Ambition and Passion :: Personal Experience, Descriptive

Essays -  Ambition and Passion    I go to camp every year and allow myself to love people, dreading the day when I will have to depart from them. I claw at each moment, attempting to hold on to time. I do this even though I know from the beginning that as soon as I enter I will be hurled towards the last day, towards the end, towards good-bye. And it breaks my heart. Yet every year, I'm just so grateful to have had my heart broken.    If there is one secret to living life it is passion: passionate love, passionate hate, passionate hope, passionate joy, passionate work, passionate play, passionate pain and despair. Feel things to the tips of your fingertips, to the center of your soul. It's the only way that you'll get something worth getting out of life. It's the only way that you'll realize everything that I've attempted to tell you in this letter, because heaven knows that I am merely giving you words, not experience. Live your life so that you may, in the end, be able to sit around a table and eat, drink, and be merry with your family and friends and tell stories. That's where your happiness is, in the ability to laugh at your life and cling to it dearly at the same time.    The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles.

Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing Essay -- Maxine Hairston Col

Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing People come from many different environments which brings or doesn’t bring many different opportunities. These two essays highlight the multicultural, multiethnic, multiclass salad bowl that this world and this country possess. The first essay discusses the social demographics in the college classroom. The second essay is from a person who was not able to attend college, probably because of the lack of opportunity to do so. When I read these two essays it helps me realize the reason that I have chosen my major. The essay " Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing" written by Maxine Hairston discusses the diversity in college classrooms in 1992. She highlights the idea that these students come from different backgrounds and have a lot to offer the class through their experiences. Also, they come in at different levels of writing and understanding. She believes that these students can learn from one another. They can learn about the diverse society that we live in. She states that " Real diversity emerges from the students themselves and flourishes in a collaborative classroom in which they work together to develop their ideas and test them out on each other." She looks at this diversity as an opportunity for students to learn and collaborate about society. Their papers and analysis would come from experiences that the class has had in life. The second essay, written by Kathy Camper also discusses diversity in our society. It is from the point of view of a person who was not given an opportunity to attend college. This essay is written about the future where almost everything involves computers. Persons that were not given the same means for a better education fall behind and c... ...I do want to make a difference for the people who write essay two. I want to help provide everyone an equal opportunity starting in the first grade, not waiting to college to level the playing field. I believe that a diverse community is great for everyone as long as everyone is given the same opportunities. The professor in essay one is asking "how can I provide these students the best education so they will succeed in our competitive society?" In essay two the question is "can I receive an education just to survive?" Providing college students an education that challenges their analysis of writing, involving computers, and involving a compassion for all individuals will help the students be competitive in society and the future work force. To answer question two we must require and provide the ways and means to an equal education across class, race and ethnicity.

Women in Advertisements

WOMEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS In modern societies, women and men have equal rights to law in most areas such as education and employment. Howewer, there is an unuequality as gender between male and female. Because social gender is related with power and patriarchy, a dominance of man over woman, has to do power relations. Therefore, holder of power is men and women are regarded as opressed and sex object. A social unequality between men and women is being used women and female figures in advertisements mostly.There are severeal reasons why woman or female figures are used in advertisements The fist reason to this is visuality. Visuality is important because it is the most effective way to appeal to the senses in advertisements and for this, women are used mostly. These advertisements involve beaty of women, sexuality, their body and they show that women are sex object. In addition, having a beautiful and well groomed body is important for women in advertisements. Advertisements give messag es that women improve themselves and they look beautiful and thin. Therefore, all woman want to live same life, to wear and eat same things.For example, in Doritos advertisement, Megan Fox is used and it shows that if woman is beautiful and sexy, she deserve to draw applause. Therefore, these advertisements reinforce the idea that womens are sex object. The second reason that women give informations about gender roles in advertisements. In these advertisements, women are regarded as housewife and role of women is to serve children and husband, to cook and clean. Therefore, these advertisements reinforce social gender role. In addition they have functionalist perspective because women concentrate on domestic and family responsibilities while men work outside the home.For example, ACE is a bleach advertisement and it shows that womens are a symbol of cleaning and housework. Also, in Istikbal advertisement, although woman coming from work is tired , she serves to her husband. Another p oint is that sound of authority belongs to men in advertisements because men manipulate women mostly. For example, in Kolsa, carpet detergent, advertisement, man talk with woman and help her the cleaning and it shows that men dominate over women. In conclusion, women are shown by their body or housework in advertisements.

Tomb of Shihuangdi

Tomb of Shihuangdi Professor Carney Hum 111 Joanna Davis January 23, 2012 Qin Shihuangdi, born Ying Zheng was one of the most influential rulers of all China. It is believed that Shihuangdi was father by one of two men, Zichu a son of the king of Qin at the time. Zichu was sent as a hostage to the state of Zhao during a dispute between the two kingdoms (Lindesay p. 4). Eventually Zichu was allowed to live freely in Zhao. There he became acquainted with a rich, but conniving merchant named Lu Buwei, who had a concubine. When Zichu became interested in the concubine, Lu Buwei stepped aside and eventually helped them escaped to Qin where Zichu shortly became king (Lindesay p. 4). Shortly after arriving in Qin, Ying Zheng (later to become Shihaungdi) was born. It was never revealed whether Zichu or Lu Buwei was his father. At only thirteen Shihuangdi took control of the Qin Dynasty, which was a start of a great rule for the young emperor. Many accomplishments were accredited to his rule, The Great Wall, a road system throught the kingdom, a written script that unified all of China, and of course his mystifying tomb that contain life-sized soldiers of the Terra Cotta Army. Many theories surround his tomb. Probably one of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries was his tomb with over 6,000 life-size soldiers buried with the emperor. One theory that could be believable was that he feared death, therefore he was always in search of immortality. In seeking immortality Shihaungdi made at least three pilgrimages to Zhifu Island seeking immortality. In one case of he sent Xu Fu, a Zhifu islander, with ships carrying hundreds of men and women in search of the mystical Penglai mountain (Wintle p. 61, p. 71). Penglai mountain was said to be the home for the Eight immortals and the 1,000 year old magician Anqi Sheng who Shihaungdi supposedly met while traveling, invited him to seek him there (Pregadio p. 199). The people that was sent on the voyage never returned with any evidence of the immortal, or the magician, perhaps in fear of returning without any news they would be executed. Legend states they reached Japan and colonized it (Cavendish p. 17). Many of the Emperor’s best scholars were also executed for not being able to produce any evidence of supernatural powers. Since Shihaungdi was afraid of death he had workers build tunnels and passage ways to each of his palace, thinking this would protect him from the evil spirits, as he traveled unseen. Death In 211 BC a large meteor is said to have fallen in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. On it was the words inscribed â€Å"The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided (Liang p. 5). When he heard of this, he sent an imperial secretary to investigate this prophecy. When no one would confess, everybody living nearby was put to death. On September 10, 210 BC (Julian Calendar),while on one of his tours to Eastern China the Emperor died. Reportedly, he died from ingesting mercury pills, made by his court scientists and doctors (Wright p. 49). Ironically Shihaungdi ingested the pills thinking they would make him immortal (Wright p. 49). Perhaps there maybe some truth to this theory surrounding his death due to the fact high levels of mercury was found in his tomb. References Cavendish, M. (2006). China Condensed: 5000 Years of History & Culture. Liang, Y. (2007). The Leitimation of New orders: Case Studies in World History. Chinese University Press. Lindesay, W. (2008). The Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China. Airphoto International Ltd. Man, J. (2008). The Terra Cotta Army. Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA Wintle, J. (2002) China. Rough Guides Publishing. Wright, D. (2001). The History of China. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Bee Colony Algorithm For Rectangle Packing Problems Design Essay

Packing job is considered as an NP-hard job. It is an optimisation job of happening an optimum agreement of a set of points in a larger container with the aim of minimising the spread on the packing country or maximising the container use. This sort of job occurs in different industries and is important in mechanical design and industry, transit and in the development of a good layout design of an endeavor [ 9 ] . This job has been studied and different algorithms have been applied to come up with an optimum wadding agreement. Some optimisation algorithms that were used in work outing were familial algorithm and atom drove algorithm. Furthermore, another optimisation and swarm-based algorithm called the Artificial Bee Colony ( ABC ) algorithm is presented in this paper. It is an algorithm that is based on the scrounging behavior of bees. In this survey, the research worker will utilize the Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm in happening an optimum agreement of jammed rectangles. Packing jobs consider a set of points and a bin that will keep the points which aim to pack points every bit dumbly as possible with really optimum to no spreads. Packing jobs are helpful and widely used in several Fieldss such as in fabrication and in state of affairss like make fulling up containers, lading burden, ship edifice, building and ornament layout and so on [ .. ] . Packing jobs are classified depending on the job ‘s application and aim. Some of the most of import jobs such as cutting stock, backpack and bin packing [ 4 ] are defined below. The cutting stock job is about cutting various-sized pieces out on a given stock sheets. The job can either be a trim-loss job or an mixture job. Trim-loss Problem Trim-loss job is the allotment onto stock sheets of pieces of different sizes demanded by the clients with the purpose of minimising the cost of waste. Assortment Problem The mixture job is concerned in finding the size of the pieces or points to be kept in stock of sheets such that the best choice of points is used so waste is minimized. Knapsack Problem The backpack job describes the procedure of packing the most valuable points into a fixed-sized storage such as a backpack. The job consists of points with matching weights and values and a backpack of limited capacity. The aim of the backpack job is to find which points that maximize the value should be in the backpack given that the entire weight of the points is at most of the weight of the backpack. Taken from [ 12 ] Figure.1: Illustration on the backpack job Bin Packing Bin wadding job has a aggregation of points of different sizes and a figure of bins holding the same horizontal and perpendicular dimensions. There are different sorts of bin packing such as 2D wadding, 3D wadding, additive wadding, battalion by weight and more [ 14 ] . The aim of the job is to merely pack the points into the bins minimising the figure of bins used. Taken from [ 13 ] Figure.2: Bin wadding of different forms Loading Problems Loading jobs deal with rectangular boxes that are to be packed into a rectangular palette. These jobs can be classified into maker ‘s and distributer ‘s burden jobs [ 4 ] . Manufacturer ‘s and distributer ‘s burden jobs are chiefly concerned with the wadding of indistinguishable and non-identical rectangular pieces severally. The aim of lading jobs is to happen an optimum wadding form such that the figure of boxes to be placed in a certain palette or container is maximized. Taken from [ 15 ] Figure.3: Illustration on palette burden jobs for indistinguishable boxes Other Discrepancies of Packing Problems There are several sorts of packing jobs. The followers are some packing jobs that deal in â€Å" happening the maximal figure of a certain form that can be packed into a larger, possibly different form † [ 3 ] . Sphere in Cuboid – a sphere wadding job that involves in happening an optimum agreement of given a set of spherical objects with diameter vitamin D be packed into a cuboid with a size of a ten B x degree Celsius Packing Circles – are some circle packing jobs that attempt to pack a set of indistinguishable circles into a circle or another form Taken from [ 5 ] & A ; [ 6 ] Figure.4: ( a ) Circles in circle, ( B ) Circles in square ( degree Celsius ) Circles in equilateral trigon and ( vitamin D ) Circles in regular hexagon Packing Squares – shows a set of indistinguishable squares packed inside a form such as the square and circle Taken from [ 5 ] & A ; [ 6 ] Figure.5: ( a ) Squares in square and ( B ) Squares in circle Rectangle Packing Problems Rectangle Packing Problem Definition Rectangle wadding job is an optimisation job of apportioning a set of rectangle points into a larger rectangle, the container with the aim of minimising the packing country or the country wasted [ 8 ] . The set of rectangle points has different dimensions of width tungsten and tallness H and the entire country of the points should non transcend the country of the container width W and height H. The arrangement of the points is described by the undermentioned set of restraints [ 8 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ] . No imbrication of rectangle points. No points must be wider or taller than the size of the container. Edges of the points must be parallel to the container ‘s border Taken from [ 7 ] Figure.6: Illustration of a authoritative rectangle wadding job process Taken from [ 1 ] Figure.7: A sample wadding of 9 rectangular points – 90o rotary motion allowed Taken from [ 1 ] Figure.8: A sample packing – fixed orientation, no rotary motion allowed Other Rectangle Packing Problems Packing Into An Open-ended Rectangle The job is described as arrangement, without overlapping, a set of rectangle points of different sizes in an open-ended rectangular container of width W. A rotary motion of 90A ° is allowed every bit long as no points overlap. All the rectangle points should be pack in manner that the entire length L of infinite occupied is minimized [ 1 ] . Taken from [ 1 ] Figure.9: A possible agreement of eight points Taken from [ 1 ] Figure.10: Packing into an open-ended rectangles with three different breadths. Packing Into Rectangles of Fixed Size The thought behind this job is similar to usual bin packing jobs. It consists of rectangle points of different horizontal and perpendicular dimensions and a set of rectangular sheets of fixed length and breadth. The aim is to â€Å" happen an agreement of the pieces that minimizes the figure of sheets needed † [ 1 ] . Taken from [ 1 ] Figure.11: Packing into fixed sized rectangles Drove Intelligence Swarm intelligence is defined as â€Å" any effort to plan algorithms or distributed problem-solving devices inspired by the corporate behavior of societal insect settlements and other carnal societies † [ 19 ] . What makes drove based algorithms an interesting mechanism for work outing jobs particularly NP-complete jobs is the two cardinal constructs within, self-organisation and division of labor. Some illustrations of swarm-inspired algorithms and surveies are Particle Swarm Optimization ( PSO ) , ant settlement, bee settlement, flock of birds and more [ 19 ] . The Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm The Artificial Bee Colony ( ABC ) algorithm is a nature-inspired optimisation algorithm defined by Dervis Karaboga in 2005 [ 2 ] . Based on the scrounging behavior of bees, the purpose of the algorithm is to happen nutrient beginnings with high nectar sums and finally take the 1 with the highest sum. In the ABC algorithm, bees are grouped into employed bees, looker-on bees and lookout bees. The employed bees are the 1 that exploit and keep the information of a peculiar nutrient beginning. The information on a specific nutrient beginning is so shared by each employed bees to the looker-on bees through a shake dance. Then, nutrient choice is done by the looker-on bees. These bees determine the quality of the nutrient beginnings and acquire to take the best nutrient beginning. When a nutrient beginning of an employed bee has been abandoned, this bee becomes a lookout bee. Scout bees are responsible for researching and seeking possible nutrient beginnings around the country. The Waggle Dance Bees need to pass on with other bees in order for them to happen and garner nutrient indispensable for the endurance of their settlement. One of the most interesting and challenging mechanisms of discoursing around the carnal land peculiarly Apis melliferas is dancing. Information on a certain nutrient beginning off from their hive is passed on to other bees through a shake dance. A shake dance is performed by a lookout bee informing his hive mates the exact way and distance to the nutrient beginning. During the shake dance, the bee performs an eight-figure form dance where it foremost walks in a consecutive line while waggling his tail back and Forth. Then looping is done in jumping waies and travels the consecutive line over and over once more capable to the way and the distance being relayed. Walking in the consecutive line indicates the way and figure of shakes refers to the distance of the nutrient beginning [ 16 ] [ 17 ] . Taken from [ 16 ] Figure.12: The shake dance The Algorithm The chief stairss of the ABC algorithm from [ 19 ] consisting of the employed bees, the looker-on bees and the lookout bees is given below. Figure.13: Main stairss of ABC Pseudocode of ABC The elaborate pseudocode of the ABC algorithm shown in [ 20 ] is given below: Initialize the population of solutions Xi Measure the population cycle=1 Repeat Produce new solutions ( nutrient beginning places ) Vi in the vicinity of Xi for the employed bees. Apply Greedy Selection Calculate the chance values Pi for the solutions Xi by agencies of their fittingness values utilizing the equation Normalize Pi values into [ 0,1 ] Produce the new solutions ( new places ) Vi for the looker-ons from the solutions Xi, Apply Greedy Selection Process for the looker-ons between Xi and Vi Determine abandoned Solutions, and replace it with new randomly produced solutions Xi for the lookout Memorize the best nutrient beginning place achieved so far rhythm = cycle+1 UNTIL ( rhythm = Maximum Cycle Number ) Initially, random executable solutions ( nutrient beginnings ) are generated and evaluated. Then, the employed bees will seek for new solutions in the vicinity out of the current solutions and the greedy choice is applied. The choice of much fitter solutions is done by the looker-on bees and is dependent on the fittingness value. The nutrient beginnings that do non better after a series of loop are abandoned and the bee associated to it eventually becomes a lookout. The lookout will seek for a new nutrient beginning once more. The whole procedure continues until the expiration standard is satisfied. Neighbourhood Search Neighbourhood searching is the procedure of bring forthing better solutions from the current executable solutions. A new solution is generated utilizing the equation below: ( 1 ) where XA ­ij is the value of cell in solution XA ­i ( current solution ) which is indiscriminately picked, XA ­kj is the value of cell J in XA ­k, a random solution non equal to XA ­i, O is a random value in the scope of [ 0, 1 ] . Greedy Selection The greedy choice is responsible of doing and taking the optimum solution at each phase of the procedure. Fitness Function A fittingness map determines the quality of a nutrient beginning ( solution ) . The higher the fitness value of the equation below, the better the solution is. ( 2 ) where is the cost map Probability Function The chance map determines the chance that a peculiar nutrient beginning will be preferred by looker-on bees. The chance value is calculated utilizing the expression below: ( 3 ) where I is the current nutrient beginning and Sn is the entire figure of nutrient beginnings. Literature Review In the paper â€Å" An Improved Genetic Algorithm for the Packing of Rectangles † by Ming Le Stefan Jakobs [ 22 ] in his paper entitled â€Å" On familial algorithms for the wadding of polygons † implemented a intercrossed attack to familial algorithm. Jakobs used the bottom-left-condition to cut down the figure of possible wadding forms. The initial population is composed of width-sorted sequence of agreements based on the bottom-left regulation. A rectangular piece is moved get downing from the upper right corner of the country and moving every bit far as to the bottom so allotment is done every bit far as to the left corner of the bounding rectangle. This construct of a intercrossed familial algorithm was besides used in wadding of polygons job. Chen Zhao, et al [ 23 ] introduced the construct of Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization ( DPSO ) algorithm. In this method, a. For a elaborate treatment on the said method, see [ 23 ] . Statement of the Problem Packing jobs such as rectangle packing belongs to the category of NP-hard jobs since there is no easy manner to find the optimum solution for every instance. Finding the best manner of suiting a figure of rectangles into a larger rectangle is a clip devouring repeating undertaking and involves a really big solution infinite. The ABC algorithm, a new swarm-based methodological analysis, has been proven to be an efficient attack that solves optimisation jobs in assorted countries. Some research surveies besides show that ABC outperforms other optimisation techniques such as familial algorithm. In this survey, the ABC algorithm will be implemented to work out rectangle packing jobs. Therefore, this paper will prove the efficiency of the ABC algorithm in happening the best possible agreement of packing rectangles. Timeline The tabular array below shows the undertakings and their corresponding clip periods that I intend to set about to successfully finish this research. Undertaking No. Time Period Undertaking Description 1 Dec 13 – Dec 19, 2010 Research and reading of bing documents and published surveies sing rectangle wadding jobs and the ABC algorithm. Making of the first bill of exchange of the Thesis Proposal. 2 Dec 21, 2010 – Jan 04, 2011 Execution of the proposed algorithm. Making of the Proposed Approach portion of the thesis. 3 Jan 05, 2011 – Feb 2011 Testing and debugging. Experimentation stage. Making of the 10-page conference paper and 5-page URS paper. 4 Feb – Mar 2011 Finalizing of documents and other necessary demands 5 Mar 2011 Submission twenty-four hours

Storm Born Chapter Fourteen

I saw Kiyo a few times in the next week. One of those times I was out on a job, doing an exorcism that turned out to be a setup. The house I'd gone into had no spirit but rather an asag: a demonic creature that literally had a rocklike body. Kiyo had shown up in the midst of the fight, and while I'd thought I had things well in hand, his help sure expedited matters. He didn't use any weapons like I did; he was all body and physical force. Watching him move was almost hypnotic, like admiring a dancer. His other appearances were similar, showing up when needed and then retreating if I wanted. Once, I reluctantly agreed to lunch after a fight. He watched me with those hungry eyes the entire time, but everything else was friendly and easy between us. It was like when we'd met in the bar, all breezy banter and connection – underscored with simmering sexual tension. All the other times I saw him, he trailed me around as a fox. And, as much as I hated to admit it†¦he was right. He was pretty cute. Life was busy now. Whereas before I'd had maybe only one or two jobs a week, I now had at least one every day. Apparently the gentry and other creatures hoping to get a piece of me realized they no longer had to seek me out; I would come to them if they bothered the right human. It was annoying, to say the least – and exhausting. Of course, since these fights occurred through clients and contracted jobs, I got paid for them. It became a very rich few weeks, though I felt a little bad since my clients never would have needed to pay in the first place if not for me. I woke up a couple weeks before Beltane, aching and exhausted. I'd had two jobs and an â€Å"unscheduled† fight last night. Staring at my ceiling, at the way the late morning sun filtered into funny shapes through my blinds, I drowsily wondered if I was going to be able to keep this up. I'd lose to the Otherworld not through any one encounter, but simply via my own fatigue. I trudged to the kitchen and found no morning offering from Tim. He must have stayed the night with one of his groupies. Forced to make my own breakfast, I put two chocolate Pop-Tarts in the toaster and fixed coffee while they cooked. Glancing at the table, I saw that my cell phone displayed four missed calls. I'd taken to turning it off, because the calls were always from Lara, and I didn't feel like hearing them anymore. She'd either want to offer me a new job or tell me that Wil Delaney had left yet another message. I was halfway through my second Pop-Tart when my mom showed up. I hadn't seen her since the confrontation. For a moment, I considered not letting her in, but I promptly dismissed the thought. She was my mom, after all. She loved me. No matter what had happened, I couldn't let go of that intrinsic truth. She was the one who'd doused my scratches with antiseptic when I was little – and not so little – and tried unsuccessfully to interest me in shopping and makeup as a teenager. She'd tried to protect me from the ugly truths that everyone has to discover growing up. She'd tried to protect me from the path Roland had set me on. And now it seemed she'd tried to protect me from my own past. Looking back, I tried to piece together things she'd said on the rare occasions I could get her to acknowledge my biological father. You're better off without him. He wasn't the kind of man anyone could count on. We didn't have a healthy relationship when we were together. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of intensity†¦but it ending was for the best. He's gone – just accept he'll never be a part of your life. She'd never exactly lied, I realized, but I'd interpreted the story in a completely different way. I'd read it as a whirlwind affair, one in which her emotions blinded her. With all the bad things she'd implied about his character, I'd just figured he'd up and left one day, unable to handle the responsibilities involved with taking care of me. Little did I know he'd desperately wanted me back. I offered her a seat at the table, handing her a cup of coffee at the same time. She held it with both hands, lacing her fingers in a nervous gesture. Her hair was braided down her back today, and she wore a red blouse. â€Å"You look tired,† she said after a long stretch of silence. I smiled. It was such a mom thing to say. â€Å"Yeah. It's been a busy week.† â€Å"Are you sleeping enough?† â€Å"I'm sleeping. Sort of. I'm just too busy when I'm awake, that's the problem.† She looked up, nervously meeting my eyes as though afraid of what she might find. â€Å"Busy†¦because of†¦?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, knowing what she meant. She looked back down. â€Å"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about all of this.† I dunked a piece of Pop-Tart into my coffee. â€Å"It's not your fault. You didn't decide to go to the Otherworld.† â€Å"No†¦but you were right the other day. I was wrong to keep it from you.† â€Å"I was too harsh then.† â€Å"No.† Her eyes met mine, wide and sad. â€Å"I think I thought†¦that if I kept it from you, maybe I could make it go away. Like pretending enough would make it so that it had never happened. I could forget too.† I didn't like to see my mom sad. I don't think anyone does unless they're trying to take revenge for some traumatic childhood wrong. Maybe I had been wronged to a certain extent, but in reflection, it probably couldn't compare to what had happened to her. I knew she had been older when abducted, but in my mind's eye, I could see my mother looking like Jasmine, young and scared. Based on the stories I'd heard before the Storm King paternity news, I'd always envisioned my conception as the result of a torrid affair my scumbag father later walked out on. But that wasn't it at all. The truth was worse. I was a child of rape, born from violence and domination. â€Å"Every time you see me†¦do I remind you of him? Of what happened?† Compassion washed over her face. â€Å"Oh, baby, no. You're the best thing in my life. Don't think like that.† â€Å"Do I look like him at all? Everyone says I take after you.† She studied me as though seeking out the answer, but I knew she already had to know. â€Å"Your hair, a little. But mostly†¦in the eyes. You got those from him. His eyes were like†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She had to clear her throat to go on. â€Å"They always changed. They ran every shade of blue and gray you can imagine, depending on his mood. Sky blue when he was happy. Midnight blue when troubled. Deep gray when he was angry and about to fight.† â€Å"And what about violet?† I asked. â€Å"Violet when he was feeling†¦amorous.† I'd never heard my mom use that word before. It might have been funny, but mostly it made me consider adding a shot of whiskey to my coffee. Jesus. I'd gotten the eye color my dad had when he was in the mood. So many people complimented me on my eyes, yet to her, they had to bring back memories that were anything but amorous, as far as she was concerned. â€Å"I'm sorry, Mom.† I reached out and held her hand, our first contact since I'd stormed from her house. â€Å"It must have been so awful†¦but were there – were there any moments, even a few, when you were happy at all? Or at least not so unhappy?† Surely†¦surely there had been one moment when it had not all been hatred and sorrow between my parents. Surely I could not have been conceived and born out of so much darkness. There had to have been something. Maybe he'd made her smile just once. Or maybe he'd brought her a gift†¦like a necklace recovered after some looting and pillaging. I didn't know. Just something. Anything. â€Å"No.† Her voice was hoarse. â€Å"I hated it all. Every second.† I swallowed back a thickness in my throat, and suddenly all I could think about was Jasmine. Jasmine. More than five years younger than my mom had been. Jasmine had been subjected to the same things. She had to have those moments of agony too. Maybe her misplaced affection for Aeson was the only way to cope. Maybe it was better than hurting all the time. I didn't know. I closed my eyes briefly. All I could see was my mom as Jasmine and Jasmine as my mom. I opened my eyes. â€Å"We didn't get Jasmine.† I realized I'd never told her that when I'd come over to talk to her. Briefly, I recounted the essential details. Her face blanched as I spoke, and her raw hurt clawed at something inside of me. Jasmine as my mom. My mom as Jasmine. â€Å"Oh God,† she whispered when I finished. â€Å"Yeah, I – â€Å" Cold flowed over me. The faintest electric tingle tugged at my flesh. â€Å"What's wrong?† my mom asked, seeing me stiffen. â€Å"Can't you feel that? The cold?† She looked puzzled. â€Å"No. Are you okay?† I stood up. She couldn't feel it because it wasn't actually a physical thing. It was something beyond normal human senses. On the counter sat my athames, gun, and wand. I didn't go anywhere in the house without them now, not even to the bathroom. I also didn't sleep in anything too delicate anymore. The tank top I wore was still lacy and flimsy, but my pajama pants were cotton with a sturdy elastic waistband. I draped my robe over a chair and considered my armament. I could tell it wasn't gentry. It was a spirit or demon. Silver, then, not iron. The Glock already had a silver cartridge in it but would have questionable effectiveness if the spirit had little substance. I carefully placed it under my waistband and then picked up the silver athame and wand. â€Å"Stay in here, Mom.† â€Å"Eugenie, what's – â€Å" â€Å"Just stay,† I commanded. â€Å"Get under the table.† She looked at my face and complied. I guess you couldn't be an Otherworld abductee and married to a shaman without knowing when to take these things seriously. I moved slowly and stealthily toward the living room because that was where the feeling centered. I heard no noise, but the silence screamed louder than any sound. I put my back to the wall, sliding along it to peer around the corner. Nothing. Whatever it was, it couldn't hurt me and stay invisible. It would have to turn substantial to do any real damage. The weird thing was, a spirit also couldn't get me pregnant, not like gentry or some of the monsters could. Spirits were dead, and that was that. One seeking me out seemed odd. I waited, back up against the edge of the doorway as I peered around the living room. Whatever was going to happen would happen here. It was like a vortex. Power flowed both in and out of this spot. Something cold brushed against my arm, and then a hand materialized, grabbing hold of me. My reflexes snapped to life, and I cut at the spirit's wrist with the athame in my other hand. The spirit had enough substance to feel the effects of the metal. Plus, the athame's power extended beyond tactile discomfort. The spirit – a gray, haglike thing – recoiled, but then I felt more cold hands behind me and gave a quick glance back. Five more spirits – more than I'd ever taken on at once. I spun around, but my initial attacker's position was better, giving it a solid hold on me. I didn't break free of its grip entirely, but I struggled like hell, accidentally hitting a small table with a ceramic pitcher on it. The pitcher hit the floor and splintered into sharp, aqua-colored fragments. The spirit pushed me up against the wall, its skeletal hands clutching at my throat while it stared at me with empty black eyes. It floated such that while it kept me pinned, it stayed out of reach of the athame. It wasn't out of the reach of the wand, however. Its ghostly companions drifted over, ringing us, as my oxygen began to dry up. Black stars sparkled in my vision, and I tried hard to focus on what I needed to do. â€Å"Be careful,† warned one of the observers, â€Å"or you will kill her.† Hecate, I prayed in my head, open the gates. On the edge of passing out, I felt the snake on my arm tingle. I used that power, letting the farthest limits of my mind brush the Otherworld. I became the gate, a conduit of passage running from my soul to the snake to the wand. The hands on my throat wouldn't let me speak, but the banishing words burned in my mind. It was good enough. The wand's power flared out at the spirit holding me. It realized too late what had happened and vanished with a piteous scream. One of its counterparts started to move toward me and got sucked away with the other. The other four kept their distance. Meanwhile, I had backed up as much as possible. I needed to open the gates again, but my body informed me I had to allow a moment's recovery time before going a second round. My throat hurt inside and out from where the spirit had choked me, and the room spun around as I staggered. I took deep, shaking breaths in an attempt to recover what I'd lost. Two more spirits bore down on me but hesitated a little this time, still keeping some space between us. They circled me, like dancers or boxers, each of us determining what the other would do. Just then, my mom came out of the kitchen holding my iron athame. Screaming, she drove it against one of the other spirit's backs, hacking away. Iron hurt gentry – not spirits. All her actions did was annoy it. It turned slightly, and with one oh-so-casual gesture, it backhanded her with enough force to throw her against the far wall. She hit the wall and slid down into an unmoving pile. I yelled my fury, charging the spirits around me. Strong emotion is better for physical attacks but not mental ones, and I lost whatever grip I'd momentarily had on the Otherworld. The athame caused some damage to one of the spirits, but the other dodged. It hit me hard, shoving me into my entertainment center. The sharp corners dug into my back, but the adrenaline pumping through me wouldn't let me feel it. Not yet. I muttered another incantation to Hecate and felt the power shoot up again. The spirit who had thrown me drifted forward. The gates swung open, and I banished it away. Moments later, its injured counterpart followed. That left two. One of them swooped in, reaching out for me. I ducked past it, hitting the floor, where I half-crawled and half-rolled out of its grasp. My connection to the Otherworld had slipped again; I needed it back. I kept ordering myself to focus, but then I saw my mom lying in the corner. I couldn't get past that. I went after the spirit again, and it hissed angrily as the athame dug into its upper body. I was sloppy, however, and gave one of its hands the opening to grab my wand hand and shove me against the wall. The wand fell to the floor. A moment later, the spirit's other hand twisted my other wrist until I dropped the athame as well. The last spirit floated up and added to the wall around me. Walls were really starting to piss me off lately. They had me now, trapped and defenseless and injured. I didn't know what exactly they could do, however. Earlier they'd worried about killing me, yet they could have no romantic interest in me. What could they – My patio door opened, and an elemental walked in. An elemental made of mud, of all things. Its body was very solid, very human, and very male. Oozing, brown-gray sludge dripped off it and onto my carpet. I renewed my futile efforts to break from the spirits. Volusian's words came back to haunt me. More organized attacks. The spirits couldn't have sex with me, but the elemental gentry could. It had sent its minions to subdue me first. Clever. â€Å"Where are the others?† asked the elemental, an almost comic look of astonishment on his face as he glanced around the room. â€Å"She banished them, master,† whispered one of the spirits. â€Å"You really are lethal, aren't you?† The elemental approached. â€Å"I hadn't believed the stories. I thought sending these six was overkill. Still. I guess even you have your limits.† I sneered at him. â€Å"Don't talk to me about limits. You can't even cross to this world in full form.† A look of displeasure crossed that dripping, muddy face. Power was a matter of pride among the gentry. His inability to cross over fully was probably a sore point. Raping me was undoubtedly a way of compensating for all sorts of deficiencies. â€Å"It won't matter,† he said. â€Å"Once I beget Storm King's heir, all gentry will pass into this world, smiting the race of humans.† â€Å"Okay, Mr. Old Testament. I can't honestly believe you just used ‘beget' and ‘smiting' in the same sentence.† â€Å"So brave and brash. Yet it won't – ow!† I couldn't free my upper body, but the elemental was close enough that I flipped my lower body upward and kicked him. I'd been aiming for the groin, just like with the Gray Man, but caught his thigh instead. The guarding spirit restrained my legs. The elemental narrowed his eyes. â€Å"You make things difficult. This would be far easier on you if you would submit.† â€Å"Don't hold your breath.† â€Å"She will submit, master,† intoned a spirit. â€Å"Her mother lies there on the floor.† I stiffened in the spirit's grip. â€Å"Don't touch her.† The elemental turned and walked toward where my mother had fallen. Almost gently, he leaned down and picked her up in his arms. â€Å"She's still alive.† â€Å"Leave her alone, you bastard!† I screamed. I strained so hard, it felt like my arms would tear from my shoulders. â€Å"Let her go,† ordered the elemental. â€Å"Master – â€Å" â€Å"Let her go. She will not do anything, because she knows if she so much as steps in this direction† – the muddy hand slid up to my mom's throat, leaving a dirty trail wherever he moved – â€Å"then I will snap her neck.† The spirits released me. I did not move. â€Å"I'm going to kill you,† I said. My voice was hoarse from the choking and screaming. â€Å"I'll tear you to pieces before I send you to hell.† â€Å"Unlikely. Not if you want this one to live. Come,† he said to one of his servants. â€Å"Take her.† There was a tradeoff, and now a spirit held my mother. â€Å"If Odile Dark Swan so much as looks threatening, kill this woman.† â€Å"Odile Dark Swan always looks threatening.† The spirit spoke in a deadpan, nonsarcastic voice. Apparently this elemental's minions had as good a sense of humor as my own. â€Å"You know what I mean,† snapped the elemental. He came closer to me, so only a few inches separated us. â€Å"Now. I will let you live. I will let your mother live. All you have to do is not fight me while I do what I've come here to do. When I am finished, we will depart in peace. Do you understand?† Anger and fury were raging in me, and I could feel tears burning at the edges of my vision. I wanted to reach out and claw his eyes. I wanted to kick between his legs until no one could tell if he was male anymore. I wanted to deliver him to Persephone in a pile of body parts. But I was scared. So scared that if I even blinked wrong, they'd break my mother. She already hung uselessly in the spirit's arms like a rag doll. For all I knew, she could have been dead, but something told me she wasn't. I couldn't gamble if she might be alive. So I nodded in acknowledgment to the elemental and felt one of the tears leak out of my eye as I did. â€Å"Good.† He exhaled, and I realized he was as scared of me as I was of him. â€Å"Now. Undress.† Bile rose in my throat. I couldn't get enough oxygen again; it was like the air was thick and heavy around me. Another tear stole from my eye, and I slowly pulled down the pajama pants, removing the gun I hadn't been able to use. It occurred to me briefly that I could probably manage to shoot the elemental right now, but I wouldn't be fast enough to save my mother. What did it matter? If he was telling the truth, I would still live if I could only endure this. I was on the pill. I probably wouldn't actually get pregnant. I'd only have to lay there passively while this big anthropomorphic pile of dirt had his way with me. Things could be worse. Probably. I looked at him, imagining those hands on me. The air grew thicker to me, making it still harder to breathe. The lighting seemed darker, as it had when the spirit choked me, and I wondered if I was going to faint. Maybe it'd be easier that way. Less to remember. â€Å"The rest,† he said impatiently. He too was breathing heavily. I moved my fingers to the edges of my underwear. I had dressed for comfort in plain, gray cotton bikini-cuts. They were nice but not sexy. They didn't match the pink top. Of course, it didn't matter to the elemental what I wore. Naked desire glowed on his face. I stared at the lumpy, misshapen body and worked hard not to whimper. I knew what I had to do, but I didn't want to. Oh, God. Oh, Selene. I didn't want him to touch me. I didn't want him pressed up against me. Nausea rolled up in my stomach, and I wondered desperately where Kiyo was. I knew he couldn't follow me 24/7, and I suddenly regretted my snide comments about his protection. I wished he were here now. I needed him. I'd never felt so defenseless in my life, not even in that long-lost memory. It was not a state of mind I liked. As I was about to pull the panties down, a slap of wood on glass made all of us jump. The elemental jerked his head around, and I followed his gaze. The patio door was open, and the wind had blown in, knocking over a picture frame on my coffee table. It was a strong wind, one that kept blowing, scattering papers and other objects around. Yet, outside, the sunshine and azure skies of late spring reflected no such disturbance. â€Å"What†¦?† began the elemental. That sharp sound had sort of snapped me out of my anger and fear, and I was suddenly able to notice details more sharply. I could see everything with a new clarity. The air really was thick, the lighting truly darker. I hadn't imagined those things. The angry wind rose and fell with my breathing. Brilliant light slashed the dimness, and we all cried out as it danced around from object to object. At the same time, a deafening roar of thunder filled the room, too big and too loud for the small space. I covered my ears and dropped to the floor. The elemental turned on me. â€Å"Make it stop.† â€Å"What†¦?† â€Å"It's yours! Stop, or you'll kill us all.† I looked around and realized he was right. I couldn't explain it, but I was connected to everything going on in there. The building moisture and humidity. The wind whipping around, scattering things. The electricity charging the air. I could feel it, but I didn't know what to do with it. You're mine, I tried telling it, but nothing happened. This was not like trying to control power with a wand or an athame. This was both within me and outside of me. I could no more stop it than I could stop myself from feeling joy or sorrow or hate. The wind increased, its fury building. A jagged piece of glass flew into my cheek. â€Å"I can't control it,† I whispered. â€Å"I can't.† The elemental looked panicked. So did the spirits. Whereas a moment ago I had felt weak and defenseless, their fear made mine go away. Their fear fed my anger, and I fed the building tempest. I couldn't actually control the storm, but it was expanding out from me. Something else hit me in the shoulder, and moments later, I barely dodged a book flying toward my head. I couldn't control this. I didn't know how. I didn't know anything except that I wanted to live and I wanted my mother to live too. Darkness swirled around us all as great billowing clouds filled the room. More lightning danced around, oblivious to where it traveled. The elemental was right. I would kill one of – Lightning shot out at the spirit holding my mother, forcing her to fall to the ground. He screamed and screamed. It was the most horrible sound I'd ever heard. It was more than a death knell, more than a tortured cry. I covered my ears again, watching as he glowed blindingly bright, then went black, then was nothing. The elemental backed away from me, fear palpably rolling off of him. A tingle along my skin told me what he was going to do. He was so scared, he was going to try to cross back to the Otherworld. Right here, right now, with no crossroads. Doing so had nearly ripped me apart. There was no way he could do it, not when he couldn't even transition to this world in his natural form. He didn't seem to care, however, and suddenly I panicked. What if he could? What if by some miracle he escaped? I couldn't let him get away, not after what he'd done here, not after what he'd tried to do. My need, my anxiety†¦both grew, but I had no way to focus them. I had no idea what had happened to my weapons in this madness. A bolt of lighting blew apart a speaker beside me, and the sound made that ear go deaf. More lightning flared, so strongly and rapidly that I couldn't tell what was real and what was an afterimage. Somewhere, over the thunder, I heard the elemental screaming, although I could no longer see him. It wasn't as horrible as the spirit's cries had been, but it still made my skin crawl. Lightning hit something else beside me, and sharp pieces of whatever it was flew into my arm. I was going to die, I realized. With the spirit. With the elemental. With my mother. Who would have thought the spirits I'd just banished to the Otherworld would be the lucky ones? I buried my face in my hands, trying to block out what I'd created. It didn't help. It was almost like the lightning and clouds existed in my mind as much as in the room. I squeezed my eyes tighter, so much so that they hurt. But nothing changed. The wind roared against me, the thunder shook my house. Dominating it all was the darkness – and the light – as the thunder and lightning came and went. Darkness, light. Darkness, light. Darkness.

CRJ311 Week 3 discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CRJ311 Week 3 discussions - Essay Example Black hair matching the benchmark of the victim will be the first indication that the victim could have been involved, and the suspect could be real. Nevertheless, the possibility of this evidence stands challenge of being circumstantial evidence in a court of law (Robertson & Law, 2007). In a bid to make the case more concrete and formidable, a forensic analysis of the environment of the car will need to be conducted to determine the possibility of the victim having been in the car. Evidences such as fingerprints and body secretion analysis will offer concrete backup of the already present evidence. Additionally, a DNA cross mating in an expertise environment will be used in support of the relationship between the hair and the victim. DNA offers a formidable ground for prosecution thus offering a factual evidence that the suspect was involved in the crime (Devery, 2010). The use of dogs in the criminal investigation has been in existence in the criminal justice for a long time. The use of investigator dogs is as a result of a high developed sense of smell that the dogs have as compared to man. In this relation, in an attempt to improve the efficiency of the investigation, different sub-species of dogs have been employed for this duty owing to the differences in the sense even among the dog species. In most circumstances, arson dogs are used as aids is compilation of pieces of evidence in the determination if fire was accidental or was intentionally caused. The use of these dogs in sniffing inflammable is a time used in a court of law as a proof for intentional cause of the fire. Nevertheless, the main question is the credibility of the findings of the dogs as evidence for conviction. On a personal opinion, the use of evidence from arson dogs in a court of law presents nonfactual ruling. A dog like any other animal could commit