“
We don’t want America thinking that the D/s lifestyle is strictly about how much pain you can give and receive, how many people you can control and manipulate, but it’s about two people exploring one another—a vanilla couple—and being fulfilled. And I don’t just mean sexually, but emotionally and mentally--
”
”
Lucian Bane (White Knight Dom Academy: The Beginning (White Knight Dom Academy, #1))
“
L’aventure vous attend!
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Nebula Secret (Explorer Academy, #1))
“
If you’re out to win at any cost, you may find the price is higher than you ever expected to pay.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Star Dunes (Explorer Academy #4))
“
Even when you have a talent or a passion for something you still have to learn the skills. Also, no one expects you to be anything other than yourself
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Star Dunes (Explorer Academy #4))
“
Sometimes you can’t be who you want
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Nebula Secret (Explorer Academy, #1))
“
Eating Out Alone"
The loneliness inside me is a place,
Harvard where no one might always be someone.
When we're alone people we run from change
to the mysterious and beautiful—
I am eating alone at a small white table,
visible, ignored…the moment that tries the soul,
an explorer going blind in polar whiteness.
Yet everyone who is seated is a lay,
or Paul Claudel, at the next table declaiming:
"L'Academie Groton, eh, c'est une ecole des cochons."
He soars from murdered English to killing French,
no word unheard, no sentence understood…
a vocabulary to mortify Racine…
the minotaur steaming in a maze of eloquence.
”
”
Robert Lowell
“
If you refused to look, it was easy to pretend it wasn’t happening.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Star Dunes (Explorer Academy #4))
“
WITH ALL, COOPERATION. FOR ALL, RESPECT. ABOVE ALL, HONOR.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Nebula Secret (Explorer Academy, #1))
“
We should all have a tree in our childhood...a tree one might explore, a tree from which one might learn how to fall.
”
”
Alexander McCall Smith (The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #13))
“
Plato Plato the philosopher lived in ancient Greece in the fourth century B.C. Plato founded a school called the Academy. In both his teachings and his writings, Plato explored the best way for a government to be set up. His ideas are still talked about today.
”
”
Mary Pope Osborne (Hour Of The Olympics (Magic Tree House #16))
“
As a special branch of general philosophy, pathogenesis had never been explored. In my opinion it had never been approached in a strictly scientific fashion--that is to say, objectively, amorally, intellectually.
All those who have written on the subject are filled with prejudice. Before searching out and examining the mechanism of causes of disease, they treat of 'disease as such', condemn it as an exceptional and harmful condition, and start out by detailing the thousand and one ways of combating it, disturbing it, destroying it; they define health, for this purpose, as a 'normal' condition that is absolute and immutable.
Diseases ARE. We do not make or unmake them at will. We are not their masters. They make us, they form us. They may even have created us. They belong to this state of activity which we call life. They may be its main activity. They are one of the many manifestations of universal matter. They may be the principal manifestation of that matter which we will never be able to study except through the phenomena of relationships and analogies. Diseases are a transitory, intermediary, future state of health. It may be that they are health itself.
Coming to a diagnosis is, in a way, casting a physiological horoscope.
What convention calls health is, after all, no more than this or that passing aspect of a morbid condition, frozen into an abstraction, a special case already experienced, recognized, defined, finite, extracted and generalized for everybody's use. Just as a word only finds its way into the Dictionary Of The French Academy when it is well worn stripped of the freshness of its popular origin or of the elegance of its poetic value, often more than fifty years after its creation (the last edition of the learned Dictionary is dated 1878), just as the definition given preserves a word, embalms it in its decrepitude, but in a pose which is noble, hypocritical and arbitrary--a pose it never assumed in the days of its vogue, while it was still topical, living and meaningful--so it is that health, recognized as a public Good, is only the sad mimic of some illness which has grown unfashionable, ridiculous and static, a solemnly doddering phenomenon which manages somehow to stand on its feet between the helping hands of its admirers, smiling at them with its false teeth. A commonplace, a physiological cliche, it is a dead thing. And it may be that health is death itself.
Epidemics, and even more diseases of the will or collective neuroses, mark off the different epochs of human evolution, just as tellurian cataclysms mark the history of our planet.
”
”
Blaise Cendrars (Moravagine)
“
Long after she was gone, after the sun had risen and the towering pines had spread its beams into soft fans of light, Cruz stayed with her. Taryn had protected him, as she’d promised. Now it was his turn. As he knelt beside her on the trail, Cruz told his adviser everything he’d kept secret from her. He thanked her for helping him. For guiding him. For believing in him. And then, when there was nothing more to say, Cruz wrapped his hands around hers. He kept them warm for as long as he could.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Tiger's Nest (Explorer Academy #5))
“
In Indian social-cultural-political discourse there is a general tendency to ignore deeper, intellectual thought, and the sensationalist mass media has actually contributed to a great dumbing down of even the educated masses. In this climate where any and all intellectuality has been mostly confined to a few ivory towers of academy, it is difficult to get even the educated and socio-economically privileged section of the society interested in the idea of exploring any deeper intellectual thought. It seems as if the trinity of pop-sociology, pop-psychology and pop-culture has taken over the general mentality of the society leaving little room for any serious, intellectually rigorous discourse on social-cultural phenomena. If at all, there is any serious attempt to think through and understand the observed phenomena, it is almost always done using the intellectual theories and frameworks developed in the Western academic circles. But this habit of non-thinking or thinking only in terms of borrowed categories must change if we want India to awaken to her innate intellectual potential.
”
”
Beloo Mehra (The Thinking Indian: Essays on Indian Socio-Cultural Matters in the Light of Sri Aurobindo)
“
My eyes widened at that offer. I’d missed riding since coming to the Academy and I hadn’t really thought I’d be able to get out again any time soon. But I wasn’t sure I wanted him to know quite how much this meant to me. Every other piece of information the Heirs had gotten on me up until now had been twisted against me in some way and I didn’t want them trying to take this from me too.
“I’m not really dressed for it,” I said slowly though in all honesty I had no issue with tying my dress in a knot around my waist if that was what it took to get me out on the road.
“I’m sure I could lend you my shirt if you want to take it off,” he replied.
“That would require both of us taking off rather a lot of our clothes.” There was a dare hanging in the air between us and I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to resist it much longer.
I eyed the line up of bikes, my heart beating a little faster as I tried to decide which one I’d choose.
In all honesty I was too drunk to ride, although the sandwich was mopping up some of the excess alcohol and I was feeling a little less dizzy... It still wouldn’t have been the best idea though.
“Why do you have the same bikes that that they have in the mortal world?” I asked as I began to wander between the immaculate machines. Some of the badges were different, I read names like Yamaharpy, Sphinxzuki, Hondusa, Harley Dragonson and I couldn’t keep the smirk from my lips but the actual bikes were definitely mortal models.
“There are several permanent rifts between our world and the mortal world where we import all sorts of goods like these. The importers like to change the names as a kind of in-joke but a hell of a lot of our products come straight out of Taiwan or China, direct to Solaria,” Darius explained.
“Why?” I asked. “Can’t Fae invent their own bikes and cars?”
“I guess we could... but why bother? We’ve got better things to do with our time and it makes sense to use the mortals like our own personal goods suppliers. The Fae they deal with even manage to Coerce the best prices for everything we import. No Fae vendor would create any of the things we desire so cheaply.” Darius folded his arms and leaned back to perch on the saddle of a stunning green bike as he watched my exploration.
“So you basically abuse the mortals with your power?” I asked.
“We use our power to take what we want from them,” he agreed. “Just the same as we do with other Fae.”
He had a point there; Fae were equally asshole-like to their own kind.
(Tory)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
His shining skin drew my attention and I became enslaved to the need to explore every inch of his flesh. His body brought on an ache in me I hadn't known for a long time. Since my ex had dumped me after I'd given him my virginity, I hadn't done more than fool around with guys. The desire to go further had never really risen again. Not until Orion. And I had never, in all my life, wanted anyone like I wanted him.
His beard had been trimmed even shorter for the party, revealing the powerful cut of his jaw and that divine dimple in his cheek. He'd brought me here, alone, cordoning me off from the world. And the blazing intensity in his gaze made me hope that maybe he was about to drop the teacher act for one night and admit he was drawn to me too.
He glanced above us and his brow furrowed heavily. “Up there are a thousand reasons why we can't be together.”
I swallowed thickly, goosebumps rushing along my skin in response to his words. I pressed my back to the cool tiles of the pool and the goosebumps spread deeper, evoking a shiver across my body.
“I'm bound by so many rules I could waste the rest of your evening telling you them,” he said.
“Skip them then, sir.” A smile played around my mouth as a thrill danced in my chest.
He moved closer and rested his hands either side of me on the wall. “I think the time for sirs and professors is over, don't you?”
No answer came from my lips, but my body gave it to him as I reached out and did the one thing I'd dreamed about the most since this all-consuming crush had first started. I brushed my fingers across the stubble on his jaw, resting my thumb over the dimple in his cheek, feeling the tiny rivet in his skin.
The distance parting us suddenly felt like too much; the air was racing over my exposed flesh, chilling me to the core. I needed the heat of his hands, the red hot press of his stomach and chest.
“Lance,” I breathed and his pupils dilated as I met his gaze.
He devoured the space between us and I experienced pure sin as his mouth crushed against mine. It was gunpowder meeting fire and the result was an all-consuming blaze which burned me up from the inside out.
A desperate noise escaped me that would have made me blush if I’d had any scrap of self-awareness left. But that was all it took for him to slam into me full force, hitching my legs up around his waist so fast it made my head spin.
My hands finally got their deepest wish and roamed down the plains of all that gloriously golden skin. But it wasn't enough just to feel the flex of his muscles, I needed more and I took it by scratching against his beautiful shell, wanting to break beneath flesh and bone and burrow my way deeper.
I need more.
(Darcy)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
Orion threw a grin back at me as headed to the bar, ducking behind it. “What would madam like?” he asked in a formal tone which was a damn good impression of the Acruxes' butler. I giggled hurrying over to take a stool in front of the bar and placing my clutch down, relishing the cool breeze against my burning neck.
“Hmm...a Manhattan?” I teased and he cocked his head.
“I'm afraid we're fresh out of bullshit, how about a white wine spritzer with a tiny umbrella in it?”
I laughed, nodding eagerly as he made up my drink then poured himself a measure of bourbon.
He held it out for me and I leaned across the bar to take it. As I took hold of the glass, he didn't let go and I gazed up at him under my lashes questioning why.
“Have I told you have exceptionally beautiful you look tonight, Darcy?”
Darcy.
He'd said my name. For the first time ever. And why did it sound like so much more than a name when he spoke it? It was like he'd fired an arrow and it had punctured a flesh wound in me at the exact same moment.
Hell. I needed to get over this guy. Why was I so caught up on him?
Unavailable, that's what it was. We always want what we can't have and Professor Orion was off limits. Simple as that. And those muscles. And the beard. And the dark eyes. And the dimple. But that was it.
“That's the first I've heard of it, Professor,” I whispered, unable to make my voice rise any louder.
“Don't do that,” he grunted, releasing the drink.
I eyed him curiously as he walked around the bar with his bourbon in hand. He took the stool beside mine, his arm butting up against me.
“Do what?” I asked, swivelling around to face the pool and taking a sip of my spritzer. It fizzed on my tongue and sent a deep kick of heat through my chest.
“You know what.”
“You're very presumptuous, Orion. You think I'm far more aware of your chaotic way of thinking than I really am.” I sipped my drink again, spying on him from the corner of my eye.
He took a swig of his own drink and the familiar waft of bourbon drifted over me, tingling my senses. It was becoming a trigger, like the moment I walked into his office and he uncorked a bottle, it made me want to taste it on his mouth. And then that led to me wondering whether his fangs would brush my tongue when we kissed, and that always led to me mentally undressing him, then me conjuring an image of what those muscles looked like beneath that shirt...
“I have something for you,” he said and I turned, blinking out of my dark fantasy.
“You do?”
He nodded, reaching into his inside pocket and taking out my coil of blue hair. My heart combusted and a choked noise escaped me. I reached for it and he slid it onto my wrist.
He kept my hand in his, his eyes downcast as they remained on the band of hair. “I want you to know, I believe you would have gotten this back yourself when you were ready. But I took a lot of pleasure in retrieving it for you all the same.”
I stared at him in complete shock, unsure what to say, my tongue tied in knots. “But Fae don't fight battles for other Fae,” I blurted, completely astonished that his actions that day had been to take this back from Seth. For me. And nothing else.
He finished his drink and planted the glass on the bar, rising to his feet. He didn't reply to what I'd said and I barely even remembered what it was as he started pulling his clothes off.
“Err, what are you doing?” I half laughed as he shed his jacket and kicked off his shoes, pulling off his socks. Oh my god.
“I hate parties, but I like swimming.” He started undoing the buttons of his shirt and thought his back was to me, I was still captivated as he dropped it to the floor like a silken sheet. My eyes scraped down his skin to where his muscles etched an upside down v into his lower back, disappearing beneath his waistband. His shoulders were tanned and heavenly broad, making me long to explore all of those muscles with my hands.(Darcy)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
Dr. Fanchon Quills.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3))
“
Modern recruiting company, Boardsi, is revolutionizing the way executive teams and boards are formed in top companies throughout the United States. Started in 2017, Boardsi’s platform is user friendly and provides executives the opportunity to explore paid advisor and board opportunities. The company gives generously to the Academy of United States Veterans and has sponsored the San Francisco Knight Hawks soccer team for multiple seasons.
”
”
Boardsi
“
I remember the bus ride from my parents' house to the academy all those years ago. When we left the safety of the dome - me for the first time - it felt like we were going into space already.
”
”
Mandy Gardner (Letters to Earth: The Last Diaspora Book 1)
“
So this dream seemed oddly familiar and yet completely alien to me at the same time. Once again I was tucked in a bed, being held and protected against anything and everything the world might have to throw at me.
But instead of the soft embrace of parents I’d never known, my head lay on the chest of a man whose strong arms were wrapped around me like he never wanted to let me go.
His heartbeat thumped beneath my ear. My arm and leg were coiled over him while he held me against him, his hand resting on the curve of my thigh. He was warm unlike anyone I’d ever known, his skin almost seeming to hold a fire within it which filled my soul with strength and peace.
My eyes were closed so I couldn’t see him but I just felt oddly at home. Like this was where I was meant to be.
My hand lay on the hard muscles of his abs and I slowly started tracing the lines the muscles created with my fingertips, not wanting to shatter the peace of the dream by opening my eyes.
He inhaled deeply, his chest rising beneath me while the arm holding me pulled me a little closer still.
I continued my sleepy exploration of his stomach, my fingers tracing the lines lower and lower until they suddenly skimmed against the edge of a rough waistband. I frowned to myself at the sensation of denim against my fingertips. Who would sleep in a pair of jeans? What kind of weird dream man had I conjured up?
I ran my fingers along the top of the jeans, the rough material tickling at the edges of my memory but my head was too foggy to place it.
“If you keep doing that I’m going to stop being a gentleman about this situation.”
My hand fell still and I froze at the sound of that voice. There was no way even dream Tory would be deluded enough to feel safe in his arms.
My heart pounded a panicked rhythm against my ribcage and I peeled my eyes open, blinking a few times against the darkness I found waiting for me. Pain thundered through my skull and my tongue was thick in my mouth. I cringed against the headache, trying to focus on something around me as I slowly realised that this wasn’t a dream at all.
I spotted the fire burning low in the grate across the room first. There was a black fire guard standing before it and a plush cream chair beside it. I knew this room. I’d burned it down once. And somehow I’d ended up right in the centre of Darius Acrux’s goddamn golden bed.
I was too horrified at myself to move, my brain hunting for answers in a foggy sea of alcohol infused memories. I’d been drinking in The Orb with Sofia and Diego while she shielded our presence with a spell to deflect attention so that no one would spot us and play any Hell Week pranks on us. Or notice the fact that we’d stayed out after curfew. I remembered playing a strange Fae version of truth or dare with them while we worked our way through too many shots and Diego came up with ideas to retrieve his hat from Orion. Then...nothing. Certainly nothing that could explain to me how I’d ended up in Darius Acrux’s arms.
My gaze slid across the wide armchair where I spotted my academy skirt hanging over one arm. I swallowed a thick lump in my throat, turning my attention to what I was wearing...or wasn’t wearing. I plucked at the huge t-shirt which clearly wasn’t mine, pulling the neck wide so that I could look down inside it. A moment of relief found me as I spotted my bra still in place but he hadn’t released his hold on me so I couldn’t be sure my panties were still there too.
(Darius POV)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3))
“
I could feel the tension leaving her as she gave in, her kisses rich and consuming as I explored her mouth with mine.
I moved my hand that final inch, my thumb dragging its way up the centre of her panties until I found her clit and pressed down, making her gasp in pleasure.
I began circling my thumb against her through her panties and she arched her back, her thighs widening further to give me all the access I wanted to destroy her.
I kissed harder as I began to unhook her shirt buttons with my free hand, wanting to see those fucking tits I'd been jerking off over in the flesh.
Her hands continued to move across my bare skin as I kept working her clit and I gave up trying to take my time with her as she started panting with need. I shifted my hand, pushing her panties aside and growling with desire as I found her pussy soaked and ready for me and I immediately sank a finger deep inside her.
Tory moaned, her voice rough and breathy and so fucking sexy that I had to fight the urge to drop my pants and drive my cock into her here and now so that I could hear what it sounded like when I really made her scream.
But thanks to fucking Teddy, I knew I didn't have time to fuck her the way I ached to and I didn't want to rush through something I'd been daydreaming about for so long. So I was going to feel her coming for me like this, take control of her pleasure and leave her wanting more so that she was aching for me as much as possible the next time we found ourselves alone like this and I could really show her what I was made of.
My other hand found her tit and I squeezed it through her bra, groaning at the fullness in my palm and breaking our kiss as I worked my way down her body to better service her hardened nipple.
Tory leaned back, giving me a perfect fucking view of her with her shirt swinging wide and her skirt hitched up around her waist as I drove my finger in and out of her tight pussy.
I yanked her bra down, my dick jerking at the sight of her pink nipple before my mouth descended on it and I sucked it between my lips, coupling the move with the addition of a second finger driving inside her.
She moaned even louder, her pussy tightening like a vice around my fingers while I sucked on her nipple and felt her body surging towards its climax like I was playing the most exquisite instrument in the world.
The moment I felt her coming for me, I reared up and kissed her hard, swallowing her cries of pleasure and tasting her lust as I dragged my tongue over hers.
My dick was fucking aching and I growled with a desperate, needy plea of my flesh which I knew I didn't have time to answer as the heat of our kisses softened and I slowly drew my fingers back out of her, fixing her panties into place again.
I broke off our kiss with a surge of effort, mentally planning to give Teddy the lesson from hell for forcing me to cut this shit short after I'd waited so long to claim it.
Tory blinked up at me in surprise and I had to fight the urge to pout like a bitch as I read the desire in her body and knew she'd been hoping to come all over my cock again after that stunning first round.
“I have a student coming in a minute to learn the art of Vampirism from an expert,” I explained, wishing I could just cancel the damn thing, but my mom had already been calling me out on not attending a bunch of these sessions and as our family name was linked to them, it was a bad look for me to miss any more of them.
“So that was purely for my benefit?” Tory asked in surprise as she began to re-button her shirt.
My jaw ticked with frustration, though I couldn't claim she was the only one of us who had gotten something out of that.
“Oh no, I got plenty from that too,” I promised her, my gaze sweeping over her body appreciatively as I began to mentally plan all the things I wanted to do to every inch of her if I was lucky enough to get to do this with her again.
(Caleb POV)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (The Awakening as Told by the Boys (Zodiac Academy, #1.5))
“
I caught his mouth with mine and shifted my hands to start unhooking his shirt buttons.
I could feel him grinning as he kissed me harder, driving me back against the bookshelf and shoving his knee between my thighs.
I pushed his shirt off of his broad shoulders and looked at the perfection of his muscular torso for a moment, running my hands down his chest.
He drove me back against the shelf more firmly, kissing me again. I devoured the taste of him, his hands sliding over my breasts through the thin material of my dress and making my nipples harden in response.
I placed my palms on his chest and pushed him back, propelling him around so that he was pressed against the shelf instead of me and a dark laugh left him.
“Do you wanna be in charge, sweetheart?”
“Well, I am more powerful than you,” I teased.
His eyes lit with the challenge in my tone as I took a few steps back and pulled on the knot at the back of my neck. My dress fell from my body like a spill of oil and pooled at my feet, leaving me in nothing but my black panties.
“Holy shit, Tory.” He gazed at me hungrily and I stepped back again biting on my bottom lip as I looked at him.
“Take your pants off,” I commanded.
Caleb’s smile deepened and he held my eye as he kicked his shoes off and unhooked his belt. I twisted my fingers through my hair as I watched him, my pulse rising as he revealed more of his muscular body to me.
When he was down to his navy boxers, he advanced on me again.
I smiled, backing up as he stalked towards me until the backs on my thighs met with the games table.
He was upon me in a heartbeat, his hands gripping my thighs as he lifted me up and sat me on the table. His mouth pressed to my throat, stubble grazing across my skin in the most delicious way.
His kisses moved lower, passing over my collar bone before making it to the swell of my breast. His mouth landed on my nipple, his tongue flicking against it and making me moan in pleasure. His hand found my other breast while he spread his other palm across my lower back to hold me in place.
I locked my ankles around him, pulling him closer so that I could feel the full length of his arousal grinding against me through the lacy fabric of my panties.
His mouth found mine again and I pushed my fingers into his golden curls as my breasts skimmed against the firm lines of his muscular chest.
My muscles were tightening, my heart pounding and my body aching for more of him.
I grazed my fingertips down his chest, feeling every ridge of his abdomen before reaching the waistband of his boxers.
I pushed my hand beneath the soft material and wrapped my fingers around the hard length of him.
Caleb groaned against my lips as I began to move my hand up and down, a tingle running along my spine as I felt just how much my touch affected him.
His hands made it to the sides of my panties and he peeled them down as his heavy breathing broke our kiss. I lifted my ass to let him remove them and he stepped back, forcing my hand off of him as he tossed my underwear aside.
I watched as he pushed his boxers off revealing every inch of him and my mouth dried up with desire.
He shot forward with his Vampire speed, scooping me up and moving me backwards as he lay me beneath him on the games table. Poker chips and cards scattered all around us and a surprised laugh left my lips.
He grinned as he kissed me again, hard enough to bruise my lips but still not enough to tame my desire.
My hands explored the curve of his shoulders and I arched my back off of the table so that my nipples skimmed his flesh.
Caleb shifted, moving between my legs, our kiss breaking for the briefest moment as he looked into my eyes and pushed himself inside me.
A moan of pleasure escaped me as he filled me and I tipped my head back, my eyes falling closed as I absorbed the feeling of his body merging with mine.
“Fuck,” Caleb breathed as he started to move, slowly at first but building in speed as I urged him on.
(tory)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
My nails were digging into his shoulders and I was glad that he’d cast the silencing spell because I was making enough noise to be heard in the party downstairs.
Caleb kissed me again then pulled back, pressing his palms to the table on either side of my head as he looked down at me. I reached out between us, exploring his chest with my hands for a moment before he snatched them into his grasp and pinned them above my head.
I writhed beneath him as he smiled darkly and increased his pace, pushing me towards the edge.
My body flexed and tightened beneath him, my back arching as he drove me on and I cried out as he wrung a wave of pleasure from my flesh.
He slowed down a little as I caught my breath, releasing my wrists and kissing my neck.
I panted beneath him for a moment before rearing up and rolling him beneath me so that I could sit on top of him instead.
Caleb groaned with desire as he looked up at me and I changed the pace again, riding him towards his climax.
One of hands reached out to caress my breast while he pushed his other thumb down on the spot at the apex of my thighs, exactly where I wanted him.
I tipped my head back, my hair brushing along my spine as my muscles began to tighten around him again.
I could feel him losing control too and I bit my lip as I moved a little faster.
Pleasure rode through my body and I cried out just as he came apart beneath me, my name spilling from his lips. I collapsed forward onto his chest and lay panting in his strong arms for several long seconds as he trailed his fingers through my hair.
“You don’t know how much I’ve been wanting to do that,” Caleb breathed in my ear and I smiled as I turned to press a brief kiss to his lips.
“I think you made it pretty clear,” I teased.
I climbed off of him and retrieved my clothes from the floor, pulling them back on again as Caleb followed me and did the same.
He kept his eyes on me as he pulled his pants back on and moved forward to retie my dress again for me, his fingertips brushing across my neck and sending a shiver along my sensitised skin.
He buckled his belt and located his shirt while I ran my fingers through my hair in an attempt to tame it. Caleb waved a hand through the air and I felt the silencing spell dissolve around us.
I pushed my feet back into my stilettos and we stood looking at each other with our clothes back on and a secret between us.
“I like playing games with you, Tory,” Caleb said as he moved towards me.
“I didn’t entirely hate it,” I admitted. “Sorry I’m not more... horsey,” I added with a smirk, unable to help myself.
“That fucking rumour,” he growled, but there wasn’t really any anger in his tone after what we’d just done.
“I heard you like it when they shove their horn up your-”
“Shut up. I just showed you exactly what I like.” He snorted a laugh.
“Mmm... Maybe I’ll let you show me it again some time.”
(tory)
”
”
Caroline Peckham (Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2))
“
I have never been prouder of an Explorer Academy team than I am of you today. Nicely done, Team Cousteau. Nicely done.
”
”
Trudi Trueit (The Tiger's Nest (Explorer Academy #5))
“
I’d rather fight with you, be angry, explore our anger and resolve the fight sooner, than play some stupid power game for days," I continued. "I couldn't stand to be away from you for that long.
”
”
Heather C. Myers (Blades & Bones (Crestwood Elite Hockey Academy #2))
“
Motion picture producers were well aware of audiences who now looked to Walter Brennan to spice up the action, to do something that would entertain them in pictures that were otherwise commonplace. Even in a major A film starring Spencer Tracy as the explorer Henry M. Stanley, Brennan was added for comic relief—in effect because he was Walter Brennan, screenwriter Philip Dunne recalled. When Brennan and Tracy, both Academy Award winners, appeared on the set of Stanley and Livingston, the huge assemblage of extras applauded both men.
”
”
Carl Rollyson (A Real American Character: The Life of Walter Brennan (Hollywood Legends))
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When my Naval Academy students had finished reading the Iliad, I often asked them to tell me which of Homer’s characters they admired the most, and why. A popular reply was Hector, prince of Troy, and the reasons they gave most concerned their sense of why he fought. It may surprise some to learn that many of these highly competitive young American students favored a character who champions the losing side of the battle. But it is Hector’s humanity and nobility of character, not his unhappy fate, to which they were drawn. Homer’s Prince Hector is a man who fights with tremendous ferocity on the battlefield but who is not driven by rage or bloodlust. Although he relishes his moments of small-scale victory, we are given the impression that Hector fights not because he wants to but because he has a duty to his people. He would rather be at home with his wife and young son, Astynax, but he is the greatest warrior that the Trojans have. If he does not defend the city, it will certainly fall to the Greeks. His exceptional physical prowess and martial skills, combined with his standing in the community as a respected member of the royal family, create special responsibilities for him. By rights, his brother Paris (the cause of the crisis) should have offered himself up for the protection of Troy. However, since Paris chooses not to live up to his obligations, the burden shifts to Hector’s more capable (and unshirking) shoulders. The defense of the city is placed in his hands and all the hopes of the Trojan people are pinned on his performance as a fighter and a leader.
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Shannon E. French (The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present)
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I like how this feels. Please tell me if you want me to stop.” “I will never want you to stop, Evelyn.” I was struggling not to pull her down to my level and kiss the hell out of her. I controlled myself, though, allowing her to explore how she wanted to. Up until a couple hours ago, having Evelyn’s hands on me had been nothing more than a fantasy I only allowed myself to indulge in after dark in my bedroom.
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Julia Wolf (Jump on Three (Savage Academy #3))
Trudi Trueit (The Nebula Secret (Explorer Academy, #1))
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There are various ways in which unconscious content can be made conscious – becoming aware of one’s dream life is the most well known. Exploring mythological symbolism is a lesser known, but equally effective, way to bring unconscious content into the light of consciousness.
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Academy of Ideas
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You, too, can be part of the Imperial family,” a recorded voice boomed from the speakers located above the spaceport’s Imperial security station. “Don’t just dream about applying for the Academy, make it come true! You can find a career in space: Exploration, Starfleet, or Merchant Service. Choose from navigation, engineering, space medicine, contact/liaison, and more! If you have the right stuff to take on the universe, and standardized examination scores that meet the requirements, dispatch your application to the Academy Screening Office, care of the Commandant, and join the ranks of the proud!
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Ryder Windham (Star Wars Rebels: Ezra's Gamble)
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This simple assertion has profound implications for it means there are many possible worlds for each of us to experience. Some of these worlds are conducive to a life well lived, others are not. In this video we are going to explore the role that attention plays in the creation of the experiential world of anxiety disorders and depression as this knowledge can help us overcome these diseases of despair.
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Academy of Ideas
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The Portland English Language Academy (PELA) provides high-quality English language learning tailored to the diverse language needs of students from multiple cultural backgrounds. We provide opportunities for students to explore, discover, and learn English in all its uses, building the skills it takes to communicate effectively. We teach living English as it is actually used in a changing world.
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Portland English Learning Academy
Trudi Trueit (The Falcon's Feather (Explorer Academy #2))
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There is certainly something to the thought that certain classic papers of Putnam and Quine offer perhaps the closest thing to be found in twentieth-century philosophy to an attempt to rehabilitate Descartes's claim that it would be hubris for us to assert of an omnipotent God that He would be inexorably bound by the laws of logic - those laws which happen to bind our finite minds. In a move which is characteristic of much of contemporary naturalistic thought (both in and out of the academy), science is substituted for God. Cartesianism in the philosophy of logic, freed of its theological trappings, becomes the view that it would be hubris for us to assert of the ongoing activity of scientific inquiry that it will be forever bound by the laws of classical logic - those principles which happen to be most fundamental to our present conceptual scheme. The contrast is now no longer, as in Descartes, between the infinite powers of man and the infinite powers of God, but rather between the limits of present scientific thought and the infinite possibilities latent in the future of science as such ... If Descartes is led by a sense of theological piety to insist that God can do anything - no matter how inconceivably it may be to us - the contemporary ultra-empiricist is led by an equally fervent sense of naturalistic piety to insist that the science of the future might require a revision of any of our present axioms of thought - no matter how unacceptable such a revision might seem by our present lights. The exploration of the contours of possibility belongs to the business of the physicists. In this regard, we philosophers must issue them a blank check - it would compromise our standing as underlaborers to put a ceiling on how much they can spend. To paraphrase Descartes on God: we must not conclude that there is a positive limit to the power of science on the basis of the limits of our own (present) powers of conception. All of its hostility to theology notwithstanding, this contemporary form of piety is, in a sense, no less religious (in its unconditional deference to a higher authority) than Descartes's - it has simply exchanged one Godhead for another. But, unlike Descartes, precisely because it is overly hostile to theology, it is able easily to blind itself to the fact that it is a form of piety.
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James Ferguson Conant (The Logical Alien: Conant and His Critics)
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Thus a dish of tench and eel was arranged so that the pointed head of the eels, gills splayed, thrust through a sea of delicate yellow sauce (toasted breadcrumbs, red wine and vinegar, more red wine reduced to defrutum, long pepper, grains of paradise, cloves, all passed through a sieve and tinted with saffron) towards the gaping lips of the tench. A plate of grilled partridges was presented with the birds still spitted from arsenal to beak, the spits radiating out from a magnificent cockerel, skinned, roasted and recloaked in its feathers, tail and red-combed head; the whole arranged on an armature so that it raised one leg and crowed at the ceiling. Inside the hollow body of the cockerel I had arranged a small silver alembic, its narrow end, no wider than a stalk of grass (I had borrowed it from an alchemist I knew through the Academy) protruding from the beak, and below it a tiny spirit lamp, which I lit as the serving men were already taking the dish away. The alembic was filled with Greco wine tinted with the milk of almonds, and I calculated that the wine would boil more or less when the dish was set on the table, and jet from the proud cock, showering the skewered partridges in aromatic white sauce.
There were the ripest figs, all splitting, of course, served with boiled crayfish- as eager, these bright red fellows, to explore the figs as the eels had been curious about the tench- and torte of rucola and pine nuts, liberally spiced with garlic and cloves.
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Philip Kazan (Appetite)
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Anne Kihagi Explores San Francisco’s Best Cultural Attractions
The city of San Francisco offers many museums and enriching cultural attractions. Here, Anne Kihagi explores three of the city’s best ones to visit shared in 3 part series.
California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences houses several attractions under one roof sure to interest visitors of all ages. Offering an aquarium, a natural history museum, and a planetarium, the academy also boasts a 2.5-acre living roof. The venue is also home to various educational and research programs.
The academy’s featured exhibits include the Steinhart Aquarium, which has 40,000 species, and the Osher Rainforest, which is a four-level exhibit with butterflies and birds. The academy has several long-standing exhibits like the Philippine Coral Reef, the Human Odyssey, the Tusher African Hall, and the California Coast.
There are three exhibits for the academy’s youngest visitors to enjoy. The Naturalist Center features live species and educational games and films, while the Curiosity Grove is a California forest-themed play area. Finally, the Discovery Tidepool allows children to interact with California tidepool species.The academy also offers sleepovers for their youngest visitors. Children will be able to view the exhibits after-hours and enjoy milk and cookies before bed. They can choose to sleep in areas such as the flooded forest tunnel or the Philippine Coral Reef.
The academy’s newest exhibits include the planetarium show Passport to the Universe, 400 gemstones and minerals in the geology collection, and the Giants of Land and Sea that showcases the northern part of the state’s natural wonders.
You can visit the academy Monday through Saturday from 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM and on Sundays from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Visitors who are 21 and older can attend the academy’s NightLife on Thursdays from 6:00 – 10:00 PM. General adult admission is $35.95 and senior citizen admission (65+ with ID) is $30.95. Child admission (ages 4-11) is $25.95, while youth admission (ages 12-17) is $30.95. Children under three receive free admission.
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Anne Kihagi
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If there is one social institution most to blame for the lack of self-reliant individuals the modern schooling system would be a prime candidate. Spending well over a decade of our most formative years in this institution, we are not encouraged to develop autonomy, but instead trained in the art of obedience. We are not taught to explore, criticize, question, and play with ideas, but memorize, and regurgitate the dogmas of the day. This indoctrination leads many down a life-long path of dependency and servitude, and impedes the progress of even the most promising young minds.
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Academy of Ideas
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But Horney did not deem self-analysis as merely a possibility, rather, in many cases she thought it to be more desirable than traditional therapy. The therapist always begins as a stranger who requires months if not years of analysis to learn of the inner workings, complexities, and depths of our mind. We, on the other hand, are intimately familiar with ourselves. Given the right attitude, we can, therefore, explore and expose the elements of our unconscious wrecking havoc on our life more efficiently than a trained therapist. Furthermore, self-analysis has the added benefit that it can increase our strength and confidence to a greater degree than traditional therapy. Just as traversing a difficult mountain path on our own grants us a greater feeling of accomplishment than following a guide, so too, Horney notes,
“there is a certain extra gain in having conquered [inner] territory entirely through one’s own initiative, courage, and perseverance.” (Karen Horney, Self-Analysis)
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Academy of Ideas
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To move forward in life requires being open to possibilities, but this entails experiencing the dizziness of anxiety. Without an ability to co-exist with anxiety and take action in the presence of it we would be unable to pursue risks, explore the unknown, and determine the limits of our capabilities. We would be unable to stand openly towards the future and choose among the possibilities that appear before us, nor able to utilize our power to create new possibilities that have never before seen the light of day.
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Academy of Ideas
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Treatment for psychological afflictions of this sort, according to existential psychotherapy, involves not medication but self-reflection, philosophical exploration, an expansion of awareness and acceptance of the human condition.
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Academy of Ideas
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To diminish the risks of a breakdown an active approach is crucial. Like the heroes of myth, we must view ourselves as explorers of the chaos, not passive observers who are merely pushed and pulled by forces beyond our control. Our goal at this stage is to experiment with novel ways of ordering our life in the attempt to the fill the void left by the sacrifice. But while novel forms of order are crucial for the assent from the realm of chaos, experiments with novelty are stressful and often accompanied by intense states of fear and anxiety. If we can recognize, however, that this is a natural part of the process and not reflective of anything inherently wrong with us, we may find it easier to push forward despite the turmoil that surrounds us.
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Academy of Ideas
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Whatever the cause the crucial question is how to break the cycle of our neurotic suffering? If we are willing to acknowledge our conflicted way of life, what can we do to resolve it? In the next video we will explore Jung’s ideas regarding this question. As we will see his prescription did not involve digging through the events of our childhood or working through what he called the “boring emotional tangles of the “family romance”” (Carl Jung, Freud and Psychoanalysis). Rather, Jung maintained that the best way to conquer a neurosis is through the construction of something new – specifically a new attitude to life. We must look forward, not back.
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Academy of Ideas
Trudi Trueit (The Falcon's Feather (Explorer Academy #2))
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The human being has traveled to the ends of the earth, dived into the depths of the sea, shot himself into outer space, and yet the human mind remains a frontier few dare to explore. For the danger of descending into these depths is madness, as the mind contains wondrous surprises, but also dark and deceptive abysses. Furthermore, in the remote reaches of the mind there are no maps, no markers, no technological helpers, and no guides one can follow. One must go it alone. For all but the most courageous adventurers, it is much more prudent to remain at the mind’s surface.
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Academy of Ideas
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If Nietzsche’s madness was psychogenic in origin, the most obvious line of investigation to follow is the possibility that he lost himself in his explorations of the unconscious. But before we follow this thread of thought, we must answer the question: if Nietzsche was aware that his explorations in the depths could end in madness, why did he take the descent?
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Academy of Ideas
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With a rich background in microbiology and molecular biology, Justin Baiardo has brought scientific precision to the field of education. A National Board Certified Teacher and experienced school administrator, he has played a key role in charter school development. As the founder of Explore Academy, he revolutionized education by promoting student-centered learning.
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Justin Baiardo
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In 2021, researchers published a study in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, where they explored the possibility that quantum tunneling may be the cause of point mutation. The positively charged protons inside DNA might suddenly move over to a different portion of the DNA helix, causing errors later on when the DNA copies itself.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Physics for Beginners: The Non-Scientist’s Guide to the Big Ideas of Quantum Mechanics, with Key Principles, Major Theories, and Experiments Simplified)
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measurement, the qubit collapses to a 0 or a 1 based on its probability distribution. This probabilistic behavior gives quantum computers their edge. Being able to process multiple possibilities simultaneously means quantum algorithms can explore many solutions at once.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Computing Explained for Beginners: The Science, Technology, and Impact)
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The process of creating a new quantum algorithm is like a dance between mathematics and computational science. It begins with a problem - a cryptographic treasure that we aim to unlock. Mathematicians and theoretical physicists tackle this by exploring the mathematical structures of the problem, looking for patterns, symmetries, and properties that could be leveraged. For example, Shor identified the period-finding problem hidden within the prime factorization problem and realized that the Fourier Transform - a mathematical tool used in signal processing - could help solve it in the quantum domain. This led to the development of the Quantum Fourier Transform, a central step in Shor's algorithm.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Computing Explained for Beginners: The Science, Technology, and Impact)
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Quantum Neural Networks (QNNs) One of the most exciting formations we encounter in our exploration of the quantum skies is the Quantum Neural Network (QNN). Just as birds form complex patterns in the sky, relying on each individual's movements and the overall flock's dynamics, neural networks—both classical and quantum—rely on intricate structures and interactions to process information.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Computing Explained for Beginners: The Science, Technology, and Impact)
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Quantum Parallelism Quantum systems can explore multiple solutions concurrently, thanks to their ability to be in a superposition of states. This means that for specific problems, a quantum machine learning model can evaluate numerous potential outcomes at once, streamlining the decision-making process. The parallelism property is one of the key reasons why quantum computers might achieve supremacy, but that's another book.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Computing Explained for Beginners: The Science, Technology, and Impact)
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With advancements in quantum hardware and deeper insights into quantum algorithms, we're on the brink of a digital shift that some have labeled as The Fourth Revolution. The coming decade promises QML models that can decode the most intricate patterns, from climate modeling to space exploration. As quantum computing power strengthens, we can anticipate breakthroughs that were the stuff of science fiction just a few years ago. Imagine machine learning models that can predict and understand climate changes with unprecedented accuracy, or healthcare algorithms that can model and analyze every single molecular interaction in real-time, potentially unlocking cures for the world's most challenging ailments.
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Pantheon Space Academy (Quantum Computing Explained for Beginners: The Science, Technology, and Impact)