet when the once-king hesitated for too long.
This doesn't make any sense, Kíli thought, completely flabbergasted by the time that he had lost.
Even if their company had been traveling with greater speed in this lifetime than in the last, there was no way that the elf lord should have been able to read the moon runes on Thorin's map. But when Kíli mentioned this concern to Balin, the older dwarf assured him that Elrond had translated the runes without any trouble and the once-king could not understand how this was possible. Because leaving Rivendell now would alter the entire timeline of their journey and Kíli did not want to imagine what this change might mean. However, Thorin could not be dissuaded and so despite the archer's misgivings, their company marched out with the dawn.
Perhaps this will allow us to avoid some of the dangers that we faced in the past, Kíli told himself, trying to remain optimistic about their chances even as the absence of their wizard left him cold inside.

industry_corpus2: Literature & Emotions


text: One Piece Earth Wire Kit. Includes 1x 0.5M Fully Extended Ultra-Flex 4.0mm2 Coiled Cable. Earth Stickers Bolts and Washers.

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


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Written for UCT students interested in doing a design thinking course at its new d-school.
Design thinking is a creative methodology based around 'building up' and integrating conflicting ideas and constraints to create new solutions to problems. In Tim Brown's talk, Designers -- Think Big!, he argues that the broad concept of 'design' should be recovered from its modern understanding. This is as a narrow process that focuses on making objects more attractive, easier-to-use and more marketable. Such a highly-constrained, object-focussed understanding is shaped by consumerism's rise in the late 20th century. An unfortunate by-product of this restricted conception is that design becomes mostly unimportant due to its scope often being unambitious and its outputs quickly outdated.
An earlier, grander understanding of design as catalysing breakthrough systems exists in stark contrast to its present use addressing the small screen issues of image, aesthetics and fashion. As society confronts new, pressing social problems, an opportunity has emerged for 'design thinking' to recover design's earlier, expansive meaning. Design thinking focuses on systems to create impact on big social challenges, such as universal access to quality education and improved healthcare. Ideally, design thinking supports designers in stretching the desirability, feasibility and viability of their solutions to the limit.
I was fortunate to participate in a local design thinking course at UCT. Its new d-school chapter of the Hasso Plattner Institute's design thinking school recently opened courtesy of the 'Beyond 2014 Legacy' project of Cape Town's World Design Capital 2014. UCT's d-school is part of UCT's strategy to become a research intensive university. Like the recent UCT upstarts initiative, the d-school is part of an innovation portfolio. This is intended to leverage the triple helix of academia, research and industry for driving innovation via inter-disciplinary approaches. Hopefully, it can emulate Potsdam's example, where 30 start-ups have emerged with its d-school's support since 2008.
I was one of 30 post-graduate students in the d-school's free ten week pilot course at UCT's Graduate School of Business, which students typically pay 600 Euros to do. Cape Town's d.school will be formally launched towards the end of 2016, joining other chapters at Potsdam and Stanford University. Like both, Cape Town's will be unaffiliated to any particular faculty.
According to the d-school's founding director, Richard Perez, design thinking training’s basic tenets are collaboration, being human-centred, creative thinking and learning through doing. Each feature in the d-school's unusual style of pedagogy: students from varied academic backgrounds are placed in inter-disciplinary teams. These are introduced to concepts via talks and then spend a significant amount of their project time in the field. Each team is closely mentored by a coach in their custom studio space and out in public.
Project four. Encourage the development of Plumstead's transport precinct to support the City of Cape Town's Transport Council's Transport Oriented Development Strategic Framework. This final project spanned seven weeks.
6 Testing the prototypes with stakeholders and communities.
For project one, team 'Good Fellows' explored redesigning the Waterfront's entertainment experience. A key insight was that visitors (i.e. the Watershed) had suggestions on what else they would like to do (i.e. participate in African maker space activities), but had no easy way to make suggestions. In response, we proposed a system that encourages visitor's feedback.
In project three, 'Team Not A Shuttle' learnt humility in what we might accomplish in four days in response to a wicked problem. To answer the challenge of improving the mobility experience for the V&A Waterfront's workers, we focused on their walk to and from Cape Town station. We proposed that interested staff be provided with sponsored, seasonal wear to protect them from the sun in Summer and rain and winds in Winter.
In project four, team 'Trains On Time' learnt that users of the Plumstead transport precinct want a safer and cleaner area before they will buy into further development. To promote an active citizenry that might address these needs, we proposed a 'Plum Tree Network'.
Our presentation to the Transport Council suggested that this network could organise a seasonal Open Plumstead festival. This would provide an opportunity for locals to work together for addressing the precinct's basics.
In addition to being tutored by design thinkers during these projects, students also had the opportunity to attend presentations by Tim Brown (the originator of design thinking) of IDEO, Jocelyn Wyatt from ideo.org. Plus, we could also do a one-day workshop led by Stanford's d.global's Tania Anaisse on Freedom Day.
As a designer and researcher my experiences of problem-solving have mostly been limited to small screens. By contrast to this largely linear experience, design thinking is highly iterative. Learning to apply the design thinking methodology has helped me to be more critical of my working process. In particular, I need to include the target of any designs during the project, not merely after it. I should work with an inter-disciplinary team to refine the problem statement and proposed solutions. Their feedback should be used to develop integrated solutions and prototypes that can be experimented with as early as possible. I also hope to take the advanced design thinking course next year, which will be open to graduates of the ten week course. Each of its phases also offer different methods (or 'buckets'). This means one can still learn new methods while repeating the same phases.
A student in any discipline can benefit from design thinking and I highly recommend the UCT d-school course to Fine Arts, Design, Media Studies and ICT for Development students. Most will benefit from learning its methodology, as it can support them in critiquing their projects, whilst stimulating alternate ideas and prototypes to test.
P.S. For Facebook updates on the d-school, 'like' https://www.facebook.com/Cape-Town-d-school-179577095777354/.


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U.S. businesses such as Wal-Mart may be enthusiastic in their support of "green" initiatives, but from a global perspective, they are late to the game. When it comes to environmental initiatives, Europe has a 30-year head start, both in advancing green public policy and raising consumer awareness. So what can we learn from its experience?
In an educational session at the CSCMP conference, Peter G. Klaus, a professor at the Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg, offered his assessment of what has worked and what hasn't. What hasn't worked well, he told his audience, is regulatory enforcement—whether it's imposing hefty diesel taxes and highway user fees or prohibiting road transport in certain areas. Europe has had somewhat better results with technological initiatives, including telematics, cleaner-burning engines, and experiments with alternative power. But as Klaus sees it, the real potential lies in steps businesses can take internally, like realigning their DC networks, adopting better green metrics, consolidating loads, and perhaps most important of all, shifting freight from trucks to more fuel-efficient modes like ocean and rail.
Yet another session, "Green City Logistics" presented by Dieter Wild of PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG and Peter Klaus of Boston University, emphasized how the continent has been greening logistics in urban areas.
Europe has many of the world's most congested cities. Transporting goods both ecologically and economically through the congestion requires careful planning and cooperation between city governments, businesses, and other interests.
Some cities, such as Barcelona, Spain, have initiated programs to move deliveries to nighttime or fringe hours, especially from 11-12:00 pm and 5-6:00 am. One study showed that shifting just ten percent of deliveries to nighttime hours can result in fuel savings of up to six percent, while increasing travel speeds by 20 percent and decreasing CO2 emissions by about 5 percent.
Night delivery allows the use of larger trucks that can hold more products as opposed to delivery vans, which are often utilized to provide better maneuverability through traffic. For example, two 40-ton trucks can replace the carrying capacity of seven vans. In some areas, restricted lanes are also being developed on highways and major streets. These lanes can be used by delivery vehicles to bypass traffic congestion.
Governments are also developing Sustainable Urban Transport Plans (SUTP) that consider how land is used, the needs of freight transport, and private and public concerns. Typically, the plans have two main goals: to conserve energy and to make deliveries more efficient. In London, for example, a freight plan restricts the size of delivery trucks and limits their access during certain times of the day. Similar plans in other urban areas also call for greater use of rail, intermodal, and non-road methods, such as rivers and canals.

industry_corpus2: Power & Energy


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When it comes time to move your household or business in Watford City, ND, you deserve an experienced agent who is ready to connect you with essential services. At Allied Van Lines, our agents serving Watford City can coordinate with dependable movers who are trustworthy and affordable. Each of our bonded and licensed agents is also registered with North Dakota's Better Business Bureau. Our two agents average a customer rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars, which highlights their reliability, safety and precision.
Our moving agents know the entire area from Fox Hills to Jacobson Park. Even if you're moving out of the Great Plains to the South or the East or West coasts, you can count on us. Moving farther away? We handle international moves, too. When you choose our agents, you can utilize only the services you prefer. If you just need your belongings hauled to your new place, select our freight-only service. When you want the movers to do it all and clean up when they're done, we'll connect you a team that provides a full spectrum of services. We'll set you up with temporary storage or self-packing supplies if you need them as well. Contact us today for a free relocation estimate.
Prospecting for moving companies in Watford City? The Allied Van Lines moving company can help you transition to your new home with relative ease. Our movers will make your move to Watford City, from anywhere in the nation, much less demanding. Our agents provide you with movers who arrive on schedule and treat your items considerately. Call Allied Van Lines moving company today!
Watford City occupies less than one and a half square miles and rests on the western border of North Dakota. The Watford Municipal Airport rests outside the city. The borough features four parks, and the Cherry Creek bisects the west and east city sections. The weather in Watford City is subject to seasonal extremes, with summer temperatures in the low 70s and winter temperatures as low as 15 degrees. The city climate is frequently humid, and annual precipitation in the region accumulates up to 1 or 2 inches a month.
Watford City was established in the early 1900s in anticipation of railway transportation - connecting from the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad - serving the area in the future. The city founders named Watford City after the hometown of a local doctor with Canadian roots. Today, Watford City’s economy thrives on a major energy utility provider and an energy producer with headquarters located in the city limits. Town residents also subsist on ranching and farming. Watford City’s residents number over 3,500 people. About a third of the city raises children in their household.
Watford City’s main attraction is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, 20 minutes south of town. The park resides north of the ranch of former President Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt National Park features a drive with miles of highway stretching through the park’s scenic vegetation. The park is home to bison, deer and other wildlife. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park also has trails for off-road vehicles as well as snowmobiles routes in some mountainous areas.
Watford City also offers other recreational activities. The city features a camp site bordering the Cherry Creek and indoor ice skating and horseback riding as well as facilities for archery, racquetball and volleyball. You can also play a golf round on the city’s nine-hole course, just outside of town.
The city hosts the annual Homefest, where you can revel in music, art and family activities for three days. The festival also showcases the city’s newly built homes and a block party dance. Watford City is the perfect town for people looking for a suburban life.
Allied Van Lines is the Watford City moving company you can trust. Our agents can help you take your household items to the next state or across the country. They provide a seamless moving experience from consultation to providing packing supplies and all the way through to packing, moving and transporting your goods. Call Allied Van Lines now for a free, no-obligation consultation and quote!

industry_corpus2: Transportation


text: Prof. Alessandra Briganti is actually Chancellor of Marconi University and also President of ForCom, an Interuniversity Consortium for distance learning. She was full professor of Italian Modern and Contemporary Literature at University La Sapienza of Rome and full professor of Mass Communication Theory at Oriental University Institute of Naples. She is Author of numerous texts in the following research fields: the use of computer science supports in the didactic of different disciplines; adult’s training methodologies; E-learning and permanent education at distance – Lifelong learning.


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Right now, I just want to take this moment to give thanks for my abundance. I am just so overwhelmed with gratitude, I need to express it. It may be because of my sudden clarity from cleansing, I don't know. Not worried about where it's coming from only appreciating this moment for what it is.
Today, I had a great smooth day. So I'll give thanks for that. I got off work early, and now I'm waiting for my daughter to come home so we can go shopping. I am so thankful for that. I'm thankful for all of the abundance this universe has blessed me with and all of the beautiful people in my life. I'm thankful. I'm thankful for the strength within me. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a mom. I'm thankful for my job that sustains my lifestyle, and I'm thankful for my cat. I'm grateful for the water I drink. I'm so forever grateful for the love that surrounds me and my life. Like I said, I am so overwhelmed with gratitude which in return also overwhelms me with so much joy.
There are a lot of things I can sit here and worry about, sure. But why would I want to do that to myself? I deserve beauty. I deserve joy. I deserve peace. Everyone does. Feeling grateful only enhances my experience and life. I give myself permission to feel all of the positivity this world has to offer and so should you. Seriously, give thanks to all that is good, great, abundant and focus on that. Your universe will shift in your favor. Just try it.
Thanks for reading my dear friends.


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Why choose Junk King for your air conditioner disposal?
The day an air conditioner stops working the way it should is the day you realize that they’re very tricky to get rid of. First, they are too heavy to carry, second, too dirty to put in the trunk of your car, and third, because air conditioners are so heavy and dirty, they are potentially dangerous to handle.
Add to this that AC units contain freon and other refrigerants regulated by the U.S. federal government under the Clean Air Act and you realize why you rather want to use professional junk removal services to help you say goodbye to these bulky appliances while enjoying the great relief of eco-friendly recycling and donation options.
If you have an old air conditioner sitting around or plan on replacing your equipment soon, make an appointment with Junk King for the fast and safe disposal of your old air conditioner. We’ll provide a free estimate and our insured, trained junk removal professionals will pick it up and make sure it’s disposed of safely and responsibly.
Why Remove an Old Air Conditioner?
And of course, when you get a new air conditioner you need a solution for disposing of the old one. Junk removal is the easy solution.
Can They Be Recycled or Reused?
The parts of an air conditioner can be recycled if taken to a specialty recycling facility. In some cases, the air conditioner can be donated, such as window units that are not very old. The big issue is whether the unit is clean and functioning well.
Of course, you can’t just throw an air conditioner in the regular recycling bin. It must be dropped off at a donation center that accepts them, or taken to recycling. Junk removal can save you countless hours of phone calls and driving around trying to find a recycling option.
We’re committed to recycling more than half of the materials we collect. That holds true for appliance recycling. We offer eco-friendly appliance removal by working with local organizations, recycling facilities, and scrap metal recyclers.
Junk King's professionals can either separate the equipment into recyclable materials or redirect it to the nearest facility. Recycling with our junk removal service is even greener because we collect appliances and other materials in large quantities and then distribute everything in a streamlined process. That means more junk recycled with less energy spent getting it done.
When you call us for junk removal, we can remove your air conditioner along with items such as computers and other electronics. Many materials that are difficult for individual people to recycle can be responsibly disposed of by our junk removal pros.
Any size, any kind — Junk King's can handle your air conditioner disposal. Contact us now at 1.888. 888.JUNK or book an appointment online!


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Show us your world, create a landscape!
Don't miss these AQS Member access quilt patterns by Stacey Day. Make one today!
Go vintage this Valentine's Day. Make a keepsake from old doilies and lace.