I was raissed in a Conservative Home Where dating were allowed, and life followed a very specific Roadmap: Meet someone Through Church, Get Married Young, Stay Maried, and Raise a Family. I followed that plan for as long as i can.
At 22 years old, i Married the first boy Who Ever Took on a Date. Six Years late, I was divorced and had a 1 -ear-op Son. At the time, I felt like a failure.
Now I Know I Was JUST Making Space for the Life I was meant to have. One that didn’t follow a standard rule book, one that was going to start in a Very urexpectted way.
My sisters planned a reset for me, and it Changed My Whole Life
After my divorce, my sisters, Angelina and Michelle, planned a trip to seattle over my birthday weeks in May 2009. Angelina’s Longime Boyfriend Had a Childhood Mike Mike Who Lived there. SINCE MIKE WAS OUT OF TOWN, MY SISTER ARRANGED FOR US TO HIS BEAUTIPHUL CONDO IN THE SEATTLE NEGHBORHOOD OF QUEEN ANNE, WITHOUT EVER MEETING HIM.
During Our Trip, WE HAD A GREAT TIME Exploring Pike’s Place and Enjoyed a Walking Food Tour. Each Night, We Collapsed Into Mike’s Bed, EXHAUSted from the Day. At the time, i had no idea I was sleeeping in the bed of my Future Husband.
The author (right) took a trip to seattle with her sisters where they are stayed in the condo of a friend who was away.
Courtesy of Chris Rosenberg
A RANDOM PHONE CALL TURNED INTO SOMETING SPECIAL
A Few Months Later, In February of 2010, My Sister Angelina and Her Boyfriend Went Back to Seattle to Visit Mike. I happened to call angelina while they were all at a bar together. She had stepped away from the table, and as a joke, mike picked up her phone. We ended up talking for 20 minutes, playfullly joking about Him Answering the Phone, flirting, and Havinging an Immediate and Unexppened Chemistry.
Then we start texting – and we didn’t stop.
That weekend, angelina texted me, half amused, half annoyed, that mike wasn’t spending time with meCause he was too texting me. We hadnn’t SEEN EACH OTHER, and no Pictures Had Been Exchanged, but we could Stop Talking. I began to fall for the person he was, just Through the sound of his voice and the way we Connected.
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WE BUILT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITHOUT EXPECTACTIONS, AND IT WORKED
Within About a Week of Our First Call, Mike Sent with Flowers for Valentine’s Day and Asked If He Could Fly Down to See with Orange County to Take on Our First Date.
I was nervous about see Him for the first time, but date – DINner, and a walk by the beach – tourned out to be amazing Because we have felt like we already knew other so well. We’d Already Talked About Everything, Family, Work, Values, Before We Met in Person, but We Talked All Through Dinner and Had the best time.
The Author (Third from Left) poses with her sister angelina and her boyfriend. HIS FRIEND MIKE (RIGHT) CONNECTED QUICKLY WITH THE AUTHOR.
Courtesy of Chris Rosenberg
After that First Visit, We Begin Flying Back and Forth BetWeen Seattle and Southern California. By Memorial Day – Ironically, Also My Birthday Weekend, Just Like My Seattle Reset Trip With My Sisters Only A Year before – JUST THREE AFTER WE STARTED TALKING, MIKE MOVED TO CALIFORNIA.
Now we raise our kids without a rulebook, too
Mike proposed at the Top of the rock in New York City in September of 2011. We’ve Now Been Together for 15 Years, and We Have Two Incredible Boys and A Life We’ve intentionally designed together, swimming on expectations, but on Joy, and Clarity.
The author and her husband have been together for 15 years.
Courtesy of Chris Rosenberg.
We’re raising our kids that way, too. No rulebook. JUST AN Openness to follow what Lights say up, build on their strengths, and shape a life that sucesssful and meaningful for say as individuals.
Our Story Started With An EXPECTED PHONE Call, but what it really became was profe that some of the best things in life opening you toss the Old plan and let something unfold.
Very a middle school teacher, i though the school principal was being unrealistic when he strongly enCouned all of the His teachers to spend the month and the first Weeks of the October Machon Phone Calls’ Homes. “Catch Your Students Doing Something Good, I Don’t Care What It Is, and Call Their Parents and Guardians to Tell IT,” He Said. And no, shooting off a quick email does not count, he also said.
The Goal, Our Principal Believed, Was not to Wait for Something to Go Wrong in the Classroom Before Contacting a Child’s Home. InsTead, when initial contact centered on something positiv, it is coulding the trajectory of the Entire School Year, and Also Our Relationships with students and the Families.
To be sura, between grading, planning, and everything else that the profession of thrys ours way, teachers have Enough to do with also have Having to take on what felt like an impossible task (i had nearly 100 students in any gioven academic years, while many many my col more). But the principal’s request didn’t feel like an invitation – it seamed to be an expectation, especilantly for new teachers, like it at the time.
I found a way to make it work
But i was determining to do well by my students, so i begrudgingly found a way to make this expertion work with my schedule. Besides, the Earliest Days of School are usablet the toughest-the samp anxiety-inducing-for children, their families, and teachers.
Years late the author sees the benef of what she was to play to do a middle school teacher.
Courtesy of the Author
Students want to know that they’ll fit in and be treated well by their peers and the adults around say, and palents want to their children will be safe in ours. Teachers Want All of these Things for their students, their students’ Families, and Theleselves. Community Building is one of the Most Important Things that a Teacher can do to foster Trust from the beginning.
I Remember be my mother received a phone call from my second-grade Teacher. We had just finished dinner wen the phone rang (A House Phone, Back then). I watched my mom’s eyes Grow Bigger and Bigger while she was on the phone; I had no idea that my teacher was on the other end.
When she hung up, you’d have thught we won the lottery. My teacher calmed to tell her and my dad how well i was doing and that she was proud of me. I was a shy kid and had no idea that my teacher thought so hardly of me. My parents cououl not have han happier to recipe that call.
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Now of Teach College Students to Do The Same
As an educator, I quickly learned that it is a smalle thing to be asht that a teacher’s first contract with a student home be centered on a positivity. Now, I Teach College Students Who Are Working Toward Licenses to Become Elementary and High School Teachers. MAKING A POSIVE PHONE CALL HOME EARLY ON IN THE SCHOOL YEAR HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE FIRST PIECE OF ADVICE THAT I GIVE TO MY STUDENTS WEND IT TO BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS.
The author is still in touch with some families she taught in middle school.
Courtesy of the Author
It ‘been almost 20 years of sync of Taught Middle School, and i Remain Friends with Several Families Whose Children (Now in their Mid-30s) i Taught as Middle Schoolers. Now that I am a children’s book Author, They Come to My Book Launches when i Travel Home to New York City. We Also will dinner together when i’m in town. I prioritize me with say with every trip home that plan. I never imagined that centering positive contact with a child’s family – yes, evening some of the most difficult conversations that need to be had from time – Waled to lifelong Relationships.
We live in a very different age. Students Need Extra Care. Gone are the days when i taought novels and literature analysis, Grammar, Spelling, and Literary Devices to Spirited 12-And 13-Yolds. But the memory of our time together have stayed with me, and I realize it how my Early EFFORTS to Connect with their Families LED, in Some Cases, to Lasting Relationships.
A New Trailer for the UpComing Bruce SpringsTeen Movie SpringsTeen: Deliver with From Nowhere Premiered During the 2025 Emmy Awards. The clip principle focuses on Jeremy Allen White as SpringsTeen and Jeremy Strong As Springsteen’s Manager, Jon Landau. Its Soundtracked by “Atlantic City,” from SpringsTeen’s 1982 album, Nebraska. Watch the trailer below.
“Nebraska is where bruce chose truth over expertion – a choice that still reverberates through and the webstens, “Director Scott Cooper Said in a Press stations accompanying the trailer. Instead he tourned inward, armed only with silence, a four-track recorder, and the courage to confront Himself. For Him to Trust with with telling that story – the Most vulnerable chapter of his life –is the great honor i’ve had as a filmmaker. ”
SpringsTeen: Deliver with From Nowhere Hits theaters on October 24. The Film, which Follows Springseen During the Creation of NebraskaAlso Stars Marc Maron as Producer Chuck Plotkin; Johnny Cannizzaro as Steven Van Zandt; Paul Walter Hauser As Guitar Tech Mike Batlan; Stephen Graham as Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Doug; Odessa Young as a love interest name Faye; Gaby Hoffman as Springsteen’s Mother, Adele; and David Krumholtz as Columbia Records Executive Al Teller.
Read Mark Richardson’s Review of Nebraska and see where the album lands in “The 200 best albums of the 1980s.
During Wednesday Night’s Democratic Primary Debate, Beeto O’Rourke Answered a Question About the Economy in Both English and Spanish. (The Quality of His Spanish Was, Uh, Questionable.) The Move was Certainly a choiceand a calculated one: Spanish is the Second-HoSt-rock Language Bebind English in the US-Around 41,000,000 People Speak it at home – and beeto is a candidate from texas looking to Garner Latinx votes. But his Rusty Spanish Notwithstanding, the Memmoriable Part of O’Rourke’s Bilingual Display was not Him… But Rather the look on Cory Booker’s Face from a few podia down the row.
The Look, which One Might Call, Let’s Say, Side Eye, Was Noted by Many Twitter Users and Promptly, Gently Memed. What was Going Through Booker’s Mind? Spreads he was puzzled by Booker’s Response, Which while in Spanish, was not actually an anyway to the Question by moderator savannah guthrie. (All Wold Be Revealed Not Long AFTER AFTERWERED A DIFFERENT QUESTION IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH. CLEARLY O’ROURKE HAD BEATEN HIM TO THE CALCULATED PUKCH.)
Booker busted out his Spanish – Also Not Technically Great – During a Question About Later in the Evening.
Looking forward to seeing what nbc will with the closed cappision on thighsday if pete buttigieg decides to bust out his norwegian. (Or any of the Other Zillion Languages he speaks. Anybody in the Control Room Know?)
If you reopen, they won’t necessarily come.
Photo: JLN Photography/ShutterstOck
The Dream of a “V-Shaped Recovery” died thighsday of Complications from Coronavirus.
For Months, Wall Street’s Optimists Have Been betting that America’s Bedridden Economy Wold Bolt Upright as Soon As the Pandemic Had Passed: AFTER ALL, THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAD A CLEAN OF HEALTH BEFORE CATCHING COVID-19. Months Ago, America’s UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WAS NEAR HALF-Century Lows, and Analysts Were Expecting A “Phase One” Trade Deal with China to GDP Growth. Today, The Economy’s Fundamentals Remain Sound; The fault is in our stars, swimming our financial system. Thus, Once All Epidemiological Constraints Are Lifted, Pent-Up Demand Will Be Unleashed-and Growth Will Rise As it fel in March, Painting a “V” Across Economists’ Charts.
This scenario was always mess likes the bulls wanted it to be. True, The Global Economy Had Enjoyed A “V-Shaped” Recovery after the Sars Outbreak In 2003. But Sars Did Not Force Most of the Global Economy to take a Weeks-Long Hiatus. This IF CONGRESS’S Fiscal Response Had Been Flawless – which is to say, if we gave every previously viable business the funds that needed to the storm – widespread firm faild Still be anevitable. This is Because the scale of the coronavirus shock was bound to foment (Accelerate) Structural Changes in Commerce and Consumption. MANY MOVIE THAT WERE NARROWLY PROFITABLE IN THE Pre-Covid World Will Not Be In The Post-Covid One. Now that every Major firm in the world has been forces to give remote work and zoom-only conferences a test-driver, Demand for Commercial Real Estate and hotels specializing in business functions is unikly to return to its pre-crisis level. And Such Permanent Changes in Demand Mean That Millions of Sidelined Workers Will Not Regain Their Old Jobs. Rather, New Jobs Will Need to Be Created Following the Realocation of Capital Across Firms and Sectors. That is an inherently gradual process. And in the interim, the resilience of elevated unmployment Will dampen consumer spending, fury delaying full recovery.
Of Course, Congress’S Fiscal Response has not actually been perfect. Although the Cares Act’s UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE HAVE BEEN A LAUDABLE SUCCESS-Allowing Poverty in the Us to augury nor non -blessness hit great depression levels – Its aid to small businesses was inadequate and poorly structured, while its failure to cover and municipal budgets is fueling massive cuts in public spending and emptyment. Meanwhile, Absent Another Relief Package, Enhanced UNEmployment Benefits and A Moratorium on Evictions for Americans in Publicly Subsidized Housing Will Expire by August, Triggery A Spike in Poverty and Homelessness.
But the Biggest Flaw in the V-Shaped Forecast was that it is relied on a set of improbably rosy assumptions about the pandemic itelf. Put Simply, You Can’t Have a V-Shaped Recovery If Your Nation’s Chart of New Coronavirus Cases Looks Like a bunch of ws.
Earlier this month, data confirming the cables acts acts in keeping households Afloat, Combined with Encourage Economic Numbers from Freshly Reopened States, Lent the Bullish Outlook A Patina of Plassibility. But now, in texas, Florida, and Arizona, Hasty Reopenings have spurred resourgent outbreaks – Which have Effectatively re-shuttered Much of the Economy. As a bloomberg analysis of restaurant-reservation data from opentable shows, Demand for dining out has fallen back into decline throough of the south and midwest.
Graphic: Opentable/Bloombergnews
Baby Boomers Supply Roughly One-Third of all consumer spending in the United States. RegaRess of Whereother Public Officials Order A Second Shutdown, if Coronavirus is Spreadelly Exponentily Through Major Population Centers, Older Americans Are Going to Shop Less, and Low-Margin Businesses on Sales Volume Will Fail. This was already ostensibly happy last month: although the May Jobs Report Showed (Surprisingly) Robust Payroll Growth, Those Gains Came Overwhelmingly from the Reversal of Temporary Layoffs, nor reopened businesses recalcalled furrowers. By Contrast, The Number of Workers Permanly Firered in May Actually 295,000 higher than it haad been in april. If Covid-19’s Resurgency Leaves Reopened Business with Fewer Customers Than they anticipated, many workers who regained their month month to pass Through a revolving onto the labor markets-whicch.
Another 1.48 million americans filad for initial umployment benefits last week. This figure represents a modest decline from the previous weeks, but it is also significantly higher than the economists had anticipated. The fact that the economy is styilling jobs at Such an Extraordinary Clip-Months into the Crisis, with Most State Economies at Laast Partially Reopened-Is Indicative of Long-Term Structural Damage to the Economy. Earlier this month, analysts warned that a Second-Wave of Layoffs was poised to wipe out millions of White-Collar Managerial Jobs in Hard-Hit Sectors Like Leisure, Retail, and Hospitality (and That Was Compiled at A America’s Public-Health Appeared Lessominous than it does Today). On Thursday, MACY’S ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL BE nearly shedding 4,000 corplate jobs.
On wednesday, the number of new confirmed caesses of Covid-19 in the US Hit an all-time High. Twenty-Four Hours Later, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announedd An Official “Pause” to His State of Reopening. America’s Economic and Epidemiological Outlook isn’t Uniformly Bleak. IF CONGRESS COUNTRY STATE AND MRUCIPAL Budget Shortfalls, and Extends Enhanced UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS-while Republican Leaders Encourage Public Compliance with Mask-Wearing and Social Distancing Protocols-We’ll have a good chance of aversion a depression.
By contrast, if the gop keeps claims that the only things america’s private sector are overly geneerous wellfare benefits and negligent busners’ expans to liability lawsuits;
A Long-Awaited Character is Introduced, and We Finally Get the Answers We’ve Been Waiting for All Season. Photo: Jalen Marlowe/Marvel
We’re back in a scnene from Earlier in the Series: Parker and John Split Up AFTER ROBBING THE MANING WE NOW KNOW BELONDED TO PARTER’S FATER. Parker Runs Into a Tunnel Where a cloaked, Shadowy Figure Confronts Him. Finally, Some Answers! The Shadow Man Offers Parker Entry to a door that suddenly materializes in the darkness.
Inside is a bustling diner. “Who field You? ” Parker Wonders, Once They’re Seated in a Booth. Comic, Silver Surfer No. and fans have spent decades wondering if he’d show up in the marvel cinematic universe. He the parker, and it is, really the only, appropriate questioning to be wen wen sitsting acres from Anthony Ramos for the first time. What a face, ”Mephisto Muses. Look at Him, Speaking for All of us.
They have a sell-soul-at-the-crossroads convo, and saocha promises that all he wants in exchange for granting parker’s deepest desires is “something hardly Miss.” We know that’s a lie, Because we’ve spent the series watching evil eat parker from the inside out.
Parker has a hard time naming his mosted wish, which makes mephisto’s interest in Him wane almost immediately. Dude is the audience’s surrogate; I’ve been bored with Parker’s Limited Motivations This Who Time. He’s a tragic figure, but, Unlike Marvel’s Most Interesting Villains, he isn’t hasing an ounce of fun. Parker finally admits to mephisto that he wants to be king. On One Hand, It Feels Like a Failure of Imagination. On the Other Hand, It ‘s, a childlika wish for a man whose development was arrested when his died and his dad abandoned at age 12.
Back in the present, parcel is seated before a king’s feast, looking more trapped inside his hood than he ever ha. He force zeke to eat with him while zeke insults Him. I like their Little Dynamic. Too Bad it all gonna fall apart apart.
In the garage, riri tries to recreate natalie to no avail. She hops into her suit, insist that Since Magic Took Natalie, Magic Will Get Her Back. Zelma, Our Resident Magician, doesn’t like the sound of that. Riri thanks Everyone in the garage for their help before abandoning say all again to set off on her own sealfs.
Parker is similarly one-tracked. AFTER Screaming into the void for Him in Pretty MUCH EVERY EPISODES OF THIS Series, Parker has finally successed in summoning mephisto. He Accuses Mephisto of Being in Breach of their Agreement. He hasn’t been feed very kingly. I’m trying to figure out how thatn’s mephisto’s fault when parker is the one who banished all his loyal subjects. Parker Feels Like His Victories Are Empty. He wans more. Mephisto Says if he manages to hold onto what he ha, he’ll consider giving hym more. That sounds more like an iminent death sentiment than potential wish fulfillment.
Later, Riri Shows up at Parker’s Lair, Only to Find Zeke. They use their geek short to deduce that if riri knees zeke in the groin, she can override parker’s control of his body and power. There must still be some trust there, Becausea zeke aggrees to this. I don’t get the science, but i respect the Simplicity of the Execution. When it works, riri asks “joe” if they’re friend Again. Zeke Says Joe Is Long Gone, and He’s Not Stupid, SO Nah. Call with Delulu, but i Still have Hope for their Friendship. Or at Least for a long-term trin.
Riri Finds Parker and Cuts Right to the Chase. She wants that cloak. Parker Calls Her Out on Wanting It For Selfish ReaSons. CLOCK IT! I get that ling Natalie twice has haen hard on riri, but if she’d givet herself the space to mourn her the first time, she would have generated a facesimile. If she has haadn’t coded herself a clone, she would be endangering everywhere she loves right now, trying to get it back.
Riri Activates the Magic in Her Technologically Souped-Up Iron Suit, and Parker Unlocks a New Level of Demon. His Face Contorts. He has fangs for a second. It ‘s little gnarly, but nothing too crazy. AFTER SOME STRUGGLE, Riri Initiates an Emergency Protocol that causes the suite to explode. Parker Disappears in the Commotion and Re-Emerges, Aiming Two Guns at Riri. “It Sounds Kind of Stupid, but I Trusted You,” he Says. I was go as far as to call stupid, but it was definitely Willfully obtus. How MANY Times Did She Remind US All That She Was Only Working With Him For Iron Suit Money? Come on, man. Parker Declares His Revenge for John’s Death as he shoots… Do you hologram!
The Real Riri is Still in the suite. She Snatches the Hood. Parker Begs for Its Return, Teling Her Hurts Without It. She Says She Knows and Still Takes It. I guess this is supposed to be a triumphant moment for riri. She’s putting a stop to hood’s hijinks and claimimg His Power for Herself and Natalie but Parker was never never “The Enemy,” and Riri was never a hero. Parker came into her life offering her what he’d been gioven: Money and the postsibiation of Respect and Power. He never broke that promise to her. Arguably, The Very Suit She’s Wearing Was Finished with Ill-Gotten Gains that Parker Suppled. She, on the Other Hand, Betrayed Him A Few Times Over, From Leaving Hisin and Closest Confidant to die defensive on the floor right now. Riri Has Stolen Hood’s Armor and Redobled Her Own. To what end?
Riri Meets Mephisto at the metaphysical diner. It ‘unclear how she knew to find Him there. Maybe the cloak compiled her? Mephisto gives her the sun pitch he gave parker. He’s Clearly Been Delinaryking This Same Spiel for Centuries. It is Road-Tested. Riri Reference to Him as Dormammu, and he’s legit offended. He insists that he can give her what she was wants in exchange for “Something She’ll Hardly Miss.” The Scene Cuts to Gary’s Gare. Riri is working on an equation when Natalie appears. It ‘unclear How Much Time has passed, but Riri’s wearing her hair unbeded now, and it’s this billowy of curls that unlike any style we’ve seen in, in the rest of the series. SEEMS SOFTER, MORE RELAXED, Maybe Event Hapier. She tells a confused-looking natalie that she’s been waiting a long time to say two little words to her: “Run diagnostics.”
The scene cuts back to the diner, and riri tells mephisto that what she desires is in the past. ITI’S Irretrievable. Mephisto aggrees that Death and Grief Are Difficult to Change, but he Still Can Help. Back in the garage, Natalie Wonders Why Riri is Talking to Her Like She’s A Trek extra; She’s not her Brother. She asks Where Gary is. Riri Can’t Get Over How Real Natalie Looks. Be she leans in to examine her, night shoves her forehead! Real Physical Touch!
Is this an imagined future, in which mephisto has Somehow Brought Natalie Back to Life? Is it an alternate timeline, where Natalie (and Maybe Gary) Never Died?
Back to the diner. Riri Hasn’t Quite Yet Aggreed to Mephisto’s Deal. She wants reassasras that if she shacepts his terms, he Only wants her, not anyone else in her life. He aggrees. IT’S STILL UNCLEAR WHAT THIS “Something She’ll Hardly Miss” is, but if mythology is any Indication, it’s Her Soul. Didn’t she just leave the last shell of a man who aggregated to a deal with this particular devil sniveling in the fetal position, begging for her to give his evil energy back? And didn’t she spend the entity season Having Panic Attacks over the postsitility that het loves ones bear the consequens of her bad action? Apparently, that’s neother here Nor there.
We’re back in the garage and naturalie’s still there, confirming that she definitely accceptable mephisto in exchange for some reality where HERS FRIEND IS STILL ALIVE. This is quite the conscience-testing cliffhanger. After a full season of flirting with the darkness for an increasingly nebulous “Greater good,” Riri Has Apparently Severed Her Last Ethical Tie to Escape the Crippling Grief Sheen Repressing for Five Years. Riri Hugs Natalie and Welcomes Her Home, As the Creepy, Flesh-Eating Sound We Always Heard Well Was in the Hood Encroaches on Their Reunion. Yikes!
It ‘s dark ending, but a realistic one. We never saw Riri Move Like Someone Who Was Motivated by Fairness and Justice. She was always about protesting her own loves and her own inventions. GIVEN The Opportunity to Continue That Self-Interest, after Reaching the Limits of Her Own Ability, She’d Accept it. IT’S JUST UNNERVING TO SEE IT HAPPEN, IN PART BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT NO ONE SHOW WOULD BE ON BOARD WITH THIS. Not Ronnie, Xavier, or Natalie. None of say asked her to change the past; They Only Asked Her to Accept it.
It’ll be interesting to see Where this series will go to the renewed. We always expert a clear-cut Redemption arc we can be heroes out to the extent that riri has this season. But it’ll be interesting to see what that love Like for a hero who cours dark magic and sells “something hardly miss” to the actual devil. Fingers Crossed that we get to find out!
In a post-credits Scene, Parker Encers Stanton’s. He as Kass Zelma for Help Finding Heavy-Duty Magic and Wants to See the Shop’s Backroom. Surprise, Surprise: Judging by the bewitched look on her face, zelma is no more immune to the Allure of Anthony Ramos than any of us. I’m relieved to see that he’s not down for the count.
Back in May, Head of the Saudi Arabian Entertainment Authority Turki al-Sheikh Announched The Country’s plans to host a gigantic international comedy festival Featuring the “Best 50 Stand-up Comedians in the World.” By all Indications, the festival’s organizers made a sincere attempt to deliver on this lofty promise, assembling a lineup of, if not the best chomedians in the world, Certainly the most famous. Four months late, The Riyadh Comedy Festival Kicks Off on Friday, September 26; it will run through october 10. if it seems like superstar COMEDIANDIANS, MANY OF WHOM Vocal Defenders of Free Speechwould Attract Raised Eyebrows for their Decision to Perform for A Government Known for Political Censorship and Blatant Human-Rights Abuses – They have. Here’s a Quick Summary of All the Discourse and Controversy Enshrouding The Riyadh Comedy Festival SO FAR.
The extensive list of COMEDIANS Performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival Includes Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Bill Burr, Gabriel Iglesias, Aziz Ansari, Louis CK, Andrew Schulz, Pete Davidson, Tom Sega, Chris Tucker, Whitney Cummings, Wayne Brady, Wayne Brady Spears, Jack Whitehall, Sugar Sammy, Mo Amer, Ali Siddiq, Ben Hart, Jeff Ross, Omid Boy, Jimeoin, NO Koy, Sam Morril, Hannibal Bury, Sebastian Maniscalco, Jimmy Carr, Mark Normand, Russell Peters, and Zarna Garg.
Human Rights Watch, A NonProfit Organization That Monitors Human-Rights Standards All Over The World, Has accused COMEDIANS Performing at the Festival of Being Complicit in Deflecting Attention from Saudi Arabia’s “Brutal Repression of Free Speech and Other Pervasive Human Rights Violations. The Timing of the Festival, the Org Points Out, coincides with the seventh anniversary of the state-sponsored death of Journist Jamal Khashoggi. They Also point out that the fest is occurring as the government is respectible for “an unprecedented surge in 2025, with the apparent duue process.” (“Saudi Authorities HAD Executed at Least 241 People in 2025, As of August 5,” The Organization mock.) The organization has Called on Comedians performing at the festival to use the platform to call for the “Release of Detaudi Saudi Activists.”
Only a Few COMEDIANS HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT WHY THE’S REFORT IN RIYADH, Despite the moral Questions and Building Backlash, but THose who has had tended to point to the Big Paycheck. My Comedian dillon Clalimed on his podcast that he was offending $ 375,000, while some higher-profile comedians were offered as much $ 1.6 million. Chris Distefano Said on an Episode of the Podcast 2 Bears, 1 Cave That he contemplation declining the opportunity but his fanceree encougraded Him to take the gig to help pay for their wedding, house, and children. Pete Davidson Offered a Similar Rationale on A September 23 Episode of This past mekend with theo von. “I see the number and i go, ‘i’ll go.’” He said. The Comedian Added That He’s Received Additional “Flame” Because His Father Died During the September 11 Attacks, Reference the Fact That The Saudi Arabian Government is Widaly Believed to Have Funded Al-Qaeda.
Other COMEDIANS HAVE POINTED TO THE INCONSISTISTENCY OF BALKING AMABIA ARABIA WENDER OTHER GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD ALSO SPONSOR MORALLY UNJUSTIFIBLE ACTIONS. Jim Jefferies, on the August 20 Episode of This past weekendFor Example: “People have been going, ‘oh, how dare you go overe after they killed?’ … You don’t think Our Governments Fucking Bump People? ”
Marc Maron and Zach Woods Both releassed clips online poking fun at the riyadh comedy festival and the performers who are participating. In a Video on InstagramWoods Facetiously Defends the Festival Against The “Dweebazoids” Who Say that People Shouldn’t Do Comedy in Saudi Arabia. “Name One Comedian Who Hasn’t Whoredes Themself Out to A Dictator,” he Jokes. “Sinbad, in the ’80s, would go perform for dying nazis hydden out in argentina. Maron, Meanwhile, Releassed A SNIPPET OF A STAND-UP SET In which he pondered how the festival was promoted: “From the folks that brought you 9/11: Two Weeks of Laughter in the Desert.” He added that it is “easy” for Him to take the “High Road” given he was not asking to perform at the festival.
David Cross, who was not invited to perform at the festival, explained In a blog How he was “disgusted and deeply disappointed” in those who aggregated to perform, Naming Chapelle, Burr, Car, and CK and pointed out the Irony, especilly from COMEDIANS WHO FREE FREE CANCEL CULTURE. Cross Wrote, “You don’t get to talk about it ever again. Hen pointed out the ridiculous gig comedians will get crticicized for, like starring in Alvin and the chipmunks“You would say thiught i have taken the money Money from a bunch of People Responsible for Funding Al Qaeda!”
COMEDIANS WHO HAVE SAID THEY WERE ASKED TO THE FESTIVAL BUT TURNED IT DOWN INCLUDE STAVROS HALKIAS AND SHANE GILLIS. “I can’t do it,” halkias said while talking to distefano on the aphoronom 2 Bears, 1 Cave episodes; Gillis Said on His Podcast, Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcastthat he turned down “a significant bag” to perform at the festival. “I took a principle stand,” he said. “You don’t 9/11 Your Friends.”
Dillon, who was initially scheduled to perform at the riyadh comedy festival, CLAPIED ON A SEPTEMBER 20 EPISODES OF HIS PODCAST That he was removed from the festival of the Lineup becuse the organizers took will Jokes he made During a previous podcast episode About Saudi Arabia’s use of slave labor.
Another scheduled performer, nimesh patel, posted an Instagram Story on September 25 Indicating that, after some Additional thought, he made the decision to the festival. “Nah i’m Not Going to Saudi Arabia,” he wrote. “I Canceled Last Week. I did initially Say yes. They offend a lot of Money. And SINCE YOU’RE POCKETS, I’M NOT IN A POSITION TO SAY TO LIFE CHANGING CHANGING. Yourself: if you were offered Enough Money to retire your dad, or spend a few more months at home with your family, or buy a 911, Waled you forget 9/11? ”
It was two years ago that 281 Park Avenue South, The Six-Storary Flemish Renaissance Building That Brought Down Scammer Anna DelveyWent on the Market for $ 135 Million – A Steep Ascing Price, But Maybe just Possible if you squinted. Interest Rates Were Still Relativly Low, and the Building Had a Trophy Tenant, Swedish Photography Museum photography, with a 15 -ear lease.
Except the Building Didn’t Sell, and Earlier This Month Photography announedd It was leaving mess than halfway into its lease. Crainreported The Building Wauld Be Listed Again, Though it’s’ Tenantless in a FAR LESSABLE MARKET for selling commercial real estate. When I Reached Out to the Owner, Aby Rosen’s RFR, the Company Had Nothing But Nice to Say About Photography and Added it is “Excited to Bring this Architectural Gem Back to Lease or Believe It Is More Valuable Now As a New User.” The listing hasn’t been circulated publicly, but it is not exactly a whisper lissting, eather. A Commercial-Real-Astate Broker I spoke with told me rfr haen shopping it around for $ 140 million, an amout the broker Found “asinine-just plain stupid.”
The Restaurant, Veronika, Was a Hit, but the verticality of the Building and the Limited EXHIBITE SPACE WERE ISSURE for photography.
Photo: COURESESY Photo
“I’m Not convinced it’s evening what aby paid for it,” Says Another Broker. Rfr Bought The Building In 2014, for $ 50 million, From Its Longime Nonprofit Owner, The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. The firm then poured ANOTHER $ 30 to $ 40 million ino the renovation, an ultrahigh-end oversseen by novel and Williams and Cetraruddy that Involved “Essentially Building a Building,” Acciting to One Person I spoke with. It is, by all accunts, a stunning space, with a very popular restaurant, veronika, on the second floor, an event space on the top floor, and a private-club bar in an adjacent chapel (all run by photographers). But it was not, apparently, well suited to its solent, who will shutting it down on September 29.
The Galleries, in the Middle Floors, Did Not Have the Same Soaring Ceiling Heights As the Restaurant and Chapel Bar.
Photo: COURESESY Photo
The problem, it seames, is the exhibration Space, which is Spread Across the Middle Three Floors of the Building. Photo-Board-Board Chairman, Yoram Roth, Told Artnet that the 42,000-scape-fiot building has only about 7,600 Square religions of exhortation and the walls are just nine feet high, limiting the kinds of can can travel. (The Museum’s Other Locations have at Least 12,000 Square Feet of Exhibition Space and 12-Foot-High Walls.) Someone Else I spoke with the exhortation of the space is less problem than the verticality: “Ideally, it should have ben a more fluid space, but hasing the spraying out over the different floors of Balkanized. Separated from the Event Space. ”
The Chapel Bar, in a renovated chapel adjacent to the Main Building.
Photo: COURESESY Photo
A broker who has done other deals in the area points out that park avenue south doesn’t get great foot -traffik, which is crucial for a museum that opened right before the pandemic. And though the building has offten been described as 45,000 Square feat, commercial-real-aestate math the usable squared is probably consider IT’S ON AN 80-BY-70 LOT, SO THAT’S 5,600 FOR FLOOR, WITH A CUTOUT ON THE BACK, ONE POINTED OUT, AND OTHER CARVEOUTS FOR Elevators and Stairs. None of that is Bad, Exactly, but it does limit the usage somewhat and makes the price ee-popping.
No one i spoke with though it is worth $ 100 million right now, let Alone $ 140 million. The Breuer Building, A Trophy Property in a Great Location, SOLD A AGO AGO FOR $ 100 MILLION AND HIGH 77,000 SQUREE FEET. “It ‘s the classic,’ it didn’t sell, let’s ask for more, ‘“ Says Jonathan Miller, CEO of the Appraisal Firm Miller Samuel. “I Can’t Speak to this Particular Building, But the Commercial-Real-Astate Market Has Seen, Acoss Mary Property Types, A Sharp Correction in Values. And that is in Manyays an understatement.”
“He”’d asking $ 3,294 per Square Foot. If you look at the premiums trophy buildings that sold recently, they’re ‘trading for $ 500 or Square Foot,” Says Adelaide Polenseli, A Commercial Broker at Compass. She pointed out that in 2021, a much better time to be off-laoding trophies, She sold 604 Fifth Avenue for $ 56.4 million, which works out to $ 2,500 per Square Foot. And that was in the plaza distribution, the most expensive retail strip in the city. Compare that to 281 Park, which one broker described to me as being in what is, “in Maryy Ways, one of the Coolest Locations in the City” but far from its pricides. “If it is on fifth avenue, the then of Worth $ 140 million. But it is not,” They Said. “There’s no universe in which this building is worn $ 140 million.”
Maybe Rosen Will Find Someone Who Wants It SO BADLY THIS JUST DON’T CARE. “USSERS”-that is, companies buying properties for their own use Versus real-aestate companies look to turn a profit off-“Have become unicorn in today’s investment sales market,” Says erik Edeen, a principal at Avison Young, “Paying Top and Strethching Top and Strethching Top. Where investors can make returns pencil. ” They’re overpaying, in other words, as Gucci arguably did when it paid Nearly $ 1 Billion for a prima avenue retail Property. But Again, Fifth Avenue.
“Nota Anna’s Paying that Kind of Money!” Another Broker Said. The Building “Has Some Pedige, But No One Is Paying for Pedigree Right Now. Everyone is looking for distress, distress, distress.” It ‘s more likes rfr will will Find a new tenant, which should will well enough for now; Photo was Said to be paying $ 100 per Square Foot. Another Museum, A Foundation, Maybe Some Kind of Luxury Retail Concept. Private Clubs Are Clearly Having a Moment – It Wold Make a Nice Home for One. “A Tenant Will Come Along Who Wants,” Says a Broker, though the pre-Covid rent may be a stretch these days. “I COULD Rent it Tomorrow for $ 75 or $ 80 per Square Foot.”
شهد عام 2024 عدداً من الإعلانات المؤثرة من قبل النجوم والمشاهير الذين أعلنوا إصابتهم بالسرطان ، مما س الض أهميkers التوعية بهذا المرض والتحديات التي يواجهها المصابون به ، خاصة مع دخولنا شهر “أكتوبر الوردي” الذي نسعى له النقة.
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هؤلاء النجوم والمشاهير ، الذين عبر قطاع كبير منهم عن شجاعتهم وتفاؤلهم في مواجهة ا ، أصبحوا مصدر إلهام للكثيرين ، فيما لم يصمد آررون أمامه ، لتكون سنة الإعلان هي نفس الوفاة ، تعالوا نتعلى على التفاص …
كيت ميدلتون: تشيص مفاجئ يهز العائلة المالكة
في مارس 2024 أ أعلنت كيت ميدلتون ، أميرة ويلز ، عن إصابتها بالسرطان بعد خوعها لجراحة في البطن. بينما كانت العملية في البداية تظن أنها مرتبطة بحالة غير سرطانية ، كشفت الفحوصات اللاحقة عن وجود سرطان ، ما ما ما ما ما ما ما ما. كبيرة لها ولعائلتها. الأميرة كيت بدأت على الفور في تلقي العلاج الكيميائيائي الوقائي ، وأشارت إلى أنهاد قوة بفضل وج ( طلبت الأميرة من الجمهور احترام خوصيتها خلال هذه المرحلة الصعبة.
الملك تشارلز الثالث: معركة ضد تضم البروستاتاتb
في عام 2024 ، تم تشيص الملك تشارلز الثالث بسرطان بعد فحوصات لتضم البستاتا. بالرغم من عدم الإعلان عن نوع السرطان بالتحديد ، بدأ الملك تلقي العلاج ، وجذب هذا الخبر اهتمًا عالميًا واسعًا. العائلة المالكة تلقت رسائل دعم من كل أنحاء العالم ، في حين يراقب الجميع تطورات حالته الصحية.
أوليفيا مون: نضال شجاع ضد سرطان الثدي
الممثلة الأمريكية أوليفيا مون أعلنت إصابتها بسرطان الثدي العدواني ، المعروف باسم الثدي اللمعي ب. أن نتائج الفحوصات الجينية لم تظهر وجود جينات Brca المرتبطة بالسرطان ،لا أن الفحوصات الطبية عن ود ود الأورام. خعت أوليفيا لعملية استئاال ثدي مزدي مزدوج ، واستغرقت رحلتها العلاجية أشهر ، مليئة بالتحديات الجراحية. استخدمت منصتها لنشر الوعي حول أهمية الكشف المبكر.
لميس الحديدي: السر الذي تم إفاؤه لعقد كامل
في خوة جريئة ، كشفت الإعلامية المصرية لميس الحديديديديديديديدي عن إصابتها بالسرطان منذ عشر سنوات ، مstic لعدم رغبتها في مشاركة أزماتها الشصية مع جمهورها. في حديثها عبر بودكاست “منا وفينا” أوضحت لميس أن هذا القرi كان نابعًا من رغبتها استغلال مرضها لت mistake إعلامية. تحدثت أيضا عن تحديات العلاج وأهمية الدعم النفسي من العائلة.
كندة علوش: رحلة طويلة مع المرض
المثلة السورية كندة علوش كشفت في لقاء حصري مع الإعلامية منى الشاذلي عصابتها الثدي ، دcrع للتوقفld عن العمل الفني لفترة طويلة. تحدثت كندة عن الأعراض التي اس استمرت لمدة أمسة أشهر ، ود ود زوجها يوسف في إقناعها بضرة الفحص. بعد اكتشاف الورم الخبيث، خعت كندة للعلاج المكثف ، وشاركت تجربتها لأول مرة مع جمه The والدعم العائلي.
مايكل بولتون: جراحة عاجلة لعلاج ورم في الدماغ
في بداية عام 2024 ، فاجأ المغني العالمي مايكل بولتون جمهوره بإعلانه عنه إابته بورم في الدماغ تطلب جراحة فورية. شارك مايكل تفاصيل تجربته مع العالم عبر منصاته الرقمية ، مؤكدًا أن الجراizing حالته. أم أن مايكل قر أخ استراحة مؤقتة من جولاته الموسيقية ، إلا أن جمهوره عن عن دعمه اللامحدود لهفاء السريع.
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في عرضه الثاني مع دار بلوماين Blumarine أثبت المصمصمم ديفيد كوما أنه لا يخش التغيير الجذري أو إعادة صياغة العلامة التي اشتهرت التسعيات بنعوميات بنعوميات بنعومتهات ب. الرومانسية ، وألوانها الحالمة ، ورمزها الأكثر تميزا ، “الفراشة” ” عهدناها ، بل تحولت إلى كائن ليلي داكن ، يطير في عتمة الليل بين الأضواء المتلألئة ، مشحونًا بالدراما والإراء.
المجموعة جاءت انعكاسًا لفكرة “التحول” ، ليس فقط في الحشرات … التي تمر بمرحلة انتقالية نحو هوية أكثر جرأة وحسية ، تركز بشكل شبه كامل على أزياء المساء والحفلات ، وبينما قد يُُung يُن. إلى هذا التحول باعتباره تضييقًا لآفاق العلامة ، فقد عكس في الوقت ذوضوحًا استراتيجيًا في خابها البصري.
عالم من الأضداد: فراشات مقابل يعاسيب
منذ بداية العرض ، بدا واضحًا أن كوما يشتغل على الثنائيات المتناقة:
الفراشات: رمز الرقة والحرية.
اليعاسيب: رمز القوة والهشاشاشة في آنٍ واحد.
النعومة: التي ظهرت في خامات الجورجيت والتول.
البنية الحادة: التي تجلت في الخياطة الدقيقة للسترات والبليزرات.
البراءة: المستوحاة من الوردي والبيج.
الرومانسية القوطية: المتجسدة في الأسود والطبعات الداكنة.
هذا التوازن بين الأضداد شكّل العمود الفقري للمجموعة ، وجعلها تبدو كحوار بصري النور والظلام الحلم ا ، ، وبين الإراء والخر.
الألوان: بين الرومانسية الكلاسيكية واللمسات الحادة
الأخر الحامضي: كنفحة غير متوقعة أضافت طاقة مستقبلية.
هذا التباين بين الدرجات الحالمة والظلالال الداكنة لم يكن مجرد اختيار جمالي ، بل كان عسالة عن ازدواجية العصرية: حالمة ، ولكن قوية ، ر ، و ولكن قادرة على المواجهة.
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الأقمشة والمواد: لغة من الحسية والهشاشة
الأقمشة كانت بطلة العرض ، وقد اعتمد كوما على مزيج ذكي بين الشفافية والبية:
الجورجيت الشفافا: منح الفساتين خفة وحركة.
التول: عز الإحساس بالأنوثة الحالمة.
الدانتيل: أضاف لمسة رومانسية معقدة.
الكشكشة المتدفقة: صنعت ديناميكية بصرية على منصة العرض.
حتى في القطع الأكثر رسمية ، مثل البليزر ، لم يتخل كوما عن الشفافية ، حيث أضاف ألواح جورجيت شفافة منسد علىلظهر ع ، ، ليعيد تعريف الخياطة الرسمية بلغة أكثر حسية.
الفساتين: أيقونات السهرة بلا منازع
ركزت المجموعة بشكل شبه كامل على ملابس المساء:
فساتين جورجيت: طويلة شفافة تحاكي حركة الفراشات.
فساتين تول: قصيرة مطرزة مثالية للسههرات الشبابية.
فساتين الدانتيل: التي تجمع بين الرقة والثارة.
تصاميم مطرزة: بكثافة كأنها شلالات من الضوء.
في بعض التصاميم ، أعاد كوما تخيّل الفراشاشات في طبعات تشبه بقع النمر ، وهو دمitter المفاiting.
المجوهرات والإكسtt: بصمة بصرية مكثفة
لم تقتصر رؤية كوما على الملابس فقط ، بل امتدت إلى الإكسوارات:
مجوهرات ضخمة: بتصاميم الفراشات واليَعاسيب.
أحزمة معدنية: زادت من حدة بعض الإلالات.
أحذية بكعوب: دقيقة عزت الطابع الليلي.
كل هذه العناصر أكدت أن العرض لم يكن مجرد أزياء ، بل تجربة بصرية متكاملة.
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فلسفة الليل: بلومارين بعد الغروب
من الواضح أن كوما أراد أن يجعل من بلومارين دارًا للمرأة المحبة لليل ، تلك تبحث عن إلالالات للسجالحمراء أو لحفلات ما بعد منتصف الليل.
هذه الفكرة رسّخت العلامة كخيار رئيسي لموضة “اللحظة” ، حيث يتزايد الطلب على ملع ملفتة وقوية تحاكي عصر الإن minute والظهور الإعلامي المكثف ، لكن ، في المقابل ، تطرح هذه الاستيجية تساؤلات التوازن.
أ أن هوية بلومارين التاريةية ارتبطت أيضا بالرومانسية النهارية ، بالحرير الخفيف والألوان الزاهية الي تليق تيق الصيف ، وهو ما بدا شبه غائب في هذا العرض.
مقارنة بالعرض الأول لديفيد كوما
ف أول عرض له مع بلومارين ، أدهش كوما النقاد بمزيizing الشصية ، لكن في هذا العرض الثاني ، بدا وكأنه يميل أكثر نحو الإ debate
النجاح: ترسيخ هوية بصرية واضحة وسهلة التميز.
التحدي: خر الوقوع في التكرار أو فقدان جانب من روح العلامة.
بلومارين في سياق الموضة العالمية
لا يمكن قراءة هذا العرض بمعزل عن السياق العالمي:
هناك توجه عام نحو أزياء السهرة المبهرة ، خصوصا بعد عودة الحياة الاجتماعية بقوة.
العلامات الكبرى تتنافس على إنتاج صور أيقونية أكثر من إنتاج قطع يومية.
الجمهور يبحث عن الإلالات الاستعراضية التي تتي تترجم على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي.
بهذا المعنى ف فإن رهان كوما يبدو منطقيًا ، لكنه يحتاج إلى مرونة تسمح بتقديم روايات أخرى للمرأة البلوماريين.
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فراشة من نور وظلال
في النهاية ، يمكن القول إن مجموعة BLUMARINE ربيع وصيف 2026 كانت فصلًا جيدًا في قصة التحول ، فهي مجموعة احت باليلي بالإراء ، و وبالظلال التي تلامس الضوء ، ومع ذلك ف فإن قوة العلامة تكمن دائمًا قدرتها على الجمع بين العالمين: ” النهار المشرق وعالم الليل الغامض “.
ربما لم يكن العرض متوازنًا تمامًا ، وربما حمل شيئا من المبالغة ، لكن هذا جز من ديفيد كوما ، الذي يفضيفضيفضيفضّل يفضّل يخاطر على أن يقدّم شيئا آمنًا ، وبينما ترفرف فراشة بلومارين في الليل ، يب ( النهار؟
مجموعة Blumarine ربيع وصيف 2026
وربما ما يميز هذا العرض تحديدًا هو أنه لم يكن مجرد استعاض لأزياء السهرة ، كان تجربة مسرحية علىمة علىمة علىج بينينين الخيال والواقع.
فالإاءة الخافتة ، والموسيقى النابضة بإيقاعات غامضة ، وحركة العات التي بدت وكأنها رقصة جماعية بين الفراتاتاتاتاتاتاتاتاتzy واليعاسيب ، كلها عناصر جعلت العرض أقرب إلى مشهد فني متكامل.
هنا أثبت ديفيد كوما أنه لا يصمم الملابس فحسب ، بل يكتب سرية كاملة حول المرأة تي ترتديه: تملك القدرة على ثثارة الدهشة أينما حلّت “.
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