trying not to be cute >_<
View allAll Photos Tagged tighten
"I step outside and the chilly air tightens the skin on my bare arms. Summer has ended all too quickly, and some of the leaves on the trees have already started to burn with the colors of fall. Fall colors... so bright and intense and beautiful. It's like nature is trying to fill you up with color, to saturate you so you can stockpile it before winter turns everything muted and dreary."
.:: Siobhan Vivian ::.
We hope that the lovely Autumn colors will bring warmth to your minds and souls.
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Measures to further tightened spread the rising number of Covid-19 cases in our local community starting from May 16th for a month! ...semi locked down..
Stay safe my friends..
Sailing boat, Marina Cannes, French Riviera, France.
A boat is a sailboat (pieces of fabric), propelled by the wind. Historically, the boat was the first conveyance medium and long distance. Sailboats carrying goods, passengers, mail. They were used for fishing at sea, military and naval battles.
From the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century sailing propulsion gradually disappears for utility transport replaced by steamships and motor boats. Today, utility transport and fishing boats remain only in the less industrially developed countries.
The yachts are used for recreational purposes: competitive sailing and boating.
My cocoon tightens, colors tease,
I'm feeling for the air;
A dim capacity for wings
Degrades the dress I wear.
A power of butterfly must be
The aptitude to fly,
Meadows of majesty concedes
And easy sweeps of sky.
So I must baffle at the hint
And cipher at the sign,
And make much blunder, if at last
I take the clew divine.
~ Emily Dickinson ~
She leaned agaisnt his shoulder and felt his arm around her back tighten slightly pulling her closer that made her snuggle agaisnt him through their walk along the forest.
Silence was comfortable and they each probably had their own mind debates about certain things. Her head tilted to look up at him curiously, wondering what he was thinking about. He caught her looking at him and reached a hand to pinch her nose that made her scrunch it while rolling her eyes yet she was smiling slightly. He always enjoyed teasing her.
Their walk ended towards a clearing in the forest, shielded by tall trees and surrounded by dandelions. She caught some that escaped through the wind and blew it towards him before they settled into a bench for a little rest before it was time to return back home.
P.S. Happiest Birthday to my Forever. You leveled up! Thank you for being patient with me, putting up with my constant mood shifts and most of all never giving up on us. On your special day, I hope and wish that you will have a fulfilling year and accomplish everything you ever dreamed of. I will always be by your side to support you and cheer you on! I love you, always!
Winter tightens its grip as ice builds in the river. Haven't been around lately, hope to visit soon. Thanks for looking.
This was taken after a scramble up the cliffs with tripod to get a better viewpoint for this sweeping strata. Tighten up is a thought to myself , to not tighten up, when balanced on a tiny ledge, with the camera and tripod within an inch of falling 40 feet . Tighten up is by The Untouchables, and is a great reggae track
When Judy tightened her eyes just ever slightly.
**
The set about meeting the Judy the first time is on Nexus:
Exit the afternoon to give time to rain. All tightened step, either to leave or to seek shelter. At that time, I saw a cloud that the sun's rays glowed its top. I ran, not to protect me, but to perpetuate that unique moment, not caring if it was attacked by drops of water released from the sky. So me and the training aircraft of the Air Force Academy, we were eyewitnesses of this fantastic moment.-/-/-/Saia a tarde para dar vez à chuva. Todos apertavam o passo, seja para ir embora ou para procurar abrigo. Nessa hora, vi uma nuvem em que os raios de sol incandesciam seu topo. Corri, não para me proteger, mas para eternizar aquele momento ímpar, sem me importar se seria atacado pelas gotas de água lançadas do céu. Assim, eu e os aviões de treinamento da Academia da Força Aérea, fomos testemunhas oculares desse fantástico momento.
So now Storm Dennis is pretty much tightening its grip over the UK most of us (bar a small bonkers minority) are indoors, possibly pretending to be in the Caribbean, listening to 80s music and drinking Pina Colada.
Having said that I would love to try some stormy photography but last weekend I was ill and this weekends storm has come with lashings of rain which is just a bit too much. Perhaps I'll venture out tomorrow.
And talking of 80s music, nothing like this track from the gorgeous long hot summer of 1983 to make it feel like summer. And it is kind of related to photography.
Boundless sight
Tightening veins beneath my skin
Forming shapes within my dreams
Jaded thought, it rips my throat
I live under my skin
I suppose you pray for me
Antipathy, dismembered
Antiquity in sonder
The feelings that I hide
For you, I keep them deep inside
And I hide them deep within my skin
What men will destroy for you is time
Are we free to wander the world?
I'm not sure, I don't think so
I wait my turn
To live without my skin
I wait my turn
To live without my skin
Take another piece of me
And it just might be enough to drag me under
Beneath the wavеs
Take another bite from this
Worthless corpse
Take another bite from me
And wait your turn
It just might be enough to drag me under
Take another bite from this
Worthless corpse
And it just might be enough to drag me under
-Tesseract - Beneath My Skin
As winter tightens its grip, much of the natural world takes a well deserved rest. But that doesn’t mean your walks will be devoid of life. In fact, there’s plenty to marvel at during Febuary..
My research had revealed lots of things finally, but it had also came to a full stop. Now I knew the dark past of that ship, and that someone was hunting Sonia. I had seen the shadowy figure in those photos. But still I had so many questions... For every answer I was getting, there was a new question tormenting me. It was driving me crazy, yet I had to put the pieces together and solve the puzzle.
Who was "She" that Sonia mentioned? Was it that woman who was so tragically lost? And if she was, how? Was she a ghost? I don't believe in ghosts, but assuming she was one, I played the devils advocate in my head. So why she was after Sonia? And how had Sonia managed to reach that corridor and hang from the ceiling to escape, where I found her? Even that, seemed very unlikely now.
For I had found a photo, the last one in Sonia's memory card, where Sonia finally got out of the engines room and was trying to climb up some stairs which led to a small room, adjacent to the corridor I found her. But I could tell from that last photo, she was hurt. She was looking up the stairs from a very low point of view, that looked like she couldn't even stand. Let alone run or climb! And indeed, there were some deep scratches on her body when I found her. Not dying deep, but deep enough to render her incapable of climbing up those stairs. And how on earth had she even managed to get to those stairs? I myself been that far that night looking for her and the door at the base of the stairs was locked. No way in, no way out. I had finally reached the last photo of Sonia's archive and all I had were questions. Questions looking desperately for an answer. An answer that would be Sonia's salvation as well...
It was time to confront Sonia about it. There was a link missing. There was something I had yet to find. And the only one who could answer my questions, were Sonia herself. There was something she was not telling me. I could tell. Whenever she would see me looking at those photos she would avoid me. She was keeping the last piece of the puzzle to herself and I had to get it out of her, if I was to save her. She was getting better temporarily, yet she was weak and I didn't know how long she would last at that state. I had to move fast and be done with it, before her time would run out. Before it was too late. She had to face the truth no matter how painful that would be, or her secret would haunt her forever.
I gathered all my courage, drank some water to clear my throat and despite feeling my stomach tightening up, I was ready to to talk to her. That would be my end game. It was about to go down, not in that ship, but here, at home. I prayed to the gods of Photography to get her through this unharmed and called her.
-Hey Sonia, are you awake dear?
-Yes, I'm feeling better now. Need anything MrC?
-Can you come up here dear? I need to ask you something...
Tension tightens in lane ten of the ten pin bowling alley.
Shot for Our Daily Challenge :“Containing “Ten””
::: Ckey Poses - Beyond words :::
Location ° At The Black club °
무릎이 바닥에 쓸린 체 (as my knees scrape the ground)
나답지 않은 말을 뱉어 (I speak words that aren’t like me)
Move me around as you please
With no second thought
Every time I try to walk away
You tighten your grip, make me stay
Every time I try to find myself
You feed delusions to my head
Oh, it's choking me
You got me on a leash
You’re just keeping me close
But never let me in
Oh, it's choking me
You got me on a leash
You’re just keeping me close
But never let me in
Cut it out, baby let me be
You know I cannot breath
Cut it out, won’t you set me free
I got nothing left in me
아픈 내 시간틈을 (between the gaps of my painful times)
알맞게 파고들어 (you dig in perfectly)
내가 듣고 싶어 하는 말들을 떠먹여서 (feeding me the words I wanted to hear)
사랑 같은걸 난 시작할 줄 알았어 (I thought I might start something like love)
그런 기대 따윈 오래가진 않았지만 (though that kind of hope didn’t last too long)
내 속을 뒤틀리는 노련함 (adeptness that twists my insides)
그걸 알고 쥐고 흔드는 너의 감각 (you know it well, you grip and shake)
천성인 걸까 아님 경험인 걸까 (Is it nature, or simply experience?)
FALLON LINGERIE x LA ROSA TATTOO
A SWANK WINTER WONDERLAND EXCLUSIVE
There is a moment… just before desire fractures into need… when a man forgets himself. When his breath tightens, his pupils widen, and all logic dissolves into a single, exquisite thought:
"I want to take her."
Tonight, I choose to live in that moment.
As I slip into the Fallon Lingerie by VV Paris, I feel the air change around me—an invisible current of hunger threading through the room. This lace, sourced from the legendary ateliers of Calais, drapes over my body like a whispered sin. It follows every curve, charts every hollow, and frames me in a way no modest garment ever dares.
Women throughout history understood this power.
Marlene Dietrich… Ava Gardner… Sophia Loren… the original temptresses who knew that sheer lace and exposed skin could unmake a man long before a single kiss was given. They weaponized femininity, dissolving kingdoms with garter straps and reshaping empires with a sultry glance.
And now, with Fallon gripping my waist and slipping between the arch of my back and the swell of my hips, I step into their lineage—reborn, refined, and ready to ruin a man’s resolve with one slow, hungry look.
But tonight I am more than lace. I am art… carved into skin.
The La Rosa Full Body Tattoo Set by Venus Tattoos blooms across me like an erotic fresco—roses curling over my thighs, petals and ink trailing up my ribs, a garden of temptation pressed against every breath I take. These tattoos are not merely decoration—they are invitation, declaration, and seduction intertwined.
A man seeing me like this… his will doesn’t stand a chance.
To sharpen the intoxication, I paint my lips with the Jumo Joana Lips—six glossy HD shades for Lelutka EvoX that make my mouth look delicious, kiss-swollen, and undeniably made for sin. Then I crown my gaze with the Jumo Elven Crystal Eyeshadows—20 jewel-bright colors, each turning my eyes into shimmering traps no man escapes.
Together, the lingerie, the tattoos, the lips, the crystals…
They blend into something dangerously close to fantasy—an alchemy of lust and elegance that awakens every dormant desire in the male body.
I am the curve he wants to grip… the mouth he wants to taste… the temptation he wants to claim slowly, deeply, completely.
And he knows it.
PACKAGE DETAILS
Fallon Lingerie by VV Paris
• BOM Layers
• Lace from Calais
• Appliers for Maitreya, GEN.X, and Omega
• 22 lace textures ranging from soft neutrals to raven-dark seductions
• Delicate front plunge, sculpted lace hips, and strappy back for maximum visual torment
Jumo Joana Lips (Lelutka EvoX)
• 6 high-definition glossy shades
• Sculpted shine and depth that make lips appear fuller, wetter, and irresistibly kissable
Jumo Elven Crystals Eyeshadows (Lelutka EvoX)
• 20 shimmering gemstone tones
• Resizable mesh
• Ultra-luminous crystal effect that transforms the eyes into seductive weapons
Venus Tattoos – La Rosa Full Body Set
• BOM, Unisex
• Full Body, Arms, Legs, Chest, Back, Upper & Lower combined options
• Fresh, Faded, Aged, and Old tattoo styles
• Color, No-White, Black, White, and Black-Tint versions
• 163 tattoo layers in the fatpack
Every curve I show you… every inch of lace… every traced rose petal… is available now, exclusively at the Swank Winter Wonderland Event:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swank%20Events/128/124/39
Come find me there… if you dare test how much desire a man can withstand.
And as one iconic pornstar once whispered with a wicked smile:
"If you’re going to crave me… crave me with everything you’ve got."
The sky was low and dark, the sea restless beneath it. I stood at the edge of the world, where the sand turns to foam and the air forgets how to be still. My chest tightened. Breath came in fragments. I wasn’t drowning, not exactly—but I was no longer breathing freely.
Then I felt her.
Not seen, not heard—felt. Like a thought whispered inside of my mind. Like the hush before thunder. Her presence moved through me, as if the wind had learned to speak in silence.
I tried to answer. I reached for words that might hold her shape, her light, her otherworldly intelligence. But language faltered. Nothing I said could match the way she shimmered through the storm.
Still, I whispered: “If I could find the right words, maybe you’d stay. Maybe you’d fill my mind with your nearness, and I could rest.”
And then—she broke through.
A shaft of gold through the bruised sky. A warmth that wrapped around me, not like fire, but like memory. The wind rose, circling me in spirals, and I felt myself slipping—not falling, but unraveling. And yet I was held. Not by arms, but by something older. Something vast.
A voice—hers, or the sea’s, or my own longing—rose inside me: “You’ve wandered after me for so long. Why?”
I answered without thinking. “Because I can’t sleep without your breath in my lungs. I can’t wake without your shadow in my dreams. I need to feel your light… and your storm.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t need to. Her silence was a kind of embrace.
And in that moment, I knew: she was not a woman. She was the wind that transforms. The dusk that listens. The sea that waits.
I stepped forward, though the tide pulled at my ankles and the wind pressed against my chest like a warning.
Me: “Let me stay. I’ll give up everything—my name, my breath, my past. I’ll become the silence between waves if it means I can be near you.”
She shimmered, not with light, but with presence. Her voice came not from her mouth, but from the air itself—threaded through the salt and storm.
Her: “You speak like the sea speaks to the shore—always reaching, always retreating. But you are made of time. I am not.”
Me: “Then take my time. Let it dissolve. I don’t need years, only moments. Only you.”
The wind circled me, lifting my hair, my thoughts, my longing. She moved closer, though she never touched me. Her warmth was everywhere and nowhere.
Her: “If you stay, you will forget how to breathe. Your body will unravel. Your soul will stretch too thin. I am the wind—you cannot live inside me.”
Me: “But I already do. Every night I dream of you. Every morning I wake with your voice in my chest. Isn’t that living inside you?”
She paused. The waves stilled. Even the storm seemed to listen.
Her: “You live in the ache of me. In the echo. But not in the core. I am endless. You are not. If you cross fully into my world, you will vanish. Not die—just cease.”
Me: “Then let me vanish. Let me become the hush before your thunder.”
She stepped closer. The sky broke open behind her, streaked with gold and violet. Her eyes—if they were eyes—held centuries.
Her: “You are beautiful in your longing. But your beauty is in your breath, your heartbeat, your impermanence. I cannot hold what must change.”
I fell to my knees, not from pain, but from knowing. The tide kissed my skin. The wind cradled my sorrow.
Me: “Then speak to me once more. Let me carry your voice into my world. Let me remember.”
She leaned in, and the wind whispered through me like a final embrace.
Her: “You will forget my face. But not my feeling. You will lose my voice. But not my silence. Go now. And when the dusk listens, you’ll know I’m near.”
And then—she was gone.
Lost
A few yard trimmers work the east bowl at the Belt Railway of Chicago's Clearing Yard, while a hump set works a cut in the far background.
Unfortunately, the weather was garbage for much of this trip, but it was still fun to visit a bunch of the vaunted Chicagoland hot spots.
When the Shoulder Tightens: How Modern-World Stress Mimics Parasitic Grip on Muscle
Introduction: The Feeling of Being “Occupied”
In clinical practice, patients often describe severe shoulder tension with strikingly visceral metaphors:
“It feels like something is burrowing under the muscle,”
“like a creature is clenching my shoulder blade,”
“like something is twisting the fibres from inside.”
While no known human parasite is capable of physically “contorting” shoulder muscles in this manner, the sensory illusion of invasive movement or twisting is surprisingly common in people under chronic stress. Modern neurophysiology shows that intense psychological strain can create sensations so vivid that patients liken them to parasitic occupation.
This article explores why shoulder muscles react so dramatically to stress, what real parasites do (and don’t do), and why the metaphor of “muscular parasitism” may be more accurate—psychologically and physiologically—than it first appears.
1. The Shoulder as a Stress Hotspot
The Anatomical Perfect Storm
The shoulder girdle—anchored by the trapezius, levator scapulae, rhomboids, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and the rotator cuff complex—is uniquely vulnerable to stress:
Large muscle groups with high postural load
Dense networks of sensory nerves
Stillness during digital tasks (typing, texting) causes static tension
Emotional stress triggers reflex elevation and tightening
When the sympathetic nervous system activates (“fight-or-flight”), the shoulder girdle contracts instinctively to protect the neck—an evolutionary remnant. Repeated activation creates chronic spasm, knotting, and sometimes fasciculations (tiny involuntary twitches), which can feel eerily alive.
2. The “Parasitic” Sensation: A Neurobiological Explanation
Muscle Twisting, Crawling, and “Internal Motion”
Stress-induced phenomena that mimic parasitic movement include:
a. Myofascial Trigger Points
Hypercontracted fibres generate:
Deep, twisting pressure
Referred pain down the arm or into the skull
Local twitch response that can feel like movement under the skin
b. Fasciculations (Muscle Twitches)
Triggered by:
Prolonged muscle tension
Magnesium deficiency
Overuse
Sleep deprivation
Patients often describe them as tiny organisms squirming beneath the surface.
c. Stress-Amplified Somatosensory Perception
Chronic anxiety heightens interoception—the brain’s tracking of internal signals. Mundane sensations become:
Exaggerated
Mistranslated
Sometimes interpreted as invasive or foreign
This explains why stress can produce a quasi-parasitic bodily narrative without any actual infection.
3. Real Parasites That Affect Muscle—What Science Actually Knows
No known parasite selectively “contorts” shoulder muscles due to psychological stress. However, several real organisms can inhabit muscle tissue, causing pain, spasm, or structural damage:
a. Trichinella spiralis
Transmitted via undercooked meat
Larvae embed in skeletal muscle
Causes inflammation, fever, and severe myalgia
Does not create twisting or crawling sensations
b. Toxoplasma gondii (less commonly muscular)
Can form cysts in muscle tissue
Usually asymptomatic
c. Cysticercosis (tapeworm larvae)
Can lodge in muscle and create palpable nodules
Rare in shoulders; usually painless
These conditions are not triggered by stress, nor do they cause the contortions or movements that patients metaphorically describe.
4. Why Modern Stress Feels “Parasitic”
The metaphor is intriguing because stress behaves—physiologically—like something that feeds on the body:
a. Energy Drain
Chronic cortisol elevation breaks down muscle protein and impairs repair.
b. Neural Hijacking
The sympathetic system overrides voluntary relaxation; the body feels acted upon.
c. Patterned Tension
Shoulder muscles become “programmed” into contraction, operating outside conscious control.
To many patients, this loss of agency—the sense that something else is steering the muscle—feels parasitic, even though the cause is internal and psychological.
5. Treatment: Breaking the Cycle
Physical interventions
Myofascial release therapy
Targeted rotator cuff strengthening
Scapular mobility exercises
Heat therapy to reduce sympathetic tone
Neurological and psychological
Diaphragmatic breathing to downshift autonomic activity
Mind-body therapies (ACT, mindfulness-based stress reduction)
Cognitive reframing for somatic misinterpretation
Sleep restoration
Lifestyle modifications
Ergonomic workstation adjustments
Frequent microbreaks during digital work
Reduction in stimulant intake (caffeine, energy drinks)
Conclusion: A Real Condition Wearing a Metaphorical Mask
Shoulder muscles cannot literally be “contorted by parasites due to stresses in the modern world.” But the modern human experience—screens, overload, vigilance, pressure—creates a somatic landscape where stress behaves as invasively as any parasite, commandeering muscle fibers, stealing energy, and producing sensations so bizarre that many people describe them with biological imagery.
Understanding this phenomenon through a medical lens doesn’t diminish the metaphor—it makes it more profound. Stress doesn’t need to be a living organism to feel like one.
DISCLAIMER: By the way, the picture is of sand patterns on a Highland beach. The description is some non-medical concoction created by ChatGPT
The cycle of life ends for the leaves and for one tree reminding us that the bible promises beauty after death and that we all need to increasingly exhibit beauty to others as we age.
Lake Lowndes State Park, Mississippi - Darkened exposure compensation in PSE8 to bring out the color.
When this juvenile Snowy Owl came off the power pole, it flew away across a field, but then surprised me by doubling back and doing an overhead flyby. Realizing that little if any of its undersurface would be in direct sun, I did a quick exposure adjustment. It wasn't perfect, but close enough, with plenty of detail in the slightly underexposed RAW files.
Shooting manual rather than automatic exposure settings meant that all the exposures were identical, and therefore required identical adjustments. Easy!
I did a minor amount of upscaling with ON1 Resize to tighten the crop while retaining a hi res TIF file of 50 MB, a standard I try to maintain. When clients come calling I want them to know they will get a top quality image from me.
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
The Flickr Lounge-Wood
Today Stu changed a couple of strings on his big bass. This little drill like tool loosens and tightens the strings.
Tightening nuts on the steam chest of an 1875 Baldwin steam locomotive.
Shot for Our Daily Challenge :“Hands”