Thursday Thoughts: Universal Betting Pool

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Silver James

Whenever I watched the Mary Martin “live” version of “Peter Pan” as a kid, I ALWAYS clapped for Tinkerbell. You see, I believe in fairies. And Faeries. There is a difference. I also believe in unicorns and angels and ghosts and things that go bump in the night. I had an invisible friend as a child. He wasn’t imaginary. He was very real but I was the only one who coud see him. His name was Loyal (LOY-al) and he was tall, slender, with pointed ears and long hair. He told me was a High Elf, and they were different from the fairies who made toadstool/green grass fairy rings in the yard, and also different from the Fae. My mother would roll her eyes and my dad would simply nod solemnly and go on about his business. Sometines, I thought my dad caught glimpses of Loyal. Maybe not. Anyway, yes, I was that weird kid but I didn’t care. I made up fantastical stories and read others written by actual writers. Imagine my surprise when I first read Tolkien!?! HE knew about the High Elves and the differences. When this little gem dropped into my inbox, I wasn’t too suprised.

The lions and tigers and bears of time and space, Silver, are really the angels and fairies and unicorns that followed you here, in disguise, from world’s beyond, agreeing to poke, unnerve, and awaken you should you ever begin to forget that you’re making it all up… your life, that is.

Now that’s love –
The Universe
©www.tut.com

True, Silver, they also lost the bet that you’d indeed “go human,” commando, no less…

Okay, yes. I’ve gone commando a time or two. Who hasn’t? And I’ve always had an affinity for lions and tigers and bears, especially after playing The Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz.” Golly, if I only had a brain! The point of all of this is without imagination, stories wouldn’t be written, there would be no stories around the campfire, or movies, TV, or art of just about any sort. There’s an interesting point in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changling books. For those not familiar, a brief world overview to this paranormal/alternate future/scifi series. There are changlings. They are shifters and live very close to their animal halves. There are Psy, who are endowed with crazy psychic abilities and who embraced Silence in order to survey some of the crazy. Silence is the absence of emotion. Then there or just normal humans who manage to struggle through against the odds. Guess who is responsible for all the music and the art that gets created? Yup. The plain ol’ humans who live and love and hate and survive by the hairs on their chinny-chin-chins. It’s our very humanity that gives rise to our imaginations. Now it’s up to us to set them free to soar so we can create. My challenge to you today is to go out and create something. Anything. Food. Writing. Music. Art. Crafts. Whatever captures your imagination. And hey, if there are some fairies, unicorms, angels, lions, tigers, and bears involved, all the better! 😉 (Also wolves. Can’t leave out the wolves. Or the horses. 🙂 )

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Wednesday Words: Are We There Yet?

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Silver James

My caldendar shows that it’s Wednesday again so time for some inspiration and new words. The theme for #1lineWed is **DELUSION** and the prompt for #ThursdayThreads is “You know why I’m here.” Today’s snippet is short. I usually embellish what I worked up for the prompts but I didn’t get around to it this week so what you get is the 250-word flash fiction. It’s hard to tell a story or show a scene in 250 words. Try it sometime. 😉 Anyway, I’m not going to set this up for you. You’ll just have to roll with it.
****
Meg wrapped the towel around herself but used one corner to wipe steam off the mirror. She looked…haggard. Unsurprising considering she’d spent weeks getting out of Ukraine. At least she was in shape now. A rueful laugh escaped. Turning away, she marched over to the bed. A small pile of clothes was neatly stacked there, provided by Duke’s beautiful wife. Evidently, once she’d gotten word they were safe, she’d gone on a buying spree. All the kids had new clothes.

She shook out a long skirt and admired the bright colors and silky feel. There was a blouse that went with it, and a shawl. This was date stuff. Like going out with the man of her dreams stuff. Yes, she was delusional. They’d landed. She and the kids had been herded onto a small bus where they’d gotten checked by doctors, fed, and then placed in these barracks. She hadn’t seen Kin in twenty-four hours.

Folding the outfit carefully, she set it aside, choosing soft fleece pants and a pullover instead. There’d be no dates for her. The mission was over. She’d be flying out in a day or two—once she made sure all the kids would be taken care of.

Her door opened on creaky hinges and she whipped around, holding the clothes in front of her like they’d protect her. Yeah, right. Nothing would protect her from the man standing there.

“You know why I’m here,” Kin said.

Okay, maybe not so deluded after all.
****
There you have it. Writers, feel free to do some free writing with one or both prompts and share if you dare. Readers, your question of the day is, “Are we there yet?”–whoever we are and there is… 😉

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: OMGWTFBBQ!

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Silver James

Despite the subject title, this post IS SFW, as opposed to NSFW. Don’t you just love all the acronyms you have to learn to hang out on the internet? Oh, yeah. Me, too. 🙄 So. I’ve been craving BBQ ribs over over a week now. Everytime I think I’m going to get mine, Life happens. Understand, I don’t actually grill/smoke/cook my own ribs. Nope. Not my forte. My dad was the grillmaster. He did all sorts of things on the grill like yummy ribeye steak sandwiches–thin cut ribeye steaks, grilled to perfection and served on homemade buns. The buns? Now those I made using the family yeast roll recipe but rolling them out a little thicker and cutting them bigger. I even have a special “biscuit” cutter that’s the right size. His ribs though? They were the talk of the neighborhood. He started two days in advance, first rubbing and “resting” them then smoking them almost a full day before finishing them up oover an open flame on the grill. They were fall-off-the bone tender, flavorful but the beef/pork flavor came through loud and clear. I’m not patient enough. Period. Luckily, I live in BBQ country and we have a BBQ joint fairly close that does a dandy job with all the meats AND the BBQ sauce. FYI, I also make my own sauce when I’m doing a BBQ brisket. Those are done in the oven, not on a grill so totally in my wheelhouse.

Anyay, I’m still craving BBQ ribs. Also, I’m the only one in the family who likes to eat them–another reason for not going all out to prepare them. LG likes briske–chpped and sliced–and hot links. Oh, and BBQ bologna. Yes, it’s a thing. Don’t ask. I’ll eat fried Spam before I’ll eat bologna. But, you know…whatever. I like crunchy peanut butter, he likes smooth. We’ve still managed to stay married for going on 40 years now.

I promise this will circle back around to writing. Like, right now. I don’t know about other writers but my brain gets these little blips. It’s like it goes dark for a minute, totally unfocused on whatever I was doing or thinking, and when it comes back on line, it’s spewing otu…stuff. Stuff that has nothing to do with anything remotely what I’m working on. This happened yesterday afternoon as I was revising RESCUE MOON and craving BBQ ribs. This is what happened:

Brain: *blip*

Me: *stops reading/typing but still hankering for Earl’s BBQ ribs

Brain: “Lordy, child, but sumthin’ sure got a’hold of you.”
“Yes’m. It surely did.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t rightly know but it sure took a dislikin’ to me.”
“Well, set’cherself up on that table so I can get a good look at’cha. What’s your name, girl? Where’d you come from?”
Brain: *returns to normal function*

I’m not kidding. That conversation popped into my head and after it replayed a couple of times, I figured I’d better write it down. So I did. On my white board. Have I mentoned I love my white board? I do. Totally. Thing is, I have no clue who these characters are, where they live, what *it* is, or anything else that’s going on. Will it turn up in a book some day? Probably. Why? Because my brain is totally this:

It’s stuff like this that keeps me awake at night. I have no excuse. It’s just the way I’m wired. Some days, I’m amazed I get anything at all done. Thos that’s today’s bit of writing weirdness. My question to y’all, are you a fan of BBQ? If so, what do you make or are you lazy like me and just get it from the restaurant because…instant gratification!

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Labor Day Monday

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Silver James

How can it already be Labor Day?!? And how come it took so long to arrive?!? Ah, the conundrum of time. However it happened, today is Labor Day. Lake people are at the lake. BBQ pitmasters are manning their grills. There’s baseball. And for once, our temps are too bad. Usually, Labor Day is one of the hottest days of the year but the weather has been funky of late and it’s not supposed to get out of the hight 80s today. I’ll take it!

So, there was a week and a weekend and I’m sure y’all are waiting with bated (or baited, as the case may be) breath for my update. Saturday was “First Saturday,” which normally means storm siren test for the Ham radio club, followed by lunch with the Kids at our fave Mex restaurant. Only is also a HAM, like her dad. Anyway, LG went alone. The Kids went up the turnpike to visit Baseball Boy’s dad. I stayed home because Boone stresses when we all leave. When we’re gone several hours, I always worry that we’ll get home and find him…gone. It’s time, but I don’t really want him to cross the Rainbow Bridge alone. Anyway… No Mex for us but we’re celebrating LG’s and Uncle Fix-It’s birthdays tonight over dinner at a fave pizza place.

I splurged last week. For some reason, my body chemistry hates the letters on my computer keyboard. The letters I type the most are usually gone within a month of instally a new board. That’s one reason I used to buy plastic covers. Then the people that made covers for my split/ergo keyboard stopped. So I resorted to stuckers allegedly made for that very reason. Except the glue got sticky and the sticker started sliding around. Yes, yes, this is a first world problem but when you live by the keyboard, it’s important. Well, I found a set of stickers that was BIG for us old folks who don’t see as well in our dotage. I spent a whole $7.18 (free Prime shipping but sales tax) to get a set that was for EVERY key, not just the letters. I can tell at glance now which key is ENTER and which is SHIFT. Yayayayay! It’s the little things. I have to admit that it took me almost an hour. I can only hope this set has a better quality stickem.

Reading this past week was something of a drought. I finished RUBY FEVER (Hidden Legacy #6) early in the week. I LOVED it. Love the whole series and I hope the husband/wife team known as Ilona Adrews will keep going with another 3-book story arc for the youngest Baylor sister. Anyway, I had something of a book hangover anyway. Then I looked at the more recent releases in the series of the next new release I’ve pre-ordered, which drops tomorrow. In looking back, I realized that the last three in that series had disappointed me in many ways and I just couldn’t work up the interest to reread in prep for the new one. Sadly, nothing else jumped out at me either. Good thing I started the week 9 books ahead of schedule on my yearly Goodreads reading challenge. Anyway, I’ll give DESPERATION IN DEATH a listen when it arrives in Audible. It’s been weird not have a book to listen to as I puttered around doing errands, laundry, and other stuff. Ah well.

Sports! My OSU Cowboys had an awesome game Thursday night against Central Michigan. OU beat UTEP. My Cards are rocking. As of typing this, they’re 7/5 games ahead. If they won yesterday (yes, I AM setting this up Sunday afternoon while watching/listening to the game) and the Brewers lost, they’ll be up 8.5 games. Really hoping they make the playoffs because…Waino, Yaki, and Pujohls last year. It’s historic! Yes, I am a Cards nerd. Sorry, not sorry.

And in case you are wondering, I AM not ignoring a writing update. There were new words on CROSSFIRE this past week. In better news, I also made some serious progress on the re-revisions of RESCUE MOON. Not done yet, but I’m a lot closer. I’ve fixed a couple of problems that had been niggling at the back of my mind. I figured out how to handle both, found the spots, and fixed it. I’ve added 5K words this go-round. It really will be a better book when I’m finished. Hopefully, the rereads/last pass of the other 3 will go much faster and easier. Part of the problem is that RESCUE MOON is the manuscript that disappeared when I had a minor computer meltdown. I couldn’t find it for weeks, and I thought it was all but ready to upload for publication. Then it reappeared and I was soooo thankful! It meant I didn’t have to go back and start over. Thing is, considering some of the typos and other things, I’m starting to think the copy that reappeared was one of the auto-saves before I’d finalized the last past, which was almost done when the ethernet ate it. Anyway, good thing I decided to give it another look. Not that it totally sucked, but yeah, it was pretty sucky, hence my fixing it.

And there you have it. That’s my week/weekend in a nutshell. Mostly good stuff, nuttin’ truly bad, cooler temps (of course, anything under 100 feels cooler around here!), and some rain. S’all good. What about ya’ll?

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Friday Sinema: Trumpets Blaring

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Silver James

Okay. So y’all know I’m a big fan of baseball and softball. And baseball has some…odd traditions. Like singling “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs). Or singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway Park in Boston. I have no clue why Red Sox fans do this. And what would a ballgame be without the stadium organ playing short bursts of familiar tunes. There’s also walk-up music when the home-field batters come out of the dugout and get in the batter’s box. With the advent of TV, talking heads, and commercial messages, walkup music is usually overshadowed. The players get to pick their own and the only one I can name is the Cincinnati Reds Joey Votto. His song, for reasons beyond my knowing, is Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” I know this song and recognize it immediately whenever my Card play the Reds in Cincy. With the advent of the DH (Designated Hitter who hits for the pitcher), pitchers aren’t heralded with their own music. Well, with one exception. Edwin Diaz. Hot-shot relief pitcher for the New York Mets. Someone, somewhere (could have been him, again, no clue), Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco” was played. Now it’s a tradition. Trumpet (no clue what is real name is) is from Australia. Until the other night, he’s never been to an American major league baseball game. Now he’s a fan. Why? Because he performed live when Diaz made his entrance from the bullpen. I’ll admit, it was pretty cool. And I kinda like the song so there ya go. Anyway, a bit of side trip on this Friday. Have a great weekend! I’ll be watching baseball. My Cards are playing the Cubs at home in Busch Stadium.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Doubts

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Silver James

It’s Thursday again. I shouldn’t be but I am always slightly amazed that the days roll by so swiftly. As a kid, time stretched endlessly. Summer was long and lazy, school a hazy conundrum on the far horizon. And then it was the end of August and I was back in school and each vacation break seemed a far distant hope. The end of the year and any hope of the freedom of summer was a millenium away. Now I’m old and I look over my shoulder and think, Wait. What? It was just Saturday. Or Sunday. I forget which. How can it be Thursday all of a sudden? Which has nothing to do with today’s message from the Universe, except it sort of does, in a weird, roly-poly way. The older I get, the more self-doubts I have, especially when it comes to my writing. Am I too old to be in touch with the new batch of readers coming up? Are my storys/characters/etc. worth reading? This is especially true when it comes to editing and revisions. Which is why I probably shouldn’t go back and look at a manuscript once I finally say, “Enough!” so I can get it formatted and uploaded, or emailed to my editor. Due to some technically issues (like losing the whole damn document after revisions!), I knew I had to go back through RESCUE MOON. I did not anticipate real life being such a witch so that it’s taken way longer than it should. Which just gives more time to doubt.

Always listen to your doubts, Silver.

Not just because they might teach you of your fears, but because, sometimes, they might teach you of your wisdom.

Lovin’ it all,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Deeper than most will get, huh, Silver?

The Big U is right. Sometimes, the doubt teaches us wisdom. I’m learning that there’s a reason I’m going back through RESCUE MOON. I’ve added over 4K words and I still (as of the composing and scheduling of this post on Wednesday) have six chapters and the epilogue to go. In rereading it, I’ve discovered that, with this book at least, more is better. I’m reaching deeper into the emotions and thoughts of the hero and heroine. I’m stretching the action with a bit more description to better set the scene. I’m choosing my words more carefully. That’s all good. Even so, once I get it uploaded and I’m waiting for it to go live, for that first sale, and that first review, I will doubt myself. I will wonder if I chose the right words, if tinkering with it made it better or worse. Such is the nature of the beast. If writing was easy, everyone would do it, right? 😉 Truth time. How many of you have ever wanted to write a book? I don’t care if you did or not. That’s not the question. I’m just curious about how many thought about it.

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Wednesday Words: No Bones About It

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Silver James

Ah ha! I didn’t lose track of days or time or forget that I thought I’d posted when I hadn’t. Progress! Once again, we’ve reached midweek and it is time for new words. Today’s #1lineWed theme is **HOWEVER** and the #ThursdayThreads prompt is: “No bones broken.” As always, I took the original 250-word flashfiction and added to it to make a more complete scene. On the timeline, this is getting toward the end of our intrepid heroes’ trek through the Carpathian Mountains.
****
Snow melted into rain and the trail turned hazardous with rivulets of of water turning dirt to mud and rock slick. A steep slope loomed on one side and a cliff that dropped down toward the river snaked along beside them. Dalton, in the lead, paused to glance up at the summit. They had to get over this pass and then it would be all downhill to the border. Will luck, a rescue party would be waiting for them. He turned partially and lifted his chin to Duke, who walked in the middle of their group.

“Not too far now. There’s a tight bend ahead. Single file.”

Duke nodded and passed the word while Petrov translated for the children. Dalton set off again. The kids were starting to flag and he was on the lookout for a wide spot where there was maybe someplace dry to sit and rest. Somebody cried out behind him. He had just enough time to turn and watch as Maxim, who had slipped and fallen, slid over the edge of the cliff. Galyna flopped forward and scrabbled to grab the teen’s arm. She hung on with both hands but Maxim’s weight was pulling her toward the edge. Dalton and Petrov valiantly scrambled to reach her but Duke got there first. He snatched the back of her coat and hauled. The girl cried out, her hands losing their grip on Maxim as Duke leveraged her back onto the trail.

All the adults slowly navigated around the kids, bunching them into a tight group as they passed. A hurried discussion and then ropes appeared from packs. Kin and Loch created Swiss Seats from the ropes and carabiners. Strapped in, they worked their way over the edge and down the cliff to the small ledge where Maxim had managed to find a handhold and wedge himself in. It didn’t take the two Wolves long to get him packaged.

Duke watched Kin and Loch carefully maneuver the makeshift sling up the rocky cliff. Tank, Dalton, and Uri handled the ropes belay. The kid kept insisting he was okay and could climb up on his own. He wanted to kick himself—again—for sending both of their medics back in the helo with all the sick, injured, and younger kids. Then again, he hadn’t anticipated the weather—and the Russians—turning on them before the helo could return..

With infinite care, Maxim was lifted over the edge, followed quickly by the two Wolves scrambling up after him. Meg knelt beside the boy, her hands hovering just above him. She glanced up at Duke.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Dalton, still curling one of the ropes, appeared and squatted next to her. “Where does it hurt, Max?”

“I am fine,” the boy insisted.

“Yeah, right. And I’m Tina Karol.”

Meg stared at Dalton. “Well, your hair is the same color and you’re almost as pretty. You could be her brother maybe.”

Max grimaced but tried vainly to grin through it. “She is much nicer. She came to the hospital once. Maryska and I met her. She is my sisters favorite singer.” His eyes widened. “I have now met two big stars. Tina and Vadim.”

While Max talked, Dalton did a quick hands-on examination and pronounced, “No bones broken.” The boy started to push up, then gasped and laid back on the ground. “You have, however, probably cracked some ribs.”

Duke wondered which the hell god they’d pissed off.
****
And there you have it. I truly feel Duke’s pain. We’ve all been in the spot where even when we’re trying to do good, nothing goes right. Writers, feel free to be inspired and share. Readers, let’s not be negative today–especially since my computer froze in the middle of this but it managed to save most of this post so yay! That’s my good thing. What’s good that’s happened to you today?

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Tueday Treats and Titles: Oops

Posted on August 30, 2022 by Silver James

You know when you think you remember doing something because you were thinking about doing it and then got distracted and stuff happened and then more stuff happened and then real life says “Pay attention to me!” and you sorta have to and time passes and then all those restless nights that intterrupted a solid night’s sleep sort of avalanche and your brain craters and you’re asleep before 10 p.m.? Yeah. That.

Today is all about the coffee because I’m gonna need every drop I can consume. It rained yesterday. Good, old-fashioned thunderstorms. The storm dragons were having a ball and we desperately needed the rain. Normally, a day like that puts me in a writing mood but for some reason, yesterday put me into a listening -to-a-book mood. Listening to someone else’s words while editing personal words is a dangerous proposition. No apologies. I finished Ilona Andrews’s RUBY FEVER and loved every freaking minute of it. It’s one of those books that I want to write–you know the kind that when you finish it, you feel like this…

I should add here that the joy of audio books means that yoour hands are free for snacks, dinner, breakfast, lunch…did I mention snacks? Oh, and ice cream! That was my treat, after I finished off the leftover chicken pasta salad (easy peasy with packaged grilled chicken, Ronzoni veggie pasta, jullienne carrots, chopped onions, celery, sliced black olives, fresh grated Parmesan cheese and Skinny Girl Balsamic Vigneratte dressing) followed by two scoops of Blue Bell Moo-llinium Ice Cream. So that’s my late post today. Since I’m wallowing in my book depression, I won’t be opening another book for awhile and I fully intend to get my own damn book ready to publish, hence the need for copious amounts of caffeine. What about y’all…do you occasionally suffer from book depression?

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Fifth Monday

Posted on August 29, 2022 by Silver James

Ya know, it really sucks when the calendar saddles us with 5 Mondays. FIVE!!!! It’s not fair, I tell you! Not fair at all. 😮 *exaggerated sigh*

Okay, move along. Nothing to see here. Which, sadly, is true. We didn’t win either of the lotteries. I didn’t suddenly lose a bunch of weight. None of my books hit a best seller list. I stalled out on edits and revisions for a variety of reasons, none of which actually fly but there’s no way to turn back the clock for do-overs.

There was baseball. This is always a highlight of my life, especially when my Cards win.They’re six games ahead in the NL Central. College football started this past weekend. My OSU (the REAL OSU) plays Central Michigan this Thursday night. Luckily, that’s a travel day for my Cards so no conflict. I need to figure out some sort of football-game appropriate dinner. I might just have to break down and go for outside BBQ because ribs sound pretty tasty. Or maybe a brisket because I have one in the freezer but I’m sort of holding it for Labor Day. Or not. Anyway…

I need more coffee but today is Wallyworld day. That means I restrict myself to one cup because…reasons. Still, coffee is my BFF and I will have made a Starbucks stop on the way home.

I’ve finished my marathon relisten to Ilona Andrews’s Hidden Legacy series and have started RUBY FEVER, that should be the final book in Catalina’s thrilogy. I’m really looking forward to what happens. This husband and wife team are amazing worldbuilders, purveyors of action-packed storylines and interesting characters.

Pete came in for a bit last night. No hissing or barking. Jake is all “whatever.” Boone just wanted to get a good sniff. Loki was MIA. Pete retreated under the bed. Eventually, the dogs wandered off and Pete emerged. He jumped on the bed, did a bit of exploratory sniffing then ducked back under the bed. Several minutes later, he checked out the bed, the rope wrapped headboard that Loki uses as a claw sharpener, then back under the bed. Eventually, I called him out and he came. I then gave him the option of returning to the garage, which he happily took. I don’t think he will ever be a true indoor cat but I’d like him to be comfortable enough to come in and stay during the coldest days.

The Ring Doorbell still insists the skunk is a person. The big stray dogs? Not a peep and a late activation on motion. Early this morning, Smudge kitty and the skunk were eating together from opposite ends of the same dish. I have it on video so it happened. Crazysauce, right?

And on that note, that’s pretty much the sum total of last week and this weekend. Oh, there was a long nap in there Saturday afternoon. It was nice. We’ll see what this week brings. What about y’all? Anything happening in your worlds?

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Friday Sinema: Southern Drivers

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Silver James

Sadly, It’s a Southern Thing evidently does not consider Oklahoma to be a southern state. Or, they flunked geography and think that we’re just part of Texas. Also sadly, almost all of these scenarios culd apply to folks ’round here. While we poke fun at ourselves, I shudder to think about all the nothern states I’ve driven in. This would be gospel for them. 😉 Have a great weekend! And be careful out there….

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