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syntheticsylvie · 8 months ago

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Overview of My First Year of HRT (2021-2022)

Hi, my name is Sylvie, and I'm transfemme! I started hormone replacement therapy on September 25th, 2021 and I've been through quite a lot on my journey to a year of HRT so I'm making two separate posts: this one focusing on the medical side and physical changes, and another that will focus on the social side of transitioning. So, here we go!

I realized I was trans the last week of August 2021, then September 9th I came out publicly, September 15th I had my first appointment with Plume, and I received my first Estradiol script September 24th, but consider my official "first day" of HRT the 25th.

I started HRT on sublingual Estradiol pills, 2mg twice a day (morning and night). Psychologically, taking the first pill hit me like a psychosomatic lightning bolt, and the first meaningful change estrogen granted me was an opening of my feelings- I could suddenly experience a "true range" of emotion, I experienced ambivalence for the first time. Physically, within the first week, I was experiencing tingling in my chest/nipples and by three weeks they actively ached, and after about two months my nipples looked different (darker, larger), and my chest started to stick out (36" to 37")

At 2 months my Estradiol was increased to three times a day and Progesterone 100mg (at night) added. By two months, my body's sensitivity had reached astronomical levels, particularly in areas that weren't sensitive before: for me, this was my nipples, armpits, and butt. My skin overall became more sensitive, slight touches made me quiver and my pain tolerance dropped sharply. During my second month my body's smell changed too and my sweat production cut back.

At 3 months, Spironolactone 50mg once a day (morning) was added and during this month my nipples had noticeably expanded and become dark enough to see through shirts, and my chest had grown enough to be noticeable small mounds in a tight shirt (38"). Also by 3 months, random erections completely stopped happening, whether asleep or awake.

Between months 3 and 5 a lot of things happened in my life; the stress and inactivity caused me to lose 50 lbs. As a result, I lost a ton of muscle mass. My thighs, upper arms, and butt became soft and jiggly, I could not lift things I could before, even with great effort.

3 month bloodwork results: E @ 133 and T @ 320

At 4 months, I asked my doctor for Finasteride, which is a DHT blocker- DHT is an androgen created by testosterone and an excess of DHT is related to hair loss, as well as some research I read back then relating to DHT and thicker/darker body hair. Since starting Finasteride, I have only shaved and used Nair on my body itself and I have experienced 75%-80% body hair loss, and much of what hair remains is now vellus hair (light, short, soft).

Between months 4 and 5, I started experiencing sexual dysfunction. Even if aroused, it was a 50/50 shot of whether I could get hard or not. Likewise, I began producing much less semen. This was when I started experimenting with different forms of masturbating too (i.e. using a vibrator).

Between months 5 and 6 I started gaining weight again, and this was when my breast growth was the greatest, going from 38" to almost 41". However, in the growth it seems I lost the sensitivity I had in the early months- my nipples and armpits are still erogenous zones, but not as potent. Additionally, I noticed fat redistribution caused my hips and waist to take a more stereotypically feminine, almost hourglass appearance (and increased from 32" and 34" respectively to 35" and 38" by 10 months).

6 month bloodwork results: E @ 258 and T @ 22

Months 7, 8, and 9 saw only slight breast growth (41 1/2") due to losing weight again from stress, but at this point I have very little body hair left, and even areas which were full before (armpits, groin) thinned out significantly over time- the most astounding of all being my butt, which the cheek hair just disappeared without me doing anything, like the hair just fell off.

Somewhere during months 8 and 9, I completely lost the ability to become erect without medication (doctor prescribed me Sildenafil, aka viagra) and no more ejaculating. Reaching orgasm became a concentrated effort instead of something that came easily, and very little clear liquid would come out during.

9 month bloodwork results: E @ 57 and T @ 28

For some reason my levels dropped between 6 and 9 months, and during that time I became very mentally and emotionally unwell due to the hormone imbalances. My doctor suggested a few things: me not waiting/letting the pill dissolve long enough in my mouth or the pill just not having the same potency on me anymore. So...

At month 10 I started injections and almost immediately started feeling much better. There is a hormonal low day for me every week, the day before I do my injection again, but it's not hard to deal with. I feel like myself!

Now months 11 and 12, nothing really noteworthy to update except I'm desperately trying to eat more so I can gain weight to grow my boobs. Just stopped taking Spiro though, but I use Tgel to maintain my girldick because I'm a Switch.

Lastly, I'd like to say I'm open to any questions anyone might have, and I'll do my best to answer them. You can DM me, email me secretly from a fake account ([email protected] is my email), whatever! I just hope this information is of some value to someone out there!

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makutaservaela · 8 months ago

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Timing Ramble

I was going to ramble about reproduction, complete with cute drawings of babies, but I started writing a little note about time, and then I got distracted. Let's tackle this first.

I think I speak for a lot of us when I say the timing in Bionicle is kinda annoying. This is generally the way I handle it:

(Sorry that my maths are probably garbage. Knowing me, I probably messed up one number and then threw off everything else. I tried to keep it simple.)

One of the biggest sticking points to me is that Kiina was described as "in her mid 30s", yet she was in the Core War, AND Gresh was considered too young to have been in the Core War, but old enough to have experienced it.

Bionicle characters process time differently than humans do, and/or their words for passing time aren't the same as ours. Canonically, Spherus Magnan days (and MU Days) last 36 hours split into morning-noon and noon-midnight. We don't know how long an "hour" or "year" are, though, as far as I know. We don't even know if a "year" refers to a full rotation around Solis Magna. It could refer to something else.

Cervatus lived for about 265,000 years before dying of natural causes. Let's say he lived longer than the average, and the average is 250,000 to clean the numbers.

However, the Great Beings also extended the lifespans of SMnans. Let's say they slowed down the adult span, so an SMnan is an adult for twice as long as a human is. At age 20, you would feel 19. 30 years later at age 50, you would feel 35.

Human lifespans average about 85ish- 3 of infant, 9 of child, 6 of adolescence, 50 of adulthood, and 15 of seniorhood.

One year for humans is 1.2% of our lifespans. Presuming a human gets that lifespan increase, they now live to 130-140ish, so now one year is .71% of their lifespan.

.71% of 250,000 is 1,775. They process/pass about 1,800 years as we pass 1, or in other words, when they say something took "1,000 years", imagine having done that thing for 5.5 months. The Island of Mata Nui was inhabited for about 5.5 months, which isn't too bad an idea given how low the technology they had and how little of the island they had tamed. There were supposed to be 1,000ish Matoran on Mata Nui, and in 5.5 months, 1,000ish people working that diligently could likely accomplish what we saw there.

The one downside to this is when things happen in month or single year increments. I don't think Farshtey, or whoever else picked these numbers, can really comprehend how long this time takes.

Generally, I read "one year" or "one month" increments the same way I read "one foot". We know there is a standard unit of measurement (Bio, Kio, and Mio), but we also know that, as Farshtey put it, "things don't translate properly" to chalk up why occasionally characters reference things out-of-universe, like foot/mile. I honestly loved how he was roleplaying as just some scribe translating and transcribing a story.

Anyway, for small ranges, I would compare them more to human experience (translated poorly) while for large ranges, I would take them literally. In other words, 100,000 years is 100,000 years (56 years to us), while 1 year is 1,775 years (1 year to us). This would mean the events of the book took place longer than the Matoran were on Mata Nui before the Toa, which given how quickly they changed the Toa's mask statues to match their Nuva masks, isn't actually that farfetched. Matoran move fast.

An Agori, if their child development was similar to ours, has the following aging:

1 year = 1,775

Infant until 5,325 years

Child until 21,300 years

Adolescent until 31,950 years

Adult until 209,450

Average Death by old age around 248,500, give or take a few ten thousand.

This means the Core War was about 56 years ago. Presuming Glatorian are expected to fight basically as soon as they can keep up with the other warriors, let's say they start combat equivalent to age 10. We'll put Kiina around 13 in the Core War, or (in story: 23,075), and around her mid 30s now (123,075). Farshtey's estimation was her being in her mid 30s, so this weird math I pulled out of my ass coincidentally works perfectly. Gresh was 6 or 7 (or in story: 12,425) and around late 20s to early 30s

Any time I mention "years" after this, presume I am running off of this math. I will use the human comparisons (ex. Gestation takes almost 1 year) when rambling, but in the actual fanfictions and/or comics, I may switch back and forth if I don't remember to exclusively stick to in-story timing (ex. A pregnant character describing their gestation as having taken almost 1,700 years) and in the same vein, if a character in the story said, "Makuta take 9,000 years to wean and Skakdi take 600 years". The reader would know (presuming a human weans at 1.5 years) "Makuta take three times as long as a human child to wean, and Skakdi take 1/3rd the time a human takes to wean".

At the current point of the story, the first generation of MUian Second-Gens have just reached young adulthood. Presuming this means they are in their early 20s, they are around 40,000 years old. Kiina is 163000, or in her 40s.

I started my Headcanon in 2009, and didn't actually read the Bara Magna stories until years later, and even then, literally only started caring about them this year. That's why the BMnans, save Malum, Sahmad, don't appear in my HC at all (those two appear prominently because I actually got their sets, so I had reason to care about them). This is also why I accidentally gave Chirox's daughter the same name as a Glatorian: Tarix, although given that the Glatorian's name is pronounced Tah-rix, and the Makuta is Tehr-ix, I might just retcon her name to change the spelling.

Terix sounds too close to "Teridax" though.

Also of important note, the MUians weren't really aging before, and in their new organic bodies, they started out physically younger. The MUians were set to a physical age of between 25-40 depending on how experienced the person had (therefore how much more of a developed brain they need).

TL;DR

In order to get a Bio-Character's comparative human age, divide the number by 1775, unless their age is over 40,000. If it's over 40,000, then subtract 40,000, cut that number in half, divide by 1775, then add 18.

#bionicle #lore #fan theory

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cindylouwho-2 · 11 months ago

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ETSY’S 2023 TRANSPARENCY REPORT: Still Minimal Progress On Harming Innocent Sellers

But they might finally be taking some Trust & Safety issues a bit more seriously?

(Image ©️ Etsy) It's amusing that Etsy chose to head up this report with an image of a human hand grabbing a paper folder, since almost all of their oversight seems automated these days.

Etsy's annual "Transparency Report" is out, and much of it isn't a whole lot different than the 2022 version, but there are a few developments worth noting.

It looks like they didn't like me calling them out for their policy flags having a 95% error rate in 2022, so they didn't provide the total number flags from 2023, meaning no one reading this report in isolation would be able to calculate Etsy's false flag rate as I did last year. Fortunately, they did provide enough figures that I can do the math backwards using 2022's totals, so I can update that number.

It seems like the might finally be treating a few of the largest problems a bit more seriously, as they are showing some improvement in several areas. A lot of this feels a bit too little, too late to me, though.

Let's dig in and see what else is interesting...

Policy Enforcement

In last year's report, Etsy claimed there were 36 million flags of "potentially non-compliant content" and 1.9 million listings removed "for violating our policies". That report said 95% of the flags were automated (aka bots), so almost entirely internal to Etsy, not from buyers or sellers. There is no way to know whether the bots were more accurate at reporting possible infractions than humans were, as we didn't get that information. When you do the overall calculations, though, that means almost 95% of the flags were declared false, and the listings were allowed to stay on the site. So 19 out of 20 flagged items were not violations, but were removed or deindexed while investigated (which can take weeks).

For 2023, Etsy says they reduced the number of flags by a full 10%, which would leave only 32.4 million flags, a number they curiously omitted from the report. They also removed twice as many listings as in 2022, for a total of 3.8 million. That means that over 7 out of 8 items flagged (and often removed temporarily) were not policy violations, or 88.3% of the total.

Well, that's better than 95%, but it is still atrociously lousy. Surely there must be a better way to program these automated systems? After all, the corporation has been using them for years - why don't they work better by now? Don't forget that temporarily removing or deindexing a listing is not without consequences for the innocent sellers. They lose potential sales while the item isn't available/searchable, and they also lose traction in Etsy's algorithms during that time, which is sometimes irreversible. In short, 1 out of 8 is bad, as in incompetently bad.

It gets worse when you realize 2 things:

some of the removed listings were not violations. While some sellers can occasionally get those listings reinstated after several weeks of appeals [7 weeks!], others simply give up, or never get beyond the first-level cut and paste fiasco that is now seller support on Etsy. I get emails on this topic almost daily. That means some of the 11.7% of flags that Etsy brags about should not have been permanently removed. The corporation's true success rate is even lower than that abysmal score.

many, many violations that should be easy to remove through automated systems are still up. Of course, there will always be new violations, and no business this large should be expected to have a perfect record, but when entire shops full of manufactured snack foods thrown in to a cardboard box are still open after years and even feature the Star Seller badge, you can see that Etsy isn't going for the low-hanging fruit.

Remember, Etsy's Gift Basket Policy says "a care package for new parents, a college student, or somebody experiencing an illness containing any new items you did not make is not allowed, no matter how caringly curated it otherwise is."

I've flagged this twice in the last 2+ years:

It's a clear violation, but the last time I flagged it, the shop was a Star Seller. Etsy never removes the listing, and is clearly not serious about getting rid of these supposedly-disallowed items. I mean, I am even doing the flag part for them! They only have to review it.

Heck, you don't need a bot to distinguish "care packages"; just search for Cheetos, or for KitKats, and you could clear out a ton of food/gift basket violations as well as counterfeit ones. Etsy could do way better here. I don't expect perfection, but after several years of practice, I do expect some basic competence, especially when livelihoods are at stake. Anyone proud of a 11.7% accuracy rate isn't living in the real world.

Violations of Etsy's Handmade Policies

The above numbers are for all policy violations. For handmade specifically, Etsy removed 4 times as many listings and twice as many sellers as they did in 2022 (when they increased non-handmade removals by 4 times over 2021's totals). As has been mentioned in a few quarterly financial reports, they now estimate how many shoppers might come across a problem listing before it gets removed, which is called the "Not Handmade Violative View rate (VVR)." This rate improved by 60% from April to the end of 2023, and got down to "the low single digits".

In theory, this sounds great - improve Etsy's image by hiding or removing the items they most often get called out for. Problem is, if they only count the items that do get removed, they are missing the bigger group of all the violations that never get flagged or removed in the first place. More transparency on how they actually "estimate" this number would be helpful.

Another problem in this area is that the handmade flags are not being handled the way Etsy says they are. The Transparency Report states:

"Now, when a listing is flagged by our automated controls for potentially violating our Handmade Policy, it'll remain active but not appear in search results and recommendations in order to give our specialists time to review the listing. Our team will determine if it should be removed, or if it can be sold on Etsy and be made visible again. The review process typically takes between 24 and 48 hours."

This matches what Etsy announced in September 2023, when they acknowledged that their takedowns were harming innocent shops. They even said that

"we’ll also be working to add more transparency to let sellers know if their listings have been temporarily removed from search for review...Any listings not reviewed within 48 hours will automatically be made visible in search and recommendations."

However, we know that is not happening for many shops. I have heard of very few people who were warned their item had been deindexed for up to 48 hours while a human being reviews it. And if Etsy were removing products from search first but not notifying sellers, we would definitely hear about, as many shop owners track their search position daily.

What I do hear all the time is that Etsy permanently removed an item for not being handmade, and the seller is not able to get their appeal heard. They never got a notification or experienced deindexing, but only find out once Etsy deactivates the listing. For example:

I get emails almost every day that read similar to this, and often even worse.

Currently it seems to take an average of about 2 weeks for an appeal to be dealt with, but some have waited as long as 2 months, and some sellers just give up. So why isn't Etsy notifying sellers, and why are so many of the supposed "human" reviews getting it wrong? (based on Etsy's claim that they only remove an item under the handmade policy once a human can evaluate the automated flag) This is not being transparent; this appears to be actual lying.

Intellectual Property Enforcement

These removals tend to take two forms: either the intellectual property rights holder files a report against a listing, or Etsy removes a listing under its automated counterfeit flags. The first type of removal was up 10% in 2023 to 1.2 million listings, and the takedowns for "potential counterfeit violations" totalled 1.45 million, up 216%. (Since the latter ones are all automated, there are likely more errors there.)

Of interest to many sellers will be the fact that Etsy actually rejects over a quarter of the infringement claims (up 54% from 2022), "indicative of our increased focus on preventing fraudulent and abusive takedown notices". That's right, the Etsy forum myth that Etsy must always obey any IP takedown claim is just that: a myth. While Etsy can't make determinations of law (e.g., whether or not something rises to level of legal infringement), they can and do reject obviously fraudulent claims such as when the email address is fake, or where key parts of the report are not filled out correctly. It's a good sign that they are taking this problem more seriously, given that false takedowns can devastate a shop's income and momentum in Etsy's various algorithms.

Also of interest: 9% of copyright claims resulted in the seller filing a counter claim.

A Few Other Highlights

Product safety: "We removed 63% more items that were subject to product recalls compared to the prior year."

Issues with orders: "Etsy made it even easier for buyers to report issues and get them resolved with Etsy Purchase Protection by proactively reaching out to buyers when we think there may have been an issue with their order. This helped more buyers easily report order issues and led to faster resolutions." [my emphasis] I was hoping that those emails asking if your untracked order arrived yet were about developing a way for customers to confirm untracked/hand-delivered orders for Star Seller status, but it looks like I was wrong, sadly. Guess we are still waiting for the in-person delivery solution that Etsy promised nearly 3 years ago. I'm not sure what other reasons Etsy might have for suspecting "an issue" with an order, but that possibility does worry me. Also, 1 out of 200 orders involves a case from the buyer, and cases are now solved in an average of 2 hours, down from 14 hours in 2022. [That's because they are almost all automated now, of course.]

You might be surprised to learn that Etsy will "freeze or divert funds from a member’s payment account to comply with a legal obligation, such as those relating to liens, levies, or garnishments."

Plans for the Future

Some of this section of the report has already happened, such as updates to certain policies (e.g., Hate and Violence), and the new fees and procedures for setting up a new shop.

What we haven't seen yet is "clarifying our policies to buyers and sellers on what belongs on Etsy and why, including in emerging areas such as AI-generated content." An interview already revealed that Etsy is okay with the use of AI (artificial intelligence) to create products, with CEO Josh Silverman inaccurately likening AI art to electronic dance music. Comments during the first quarter financial call this year made me wonder if Etsy is going to start setting up filters or categories of different types of listings on Etsy, somehow distinguishing handmade from designed and made with production help and from personalized. That may help on the buyer clarification end.

I do expect new statements on what can be sold on Etsy some time this year, possibly with changes to the current rules. Comments during the first quarter 2024 call roughly echo the Transparency Report wording. That will have to include changes or clarifications to the "gift baskets full of commercial items rule" that Etsy has ignored for a few years, of course - I keep expecting them to remove that rule, since they never enforce it.

Otherwise, they are going to continue to do the same stuff - more automation, more removals - with increases in certain areas.

My Final Thoughts

No doubt you are asking yourself: why does she think Etsy is now taking some of its biggest issues more seriously? To be honest, that impression is mostly not based on this year's Transparency Report, given that there are only marginal improvements in the number of items incorrectly-flagged by automated systems, and given the dishonest claims about how they handle non-handmade flags. (I did like the improvement in rejecting phony intellectual property claims, and the slow increases in removing ineligible listings.)

What actually makes me feel slightly encouraged is that Etsy is getting pressure on these issues from investors, and that means they might have to start showing some results. During the recent quarterly results call, Silverman said that sales were about half a percent lower than they would have been if they hadn't removed so many shops and listings. He mentioned that the analyst he was answering had previously discussed the non-handmade removals with him, and that they were important to the integrity of the site.

That surprised me, but it probably shouldn't have. Issues with non-handmade and actually dangerous or illegal items on Etsy were expertly raised by the Etsy Strike organization 2 years ago (now the Indie Sellers Guild), and have continued to ripple through media coverage of Etsy ever since. And we all know that Etsy does respond to negative coverage more than it responds to seller complaints. The company is being forced to show some results in these areas, since other people keep talking about them.

The fact that these results are not yet enough, and are probably coming too late to really save Etsy's reputation as a trustworthy shopping destination, should surprise no one. The site makes too much money on cheese gift baskets not made by the seller and on repackaged dollar store goods to throw it all away at once, and hiring humans to police the site would cut into profit even more. Etsy clearly can't "keep commerce human" by throwing more AI at the mess - we see that isn't helping much so far, even if they won't admit it - and leadership seems bereft of other solutions.

I look forward to seeing what "clarifying our policies" will bring, though. Might be interesting!

#etsy #cindylouwho2 #etsynews #ecommerce #Etsy Transparency Report

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steveezekiel · 1 year ago

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YEARS OF FAMINE AND SURPLUS 1

"FOR everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)

"History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new."

There is no permanent situation, or condition, all things are subject to change.

There are different seasons and times in life. Thus, wisdom to do things at each season and time of an individual Believer's life is important and should be asked for, or requested from God.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had two dreams in which what was going to happen was revealed to him.

The interpretation of the dreams according to Joseph was, there will be seven years of surplus and that of famine: 29 THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS WILL BE A PERIOD OF GREAT PROSPERITY throughout the land of Egypt. 30 BUT AFTERWARD THERE WILL BE SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE SO GREAT THAT ALL THE PROSPERITY WILL BE FORGOTTEN IN EGYPT. FAMINE WILL DESTROY THE LAND. 31 This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased. 32 As for having two similar dreams, IT MEANS THAT THESE EVENTS HAVE BEEN DECREED BY GOD, AND HE WILL SOON MAKE THEM HAPPEN" (Genesis 41:29-32 NLT).

The dream was repeated twice because it was established by God, It would surely come to pass (Genesis 41:32).

There would always be a season of surplus and famine in the life of every person, or family, or nation.

It is what the person or the people concerned did with the surplus that determines their state in the time of famine.

A number of people, and Nations of the world are currently experiencing a recession in their economy. People groan, and many do not know what to do. AS an individual, what did you do when you had surplus?

The advice of Joseph to Pharaoh and the whole Egyptians was: 34 THEN PHARAOH SHOULD APPOINT SUPERVISORS OVER THE LAND AND LET THEM COLLECT ONE-FIFTH OF ALL THE CROPS DURING THE SEVEN GOOD YEARS. 35 Have them gather all the food produced in the good years that are just ahead and bring it to Pharaoh’s storehouses. STORE IT AWAY, and GUARD IT SO THERE WILL BE FOOD IN THE CITIES. 36 THAT WAY THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TO EAT when the SEVEN YEARS OF FAMINE COME to the land of EGYPT. Otherwise THIS FAMINE WILL DESTROY THE LAND” (Genesis 41:31-36 NLT).

Every individual person, believer alike, experiences seasons of surplus and famine.

Every business organization experiences a fall; a setback or a hitch, at one time or the other.

There are different seasons and times in life, thus, If you know how to preserve the abundance or surplus, you would not suffer at the time of famine (Proverbs 21:20).

There is no New thing under the sun. Money had failed in Egypt before (Genesis 47:15). So, If money is failing today, It is not New.

Some because of lack of wisdom, not being prudent, could not manage their surplus well: "THE WISE HAVE WEALTH AND LUXURY, BUT FOOLS SPEND WHATEVER THEY GET" (Proverbs 21:20 NLT).

"THE WISE MAN SAVES FOR THE FUTURE, BUT THE FOOLISH MAN SPENDS WHATEVER HE GETS ." Proverbs 21:20 (the Living Bible)

"THERE IS PRECIOUS TREASURE AND OIL in the HOUSE of the WISE [who prepare for the future], BUT A SHORT-SIGHTED AND FOOLISH MAN SWALLOWS IT UP AND WASTES IT." Proverbs 21:20 (Amps.)

Thus, when you have abundance, manage it well, there are different seasons of life: "IN the blink of an eye WEALTH DISAPPEARS, FOR IT WILL SPROUT WINGS AND FLY AWAY LIKE AN EAGLE" (Proverbs 23:5 NLT).

"Will you set your eyes on that which is not? FOR RICHES CERTAINLY MAKE THEMSELVES WINGS; They FLY AWAY LIKE AN EAGLE TOWARDS HEAVEN" (Proverbs 23:5 NKJV).

Riches make themselves wings or sprout wings and fly away, according to the Scripture above, but you can cause the riches to birth for you, through investments, before they depart.

What a famine is.

A severe shortage of food, as through crop failure or overpopulation.

An acute shortage of anything.

Severe hunger, starvation; a dearth.

It is the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable.

There are numbers of things that can cause famines: I. The system of the world.

We live in a sinful world where the devil governs and roams about to do Evil; there are evil occurrences that could bring lacks or droughts, either in the life of an individual person, a family, or a nation, or whatever.

There are different seasons and times of life, and we live in a broken world; thus, an individual, Believers or nonbelievers, family, organization, or nation, can experience a famine.

II. A famine can be divinely orchestrated, to correct or speak to an individual Believer or a nation (2 Kings 8:1).

God at times permitted famines because of Sin, people's Disobedience to His Word or commands (Psalm 105:16).

God uses famines to discipline or correct an erring individual Believer or a nation at large (2 Kings 6:25).

As an individual Believer, God might allow you to experience famine or drought even in the time of abundance or at the time of surplus—If He wanted to correct you (Jeremiah 14:12).

And vice versa, God can cause you to experience surplus or abundance in the time of famines or droughts—It all depends on an individual Believer's relationship, fellowship, and his or her Obedience to God (Genesis 26:1-3,12-14).

III. Government policies.

A change in government, that is, a new era, can bring a famine or surplus.

New policies made by the New government can be the cause of a famine or surplus, or whatever.

IV. A natural phenomenon.

An unusual, significant, or unaccountable fact or occurrence in an individual life can bring a famine or surplus.

A new technology might bring surplus or famines.

V. There are other numbers of things that could bring a famine for an individual, organization, or a nation. a. Losing your belongings. Robbery as an example. b. Accident. c. New developments. d. Change in season, what is in vogue or trending. e. New government era and policies. f. Disasters: flooding, fire incident, tornado, or whatever.

There are different challenges and problems that could lead to lacking or famines in life.

Thus, God's wisdom and steadfastness in God's Word are needed to prepare for every season of life that comes in a Believer's journey on earth. IT is this that would see a Believer through in the time of famines.

You will not fail in Jesus' name.

Should there be any ailment in your body, receive your healing now in Jesus' name.

Hold of sicknesses is broken completely in Jesus' name. Peace! TO BE CONTINUED

#christianity #gospel #christian blog #faith #my writing #the bible #jesus #devotion #christian living #prayer

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theapprof · 1 year ago

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Blueprints for Learning: Justin Shaffer on Structured A&P Course Design | TAPP 148

In Episode 148, Justin Shaffer joins host Kevin Patton to discuss high structure course design. Justin shares his success in building a scaffold for learning by using a variety of course structures to improve student engagement and success, such as pre-class and post-class activities, micro-case studies and clicker questions, brief active learning practices, and much more.

★ If you cannot see or activate the audio player, go to: theAPprofessor.org/podcast-episode-148.html

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Introducing Justin Shaffer

2 minutes

Host Kevin Patton briefly introduced our guest, Dr. Justin Shaffer. Justin is an experienced educator who provides professional development and advice on pedagogy for educators in anatomy and physiology and other disciplines. He is particularly well known for his advice on how to implement high structure course design.

★ Recombinant Education (Justin's website) recombinanteducation.com/

★ Justin Shaffer (Justin's LinkedIn profile) linkedin.com/in/justin-shaffer

★ How to Use High Structure Course Design to Heighten Learning (Justin's conversation with host Bonni Stachowiak on the Teaching in Higher Education podcast) AandP.info/xlo

★ High Structure STEM Classes (Justin's interview on the podcast, Tea for Teaching) AandP.info/75a

High Structure and Low Structure

18 minutes

Kevin Patton discusses with Justin Shaffer the concept of high-structure course design, which revolutionizes traditional teaching by providing a scaffolded learning process involving pre-class content acquisition, active in-class engagement, and post-class assessments. This method, inspired by the educational research of Scott Freeman and Mary Pat Wenderoth, has been successfully applied across multiple disciplines, demonstrating its versatility and effectiveness in improving student learning outcomes and engagement.

★ Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology (report in Science mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/vqb

★ Getting Under the Hood: How and for Whom Does Increasing Course Structure Work? (paper in CBE-Life Sciences Education by Kelly Hogan and Sarah Eddy mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/ktl

★ Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (book by Kelley Hogan and Viji Sathy mentioned in this segment) geni.us/kkB4Fn

★ True Grit: Passion and persistence make an innovative course design work (paper in PLOS Biology by Casper, Eddy, and Freeman mentioned in this segment) AandP.info/h27

★ Student performance in and perceptions of a high structure undergraduate human anatomy course (Justin's paper on high structure anatomy in ASE) AandP.info/lv1

★ High Structure Course Design for Chemical Engineering (Justin's paper on high structure chemical engineering in CEE) AandP.info/djc

★ Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? (source of the quote used in this segment, "My wish for you is that each year you look back at your career and laugh with embarrassment about the way used to teach. If you do this, you will continue to learn and grow.") geni.us/J9jdp

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Transparency, Expectations, & Flexibility

12.5 minutes

In this insightful exchange, Kevin Patton and Justin Shaffer explore the transformation of teaching strategies from low to high structure. Patton discusses the shift in student expectations due to more structured courses, and Shaffer explains how transparency and flexibility within this framework can significantly enhance student engagement and success. They discuss the importance of being adaptable while maintaining rigorous academic standards to mirror real-world responsibilities.

★ Some related resources from The A&P Professor

★ ★ The Case for Transparency | Episode 51

★ ★ Student Evaluations of Teaching II: Proactive, Active, and Reactive Strategies | TAPP 85 (discusses course debriefing sessions with feedback)

★ ★ Should We Extend Deadlines? | Models & Color Codes | TAPP 112

★ ★ The Inclusive Anatomy & Physiology Course | Part 2 | 8 More Tips to Include All | TAPP 109

★ ★ More Quizzing About Kevin's Wacky Testing Scheme | Book Club | TAPP 100

★ ★ 49 Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 21

★ ★ 49 MORE Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 22

★ ★ EVEN MORE Tricks for Retention & Success in Online Courses | Episode 23

★ ★ Ungrading With Standards-Based Grading | A Chat With Staci Johnson | TAPP 106

★ ★ Taking Bold Steps in Teaching | Notetaking | Science Updates | TAPP 90

★ State of Student Success and Engagement in Higher Education (recent report from Instructure) AandP.info/ir9

Secret Code: TAA Conference in Nashville

2 minutes

We take a brief pause to talk about the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) in which many A&P professors find helpful support and benefits. TAA meets the needs of those interested in creating textbooks, lab manuals, workbooks, and other learning resources, as well as those who focus on academic writing, such as journal articles, dissertations/theses, monographs, and scholarly or other nonfiction works.

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★ TAA Annual Conference (Nashville TN, June 21-22—contact Kevin for the secret discount code) 2024taaconference.org/

Baby Steps or Go All In?

14 minutes

In this segment, we discuss the dilemma of adopting high-structure teaching methods with Justin Shaffer, focusing on the balance between workload and effectiveness. Shaffer recommends a phased approach to implementing new strategies in an established course, starting small and evaluating the impact before adding more elements. This method allows educators to manage their workload while still experimenting with innovative teaching practices that can significantly enhance student learning experiences and outcomes. For new courses, Justin suggests going all-in from the start, noting that while the initial setup may be labor-intensive, the long-term gains in student performance and instructional efficiency can justify the effort.

★ Recombinant Education (Justin's website with a lot of resources related to high structure teaching) recombinanteducation.com/

★ Improving Exam Performance in Introductory Biology through the Use of Preclass Reading Guides (Justin's paper on Reading Guides in CBE-Life Sciences) AandP.info/clu

★ Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide (book by Rich Felder and Rebecca Brent, both mentioned in this segment) geni.us/jP9tT

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Check out notes and transcript for this episode!

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yayspring · 3 years ago

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today -

it had been a whie since me and ben had sex bc of illness / crazy, but he fucked me twice tonight + i feel immediately like 10x more chill lol thank u darling x you know it’s been good when you end up with a dry mouth

the weather is now saying it’s gonna be 39 degrees here on monday so my plan is to work over the weekend + sell some stock wigs so i can do fuck all on mon/tue. im also planning on just saying “fuck it” to normal bedtimes + sleeping during the day for the next few days bc my room is so unbelievably hot at night (humid attic room) that i think it will probably do me more harm to actually try and sleep in that swamp lmao :| particularly bc i am one of those people who cant sleep unless there is a heavy blanket on top of me 2 keep out the evil. (yes i have been sleeping w/ a duvet throughout the 30+ degree temperatures without aircon, yes on several occasions i have woken up feeling very very like im about to die lol) i was alarmed enough when they said it would be 36!! 39 is the hottest temp ive EVER experienced i think. the highest i remember is 35 a few years ago and that was awful so im feeling morbidly curious to see how bad this is

i found a new band i like the sound of (hailaker) - very bon iver-ish but that’s not inherently a problem for me bc i love bon iver. very like... 2011 bon iver rather than recent. (i do kind of wish bon iver knock-offs like novo amor et al would make their influences slightly less obvious, but)

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introvertguide · 4 years ago

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The Graduate (1967); AFI #17

The current film under review is the classic comedy, The Graduate (1967). This moving is one of most well known and referenced films that I know of in American film. It was the last film to win only Best Director while also being nominated for other categories. This makes sense because the acting was good with many newcomers and character actors of the time, but there was some stiff competition at the Oscars that year. Director Mike Nichols did an exceptional job telling a story within a story utilizing symbols and camera movement to let the viewing audience know what the characters were thinking. Show not tell, which is perfect for this sort of media. Let’s go through a summary of the story before looking at any more of the technical or behind-the-scenes notes. This, of course, is always kicked off with...

SPOILER WARNING!!! I AM ABOUT TO GIVE AWAY THE ENTIRE PLOT!!! THERE IS A LOT MORE TO THE STORY OF THIS MOVIE THAN JUST THE PLOT, BUT IT IS STILL GOOD TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING THROUGH BEFORE DISCUSSING IT!!! IF YOU DON’T WANT IT SPOILED, STOP NOW AND WATCH THE MOVIE THEN COME BACK AND CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

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Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is a 20-year-old man who just recently graduated from an East Coast college and has returned to Pasadena, California to stay with his parents and figure out what to do with his life. He is embarrassed by his doting parents at every turn when they invite all the family friends to come see him. The wife of his father’s business partner is Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), a middle aged women who seems unhappy with her marriage and convinces Ben to drive her home where she tries to seduce him. He runs away but later calls her and meets her over at the Taft Hotel and starts up an affair.

Benjamin spends the summer relaxing by the pool and going off on trysts with Mrs. Robinson at the hotel. During one night at the Taft, Mrs. Robinson reveals that she only married her husband because she was pregnant. Ben knows her daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross), and jokes that he should date her. Mrs. Robinson is not happy with this and forbids him from seeing her daughter. Unfortunately, Ben’s parents think it would be a great match and set up a date between the kids.

Ben tries to sabotage the date in the most cringe-worthy way. He ignores Elaine and drives like a crazy man. He takes her to a strip club and sits her right next to the stage. It is so bad that Elaine runs away crying and Ben feels remorse. He actually likes Elaine and they go and have burgers at a drive-thru. They want to have a late night drink and the only place close that is open is the Taft Hotel. They go in and everyone there recognizes Ben which makes Elaine believe he has been seeing an older women. Ben says it is true and the affair is over, so the two plan another date the following day.

Mrs. Robinson threatens to tell Elaine when Ben shows up at the house to pick her up, so Ben tells Elaine first to ruin any blackmail. This upsets Elaine and she returns to Berkeley to go back to school and avoid seeing Ben.

Ben decides to move to Berkeley in hopes of getting back with Elaine and takes up residence in an all male dorm house. Ben finally runs into Elaine and she says her mom told her that Ben had gotten her drunk and raped her. (Wow. Keep this in mind because I will bring this up again in the conversation section.) Ben explains to Elaine and she forgives him. They hang out and Ben asks her to marry him, but she apparently has promised to marry some other guy named Carl Smith. Unfortunately, Elaine’s father shows up at Ben’s apartment to tell him that he is getting a divorce from Mrs. Robinson and forcing his daughter to marry Carl Smith. He makes a major ruckus and Ben is thrown out by the dorm manager.

Ben goes back to Pasadena and breaks into the Robinson house in search of Elaine but only finds Mrs. Robinson. She calls the police claiming there is a burglar. As Ben escapes, she says that he can’t stop the marriage between Elaine and Carl. He drives back to Berkeley and finds out were the wedding will take place (Santa Barbara) and rushes to the church. He can’t get in the front door so he runs up to the organ room upstairs and bangs on a glass barrier that looks down on the ceremony. He shouts out for Elaine and she eventually yells back in front of all the guests. She runs out and meets Ben, who pins the door closed with a large cross.

Elaine and Benjamin elope by jumping aboard a bus and sit among startled passengers. Their ecstatic expressions change to looks of uncertainty as the bus drives away.

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I have a list of questions that people have asked me when I told them I was doing an analysis of The Graduate, so this will act kind of like a FAQ sheet for the film and hopefully answer some questions:

Dustin Hoffman doesn’t look like he just graduated from college in the movie. How old was he?

Lot of questions about the age of the actors. At the time the movie came out, Katherine Ross played Elaine the college student at 27 years old, Dustin Hoffman played the recent graduate Benjamin at age 30, and Anne Bancroft played the part of middle aged Mrs. Robinson at age 36. It kind of made sense about Dustin Hoffman because he is a very small man with great hair and can look the part of somebody much younger. Katherine Ross lied about her age for years so directors thought she was 3 or 4 years younger than she really was. Anne Bancroft is the one that stands out the most because they put in a couple of grey streaks in her hair and added some crows feet around her eyes and called her 10-15 years older. I think Director Mike Nichols knew this so Elaine and her mother have almost no screen time together.

Didn’t that movie win an Oscar for the music?

It did not. In fact, the song that the film is known for, “Mrs. Robinson,” was not played beyond instrumental snippets. The film was not even nominated for anything music related.

I think I have seen the movie before because it feels familiar.

The film is set in California and has some of the most well known scenes in American cinema. The initial seduction scene between Mrs. Robinson and Ben captured the hopes of college boys everywhere. The idea of finding a beautiful and experienced woman that aggressively makes all the first moves is the dream of many a man. The famous scene right after Mrs. Robinson reveals she married because she was pregnant and didn’t love her husband shows Ben about to leave and framed by the leg of Mrs. Robinson putting on a stocking. I have never seen wrongful lust depicted any better and it really sticks with you. The final scene in the movie in which Ben stops the wedding and runs away with the bride has been used in many movies and TV shows and really displays Hoffman’s acting because we slowly realize that the new couple has no idea what to do next. I only remember one other non-speaking acting performance were a realization is revealed purely through a slow facial close-up, and that was from Jack Nicholson in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

I remember there was some kind of accusation of rape that is never resolved. Did that really happen?

Yup. It did. I never realized how awkward a brush over this was until I specifically looked for it. Mrs. Robinson told her daughter that Ben raped her and Elaine still talks to him instead of calling the police. A rape allegation is not a light thing and there would not be pleasantries at the zoo if this was the case. Why would a girl who believes she is talking to a man that raped her mother and was now stalking her college aged daughter do anything but get the police involved? Elaine actually entertains the thought of marrying the guy. She thought Ben raped her mother and Ben says that the mother seduced and slept with him. She is apparently OK with this. I wouldn’t be.

Do they actually show Mrs. Robinson naked?

This was asked more than the age question. The answer is “yes, sort of.” There is a very brief shot of Anne Bancroft’s bare chest for two or three frames. If you consider that movies are generally filmed at 24 frames per second, this is very brief. I can’t imagine how many desperate people were quick on the pause button when the movie came out on video.

Did they use this movie for a Simpson’s episode?

Not just one. The famous shot with a leg in the foreground was in the episode “Homer of Seville” and “Beware My Cheating Bart” while the famous “Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me” line from the same scene was used in the episode “Lisa’s Substitute.” An homage to the end of the movie was used twice for Grandpa Simpson in the episodes “The Last Temptation of Homer” and “Lady Bouvier’s Lover.”

So now to the questions I answer for every movie on the AFI top 100. Does this movie belong on the list? Of course. It is a well directed movie full of symbolism. It is the first major role for Dustin Hoffman (one of America’s most well known movie stars). It is engrained in American vernacular: I knew that “she went all Mrs. Robinson” referred to an older woman seducing a younger man years before I ever saw the movie. Mrs. Robinson is a classic villain and that character alone deserves a spot on the top 100. Would I recommend it? Sure would. It is a little cringy at times for me, but it is legitimately funny. There are a couple of topics that are sometimes weird and sometimes uncomfortable, but the direction is good enough to move quickly through these parts to suspend disbelief. Check out the movie and check out the soundtrack because both are great, widely available, and great pieces of classic Americana.

#the graduate #mrs. robinson #dustin hoffman #katherine ross #anne bancroft #simon and garfunkel #great movies #1960s #classic american films #introvert #introverts #california

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theguardiangabriel · 4 years ago

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Brightwood Challenge 02

1: How high is your libido? When I have someone in my life, it is generally higher.

2: Rough sex or soft sex? I like an emotional connection, so more soft over rough sex.

3: Do you have any unusual kinks/fetishes? No. I don’t think so.

4: Weirdest place you’ve had sex? Uh???

5: Favourite sex position? The table top or some way like that.

6: Do you like to be dominant or submissive? I’m probably more submissive.

7: Have you ever had any one night stands? No. I’m pansexual, so that’s not really on my radar.

8: Sex on the bed, couch or the floor? Bed or couch.

9: Have you ever had sex in a public place? No, but I wouldn’t say no necessarily.

10: Have you ever been caught masturbating? No, I don’t think so.

11: What does your favorite sexy underwear look like? I... ah... black boxer briefs?

12: How often do you have sex? Not that often usually.

13: Is there anybody right now you’d like to have sex with? Yeah, probably.

14: Do you prefer giving or receiving oral sex? Both are good.

15: Most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you during sex? I can’t think of anything.

16: A song you’d listen to during hard/rough/kinky sex? Fallin’ (Adrenaline)- Why Don’t We

17: A song you’d listen to during soft/slow/passionate sex? Holy - Justin Bieber ft. Chance the Rapper.

18: Are you into dressing up for sex? Sure.

19: Would you prefer sex in the bath or sex in the shower? Bath.

20: If you could have sex with anyone right now, who would it be? Ahhhh... I don’t know. It would have to be someone I know and have a connection with. Not sure I really have that kind of connection with anyone at the moment.

21: Have you ever had a threesome? If not, would you? No. If the connections were there, sure.

22: Do you/would you use sex toys? Yes, and yes.

23: Have you ever sent someone a dirty text/picture? No.

24: Would you have sex with your best friend? This has happened to me and my best friend since we attracted to each other that way and had that connection I need.

25: Is there anything you do after sex? (for example, smoke, eat, drink)? Snuggle and sleep.

26: Something that will never fail to get you horny? Connecting with me. Making me feel like you really know me, really care about me.

27: Early morning sex or late night sex? Late at night. Darkness and shadows.

28: Favourite body part on the opposite sex? Hips.

29: Favourite body part on the same sex? Shoulders.

30: Something that you have hidden in your room that you don’t want anyone to find? I don’t think I have anything hidden in my room.

31: Weirdest sexual act some has performed [or tried to perform] on/with you? I can’t think of anything.

32: Have you ever tasted yourself? [If no, would you?] [If yes, what did you think?] No. I guess?

33: Is it ever okay to not use a condom? If you’re still being safe, have considered all outcomes and both partners agree on it, sure, why not?

34: A food that you would like to use during a sexual experience? Ice cream.

35: Worst possible time to get horny? Around other people I guess?

36: Do you like it when your sexual partner moans? Yes, definitely.

37: What is the most amount of times you’ve ever orgasmed in a day? Like twice? But that was because there was a lot, a lot, of teasing and edging.

38: Best sexual complement you ever got: I don’t think I have.

39: Favorite foreplay activities: Kissing, teasing, flirting, touching.

40: What do you wear to bed? Boxers and sometimes a shirt.

41: What is your biggest turn off? A big age gap.

42: Do you have any nude/masturbating pictures/video of yourself? Pictures, yes. That is my thing.

43: Have you ever/when was the last time you had sex outside? No. But I’d consider it.

44: Have/would you ever have sex in public? No, but I think I might like it. Especially if it would please my partner.

45: Have/would you ever had a threesome? No, but maybe if I was connected to both partners.

46: What is one random object you’ve used to masturbate? Um I don’t know?

47: What is your favorite type of porn? Nothing too graphic.

48: Do you like oral sex? (why/why not) Yes. It’s good foreplay.

49: How do you feel about tattoos on someone you are interested in? Absolutely. I’d want to photograph them all.

50: How would you feel about taking someones virginity? That can be a big deal.

51: Is there any food you would NOT recommend using during a sexual encounter? Anything spicey.

52: Would you rather be a pornstar or a prostitute? Neither.

53: Do you watch porn? Sometimes.

54: Have you ever been called a freak? Why? No, not that I know.

55: Do you feel comfortable going “commando”? Yeah.

56: Would you have a problem with going down on someone if they hadn’t shaved their pubic hair? I don’t think I do.

57: If you could give yourself head, would you? Interesting thought. Am I that flexible? Or are there multiple me’s?

58: Booty or Boobs? Both.

59: Have you ever cheated on someone? (Why?) No. I couldn’t.

60: What is your dirtiest sexual fantasy? Being comfortable enough with someone to let them just... use me.

61: have you ever watched someone masturbate? Yes.

62: has anyone ever watched you masturbate? Yes.

63. Have you ever had an erection and someone noticed? Yes, I think. But they were kind enough not to make a big deal about it.

64. What is your method of masturbation? Usually just my hand. I’m a simple guy.

65. What is your bra/penis size? Hopefully the nicer side of average.

66. What is the strangest thing you have ever put up your vagina/anus? What? No.

67. When was the last time you masturbated? This morning.

68. When was the last time you had sex? Uh, what year is it again?!?! LOL

69. When was the last time you watched porn? NYE.

70. Have you ever bought a sex toy? If so, which one did you buy last? First sex toy? If not, which one do you plan on buying when you do? Yes. Plugs were most recent, a dildo was first.

71. Circumcised? Yes.

72. Which not-genital part of your body do you like being touched? My hands.

73. Which genital part of your body do you like being touched? My butt.

74. Are you able to achieve orgasm just through breast stimulation? No, but any kind of touch is usually helpful.

75. Have you anonymously sent a sexual ask to someone? Yes.

76. When was the last time you have had a wet dream? Don’t remember.

77. Which wet dream was your favorite? It’s been too long.

78. Is there a friend you would willingly have sex with? Probably.

79. Is there a celebrity/character you would willingly have sex with? Probably not.

80. Least favorite sexual position? Doggie, or spoon.

81. Do you like being called a slut or whore in bed? Not really.

82. Are you into any BDSM? A little, yes, I think.

83. Have you ever wanted to have sex with someone but knew you couldnt for any reason? Why? Yes. Despite what felt like a connection on my part, they weren’t exactly available to me.

84. Do you like dirty talk? Yes.

85. Are you loud or quiet during sex? Masturbation? Quiet.

86. Have you ever been interrupted during sex or masturbation? Who/what? No. Call me lucky.

87. What kind of porn do you like to watch? I don’t really enjoy it all that much. Although I once stumbled across one once, with a girl that reminded me of a girl I was kind of developing a thing for, and it was... interesting.

88. Have you ever confessed to someone that you got an erection over them? What about masturbated to them? No. Should I?

89. Have you ever masturbated because your sexual partner wasn’t there when you needed them? Yes.

90. Have you ever had a one night stand? Do you still keep in contact with them? No.

91. Have you ever had a friends with benefits? Are they still beneficial? No, not really.

92. Any kinks you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t? There are some yes. I’m not the most experienced, but that’s okay.

93. How should someone who is interested in sleeping with you approach the topic? Let me know you’re interested and try to get to know me, not just to sleep with me.

94. What are your absolute no-nos in bed? Degrading talk and bathroom kinks.

95. How do you feel about quickies? Sure.

96. Have you ever tried roleplay in bed? Would you? No, and yes.

97. Describe the best orgasm you’ve ever had. What were you doing? Alone or with someone else? What made it so good? Alone. I knew just what to do to keep bringing myself just to the brink over and over and over again, while I thought about someone I was interested in, imagining it was them who was keeping me on edge. Praising me for how well I was doing. And promising me an amazing orgasm.

98. Have you ever filmed yourself while masturbating or having sex? No.

99. Lights on or lights off? Either.

100. What would you like to do more of in bed? Get more experience before I stumble upon my bond. I don’t want to be a complete mess when that happens.

#brightwood challenge 02 #gabrielinspo

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hamonsurveysoverdrive · 4 years ago

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Imagery

1. Are you ready for 100 questions? Not if they're all gonna be this stupid. 2. Do you watch college football? No. 3. Who will fill this survey out after you? Idfk. 4. Who was the last person to send you a text message? Krystle. 5. Last time you went swimming in a pool? September 6. Are you happy? Meh 7. Where was the last place you went shopping? Ulta 8. What does your hair look like right now? Messy 9. Where do you live? Texas 10. Last thing you ate/drank? Trail mix and water. 11. Do you wish you were someplace else right now? Nah. 12. Last time you smoked a cigarette? Like, 30 mins ago. 13. Do you have any expensive jewelry? Yes. 14. AIM or Yahoo? lol 15. What classes are you taking right now? Sociology, US History, Composition I. 16. How many hours on average do you work a week? 0. 17. Do you like your job? N/a 18. Favorite NFL team? New York Giants 19. Do you watch the Olympics? Some of the events 20. Last restaurant you went to? Piranha Ramen 21. Who was the last person to call you? Kelsi 22. What is your sign? Scorpio 23. Do you have a favorite number? Yes 24. Last time you did volunteer work or made any donations? The other day 25. What do you spend the majority of your money on? Cigarettes and gas 26. Where does your family live? Mostly Texas, except for my sister and her family, who live in Alabama 27. Are you an only child or do you have siblings? I have an older sister. 29. Ever been called a bitch? I'm a female, of course I have. 31. Do you drink beer? Not anymore. 32. Have you ever experienced true love? Yes. 33. Did you ever collect Beanie Babies? I had like three 34. Ever bought anything online? Sure 35. Myspace or Facebook? lol Facebook 36. Do you have T-Mobile? No 37. What was your favorite subject? Anything to do with writing or literature 38. Do you sometimes wish you were someone else? Sure 39. Do you usually fall for the "man whores" or the "sluts"? Yes lol 40. Were you an outcast in high school? In some ways 41. Last time you saw your parents? I saw my dad last night, my mom yesterday morning 42. Do you have any talents? Sure 43. Ever been in a wedding? Yepp 44. Do you have any children? Two boys 45. Last movie you watched? Uhhhhhhhhhh I don't remember 46. Are you missing anyone at the moment? Yes 47. Did you take a nap today? No 48. What /Who was your HS Mascot? Warriors. Super racist. 49. Ever been on a cruise? Yepp 50. Favorite vacation spot? Big cities 51. Last time you were mad? Yesterday probably 52. Favorite TV Show? Friends, Frasier 53. Ever met anyone famous before? Yes 54. Favorite actor? Jack Nicholson, John Malkovich, Daniel Day Lewis 55. Favorite actress? Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett 56. Are you multi-tasking right now? Yes 57. Could you handle being in the military? No 58. Are you hungry or thirsty? Hungry, but lazy 59. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chicken Express 61. What is your average cell phone bill? 62. 62. Do you own a camera phone? lol Yes 63. Ever had to take a sobriety test? Yes, at my highschool prom lol 64. Do you believe in Karma? No 65. Can you speak any other languages? Not fluently 66. Last time you went to the gym or worked out? lol 67. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Enough 68. Do you have a photo hosting site that you use? No 69. Last place you were? I was at Justin's house last night, if we're not counting my own home 70. What is your college mascot? A bull 71. Ever been to Las Vegas? Nope. 75. What do you think is your best feature? My lips 76. Have you ever been gambling? Yes 77. How old are your parents? 50 and 54 78. When is the last time you updated your blog? ...Now 79. Do you have your wisdom teeth? Yes 80. Favorite place to be? Big cities, movie theaters 81. Have you been to New York City? Yepp 82. Favorite sit down restaurant? The Porch, India Star, Blue 83. Ever been to Disney Land? No, but I've been to Disney World twice. 84. Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Spinelli 85. Last thing you cooked? Jalapeno poppers 86. How is the weather today? Nice 87. Do you email? When I need to 88. Last letter/piece of mail you received besides junk or a bill? My new glasses 89. Favorite store? Target 91. Last voicemail you received? No idea 92. Do you drunk dial/text? I don't drink 93. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone? Dropped it in a toilet. On accident, of course. 94. What is the best city in the state that you have lived in? I have only lived in Dallas and Arlington, so I guess Arlington. 95. Favorite band/artist? Jimi Hendrix 96. Last time you were sick? Last year 97. Are you bored right now? Not really, just procrastinating the things I actually need to do. 98. Last concert you went to? Ugh, Pentatonix. It sucked and now it's going to be for forever before I can change it, because America doesn't know how to shut down for a pandemic. 99. What do you think about before you go to bed? Whatever. 100. What are your plans for tomorrow? Finishing studying.

#survey #surveys

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omgturtlequeen · 5 years ago

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Realty Brokerage Is Changing to a Virtual Brokerage Model

Realty offices are closing all over the country. Real estate agents are hanging " up " their licenses in every state. The traditional bricks-and-mortar real estate brokerage firm is hemorrhaging, and all that keeps this archaic business design alive is consolidations. As offices close, some realtors quit, but the survivors move their licenses to another going ship, a ship that looks just like the last one particular and often with the exact same name on the bow. A large operation office closes it's doors, no longer able to keep the equipment on after more than a year of operating in the red. Typically the agents are worried sick, not knowing what they will do, until finally their savior walks in the door. A broker from a substantial bricks-and-mortar across town with the same franchise offers to take the agents in with the exact same contract terms: each professional pays $600 per month and keeps 100% of their fees. The agents sigh in relief and quickly indication the new contracts like sheep to the slaughter. Since the agent can't generate enough leads for the agents, and because agents aren't selling enough to make the broker ample money on commission splits, any kind of split wouldn't be the better choice for the broker today. A sharp broker will fee each agent a monthly fee. He laughs right to the bank, because with 60 agents paying $600 per month, he's making $36, 000 a month just for located. Three years ago I sat across the desk from a business broker who looked at me and said, "Well, we have been feeding the business every month. You have to do that when times are rough. But we've been through tough times before, and we normally come out okay. " I remember thinking to myself which was a silly thing to say coming from a man who informed me he had no business plan, no budget for marketing, rarely are written vision for the future of his business. Unfortunately, who same broker just issued a press release that he is without a doubt permanently closing the doors of his bricks-and-mortar and will be hanging his license with another bricks-and-mortar. Another consolidation. This broker is merely jumping from one sinking ship to a single that hasn't sunk yet. The new ship has quite a lot of leaks, and it may take a while for folks on the Titanic to wake up. Bricks-and-mortar real estate brokerages that stubbornly won't bridge the gap to an entirely new business model will probably die a slow and painful death. It's a thing for brokers to ride their own ship down, but it really is quite another thing altogether for those brokers to sell tickets to make sure you real estate agents with promises they can't keep. The most unfortunate detail about all of this is that the agents who think there're doing what it takes to survive are only re-arranging the ground chairs on the Titanic. Many of them truly do not know or grasp how precarious their fate is. Many of them do own an uncomfortable feeling, and they know something is wrong by their business model. Just like so many of the passengers on the Titanic towards the end who smiled and kept saying, "Don't be bothered, everything always works out alright, " traditional agents continue to keep greet people with a smile and wait for the phone for you to ring. But the ship is tilting, and they are at risk. Individuals just don't know what to do. This is the great dilemma of being ensnared. It is the classic inability to think outside of oneself. Traditional broker companies and agents who have operated within a traditional brokerage style for many years struggle to think in entirely new ways. Why is this especially difficult for so many is their agony with technology and the Internet. Some simply refuse to find out the technologies. I know of a top producer who refuses to adapt, and he sincerely believes he can delegate a number of the responsibilities to his assistant. Few assistants are going to commit night and day learning and adapting for a boss, and if many people do and leave someday, where does that get away from the agent? Even successfully delegating leaves serious obstacles in bridging the gap, which I will share subsequently. There's been a huge change, but not all agents and providers recognize what is happening. Most do not comprehend that they are in the center of a major earthquake. Therefore , they continue to do what individuals always have done. Underlying all these changes is something highly big that traditional brokers are missing. Just as it will be powerful forces that move tectonic plates deep under the earth's surface, we are experiencing powerful forces bringing about an earthquake in the real estate world. As with so much for life, what we see on the surface is merely a symptom of a more deeply and much more significant movement that is actually the driving make. It is this driving force that many brokers and providers have not recognized. Here is the first tectonic force that is around the root of all these changes effecting the real estate industry: a change in consumer behavior. Granted, it's a huge change during consumer behavior. It's so big with so many implications, most people don't comprehend it. The full description of these changes throughout consumer behavior would be quite long, but here is a transient summary in the context of the real estate business. Consumers are now not willing to be sold with obnoxious advertising and informed what to buy and when to buy it. Consumers are sick and tired of interruption advertising, of billboards, of high pressure salesmen, of telesales, and of misrepresentations and boldfaced lies. Consumers retained it with professional conflicts of interest. They're sick and tired with only getting partial information upon which to base the most important decisions. Consumers want and demand freedom to overpower their own destiny. They don't like being controlled. They don't including being manipulated. The second tectonic force effecting such remarkable changes in the real estate industry is powerful in its own right, but also acts as a catalyst for the changes through consumer behavior. The catalyst that has empowered consumers as well as forcing these changes that are the death knell regarding traditional real estate brokerage is... advances in technology. The brokerage business model has been totally unequipped to deal with these tectonic shifts. The impact of the real estate recession has rapid this process to be sure, but only in time. Had it not even been for this recession, the impact of these changes on consumer behavior would have taken longer, but the impact would certainly ultimately be the same. The recession has acted as a diversion, however , distracting real estate agents from the real cause of their tragedy. I'm reminded of the newspaper salesman who tried selling me expensive print advertising recently. I ask your pet, "Why would I advertise in the newspaper when the software hasn't sold any of my real estate listings in the past time? Help me out. Why should I advertise in your pieces of paper? " His response while soft-spoken and polite, was basically of the same mindset as many real estate brokers today, "Well, you do not need want to be left out when your competition is advertising, do you? " In response to my blank stare, he pleaded, "When business is slow, it's not the time to stop advertising. Oahu is the time to advertise more than ever! " That's when I could no more contain myself, and I broke out laughing. We all used that line in sales 30 years ago. Will be they still using that line? Yes, they are. Unsurprisingly, that kind of sales pitch still works with many real estate agents as well as brokers, because like flies bouncing off the plate tumbler windows in a futile effort to escape from bondage, a large number of agents are still doing what they admit doesn't work really well anymore. Whatever we were doing that was not working prior to must be done twice as fast now. If the ship you may be on is sinking, be quick about your business and join another ship just like the last one. Such behavior will be insanity and a ticket to failure. More real estate brokers experience filed for bankruptcy protection in the past two years than whenever they want in U. S. History. And the earthquake has not completed as many bricks-and-mortar brokers are on the verge of ending their doors soon. It is the early adopters of new customers models and new technologies who will be the millionaire real estate agents in the years to come. Because time is truncated with the speeding up pace of the growth of technology and the use of the world wide web, those who pause too long to think about doing something will be placed so far behind, they may never catch up. Think of a location ship going into warp speed. Those who missed the travel will find themselves light years behind their colleagues. This is why it will be for traditional real estate agents who insist on staying lurking behind. There is an answer, and it means embracing technology, new marketing methods, new tools to reach clients, and mastering the Internet in the form of powerful medium.

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huhnerhexen · 5 years ago

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all for the other ask set!

I just took my painkillers, so I'm really high and I'm sorry if this makes no sense, I'm trying my best...

1. Are looks important in a relationship?

- yes, but they're not the most important thing. I can look past appearance, but if you're ugly on the inside it'll never work

2. Are relationships ever worth it?

- theyre worth it every time! Even if they fail, you learn a lot about yourself and they change you for the better

3. Are you a virgin?

- no

4. Are you in a relationship?

- no, my partner of about three years and I broke up a month ago

5. Are you in love?

- I'm in love with myself, which is more than I can say when I was in that relationship

6. Are you single this year?

- yes

7. Can you commit to one person?

- yes; I'm like a penguin... I mate for life

8. Describe your crush

- that's easy, I don't have one

9. Describe your perfect mate

- soft and sweet, generous, respectful of my boundaries, openly communicative, like my grandpa!

10. Do you believe in love at first sight?

- no

11. Do you ever want to get married?

- yes

12. Do you forgive betrayal?

- in time and with an apology, of course

13. Do you get jealous easily?

- I used to, but I've done a lot of work since then and I don't anymore

14. Do you have a crush on anyone?

- other than myself? no

15. Do you have any piercings?

- I have a nose ring, my septum pierced, 3 earrings in my right ear, and two in my left

16. Do you have any tattoos?

- 11; a bumble bee, a cat drinking wine, my rat's footprint, my grandma's signature, a sloth, the pisces constellation, the aurora borealis constellation, squirrel nutkin, my grandpa's signature, Snufkin and Moomin, and a lavender sprig

17. Do you like kissing in public?

- a quick peck doesn't bother me, but keep your tongue in your own mouth

There is no 18 or 19 in this series of questions??

20. Do you shower everyday?

- I've been bathing more than showering lately, but I do wash everyday

21. Do you think someone has feelings for you?

- I don't, but that's none of my business anyways

22. Do you think someone is thinking of you right now?

- no, I don't think so

23. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months and not cheat?

- obviously, I did that for 3 years. I don't cheat, it's wrong and it fucks people up

24. Do you think you'll be married in five years?

- maybe? I haven't given it much thought tbh

25. Do you want to be in a relationship this year?

- no

26. Has anyone told you they don't want to ever lose you?

- yes, and then they did

27. Has someone ever written a song or poem for you?

- no

28. Have you ever been cheated on?

- not that I am aware of

29. Have you ever cheated on someone?

- no, I would never

30. Have you ever considered plastic surgery? If so, what would you change about your body?

- I've had plastic surgery twice; once in the ninth grade to fix me jaw, and two days ago I had top surgery

31. Have you ever cried over a guy or girl?

- yes, and what a waste of time that was

32. Have you ever experienced unrequited love?

- no

33. Have you ever had sex with a man?

- yes

34. Have you ever had sex with a woman?

- no

35. Have you ever kissed someone older than you?

-yes

36. Have you ever liked one of your best friends?

- yes

37. Have you ever liked someone who your friends hated?

- yes

38. Have you ever liked someone you didn't expect to?

- yes

39. Have you ever waved someone you couldn't have?

- yes

40. Have you ever written a song or poem for someone?

- yes

41. Have you had sex so far this year?

- yes

42. How long can you just kiss until your hands start to wander?

- depends on the person, but awhile, I really like kissing

43. How long was your longest relationship?

- almost 3 years

44. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had?

- I've had 6 partners

45. How many people did you kiss in 2012/2013?

- I can say with 100% certainty that I have no idea; I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning

46. How many times did you have sex last year?

- I don't know, sex isn't something I count

47. How old are you?

- 21

48. If the person you like says they like someone else, what would you say?

- I'd ask them why, people love to talk about their crushes, I'd also encourage them to go after it. Just because I like someone doesn't make them mine

49. If you have a partner, what is your favourite thing about them?

- I don't have a partner

50. If your first true love knocked on your door with am apology and presents, would you accept?

- no, not yet. I'm not at a place to forgive Kai yet. I'm still working through and breaking down what they did to me

51. Is there someone you would do absolutely anything for?

- yea, my grandma

52. Is there anyone you've given up on? Why?

- I gave up on my dad's dad, Lane; he's just a genuinely awful guy and every time I've tried to extend an olive branch it's come back to bite me in the ass. He can be angry and miserable alone, I don't have room for that shit in my life.

53. Is there someone mad because you're seeing/talking to the person that you are?

- no, the people in my life are incredibly supportive of me in all my endeavors and decisions

54. Is there something you will never forget?

- what a classmate and friend wrote to my mom once when she was compiling a big note full of all the reasons people care about me. "There's nothing they could ever do that would be bad". Those words have been etched onto my heart for 6 years

55. Share a relationship story

- I'll tell you about my grandparents, and how they were made for each other. My grandpa worked for CBC and so did my grandma, but they worked in separate buildings, and one night my grandma's friend says "Elaine, come out for drinks with me and some of the guys" and my grandma really doesn't want to, but she's a polite lady so she does anyways. She winds up sitting next to my grandpa, and they don't say much to each other but his friends keep bugging him and making jokes about how he needs to "get home to his wife" (he isn't married, but he fancies my grandma and his friends are just trying to make him work harder for her). They wind up leaving at the same time, and they walk home together because they lived a couple buildings away from one another. My grandpa assures my grandma that he isn't married, he tells her he's going home to Red Jacket, Saskatchewan for Christmas, but could he give her a call when he comes home? She says yes; and a year later they were married. They've been madly in love with each other ever since.

56. State 8 facts about your body.

- I have 8 less teeth than the average adult; my eyes are two different shapes; when I learned to walk it was with a slight limp so now I always have one; when my body is really low on estrogen I get incredibly clumsy; I have 2 holes in my jaw from where a surgical plate was removed; I'm deathly allergic to peanuts; my limbs are so long, my fingertips almost reach down to my knees; I have a small groove in my head from wearing headgear when I was a child.

57. Things you want to say to an ex

- you always went on and on about how I deserved better, and you're wrong. It's not that I deserved better, you just didn't deserve me.

I have so much pity for you, because you have to live the rest of your life knowing what Ostin did to your mom, you did much the same to me. You acted the same as the man who makes you so sick. You're disgusting for what you did, and I hope you regret it everyday of your life.

58. What are 5 ways to win your heart?

- listen openly to me, tell me things that happened to you during your day, sending me songs or poems or little trinkets that remind you of me, laugh at my jokes, vocalize your feelings about me

59. What do you look like?

This is me and my roommate's cat, Anaan!

60. What is the biggest age difference between you and any of your partners?

- two years, he was 15 I was 17 and as soon as I learned how smol he was I couldn't get past it...

61. What's the first thing you notice in someone?

- their mouth, I lip-read so someone's lips and teeth is the first thing my eyes go to

62. What is the sexiest thing someone could ever do to/for you?

- oh gee I don't even know? Maybe take off my clothes for me, but like really slowly?

63. What is your definition of "having sex"?

- anything that gets the job done, y'know? wets the whistle

64. What is your definition of cheating?

- being physically intimate with a party outside of the pre-established exclusive relationship

65. What is your favourite foreplay routine?

- tease me until I want to kill you, and then fuck me until I can't remember my own name

66. What is your favourite roleplay?

- I don't have one. I did improv in highschool and doing any sort of "acting on the spot" makes me astral project back to that cringey time

67. What is your idea of a perfect date?

- one where it doesn't matter what you're doing, you never want it to end because you can never have enough time with the person you're with

68. What is your sexual orientation?

- queer!

69. What turns you off?

- people who are mean to animals

70. What turns you on?

- climate justice

71. What was your kinkiest wet dream?

- that will stay between me and the lord, thanks

72. What words do you like to hear during sex?

- none, if you can form words or sentences, one of us isn't doing our job right

73. What's something sweet you'd like someone to do for you?

- bring me flowers! No one has ever brought me flowers before

74. What's the most superficial characteristic you look for?

- probably wardrobe

75. What's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for you?

- my sister moved in with me to take care of me while I recover from my mastectomy. I didn't even have to ask, she offered to do it

76. What's the sweetest thing you've done for someone?

My roommate and I had mice and squirrels living in the basement of our old house, and they ate and destroyed all of her old baby books and photo albums; so this year for Christmas I took all the pictures I had of us, and a bunch of pictures she had posted on her social media, and I made her a new photo book to preserve the memories she made these last few years.

77. What's your opinion on age differences in relationships?

- the older you get, the less age difference really matters, my roommate is 41 and her partner is turning 61 this year. I think so long as both parties are of legal age and consenting, do what you want. That being said, it gets iffy if the older party knew the younger person when they were a child; ie. Leonardo DiCaprio and his most recent girlfriend.

78. What's your dirtiest secret?

- I don't have one? I'm literally an open book... You can ask me anything

79. When was the last time you felt jealous?

- when an 8 year old girl came into the shop and told me her grandpa was taking her shopping for her birthday.

80. When was the last time you told someone that you loved them?

- on Wednesday, when I was saying goodbye to my grandma at the hospital (that sounds like a downer, she's fine, she had a knee operation and I went to visit her after work)

81. Who are five people you find attractive?

- LP, Ezra Miller, Joji, my ex boyfriend (they're mad cute, but they're ugly on the inside), Chris Fleming

82. Who is the last person you hugged?

- my mom, after she drove me home from the hospital and helped me get inside

83. Who was your first kiss with?

- a boy named Rhys, in the ninth grade. We were each other's beards before we even knew it

84. Why did your last relationship fail?

- a lot of different reasons; we kept fighting, they had no time for me, they wouldn't communicate with me, I had trouble trusting them, they sexually assaulted me and were hella manipulative, they forgot I existed a lot, there were a lot of red flags that we ignored until it blew up in our faces.

85. Would you ever date someone off of the internet?

- sure, I don't see why not!

Thanks for asking! Sorry it took so long to answer, I had to stop and nap a few times in between questions...

#answered

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lovemesomesurveys · 6 years ago

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1. Are you related to the last person you spoke to? Yes, I was talking to my mom and brother. 2. Are your blankets normally kicked all over the place when you wake up? No. 3. Do you wear an eye mask when you go to sleep? Nope. I’ve been wanting to get one of those eye cooling sleep masks, though. I get bad headaches and cold washcloths help with those, so I figured a cooling sleeping mask would be great for that. And for when it’s hot. 4. Are family get-togethers fun or awkward for you? I like them. 5. Are any of your friends hoping to be famous one day? No.

6. What do you do if someone way too old for you hits on you? I’d decline. 7. Can you eat a whole pizza by yourself? I typically only eat 2-3 slices at a time. 8. Do you wear a lot of red clothes? No. 9. Do you lock the doors? Of course. 10. Is coffee better with or without milk? I only use milk (well soy milk) when I order lattes/mocha/macchiatos. If I order a regular coffee at like a restaurant then I use Half and Half and sugar. At home I use flavored creamer. 11. When was the last time you were at a hotel? Last weekend briefly when dropping my brother off. My mom and I went up to check out his room and stuff before we left. 12. Who would you kiss right now if you could kiss anyone? My doggo. 13. Are you afraid of the dark, or were you ever? I mean, I sleep with the TV on for some light and sound because I can’t have it completely dark or silent. 14. Do you have trust issues? Not really. I just have a hard time opening up and expressing myself to anyone. 15. When was the last time you cried from laughing so hard? I don’t remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that hard. 16. What are your plans for Thursday? I don’t have any plans for tomorrow. 17. Have you had your birthday yet this year? Yes, back in July. 18. Are you playing hard to get right now? No. I’m just hard to want. 19. Do you still talk to the person you were dating five months ago? I was single and still am. 20. Does cuddling freak you out? No. 21. Are your toenails painted? Nope. 22. Have you ever told someone you were in love with them? Yes. I laid all my feelings out on the table for Joseph, which took every ounce of courage I could muster up. It was so hard for me. 23. Ever slapped a guy in the face? Only playfully, and it was lightly. 24. Would you ever dye your hair blonde? Nah. I had blonde highlights for several years, but I never went full on blonde. 25. Did you make anything to eat today? I had a sandwich for lunch. 26. Do you wear eyeliner? When I wear makeup, which is rare nowadays. 27. What’s your favourite part of the song that you’re listening to? I’m not listening to music right now. 28. Do you think you’re a good friend? I haven’t been at all for the past few years. I’ve been very shitty. :/ I can’t even call anyone a friend anymore. 29. If the year consisted of only one season, which would you choose? Fall. 30. Could you go out in public looking like you do now? I’m wearing leggings with Santas all over and A Christmas Story shirt at the moment... in October. :X lol I’d really rather not. Plus, my hair is messy. Like, I couldn’t even just throw a hat on it. 31. What was on your mind mostly today? Blah. 32. Who was the last person you got into a small argument with? My mom and I bicker sometimes, mostly cause my moody moods get especially bad and I just end up butting heads with everyone. :/ 33. Can you handle the truth? Depends. 34. Are there some songs you can’t listen to because they remind you of someone? I listen to them anyway and get sad. 35. Last night, did you go to sleep smiling? I never go to sleep smiling. 36. Where did you sleep last night? My bed. 37. Did you have a good day yesterday? It was alright. 38. What was the highlight of today? I’m getting my favorite pizza for dinner. 39. Do you hate anyone? Besides myself, no. 40. Do you wish you had the chance to tell someone something right now? Not right now. 41. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My mom. 42. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? No. 43. Do horror movies these days scare you? I love horror movies now it’s so weird. I used to be such a scardy cat. It’s October aka spooky time and I want to watch a ton of scary movies. 44. What is the best thing that’s happened in the past week? Spending the afternoon this past Sunday in one of my favorite touristy cities that’s near water so it’s a lot cooler there temp wise and it was great and getting my favorite pizza twice. 45. What colour is your hair? Naturally it’s dark brown, but I dye it red. 46. What did you do yesterday? Same stuff I always do. 47. What are you doing tonight? Eat pizza and watch AHS. 48. Have you ever thrown your cell phone in anger? When? No. 49. Do you think you will be in a relationship three months from now? No. 50. Do you want to fix things with anybody? Yes, but I know I’m not in the right space mentally to do so yet. 51. Could you go the rest of your life without drinking alcohol? I’ve gone 6 years so far since the last time and I have no desire to drink as of now. 52. Is your hair long enough to pull over your face like a mustache? Yeah. 53. Do you ever find yourself making up survey questions throughout the day? There’s been times I’ve thought up a question or two. 54. Who is your favourite online friend? I think the survey community on here is pretty cool. 55. What was the last thing you tried for the first time? Hmm. I can’t think of something at the moment. 56. What was the last thing you said out loud, and how loud were you speaking? I was saying goodbye to my mom and brother who were leaving to go get our food. 57. What’s your favourite nail polish colour to wear or see on others? I liked wearing black the best. 58. What was the last thing you learned? Hmm. 59. How warm do you like your showers/baths to be? Not scorching, burning hot, but hot. 60. Are there any advertisements/commercials you actually like? Which? There’s been some commercials that I actually like, but generally I don’t pay much attention to them. 61. How often do you visit your relatives? Not often these days. There’s some family members I was really close with that I haven’t seen in a few years, which is crazy. I just really became withdrawn, distant, and reclusive these past few years from everyone. :/ 62. In your opinion, what is the scariest natural disaster? All of them sound terrifying. I’ve thankfully never experienced one. So far anyway... 63. What design is on your bed sheets? They’re just pink. 64. What is your favourite brand of fizzy drink? Like soda? I like Coke and Dr. Pepper, but I haven’t actually soda, only just a bit when I take my medicine, in like 2 years. I used to have one a day and I had been drinking soda since I was a kid (not regularly as a little kid, but I had it sometimes. I regularly started having it in middle school). 65. As a kid, did you use toothpaste that wasn’t minty? Yeah, I remember having bubblegum flavored ones. 66. What is your favourite vegetable? Spinach, potatoes, broccoli. 67. Do you have any other countries’ timezones saved to your computer/mobile phone? No. 68. Is your username the same for every website? No. 69. What do you have in your online bookmarks? On the bookmarks bar on Chrome I have Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube. 70. Do you have a lucky number? Why is it so lucky? I don’t believe in luck, but my favorite number is 8. 71. Do you set your browser to remember passwords? No. 72. Describe the perfect burger: I’m not a big burger person, but if I were to have one I’d just want cheese, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. 73. What was the last thing you made yourself to eat? A sandwich. 74. Do you agree that the nude scenes in movies are generally unnecessary? Uhh sometimes, but it’s whatever. I still act like a kid and mostly look away, though lol. 75. Have you ever stood on a sea creature while at the beach? Uh, no? 76. What’s worse; speaking in all caps, or all lowercase? When people type in all caps my mind reads it like yelling. 77. What’s your favourite place to go for fast food? Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald’s, Chick-Fil-A, or Jack in the Box. However, I haven’t really been into fast food at all for the past few months, oddly enough. 78. How many fillings do you have? A lot. 79. Do you prefer warm or cold hands? I’m fine with my hands being warm, just not me overall being hot. 80. Have you ever had a mud fight? No. 81. When you see people in love, is your first reaction “ew” or “cute”? Cute.

82. Have you ever woken up from a dream and thought it had actually happened? 83. Do you know anyone who closely resembles someone else? Yeah, family members. lol. 84. When your sunburn peels, do you leave it or pull at it? I’m the worst cause I pull it. :X 85. What type of food do you find yourself craving most (sweet, savoury, meat, etc.)? Savory. 86. Why did you last go to the doctors? Monthly checkup for one of the ongoing things I’m dealing with.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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yung-gunshot · 6 years ago

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In questions!

thank you denna @kisamas

1. What takes up too much of your time? rn its mainly vibeo game and anime. i still play djmax respect like almost every single day plus also playing ace combat 5 & 7 and i recently finished watching ergo proxy which was pretty cool

2. What makes your day better? cooking something yummy like pasta or curry makes my day better and just generally playing games something that distracts me from my problems at the moment

3. What’s the best thing that happened to you today? i made pasta with sausage, broccoli, and spinach for dinner and it was really good

4. What fictional place would you like to go to? hm i havent really thought about this but i think it would be cool to see the netsphere from blame! but without being involved in all the fucked up stuff i just love the architecture

5. Are you good at giving advice? i would like to think so but none of my friends i know irl reach out to me so maybe i think not i just speak bollocks

6. Do you have a mental illness? hm not sure, i never got officially diagnosed but im pretty sure i may have developed depression ever since i graduated hs

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? i dont think i have

8. What musician inspires you the most? not sure about musicians but deathgrips and jpegmafia have kinda inspired me at the moment just because they make whatever they want without being afraid of what people think of them

9. Have you ever fallen in love? yea its happened twice now

10. What’s your dream date? i dont really think about this just because i dont think it will ever happen but i think just hanging out and going hiking anywhere would be nice and i really enjoy checking out new places to eat in town

11. What do others notice about you? not really sure about this question tbh maybe that im really easy to get along with? and i dont like the fact that i exist outside of my own perception

12. What’s an annoying habit you have? isolation? but also i tend to bounce my leg and play with my hair a lot

13. Do you still talk to your first love? nope

14. How many exes do you have? 2

15. How many songs are in your playlist? im not really sure i just have 3 playlists on spotify that most songs go to depending on the mood they are pretty huge though so id say at least 100 per playlist

16. What instruments can you play? i used to be able to play the trumpet in elementary

17. What do you have the most pictures of? i have lots of landscape pics from the places i go camping and hiking then its just anime girls memes etc

18. Where would you like to go before you die? i think it would be really nice to see japan, korea, and indonesia plus also visit every national park here in the us and some parts in mexico like cancun and puebla

19. What’s your zodiac? aquarius

20. Do you relate to it? sometimes but most of the time i think its stupid

21. What is happiness to you? just living a life where i dont have to maintain a certain image of myself and free from the pressures of modern day life and capitalism

22. Are you going through anything right now? yea i still havent registered for fall classes yet and also havent been able to find a job either and i lost my friendship with my best friend a month ago

23. What’s the worst decision you ever made? i think telling my best friend i grew feelings for them is by far the worst thing ive done to date and its just something im never going to forgive myself for

24. What’s your favorite store? winco, samber and la chiquita (local hispanic stores) and grocery outlet

25. What’s your opinion about abortion? pro

26. Do you keep a bucket list? nope

27. Do you have a favorite album? ive had a few as my all time fav like Emily’s D+Evolution , To Pimp A Butterfly and Toxicity, rn though im really enjoying Dog Whistle by Show Me the Body, Infest the Rats’ Nest by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Veteran by Jpegmafia

28. What do you want for your birthday? maybe some new cardigans and candles would be nice

29. What are people’s first impressions of you? i think people see me as a quiet and distant person because i dont talk that often when meeting new people

30. What age do you seem according to most people? my age (21) -/+ 1

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping? i keep it on the corner of my bed next to my head

32. What word do you say the most? bollocks, bellend, fuck, worm

33. What’s the oldest age you would date? 25

34. What’s the youngest you would date? maybe 20 but they would have to be a very specific type of person for me to consider dating them, safe bet with 21

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you? art teacher

36. What’s your favorite music genre? it used to be hip hop for a really long time but now i like rock and metal but really ill listen to anything except for country and edm. ive also just been listening to a ton of vibeo game and anime music too

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be? i honestly think if the world wasn’t dictated by money i would want to live in mexico or japan tbh i like the us but just for the nature and landscapes

38. What is your current favorite song? Camp Orchestra by Show Me the Body

39. How long have you had this blog for? i think i started in the middle or end of 2015

40. What are you excited for? i cant really say im looking forward for anything other than death stranding coming out and the dlc for ace combat 7

41. Are you a better talker or listener? i think im a better listener than i am a talker bc when i talk i cant even understand what im saying sometimes. listening is much more important to me bc i can actually process what people are saying

42. What was the last productive thing you did? i talked to my adviser today and made some food and took my dog out for a walk at the park

43. What do you want for Christmas? i would like more board games to play with my cousins and friends and maybe some new pants too

44. What class do you get the best grades in? i dont know about best grades but its usually my painting and drawing courses

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now? 5

46. What can you see yourself doing in ten years? i honestly dont know and the only thing that comes to mind is being a teacher? i just live day to day

47. When did you get your first heartbreak? i guess after i graduated hs we were talking before we graduated but things sorta fell apart and i realized my feelings a bit too late to change anything

48. What age do you want to get married? not sure since i cant see myself being taken seriously enough to want to marry but i guess ill say any age before 40

49. What career did you want to have as a child? i dont quite remember but i recall wanting to do space travel so maybe an astronaut? or astronomer

50. What do you crave right now? emotional stability, some taro milk tea, and more pasta\

im gonna tag @deredere @euthymiclurker and @dementatree :)

#a lot of the questions i honestly didnt know how to answer sorry if they were trash

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lindoig4 · 6 years ago

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Iceland - all in one long post

(It is now Saturday 24 August and we are in St Johns, Newfoundland, and before I wade into Iceland, I thought I would summarise the birds we have identified so far. Some we have seen in more than one place, so the number of discrete species we have seen is still less than 100 – 99 in fact. But by country, my count currently stands at 138, made up of 36 in the US; 4 when we were in Montreal and a further 11 here, making it 15 for Canada; 9 in Oslo and 21 more in Svalbard making 30 for Norway, 20 in Greenland and 10 in the Denmark Strait – so possibly 30 for Denmark, depending on how we define it and 27 for Iceland. I don’t intend canvassing international relations or interpreting the Law of the Sea so it is up to you to define Greenland, the Denmark Strait and international waters however you choose – I decline to enter into any dispute on the issue.)

Now back to wonderful Iceland.

We arrived early in the morning after a pretty wild day and night at sea and we were probably happy enough to be on land again. Not because of the rocking and rolling, but because we were a bit overloaded with all we had experienced on the expeditions and felt that anything else would likely be more of the same. The only thing we hadn’t seen that would have been nice was more whales, specifically belugas and narwhals, but we can’t have everything – or at least, we have been told so.

On the other hand, our expectations of Iceland left us a little cold (so to speak) but we were wonderfully wrong! We disembarked at 9am and were bussed to a stop just down the hill from our hotel. Not sure why they couldn’t drop us off as we went past, but it was only a couple of hundred metres back up the hill lugging our luggage. (There is a reason it is called Luggage.)

We spent most of the day in our room but went out to the supermarket and had a drink on the way back. I spent some time dashing in and out of the hotel into the garden at the back chasing a bird that kept calling every now and then, but I never found it. I eventually discovered that an identical sound came from a squeaky lift the was right next to where I thought the mythical bird was calling!

In the late afternoon, we went to the hotel bar for a 2 for 1 drink Happy Hour and fell into conversation with two local women almost our age and we had a really wonderful hour or so with them. They were both lovely intelligent women and it was a complete pleasure to share our respective thoughts with a wonderful couple of locals.

We then went to a Vietnamese restaurant we had sussed out whilst shopping and it was a big disappointment. Very ordinary food in pretty scungy surroundings for about $90 Oz with no drinks!

We went on two tours whilst in Reykjavik. I clearly recall being taught in high school that there is no green in Greenland and no ice in Iceland. But like many of the gems imparted to naive teenagers at school, both are entirely wrong.

We saw a lot of green in Greenland - no towering forests or endless savannahs but plenty of green ground-cover in lots of places. Similarly, in Iceland, there is not a lot of summer snow, but they play few winter sports because everything is blanketed in snow, inhibiting outdoor sports, even if competitors and spectators were able to attend snowbound venues (which they aren’t!)

But Iceland is certainly spectacular in summer. As I said, we went on two wonderful tours (thank you Nice Tours), but a few observations first.

Iceland has fewer than 350,000 residents (and 3,000,000 summer tourists each year), over two-thirds of them living in Reykjavik. Most of the others are farmers and their small beautiful farms are a picture of neatness, looking like they sweep the hills and comb the grass before the tourists arrive each morning. They desperately want more residents (their unemployment rate is effectively zero) and despite some resentment about the changes brought about to accommodate us, they are heavily dependent on tourism as their biggest contributor to GDP.

They have virtually unlimited geothermal energy and squander it outrageously. Similarly, water is abundant and profligacy is considered absurd. The geothermal water powers some of their electricity needs and is then returned to the earth or used to heat every building in the country. The rest of their energy comes from hydro plants. Even some small collectives of farmers agree to install a small power plant to provide for their own needs and feed the surplus into the already overloaded grid. The only other fuel source appears to be imported petroleum at a little over $A2 a litre.

The hot water contains a bit of a cocktail of harmless minerals but smells a bit, so is used for showers and heating and the cold meltwater for most other things.

In the winter, some parts of the country are virtually inaccessible and the roads in those areas are atrocious but nearer Reykjavík, they are quite good - and the city itself is very modern-looking. No high-rises because they have plenty of room, but there are a few 5 or 6 level buildings.

There are NO trees away from the city, although a few farmers have attempted to grow some without a lot of success. But around Reykjavík, there are plenty of trees due to a concerted effort to provide some windbreaks for a few clicks around. I went for a walk this morning and found it very hard going, but apparently, the wind has been known to blow many people over, even to blow cell phones out of their hands (Shock, horror!). People stay indoors during the worst of the wind.

It is a very expensive place to live. We paid over $A85 for a very crummy meal at a Greasy Joe Chinese restaurant a couple of nights ago (our second expensive meal out) and even the supermarket gives rise to a few nasty shocks. One interesting point is that it costs more to build a house here than its sale price so a lot of people build their own rather than buy something that costs more than they could sell it for.

Having said all of that, Iceland is a wonderfully beautiful place with heaps of great things to see and do. It is very progressive. They had a National Pride Parade on the day we arrived and the whole city was decked out with rainbow flags and paraphernalia. The whole city seemed involved in celebrating the march and its participants. They are a very inclusive society and I found some of their more progressive ideas a little surprising - in a very good way.

Our tours were brilliant. Although we didn’t have any great expectations of the country before we arrived, I now wish we could just squeeze another month or so into our visit.

Golden Circle Tour

This is one of the more popular one-day tours and the scenery is amazing. (Most tours are multi-day and many are about 11 days and circumnavigate the island on their version of our Highway 1, although it is a little more rustic than ours in the north.). Rugged mountains, massive volcanic lava-fields, giant glaciers, thousands of waterfalls, wonderful wildlife (mainly birds) and miniature flora – simply superb. There are far more Icelandic horses than Icelanders - a unique breed that will remain pure because no other horses are allowed in, including any local horses that leave the country to compete in events - they are not allowed back in under any conditions! The sheep run free and have right of way on the road and all look very healthy: fat and woolly. There are cattle here, but they are mainly kept indoors - as are all the sheep in the colder months.

We visited the world’s second largest geyser (after Yellowstone) and watched it shoot almost 40 metres skywards every 5 to 8 minutes. It is the Geysir Strokkur and is source of word ‘geyser’ worldwide. We were careful to stay upwind, but some people got very wet trying to get the perfect selfie. There are numerous hot springs around and we saw plenty of thermal activity as we ate our packed lunch and walked to and from our bus. (I am tired of typing ‘spectacular’ so please just insert it once or twice in each paragraph. If any needs me to, I will provide a few hundred copies of spectacular, beautiful, amazing, astounding, wonderful, awesome, mindboggling, fantastic, fabulous – even fantabulous if you must - and any other superlatives you wish and you can just copy and paste them into each sentence or clause as you prefer – because they are all highly appropriate!)

We went to an awesome volcanic crater, obviously inactive, but huge, very steep-sided with a beautiful lake inside. We walked right around the ridge and photographed it from many angles. It was very windy and getting close to the rim was quite scary at times.

And what a spectacular waterfall Gulifoss was! It is fuelled by meltwater but totally awesome - mind-bogglingly so but still not Iceland’s biggest! The volume of water cascading down was truly (insert several superlatives here) but this was after a veritable drought - the driest period they have had for years. The water is funnelled into a huge canyon, way below anything we could see, but in a normal year, the volume is so huge, it fills the canyon! When I finally get some pics posted, you might imagine why it defies description.

We called in at a working farm for an icecream. Icelanders are the world’s most voracious consumers of icecream and we stopped at a couple of other places later in the day to avoid our guide suffering withdrawal symptoms.

Another stop was at the site of the world’s oldest parliament, dating to the 9th century. The tribes in the area decided that they needed more order in their community so elected a leader each 3 years and presented him with all their disputes and issues requiring resolution. He was given one day to think about them all and then stood on this particular rocky outcrop and addressed the assembled throng with his binding decisions the following day. It is now a UN World Heritage site and our guide was able to fill out a bit of history about it. Perhaps more significantly though is that the rock is on the very edge of the North American tectonic plate. We walked through an amazingly impressive fissure to get to the rock and it was a sobering thought that we were on such prehistorically significant ground. There is 6 kilometres between this and the nearby Eurasian plate at this point, with this distance growing by about 2.5 cm a year. At some point in the future a cataclysmic rupture is bound to happen right where we stood.

Then it was on the Eurasian tectonic plate, but with no fanfare or obvious geological features to mark it - but then, after the grandeur of the other side, it would be hard to match anyway. We spent much of the rest of the day in Eurasia - no passport required!

A truly fantastic tour and overloaded with historical, geological and simply grandeural(??) overload, we ate bread rolls and supped on Aquavit in our room at night.

Monday was a rest day, soaking in some of the previous day’s experience, washing, blogging, Happy Houring and finally eating at an extraordinarily sub-ordinary Chinese café at great expense at night.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour

But next day was the Snaefellsnes Peninsula Tour: perhaps even more spectacular than the Golden Circle Tour. The giant glacier atop the mountain was distant, but omnipresent even at 200km distance. We saw dozens/scores of waterfalls (fosses in Icelandic), cascading down the mountains from the interior snowmelt and creating hundreds of crystal-clear creeks and rivers. At one time, some locals sent a sample of the river water to an international laboratory to see what minerals it contained. Receiving no response, they contacted the lab to enquire as to progress with the testing - only to be ridiculed by the analysers for wasting their time sending obviously distilled water for testing! Did I say crystal clear!?

We explored one wonderfully picturesque foss and associated lake close up - pics will eventually be posted. Just across the road from this great waterfall is a mountain that was historically assumed to be rather nondescript until a photo of it was unexpectedly voted one of the world’s ten most iconic mountains and a tourism cavalcade ensued. The mountain has featured in quite a lot of films, but alas, I don’t recall which. Maybe my photos will prompt some memories.

We had a superb fish lunch at a restaurant where our guide knew the chef. He seemed to know a lot of people, but had worked in a small local hotel with this chef - recently returned to Iceland as chef at a 3 Michelin hat restaurant in Europe. The food was excellent and because at least 10 of us agreed to purchase the fish special, we got it at half price: much closer to what we would pay for a similar meal in Oz.

We walked along the cliff from a charming tiny enclosed fishing harbour, past some awe-inspiring sink-holes too scary to get close enough to see the bottom, past a delightful bird-encrusted lake, past more cliffs filled mainly with nesting gulls, lava caves and blowholes, a fantastic rocky arch to a lookout with more caves, more nesting kittiwakes and a mass of hexagonal basaltic columns formed by the lava cooling more slowly. To add spectacle to amazing wonder, the columns were not straight, but twisted and bent in line with the strata being formed at the time. A geology lesson in itself!

Then on the way back to our little bus, we passed a man-made stone structure representing a monument to a local troll. Icelanders are very superstitious and many still believe in good and bad trolls and other forces that seem quite alien to us. Most of the island’s roads were built about 100 years ago when superstition was even more rife and many roads take unexpected detours to avoid crossing evil troll-infested sites (or to proceed through beneficent troll areas), much like our sacred sites in Australia only more so. And many people still ascribe or predict events to the beneficial or vengeful actions of trolls - and act accordingly, doing good things or avoiding bad omens just to be on the safe side.

We visited a beach made of black pebbles and vicious looking lava outcrops. It was surrounded by a lava field, mostly covered with wonderful soft silvery-green moss and lichens. After the lave cools, dust is blown in and microscopic lichen, fungus and algae start to grow, followed a few millennia later by the mosses that continue to break down the lava into what eventually becomes arable land - if it is not then covered by more lava or a glacier.

It was a long tour, almost 12 hours of utter wonder. We had walked several delightful kilometres and climbed quite a few steps and were quite tired by the time we reached our hotel so just ate what was in the fridge and went to bed, weary but still buzzing with the excitement of all we had seen. For me, a little bonus was the improved variety and number of birds we saw along the way, many of which we had been able to view with surprising clarity.

Our last day in Iceland was almost an anticlimax. I went for a long walk around Reykjavik in the morning. Heather’s ankle that she broke a couple of years ago was too sore to accompany me and we just reviewed photos, wrote stuff, repacked and had a Happy Hour in preparation for the long trip to St Johns on the morrow.

But given the chance, we would be back in Iceland with a campervan for a month or more perhaps risking the shoulder period to see the best of the whole island in all sorts of weather. It is definitely a place that should be on everyone’s Bucket List and even after being here, it is still on ours!

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soracities · 7 years ago

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You're so well read, but you honestly believe Kavanaugh is guilty when everything points to the accusations being false. Just a sham on a good man's character. Over 1000 women who knew him in his college days affirmed his character. "Believe all women," except when they don't fall for bullcrap.

please, do not reblog

(2/3) “Seriously look into the facts of Kavanaugh. Not the terrible media, (on either side) Look at what women in his past have said about him that have no direct bonus from his destruction.(3/3) This Kavanaugh thing is horseshit. Anyone could make this kind of an accusation 36 years removed from being in high school in exactly this same fashion. Without evidence or anyone corroborating the claim I fail to see how an accusation of groping over clothes nearly four decades ago is relevant to anything. I love your blog so much, but please please please, don’t be so gullible about this.”

I don’t think that I’m being gullible and I’m sorry that you feel that way. But what I am being is critical. I’ve been here before. We all have. And what I believe is that, after everything that has happened this past year, we should know by now, more than anything, that dismissing accusations such as this from the onset, and worse, to ruthlessly discredit and then mock them, without any critical examination or without even pausing to question and consider what they imply, is a very, very–recklessly–dangerous thing to do.

I don’t know what kind of incredible power you think women have in this world that coming forward with an allegation of sexual assault has ever proven to turn the world against a man as fast as it turns against the women who made them. I don’t understand where the ‘bonus’ is in receiving death and rape threats for the most innocuous things, let alone talking about a sexual assault, or in being hounded online, having your identity stolen, your home address posted with calls for people to ‘peacefully’ protest right at your door. I don’t understand why it is so much easier to be so convinced that women will always lie about their traumatic experiences but that perpetrators will never, ever lie about having committed them. It’s an assumption, whether we realise it or not, that already one is more credible than the other and not because of some sort of objective scepticism, or equal consideration, but because for years women’s (forced) silence on the matter has been taken as proof that this problem doesn’t exist, when in reality no one has been listening.

And while I really don’t mean for this to be rude, but one thousand people vouching for your ‘character’ and ‘good name’, are not guarantees of anything (I also think it’s a bit of a ridiculous assertion; it’s virtually impossible for one thousand people to know one individual intimately enough to make that kind of a statement with any sort of authority). You can be perfectly polite, soft-spoken, shy, come from a ‘good, Christian home’, and still shoot up a school, or a concert, or a prayer group. You can be a highly respected member of your community, you can be seen as a pillar of morality and piety and still commit sickening acts of violence against those entrusted to your care. ‘Character’ is not black and white. And neither is misogyny. We all want to think that those who commit sexual assaults are easily identifiable, social misfits and depraved deviants who have nothing to do with us or the people we know but that’s not the case. It’s not as simple as “I hate all women and therefore will make all of them suffer”; it manifests in grades, just like everything else. Sometimes that means horrific violence, sometimes it’s sexist jokes, sometimes it’s casual comments that are so normalised we don’t even think twice about them, sometimes it’s a locker room ‘fuckability’ scale going from 0 to 10. But they all come from the same place, and they’re all a reflection of the way in which we’re taught to look at women, knowingly or not.

I have no doubt that countless women have never experienced what was described in that courtroom. But that doesn’t automatically make what happened to Ford (or to the others who tried to come forward) a lie. You can be perfectly civil to a thousand people and an absolute brute to one. They aren’t mutually exclusive. Saying “I know he has never done this” is not ironclad proof that he hasn’t. It simply means “I know he has never done this to me.”

And to assume that what happened has no relevance 36 years on is, I genuinely believe, incredibly misguided. This isn’t just a regular case of dumb, drunken teenage antics that you grow out of. This is a very deep, very pervasive mentality in which girls and women’s autonomy is so diminished that the idea that we have feelings, thoughts, or desires that are just as valuable as anything a man has ever thought or said or felt is so alien to people as to not even be considered as relevant. Very rarely is anything a woman says seen as being universally important, unless it’s to other women. Our bodies are more or less free game, regardless of how many times we say no (and even when we do, we’re told it’s not a ‘No’, it’s a ‘convince me’, it’s ‘playing hard to get’, it’s a ‘what were you expecting in that dress?’). You cannot grow up in this environment and not internalise that message, in all its variations, no matter who you are. And this is why thinking that something as vague as ‘character’ and a superficial checklist for ‘Spot the Perv’ is enough simply doesn’t work. The same society that raised Harvey Weinstein, raised countless other men who may never dream of doing what he’s done, but who come away with the same message, to varying degrees, whether they’re aware of it or not. We think cat-calling and ass-groping and rape are completely separate things, but they aren’t. They’re just different points, at different extremes, of the exact same scale.

That is why this is relevant. Because teenage boys who think it’s okay to force themselves on a girl, drunk or not, to try to kiss her or grope her, or do anything without her consent–no matter how ‘playful’ people will try to make it seem–grow up to become men who see no problem with that exact kind of behaviour, who excuse it away as ‘boys being boys’ or ‘lads’ or just ‘a bit of fun’, who think it bears no relevance on how they’ve been raised or who they become as people, who become dismissive of female pain because it never has, never will be, relevant to their own desires. They grow up to become men in positions of power, with that same unchallenged, normalised mentality but now with the added impenetrable cushion that being in power brings. They become policymakers and individuals who interpret and reshape the world according to their understanding of it, because they are told that that is all that counts. They become people who cannot relate to someone else’s pain or feelings on such a basic level as to think that it is just as important as theirs, who cannot challenge their own thoughts and beliefs or even have them challenged by others, who are incapable of addressing allegations such as this without losing their shit in open court. And if you think that this sort of a mentality has no influence whatsoever on the type of politician and lawmaker you become then I don’t know what else I can say.

I’m speaking as generally about this as I can; I’m not trying to get into the finer political details of all of it–it’s not my country, and that’s not my place. Neither am I pretending to know more than I do. But I’m concerned because I’ve seen how this plays out and it is about so much more than what happened, or will happen, in Capitol Hill. You could have this exact same scenario in so many other countries, and the response would be similar. “It’s all politics,” “she’s lying,” “she’s confused”, “it’s nothing but a witch hunt”. That’s not proof of women being scheming or mendacious; if anything it’s a telling indication of who we think is worthy of being heard and empathised with and who isn’t.

The last thing I want to say is that what was described at that hearing last week was not a mere matter of ‘groping over clothes’, and if that’s all that you heard then I don’t think you and I were picking up on the same thing. And if that’s the case then maybe you’ve already proven my point, and then maybe you’ve already made your mind up about what did or didn’t happen, or what part of this narrative matters and which doesn’t. I genuinely don’t know. But I’ve explained what I think and my reasons as best as I can. I’ve tried to be as honest as possible and that’s all I can do. I can only hope that it makes sense to you in some way.

#do not reblog seriously #im too tired #ask #anonymous

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