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generouslyrainy-blog · 4 years ago

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Short Stories you could read

During the lockdown, we can best spend time reading if we are not engaged in something else. In this short piece, I provide a glimpse of five great short stories freely available online. A well-told short story gives a magical experience. Some writers, like Julio Cortázar and Jorge Luis Borges, put a novel-worthy content in less than 15 to 20 pages, all with the sheer power of their language. Others, like Hemingway and Raymond Carver, show us how carefully chosen style, controlled sentimentality, and crisp, straightforward narrative transform the brutalities of existence and life into literary masterpieces. The authors I refer to here are but a small sample from a vast sea of exquisitely talented short story writers. These are some of my favorite ones.

Why read short stories?

Churchill said a speech should be like a woman's skirt — long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to arouse curiosity. That is what short stories are like: neither too long nor too short.

Are you someone inclined to reading nonfiction and have little time for novels but still want to know what a good work of fiction is like? You have short stories. The aesthetics, craft, variety, and subjects found in the novel are present in short stories. Check out the following stories. They are amazing.

1. Symbols and Signs by Vladimir Nabokov

This story is about an elderly Jewish couple who visits their mentally ill son who, after an attempted suicide, is in a hospital. On their way back home, the father plans to remove the son from the hospital. The story quickly slides into an anxious mood when their phone rings ceaselessly, making the old couple anxious about their son. The unfolding of the story creates layers of interpretations through which we see a Russian Jewish family.

God's prose, if we assume that God writes in English, would not be as beautiful as Nabokov's.

For the fourth time in as many years, they were confronted with the problem of what birthday present to take to a young man who was incurably deranged in his mind. Desires he had none. Man-made objects were to him either hives of evil, vibrant with a malignant activity that he alone could perceive, or gross comforts for which no use could be found in his abstract world. Continue here.

2. The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekov

A married man away from home has a brief but passionate affair with a young woman. The affair has to end, as all such flings do. But the brief encounter has started something deeper, more permanent than they both would have expected. How can a brief fling sometimes greatly affect people? This story explores that theme. Vladimir Nabokov said this story is the greatest one to have been ever written and that he would take Checkov's work 'on a trip to another planet'.

IT was said that a new person had appeared on the sea-front: a lady with a little dog. Dmitri Dmitritch Gurov, who had by then been a fortnight at Yalta, and so was fairly at home there, had begun to take an interest in new arrivals. Sitting in Verney's pavilion, he saw, walking on the sea-front, a fair-haired young lady of medium height, wearing a béret; a white Pomeranian dog was running behind her. Continue here.

3. Chef’s House by Raymond Carver

I absolutely love this short piece by the master. Wes, a middle-aged man, living by the sea in a house he rented from a recovered alcoholic, Chef — is dealing with his own alcoholism. He and his wife Edna haven’t been together for two years and he calls her to be with him. She joins him and they have a happy summer together. Going fishing and all that. That happiness is short-lived, though. Chef tells them they have to leave by the end of the month because his daughter, who lost her husband in the sea, would move in. Wes takes it all very badly. The couple is at a metaphorical edge. What would happen to Wes — to Edna? What lay ahead is open to interpretation, but prospects aren’t all that good for Wes — he might trip over.

I remember reading somewhere that another writer, probably a Carver admirer (I find it hard for anybody to not be a Carver fan), started his novel where Carver’s short story ends.

This is a charming story. You should read it. I could not locate a free online version of the story, but you can listen to David Means reading Chef’s House at New Yorker Fiction Podcast.

4. Yesterday by Haruki Murakami

The Japanese author Haruki Murakami is a great master of the short story. Pick up any Murakami piece and you are in for a thrill of sorts. In all the exotic thrill of strange human relations or compulsions — as in Barn Burning where a man has a compulsion to burn down barns, Samsa in Love which an echo of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and Kino, a curious story of an elderly heartbroken guy — Murakami shows us a mirror image of ourselves, our times, and the reality of which we are a part. A genius working on cosmopolitan themes, peppering his work with a liberal amount of Miles Davis and Beatles, he is a writer worth reading.

Yesterday is published in his collection Men without Women. Tanimura, a middle-aged man, remembers his friend from youth, an erratic guy who used to put Japanese lyrics in Kansai dialect to Beatles' Yesterday. Kitaru and Tanimura work in a coffee shop. Kitaru — a weirdo of sorts — is dating Erika Kuritani, a vivacious and beautiful girl. In a curious turn of events, Kitaru asks Tanimura to go with his girlfriend. Tanimura does. Kitaru disappears. Murakami melds music, youth, love, time and its power over people, memory, and strangeness in one supremely crafted story.

As far as I know, the only person ever to put Japanese lyrics to the Beatles' song “Yesterday” (and to do so in the distinctive Kansai dialect, no less) was a guy named Kitaru. He used to belt out his own version when he was taking a bath. Continue here.

5. What is Remembered by Alice Munro

Alice Munro requires no introduction. Well, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her masterful stories deal with many themes of human interest, including memory, relationships, and growing up. In her stories, she studies memory as a potential force that dictates our actions.

In What is Remembered, a brief affair with a man lingers in a woman’s mind. Thirty years afterward, she remembers one more detail. By now, both the husband and lover have died. How does memory follow people? What effects does it have on us? What effect, speaking a little parochially, does an affair from youth have on our older, wizened selves?

The breathtaking charm of Munro’s prose style is another reason for you to read her work.

In a hotel room in Vancouver, Meriel as a young woman is putting on her short white summer gloves. She wears a beige linen dress and a flimsy white scarf over her hair. Dark hair, at that time. Continue here.

#general shortstoriesrecommendation

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lada-m · 4 years ago

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Sims 4 Simdew Valley Challenge (base game friendly)

Hello! I tried bunch of farm challenges and came up with this one. It is structured, base game friendly and flexible. Please google how to use cheats or install mods, I won't explain it here.

Also this challenge was inspired by two challenges: 1 and 2.

To win

Main goal is to purchase all upgrades from the list and accomplish Freelance Botanist aspiration. If you own Get to work, you also obligated to open a shop. For more fun I made 21 tasks you can accomplish for reward.

At the end of a challenge your farmer will have big house, happy family and perfect garden.

Backstory

Your grandpa, nobel farmer, passed away and left you all what he had. Unfortunately collectors sold most of his heritage and left you nothing but an old house and empty soil.

Set up

I played this challenge with long seasons and long life span but you can use any settings you want. Also I would start with spring if I where you (you can change season with cheat). You must start as a young adult. Roll the dice for your starter pack.

Books. Grandpa left you the following skill book (tier one): 1-2 Cooking skill book 2-3 Gardening skill book 3-4 Handiness skill book 5-6 One (!) skill book from any EP you own or mod you installed (Herbalism, Knitting, Juice Fizzing, Baking, Flower Arrangement or Canning, Nectar Making, etc.) If you have nothing to choose from, choose any skill from the base game (everyone have a hobby!).

Your skills. You wasn't born yesterday, right? Set the skill to level two using cheats. Choose skill according to dice. 1-2 Cooking skill 2-3 Gardening skill 3-4 Hndiness skill 5-6 One (!) skill from any EP you own or mod you installed (Herbalism, Juice Fizzing, Baking, Flower Arrangement or Canning, Nectar Making, etc.). If you have nothing to choose from, choose any skill from the base game.

Your traits and aspiration

You have to pick one helping trait (love outdoors, genius, creative, perfectionist, green friend, loner, maker) and one bad trait (hot-headed, gloomy, paranoid, squeamish, klepto, jealous). Third trait can be any excluding listed above.

You have one obligatory aspiration and four additional. I suggest you to try aspirations in that order, even if additional ones won't be finished.

1. The curator (sell collectibles for stratum capital) 2. Freelance botanist (obligatory) 3. Big happy family 4. Angling Ace 5. Mansion Baron

Your appearance

You can wear only clothing appropriate for garden, no fancy stuff. You have to pay 500$ every time you want to add new clothing to category.

Your home

Step 1. Choose big lot, preferably deep in forest or on island. There you have empty home with cracked walls and dirty flooring, half of the roof is missing. If you are not a builder, any gallery home will do, just delete wallpaper/flooring/furniture. If you are a builder, I suggest you to make floor plan now.

Keep in mind that you might need a place for garden, greenhouse, barn, basement and crafting studio.

Step 2. To simulate uncomfortable feelings from nearly destroyed home, I suggest you to place everywhere dirty dishes from debug menu.

Step 3. If you can add bad traits to your lot, do it. Creepy crawlies, cursed, filthy, gremlins, quake zone are bad traits.

Step 4. Place the following objects anywhere in the house: - Tent or cheapest bed, - Woodworking table, - Functional pile of books or cheapest bookcase, - Fetilize-able bush or cheapest toilet (must be outdoors anyway), - Cheapes grill (if there is none around), - Outdoor bin, - Washing tub and clothesline (if you own Laundry Day).

Step 5. Use cheat to reduce money to zero. That's right, you better hurry before you farmer got hungry! I suggest you to look around for collectibles, harvestibles and lost hotdogs. You can use community lots for plumbing. You can't build mansion for community lot and live there!

First steps. Get plumbing, electricity and roof upgrade. After that you can get rid of dirty dishes.

Rules

Money

- You can't sell for profit decorative spider web or cracks in the walls, old furniture and other crap that no one wants. You can't have profit from selling plumbing, walls, windows. Deduct money with cheat.

- Every season OR every four in-game weeks (for base game) you have to sell all old crops and plant new ones. Only crops in greenhouse can stay. Remember, no one wants your crap, leave alone dead roots you just pulled out of the soil! So deduct money you got from sold crops.

- Nothing is free. You have to pay money for wires to be pulled into your house, plumbing to be connected, roof to be repaired, and so on (upgrades list is below).

- You can sell crafted objects and collectibles any way you want: via build mode, inventory, market table, retail business or Plopsy.

- All CC are allowed. Remember, you can't buy cheap or free CC objects, you have to pay for them honest price according to EA prices. Use cheat to deduct money.

Tasks - You can complete tasks for reward. Some of them have penalty for skipping! - Every in-game week have it's own task. For example, you can't take task from week two if you are on week four. - You have only one week for every task, you can't prolong task time. - If you run out of tasks then start list over from the beginning.

Restrictions - You can't start with pre-made family, you start with single sim. Also you can't have pet of your dream from the beginning, getting a pet is another upgrade to purchase. - No potions, spells, immortality, lottery tickets, great-great grandpa money, money tree. - You can hire butler only because he doesn't have to make a long way to your house deep in the woods. All other services forbidden (unless you have live-in services mod). - Your sim can't have a job but he can register profession in the ministry of labor. You are allowed to gain money in any way as long as it is about craft, art and collectibles. - If your main character dies, you have to teach another household member. You can't buy more upgrades with dead sim's skills. - Visiting other sim's house is not allowed if you was not invited. inventory - If task says "hide", you move item to household Inventory and never use it again. - You can't use household Inventory for anything else. That's why you will need to build a barn eventually. - You can carry only following objects using sim's inventory: seeds, upgrade parts, earbuds, camera.

Please read upgrade list to understand what your sim can and can't do at the very beginning.

Upgrades

(you can buy only one upgrade per day! Purchase upgrades in any order you want. If you don't own mentioned EP, ignore upgrade)

Utilities Plumping upgrade (600$) You can use any plumbing available. Electricity (1200$) You can use any electricity object available. Hello, world (2000$) It's hella expensive to have internet in the country, ya know! But you paid enough and now can order items, browse the web and use other online functions of computer.

Basic building Roof (3000$) You can fix your roof so it covers all rooms.

Barn (2000$, handiness skill 5, gardening skill 5)

Craft studio (400$, any skill 6) You can place woodworking table or any other craft table and hobby item here.

Decorating courses (200$ and Handiness skill 3) You attended decorating courses. Now you can buy wallpaper or drywall, use linoleum and carpets.

Another decorating courses (200$ and Handness skill 5) All types of flooring and walls unlocked, including stone and wood.

Second floor unlock (5 000$) You have to pay every time you need another floor to be build.

Going down (5 000$) You unlocked basement. Do what you want but just don't build kid's bedroom here, alright? For walls and flooring purchase another upgrade.

Garden Garden tier 1 (1000$) Apple won't grow if you just throw it on the ground, fertilizers required. You can place two planter boxes or 8 plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 2 (1500$ and garden skill 3) You can place one more planter box (3 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 3 (1800$ and garden skill 6) You can place one more planter box (4 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 4 (2200$ and garden skill 8) You can place one more planter box (5 in total) or 4 more plants without planter boxes.

Garden tier 5 (3000$ and garden skill 8) You can plant any amount of seeds you want, it's your land now, no fee!

Get wet (Gardening skill 3) You heard about this "sprinklers" thing but could not believe it till you found some in local store. Now you can buy Sprinkle-O-Matic 2001.

Bee boxes (1000$)

Lots

New lot trait (20 000$) You hired specialist (exterminator, feng shui master, ghost buster, whatever) and he made your home a better place. You can change one trait to any other of your choice. You have to pay every time you want to change lot trait. If you had no lot trait but ready for makeover, you can pay 20 000$ and get free bonus trait (any trait) for your sim. Use cheat for that.

Your own store (gardening 9, handiness 9, charisma 4, proper house with utilities and 50 000$) Fee was huge but you did it! Congratulations, grandpa would be proud of you. You unlocked retail store, but you have to pay for lot and building now. Yes, 50k was only a fee.

Catalog Pay only once for unlocking price range.

Local store items (200$) You can buy items under 300$, all fancy stuff in another store.

Store in Sunset Valley (500$) You unlocked items in 300-600 price range, but transporting expences was cruel.

Store in Twinbrook (800$) You unlocked items in 600-2000 price range, but delivery company is greedy.

Store in Twinbrook (1200$) You unlocked items in 2000-4000 price range, you shopaholic...

Store in Pleasantview (2000$) You can order whatever you want because you order in Pleasantview, best city for shopping available!

Social

Wedding (5000$, gardening 6, cooking 4, handiness 3, and proper bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, unlocked roofs, utilities, wall and floor decorations) Now you can marry.

Kids (7000$ per kid. Wedding required if kid is not adopted. All room types must be unlocked, all utilities paid) Health and school expences was large. If you own required EP then buy poor kid bike to get to school from your coutry farm!

Pet (gardening 6, handiness 6, 3000$) After medical examination and vaccinations you finally got yourself the furry friend! You unlock pet and/or cowplant owner privilege. You can only adopt pet! No premade perfect pets allowed!

Afterschool activities payment (400$) You love these kids but can't they find a better hobby but talking to monster under the bed? Well, if you pay teachers they will stay with your kid a little longer. Afterschool activities unlocked. If you don't own EP, you unlocked mods that use wormholes (like Explore mod).

Woodcarving society (Handiness 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges five hand-made wooden objects (hide wooden objects). Now you are the part of woodcarving society and can sell every object made with woodworking table for double price.

Farmer society (Gardening 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges ten harvestables (hide harvestables). Now you are the part of gardening society and can hire a gardener FOR FREE as your apprentice (money cheat or club slaves).

Fishing society (Fishing 10) After maxing skill you can present to judges five different fishes (hide fishes). Now you are the part of fishing society and can sell every catched fish for double price.

Creative society After maxing one of these skills (painting, flower arrangement, fizzing, fabrication, knitting) you can sell objects made with it for double price. But first you have to present to judges five examples of your mastery (hide crafted objects).

List of tasks

If you don't have certain character on your save file, choose other NPC.

Week 1. Locals want to meet their new farmer. Talk to everyone on a party on in community lot. Entroduce yourself to at least 10 characters. If you ignore them, you have to pay additional 200$ to every building upgrade because locals don't want to deal with you and you have to hire someone from other city.

Week 2. Local kindergarden run out of greenies. Sell 10 vegetables or fruits before week ends, maybe not from your garden ;) Free activity table for your kids if you participate.

Week 3. Bob Pancakes is terribly ill, only good looking garden salad from organic vegetables can help him. You can give it to him or ignore him. You can visit his house and use his stuff if you helped him. Hide or gift salad.

Week 4. Romance day is coming! You can sell your flowers for double price this week.

Week 5. Local bar lost two baristols in recent nectar accident. You can sell them two crafted baristols for double price or pretend you wasn't there and have no idea they need baristols ;)

Week 6. Mortimer Goth runs charity event. If you want to participate, you have to cook and give away (hide) 3 hot meals of family size and normal quality. In exchange you can get any flower vase under 300$ from catalogue for free as memorable gift from community.

Week 7. Art Gallery of San Myshuno is planning an exibition called "Creativity in everyone". They asked you to participate: make a painting or photo they can show. Hide it. Your reward is free easel.

Week 8. Wildfire in Selvadorada destroyed many trees. You can help and donate 10 trees of any kind. Hide them. Everyone amazed by your kindness! Use traits.equip_trait Gregarious cheat for bunus trait (use testingcheats on first).

Week 9. Geoffrey Landgraab runs fisherman week. Everyone who wants to participate have to catch and cook at least 5 fishes. In exchange you get big or small fish tank for free. Roll the dice, even numbers -- big fish tank.

Week 10. Nancy Landgraab requested 3 flower bushes for her garden. Hide them and give yourself 1000$. You can ignore Nancy but she will pull strings and you barn will cost 2300$ instead of 2000$.

Week 11. Local teacher asked you for a tour. You can ignore request. If you agree, invite 5 kids to your lot and let them stay for three in-game hours. You unlocked one afterschool activity/wormhole mod for your kids for free.

Week 12. Sulani environmentalists concerned with Sylvan Glade. Is it safe? Is it hidden? Go there, take 5 different photos to prove that Sylvan Glade is fine. Hide photos.

Week 13. Windenburg wants to sell souvenirs. You can make some! Any wooden sculpture or other hand made decorative object can be sold for double price this week.

Week 14. Your city is in desprate need of eco tourists. You can shelter tourists this week, all they need -- bed and breakfast. For every day tourist spend in your house they pay you 300$. To simulate that, you can start a club gathering, invite someone to stay for a night, invite roommate or ask to join household.

Week 15. Local zoo requests 10 frogs. Hide caught frogs and give yourself 500$.

Week 16. At this promo week you can pay 1000$ and install premade greenhouse on your lot! Use gallery for that if you want. Greenhouse should be without plants, empty glass box. You can place only 16 plants or 4 planter boxes, they are not included in garden upgrades.

Week 17. Museum of Twinbrook interested in your collection of whatever you collected already. You can gift them 10 collectibles and in exchange they will deliver you anything from Twinbrook (Unlocks Store in Twinbrook upgrade).

Week 18. Amazing bonsai master arrived to your city with lecture on gardening. You can attend and pay 300$. It gives you plus two skill points (gain 2 skill points for gardening using cheat).

Week 19. Local folk heard about your progress and gave you 5 seed packs for free. Buy them for free using cheat. You can get seeds only if you finished 7 or more tasks before that.

Week 20. Evergreen Harbor requested 10 planter boxes for their first community garden. You can hide them and give yourself 3000$. If you have EP installed, you can visit community garden after that.

Week 21. Geo Consul asks you to make photo of The Forgotten Grotto because they can't break it open themselves. Get inside and take five different photos for this curious folk. Hide photos.

Score system

+ 5 once all available upgrades was purchased

+ 5 for every aspiration completed (in no specific order)

+ 5 for every child (any other age does not count)

+ 3 for every adopted child (sorry)

+ 1 for every cowplant and/or pet that lived more than three in-game weeks

+ 1 for every perfect quality plant (gallery plants do not count)

+ 5 once event list is over

+ 5 for every collection finished

+ 1 once your kids gets A in elementary school

+ 1 once your kids gets A in high school

+ 2 for every maxed skill

+ 1 for every full upgraded objects in game (eco upgrades do not count)

+ 1 for every five friends your farmer made

+ 1 for every three bonsai trees you harvested and sold (perfect quality only, full tree, not seeds)

As you can see, EP owners won't have advantage in scores. Tell me if I missed something.

Tips

Money

- Painting is most profitable, woodcarving is on second place, writing is on third. Flower arrangement is profitable too.

- If you want to abuse rules then you can simply buy bunch of roses via phone (purchase gifts...) and plant them. Very profitable little things

- Most of the collectibles I found was in parks of Willow Creek, Oasis Springs and Brindleton Bay

Gardening - You can leave plants on ground and make cheap planter box using low heigh fence or dirt tiles - Death flower will give you many flowers once grafted to another bush plant - Harvest spawns at 5-6 AM and only if you are at home lot - I allow using cheats to make plants on community lots bloom. After that you can take home a piece, graft it to your plant and have harvest in three days or so - Seed collecting is pain in TS4. To make it easier for both of us I allow using debug to purchase seeds. BUT you can't order seeds from planter box, phone or computer until you unlock Hello world upgrade. Fell free to search for seeds in San Mishuno market, use N. A. P. or look for plants on community lots

Seasons EP: - If you own Seasons EP consider building greenhouse eventually - I allow loot Patchy for seeds and use him as help - Bees help plants to gain quality in 6 tiles radius, it's 3 planter boxes. You can also bond with bees and later collect swarm to pollinate plants manually - Fetilizer must be expensive, otherwise it does nothing

Related CC (free, always updated, no ads)

All Icemunmun's and Brazen Lotus's mods are perfect for farming challenges but I use only canning mod and retail displays (it's just personal preference).

Find all collectibles automatically

Better gardening - 1 and 2

No tiny harvestables

More woodcarving recepies

Rustic wooden toilet for set up

Seasons EP:

Weather overhaul for Seasons

Caigel Garden Sign Collection - All Packs Edition + Extra (only basegame required!)

Thank you for your attention! I am opened for suggestions. Also I'm not native eng speaker so pardon my grammar.

#ts4 #ts4 challenge #the sims 4 challenge #sims 4 challenge #sims challenge

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witchlepedia · 5 years ago

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Hai i want to buy some tarot cards but don't know where to get any ive tried barnes and nobels and another shop but they just sold inscence and bracelets, is there any other type of store i shpuld check

If there's any metaphysical shops near you definitely check there. They normally have simple cards and some more elaborate ones. You can find some online as well, if that's an available option for you. As far as a specific store if there is an Earthbound Trading Co. near you they normally carry them. Good luck on your search!

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homestuck-kinhelp · 5 years ago

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Can I know where you got your tarot card deck? The one with the bugs (idk how many you have)

I got it at a Barnes and Nobel a few years back! This is the link to the deck in their online shop!

-Mod Crockbert

#mod crockbert #its my only deck #Anonymous

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officialshojobeat · 7 years ago

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Two things: 1. Do you mind it when bookstores stock your books ahead of the release date? I ask because I have to tell you, every Friday afternoon after a hard week of work I go straight to Barnes and Nobel and reward myself with Manga coming out the next Tuesday. Having said that, 2. Do you have a time-frame for the next volume of Everyone's Getting Married? I just tore through the latest volume and the mangaka mentioned it was wrapping up, but I can't find listings of the next volume online.

1. Bookstores tend to do this. One downside is that it separates what would have been one sales total for the week into two. That means the total is not as high for a new title’s first week on charts like BookScan. It’s also more difficult for other shops to compete that don’t get their books as early.

2. By next volume I assume you mean vol. 9–vol. 8 is this month’s release. Vol. 9 has not come out in Japan yet, so it’s not in our schedule.

-Editor Nancy

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cooperemilyblog-blog · 8 years ago

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A good book has no ending.

Find one for you from Barnes and Nobles at upto 75% off and get cashback from Yaarlo.

#Triple cash back #Buy Barnes & Noble gift card #Barnes & Nobel online shopping

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gmafbcm · 5 years ago

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Merry New Year!

I listen to a fucking ton of podcasts. Here are a few I don’t miss. Grouped but not ranked. Tried to include a favorite or representative episode for each. I don’t know what platform you listen to things on so I went with firm specific or top google results for each.

Finance: the bulk of my listening goes to my favorite topic

RopesTalk: Ropes and Gray does a great job of providing concise insight on legal issues primarily in finance and IP. Quick hit on CDS

Conversations with Tyler: I didn’t know where to put this one but Tyler Cowen is a great economist and has surprisingly good questions no matter the topic. Matt Levine is good one to start with

HBR Idea Cast: Long running pod from the Harvard Business Review. Here is this year’s econ Nobel winner Esther Duflo

Invest Like the Best: Patrick O'Shaughnessy of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management talks to investors of all stripes. Here is a great ep with @modestproposal

Macro Musings: David Beckworth of Mercatus Center at George Mason University talks econ and markets in depth. A good one with Chris Crowe from Capula

Macro Voices: the host Erik Townsend is not particularly impressive but he gets some fine guests. Chris Cole the CIO of Artemis has done two strong episodes both linked within

Exchanges at Goldman Sachs: amazing guest and interviewers across the board. Can’t go wrong with this one. The parting spot from Gary Cohn is very good

Morgan Stanley Ideas: discussions from the research team at MS. My favorite is when they examine “cypto currencies” through the lens of other pretend money like western Massachusetts’s BerkShares

Quantcast: from Risk.net if you really want to get into the weeds there are few better. Mats Kjaer, one of the most talented risk quants out there, formerly of Barclays now at Bloomberg shares his latest on capital valuation adjustment

Reorg: a go to for distressed, BK, liquidations, and debt litigation. A good example of what to expect is their latest on new issuance covenant trends

Top Traders Unplugged: a back and forth with more quant focused, CTA, and trend following traders. Not sure how they swung this one but they bagged the founders of a visionary shop AHL. Michael Adam, David Harding, founder and CEO of Winton Group, and Martin Lueck, co-founder and president of Aspect Capital

Debtwire: broad based coverage on levered finance throughout that side of the capital stack. Proskauer Rose’s private credit restructuring group is a good one

Blackstone: crab claws, you know the drill. Former partner and GSO founder Dwight Scott is a standout

Activist Insight: a look at all that happens in the primarily domestic side of activist investing. One to get you caught up is The top 10 wildest campaigns of 2019

Alpha Exchange: New but shows promise. The first episode hooked me Louis-Vincent Gave, CEO and Founding Partner, Gavekal

JP Morgan Eye on the Market: Michael Cemblast is razor sharp. It is rather topical and quick, just subscribe.

Capital Allocators: Ted Seides formerly one of the more influential names in early stage fund of funds talks with some of the biggest names in alternatives and more. Whitebox Advisors’s Andy Redleaf is amazing

Inside the Ice House: from ICE / NYSE very broad but worth a listen. John Arnold is the best one I have heard

Odd Lots: as often as I question some choices of guests Tracy Alloway is fantastic. Bill Janeway on the unicorn bubble

CFTC Talks: a bit dry but they bring in some hitters and do not mind deep diving at all. A good idea of what to expect is George Saravelos Deutsche Bank, Global Co-head FX Research

Barstool: not for everyone but I am a Stoolie since year one, a bunch of my friends work there, and they put out some of the funniest stuff on the internet. I had brutal year and couldn’t have handled it without their levity.

Pardon My Take: Number one podcast for a reason. Football guys guys. Produced by Scituate’s finest Handsome Hank. If you are one of the few not listening the best of 2019 is a fine dropping off point

Spittin Chiclets: hockey from the standpoint of both fans and former pros. Hosted by my summer neighbor and the originator of gassin’ beers and chuckin’ knucks Ryan Whitney. Doing another best of cop out

Fore Play: I don’t even play golf (rage and lack of patience) but this pod is so funny and they treat the game with an irreverence that is exactly what it needs. Jake Owens’s story about Phil Mickelson is perfection

Micks Tape: basketball focused but plenty of discussion of sports at large, stand-up comedy, and the only place I find out about new rap. It is a weird episode but I fell off a treadmill laughing to ‘All Star Draft and Wild Hypotheticals With YP’

Light Camera: where I go for movie reviews and some of the goofiest skits I have ever heard. I found their second interview with Jesse Eisenberg fascinating

The Corp: a look at entrepreneurs from Alex Rodriguez and Big Cat. Pulls some of the biggest names out there. Martha Stewart is a personal favorite

Gambling: it is derivative market making but for sports

Bet the Process: Rufus Peabody is one of the best football and golf handicappers on the planet. Jeff Ma former captain of the MIT blackjack team is as good at cross discipline analytics as it gets. Former head of market making at Pinnacle Ted Knutson bridges the finance / gambling bridge well

Pinnacle: gambling through the lens of the most quantitatively advanced sports book out there. In this ep Joe Peta discusses his overlapping careers in hedge funds and gambling

Gamble On: this pod from US Bets focuses on offshore and online gaming. Not a ton of shelf life on these so the latest on Draft Kings going public is worth a listen

Gaming Today: more of an old school discussion from the standpoint of Vegas bookmakers. They remind me of floor traders. Listen to the latest and try to find some edge

Misc.

Daves of Thunder: Feeney and Shek are two tremendously talented comedy writers and they make me laugh ever episode. I would start pre-hiatus from the top because the jokes get very inside baseball

Hodinkee: if you have any interest in vintage watches this is really the only place to go. Ben Clymer’s backstory is what watch collecting is all about

David Chang: insights on the food industry and running a business from a real pro in both regards. Joe Beef is one of my favorite places on earth so that is a good one to check

Brattlecast: books old and or rare. Ken Gloss owns my favorite shop in Boston and has decades of stories about it. Finds of a Lifetime is the goal

Bon Appétit: recipes and trends from the food world in a relaxed and approachable format. Just a delight. They made a perfect Thanksgiving, I stole two recipes and I barely cook

Beyond Yacht Rock: I have learned more about music from this show than in my years of formal training and symphony involvement. I would take it from the top but if you need a good cry, JD’s songs from his late wife is a touching tribute

Comedy Bang Bang: if you are in need of a good laugh instead this inside look at comedy is second to none. I relisten to Paul F. Tompkins as Werner Herzog and every time it kills me

All the Smoke: the newest addition gives a player perspective on the NBA from Stephen Jackson and Matty Barnes. It made me like Dwayne Wade which as a Celtics fan is tough

If there is anything you think I might enjoy based on these I would be pleased as punch to hear from you.

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surveys-r-us · 5 years ago

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today’s been so meh

Do you go to church?

Not anymore. Have you ever had an ulcer?

Nope What was the last book you read?

Full book? I think milk and honey. What was the last book you read about, and was it good?

It’s a poetry book. It’s so good. What site do you use to discover new music?

Spotify.

What’s your current favorite song?

I can’t think of one right now

Do you make smoothies?

Not often.

Do you use holiday-themed window clings?

I have before.

How many pairs of jeggings do you own?

None.

How often do you wash your windows?

I don’t. My parents do.

Do you own slipper socks?

Nope.

Are you a sushi lover?

Yes but only imitation crab.

Do you have any rare medical conditions?

Do you have to carry an epi pen?

Nope

What is your mother’s maiden name?

It’s super common but not putting it on here.

The first time you remember being hospitalized, what was it for?

I guess getting my tonsils out would count? If not, I was 13 and my period wanted to kill me.

Were you ever in the hospital as a kid?

Yeah probably.

Do you know what your dreams are?

Be happy and successful I guess. Travel a ton.

Do you know what your purpose in life is?

Not at all.

What are the best things to put in a smoothie?

Strawberries, yogurt, etc. This question is dumb.

When was the last time you got a new backpack?

Not since high school. I used the same one in college.

What color is your bicycle?

I don’t have one but my old one was white and purple.

Do you have a bike with a basket on the front?

It didn’t have a basket.

Do you like to add different spices to things?

Yep

Are you cold or hot more often?

Hot I suppose

Do you like the song Days of Elijah?

I’ve never heard it.

What is your favorite website?

Reddit lol

If you had two kids, a boy and a girl, what would you name them?

I answered this in an earlier survey today. Alexander and Charlotte

When was the last time you read the Bible?

Lol that’s a really good question and I don’t actually know. I think a couple months ago actually though. Have you ever read the Bible all the way through?

Not all the way through but I’m sure I’ve read like 75% of it. I took a class in college just on the Old Testament. Do you own a lot of scarves?

I own WAY too many. Do you ever shop at the dollar store?

Not really, no Would you rather shop online or shop at the mall?

The mall because I like trying things on Do you like Barnes and Noble?

Yes!

Do you like antique stores?

Sorta. Would you collect antiques if you were rich?

Certain ones Do you like castles?

Yes. Irish ones are my favorite even though they’re essentially ruins. There’s just something about them. What’s your favorite exotic animal?

Tigers probably Do you like Goodwill?

Yeah. Do you own a tassel necklace?

Nope What does your favorite necklace look like?

It's like two in one and has this pretty circular thing. I’m not good at descriptions. Do you have any jewelry that you wear every day? Just a bracelet my mom got me. Do you like to wear skirts?

Yes! What does your favorite bookmark look like?

I’m just using a Barnes and Nobel receipt right now lol so I guess that. Do you use seasonal mugs?

No. I have one Halloween one though. What color is your mailbox?

Black What color is your microwave?

White How often do you cook?

Since I’m home, not at all currently. At school I’d cook for myself every day. Do you like being an adult or being a kid better?

Adult because I have independence and can basically do what I want Do you take risks and step outside of your comfort zone often?

Yeah

Do you want to start a new hobby?

I want to focus more on learning guitar.

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vivianglitchet · 6 years ago

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In my lifetime I’ve moved to different houses about eight times and from what I’ve learned is the fact that my family can’t live in a single place for a long period of time. It gets pretty annoying since I have to throw so many of my belongings away just to make more space for the new place we move to.

Looking back at that I’ve been through I realize I shouldn’t to get attached to the things I have…but now that I am here in my studio apartment with my dad I’d like to share a few things I brought with me that I knew I am going to take with me no matter where I go!

My two books filled with notes. Inside are written ideas for my novel along with some short story prompts.

2. Spotify playlist

I mean it’s not an item buuuut…I certainly can’t function without the music I listen to! It gives me the motivation I need to pump out some ideas for my novel and such. Like many people I always have a song in my head even it’s a dumb catchy one I don’t know why but it just boosts my mood and makes me so much more happier!

3. Camera

My precious beauty! Without my Canon my life would be meaningless and so sad! Honestly, wherever I go even if it is out to do some errands I take my camera with me just in case I find a good opportunity to take photos.

Of course I can’t forget about my polaroid camera! Whenever I have the chance to visit my family back in California I always make sure to take this precious little thing with me so I can have give my mom a small photo of me or my siblings. I am still waiting to be able to take some photos of my besties!

God I miss them I hope they’re all doing well.

4. Laptop

Man this MacBook has gone through so much! When my eldest sister went off to college in Monterrey Bay she gave me her laptop so I can use it for my first year in college. She’s had it since she was probably a junior in high school…which was a long time ago 2013 maybe?

I have EVERYTHING saved onto here some videos I’m editing, photos (obviously), but most importantly this laptop holds all of my 8 novels!! I am trying to find space in my USB drive to save them but it’s no use the file is too large. So for now I pray every night that this computer will be able to live to see another day because if I were to lose my stories (God forbid) I will cry.

I will cry and feel completely useless because this novel has been with me since I was 12 and now I’m 19 I am almost done with the series so don’t fail on me now!

Then again at this point this laptop is getting pretty old it’s starting to overheat, die faster, and just slow down but I am so thankful it has held on for this long! Even as I type this blog while listening to Spotify it seems to be doing the best it can, which I am always grateful for.

5. Photographs

I am a sucker for nostalgia.

No matter how many times I move from place to place there will never be a wall that does not hold photos of my favorite people on this planet. With the photos it reminds me that there really are people who love me for who I am.

There photos I hold holds so many memories, so many stories. It gives me another reason to stay alive which is for them knowing that even when we are hundreds of miles apart there’s always one item that holds a piece of them.

6. iPhone

I’d hate to admit it but like everyone around me in this day and age I carry my phone like my life depends on it. It’s the main object I use to talk to my family, check up on my friends, lurk through social media, listening to some juicy gossip, and check out the latest stupid memes.

Thanks to iCloud I hold about 2 thousand or so photos separated into two folders one is random photos of family and friends the other is photos I’ve taken while on my adventures with my trusty camera. So many memories

7. Journal

Journal…Diary call it what you want but I hold some books filled with my thoughts.

Uncensored, unfiltered, pure, raw thoughts I spilled onto so many pages. These pages hold how I really felt that day, how I feel now. I’ve got so many secrets that I’ve told my little book it’s all thanks to this group of people who came to my middle school I think it was a suicide prevention type of thing. They gave every student a blank notebook to write down your thoughts, feelings, etc. And that’s where it began.

To this day, I have been documenting my memories since 2012 although lately I haven’t been writing anything down since I don’t have time to go out anywhere anymore now that I started working, which kind of sucks.

I think eventually I’ll have something worth wild to write…

8. Record Player/ Vinyls

Over the past few months I have been obsessed with vinyls so when I went over to Barnes & Nobel I decided to get a record player!

I knew exactly which vinyl I wanted to buy, which was Sleeping At Last’s “Atlas: Space (Deluxe)” let me just say that after everything that I had ever bought online that one was one of the best purchase I have ever made!

The next few weeks I’ve been hunting down any vinyl shops that might be in Salt Lake City and luckily I did find plenty! I can’t recall what the shop was called but I bought “Blurryface” by Twenty One Pilots, “Death Of A Bachelor” by Panic! At The Disco and “Sacred Hearts Club” by Foster the People.

Towards the end of August an independent artist Emma Blackery had finally released her album called “Villains” and I knew I had to have it!

9. Sketch book

I’ve always been such a passionate person for the arts! Although for the past several years I’ve been slacking off on drawing, painting, and sketching that I started to see my art skills becoming less impressive than before. Though wherever I go I know I will squeeze in some time to doodle anything at catches my attention or whatever comes into my mind.

Whether I’m on the road or at home I make sure to keep my art supplies in my bag along with a sketch book to keep my company while I am on my travels.

10. Flash Drive

This item is a bit unexpected. One of the main reasons I can’t live without it is the fact that it holds every single one of my stories that I have yet created. As mentioned earlier, although my laptop holds them I am not taking any chances and I must never lose them!

Who knew something so small could hold my entire life’s work.

10 Things I Can’t Live Without! In my lifetime I've moved to different houses about eight times and from what I've learned is the fact that my family can't live in a single place for a long period of time.

#home #home sweet home #life #lifestyle #motivation #music #Photography #random thoughts #recommendations #Thoughts #vinyls

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constructionfirm · 7 years ago

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The moving pieces of e-commerce legislation and what it means to you

As many of you may or may not be aware, in the background since 1992 there became a law, as supported by the Supreme Court decision of “Quill versus North Dakota” that basically assured that mail order companies such as Wayfair, Overstock and others did not have to collect state sales taxes for the purchase made by the consumer and shipped to them in their state, unless they had a retail store there, i.e., Sears, Wards and JCPenney.

When this law was created the industry did not see a relevance or need as the “market” was very small as a percentage of total retail dollars spent, and the collection was considered fairly burdensome.

Also at the time, a few of these companies, as just named, had a fairly large brick and mortar footprint that the average customer shopped in regularly, again, think Sears, Wards, JCPenney which were not impacted or wouldn’t benefit from the law. In addition, when the law was enacted the internet was not even referenced only the “goliath” mail order business.

Fast forward to today, when brick and mortar retail sales are contracting amid the advancement and sophistication of ecommerce and on-line shopping, whether it is through mail-order catalogs or companies such as Wayfair, Overstock and others who really only have a virtual presence. The “goliath” of 1992 has now given way to the e-commerce leviathan.

Here is what we know:

When the law was enacted the “mail order” segment was $180 Billion

Today online sales are roughly $6 Trillion

When the law was enacted, the physical presence clause gave mail-order a sales advantage because their offered price is lower when they did not have to collect the tax

This lost tax revenue was still to be collected, but the burden was on the consumer who rarely if ever pays

Quill’s reasoning and these advertisements conflate two distinct concepts: retailers’ obligation to collect sales taxes and customers’ obligation to pay sales taxes.

Main Street retailers suffered the loss, and so did local communities without the collection of the tax

When it was decided, it was infeasible for States to identify customers of absentee retailers, and the amount of lost sales taxes— while large—was not yet the “extreme harm” now depriving States of their ability to fund their “education systems, healthcare services, and infrastructure.”

Amazon as an early entrant located their facilities in remote areas vs. heavily populated areas so that their tax imposed did not affect their sales price in major markets- hence trounced Barnes and Noble with a price advantage, such as the Bronx store in NYC as the first Amazon casualty

Amazon of today NOW DOES collect and subsequently pay sales tax on its purchases- but only recently

The premises and promises of the physical presence requirement has not held true Quill assumed that: If absentee retail (then, mail-order) lost its tax shelter, it would not thrive; if a retailer was not physically present in a State, it would not be persistently active there; if absentee retailers were not required to collect taxes, their sales would be “tax exempt”; and if an absentee retailer were required to collect sales taxes, the burden would be onerous.

Indeed, retailers hesitate to expand into new states fearing—as Respondent Overstock.com puts it—that it is not “worth the cost of additional sales tax burden to open a new facility in [a new] state.”

Under further consideration by the Court today we have the following arguments- e-commerce is huge and robust and does not need a tax shelter; e-commerce is omnipresent even without a physical footprint; sales/use taxes are owed regardless of whether they are collected at the point of sale; collecting sales/use taxes online is straightforward.

In 1992 only 2 percent of American households had internet access, today that number is 89 percent

Amazon’s capitalization is greater than Walmart, Target, and Costco combined

In 1995, three years after Quill was decided, Newsweek (still a print publication) scoffed at the notion that “e-commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems” and declared that a “local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month.”

Three years later, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman declared that “[b]y 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine.”

Now, let’s consider how some companies have responded to the re-opening of the case: e-commerce “is here to stay,” as Respondent Overstock.com puts it.

Many of the businesses represented in the current case operate successful online stores (as well as brick-and-mortar stores), and those online stores collect sales taxes, and speak from experience when they say that collecting sales taxes online is not a crippling burden.

If e-commerce success required an exemption from sales tax collections, Wal-Mart would not be expanding its online portal and offering free second-day delivery without any membership fee.

Over the course of decades, conventional retailers have invested billions of dollars to literally build up local communities, only to discover that this footprint carries a significant competitive tax disadvantage when it comes to retail sales, whether in their own stores or via their online portals.

So, what does it mean to states when they can start collecting the sales taxes owed, currently estimated at $8-13 Billion Annually? Will it go into the general fund, can it help support schools, infrastructure, or?

What will the landscape look like for construction, our industry? Consider this:

As Amazon’s practices confirm, warehouses and distribution centers will be moved closer to population centers, reducing delivery times and cost.

In fact, some absentee retailers might even decide to join the local community and open a store on Main Street, as Amazon has, or will it be in a mall near you?

So, in conclusion, consider supporting the following organizations who have enjoined in the current Supreme Court case:

The Retail Litigation Center

National Retail Federation

American Specialty Toy Retailing Association

The American Lighting Association

The American Supply Association

The American Veterinary Medical Association

Auto Care Association

Council of State Retail Associations

Food Industry Association Executives

Home furnishings

Independent Office Products and Furniture Dealers Association

Jewelers of America

National Association of College Stores

National Grocers Association

National Association of Electrical Distributors

National Association of Wholesaler- Distributors

National Ski and Snowboard Retailers Association

National Sporting Goods Association

North American Retail Hardware Association

Outdoor Industry Association

Running Industry Association

The retail industry leaders

Should we add the RCA to the list, and send emails and make phone calls to our congressmen and women to support this rallying cry?

#construction

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