#and p much mandela effected my way into thinking i did

[ur-fav-is-hydraulic-pressed]

Can you hydraulic press Wheatley from portal please?

Wheatley from The Portal Franchise has been hydraulic pressed.

[nottheweirdest]

Fanfiction Writer Asks, more of those! 10 (Chaos and Control), 29, and 47 (Not How It Was Supposed to Be)

Absolutely!! Let's see whatcha picked!

10. In your Chaos Control fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind?

The addition to Chaos and Control was originally supposed to be an added chapter. That's what people had picked when I said I wanted to create an add on to any existing fic as a thank you for reader's support buuuuuutt....... As per the usual lol I am very long winded and what started out as one additional chapter became THREE extra chapters. I ended it as I did because: 1. I could seriously go on forever, but I didn't have the time or energy to expand on it at the time, so I needed to wrap it up.

2. I had to play within the confines of the Moments series and events that were set to happen in the future.

3. Sonic's not a killer imo, not unless he has to and even then I think it'd haunt him. Shadow's not so bothered, but knows that Sonic is. So I had to come up with a way that our bad guy didn't end up getting killed by our heroes lol

4. I wanted you to feel a little bad for Tyler, and I honestly felt a little bad for him, so I wanted him to have some chance at a.... clean slate shall we say :-P

I didn't have any alternatives in mind :-P

29. Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

I am incredibly grateful for any recognition and attention my fics get, but there are a couple that get maybe a little less then others? Those would be The Mile High Fail (18+ Only) which honestly, that could just be me writing something that I think is amusing but isn't necessarily to others, and then Sugar & Spice. Sugar & Spice is a prequel to Clean Slate, but it's got a totally different vibe so it just might not appeal as much :-P

47. Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about? -Not How It Was Supposed to Be

Sony.... why you gotta go giving my dang brain more ideas to write because... lol this inspired me....

You've heard of the Mandela Effect? About the merging of universes? Sonic swears something is off. No one else seems to notice, they carry on as though everything is normal and nothing has changed, but Sonic can't shake the feeling that something is missing. Something important.

He doesn't know what it is, but the loss of it haunts him.

Funny, it's better when he's around Shadow.... (i.e. a story where Sonic and Shadow were married, but universes merge putting them back at rival status and while Shadow remembers nothing, Sonic gets flashes of memory. He finds himself falling in love with Shadow all over again and has to find a way to convince Shadow of all the things they shared)

Idk. What do you think? Should I write it?

Fanfic Writer Ask Game

[ayankun]

So I did watch & notate the Modern Family and Parks and Rec pilots (and the first five minutes of the US Office pilot before I couldn't take it any more) for character/camera interactions, and

They were the wrong episodes to watch to do what I wanted to do, or, to find what I wanted to find, or

They did not contain what I thought they contained.

The Office: 2005-2013

Parks and Recreation: 2009-2015

Modern Family: 2009-2020

The first episodes of these shows were envisioned, created, and aired 10-15 years before the HSMTMTS pilot. The styles that emerged after cumulatively producing hundreds of episodes over two dozen years, styles that inform the collective consciousness' understanding of what a sitcom mockumentary is, just Didn't Exist At That Time.

Particularly jarring in the P&R pilot is Leslie constantly talking to the camera outside of talking head segments, when we know in retrospect that the documentary crew is non-diegetic. You can see the heavy-handed Office influences in this way, because Michael Scott also gives the (diegetic) camera a walk-and-talk tour of the titular office in that show's pilot.

Also unnerving is how the utility and placement of the Aside Glance within a scene isn't finalized; Tom rolls his eyes at the camera and I instinctively read that as a segue into a talking head where we get to hear a bit more about his thoughts in that moment ... but instead we play out the scene. And then go into a talking head-- wait that's just Leslie explaining something to the documentary crew inside a diegetic scene, which cuts straight into a talking-- wait not again, that's just Leslie addressing the camera before walking away to do diegetic things.

And don't get me started on Michael Scott, whose camera crew actually exists in his world, and he can't stop won't stop incidentally looking at it. I had to stop notating the episode because there were over seven times in five minutes that someone looked at the camera, and I think maybe ONCE it was specifically an Aside Glance. Same goes for the eye contact in the Modern Family pilot, a lot of folks incidentally acknowledge the (again, non-diegetic) camera, which doesn't communicate the same sort of thing a "classic" "Halpert" communicates.

I don't have categories for tracking these things! They don't do ANY OF THIS in HSMTMTS!!!!!

Therefore, my new working theory is that the stylistic choices made by Federle et al are distillations of what the mockumentary format holistically feels like it is (rather than recreations of what it literally is), where this feeling is shared by the audience because it, too, has passively absorbed two dozen years and hundreds of episodes of the real deal.

My original plan was to watch & notate the top five and bottom five episodes of each of the three OG sitcoms, as a method for acquiring a 10-episode baseline similar to what I have for HSMTMTS S1. I haven't actually watched any Modern Family yet, so, being wary of spoilers, I thought I'd check first to see what metrics the pilots specifically yielded.

Unexpected and complicated metrics were yielded, to say the least! Now I'll know to include additional categories for the remainder of the watch&notate eps, 'cause I was unprepared and ended up shoving things into my two existing categories that really shouldn't be counted as such, because even though they clearly exist in the reference material, they're just not the specific tools HSMTMTS decided to use.

Also gives me some insight into how and why some of Ricky's interactions with the camera seem to defy categorization. We I think of people mugging for the camera, I think Jim Halpert; Federle et al specifically include this exact understanding of the thing. And then when Ricky looks at the camera, but not in the Mandela-effected way I think of Jim Halpert doing it, I go, huh? wha happen?

And what's happened is I forgot that there are LOTS of other tools in the fourth-wall-breaking toolbox that Federle et al decided not to prioritize, but can still use on occasion. Now I know!

New hypothesis: HSMTMTS' style isn't mockumentary as much as it is post-mockumentary. It's not the thing itself, it's a latter generation comment on the original thing. Which is supremely fitting, as that also describes to a T what the content of the show is, as well.

In conclusion, Federle et al know what they're doing, and I'm living for it.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #257

I hope y’all are behaving and staying inside. This’ll blow over, folks.

Have you ever met a guy for coffee? No. How often do you get called on your home phone? We don't have a landline. Do you feed your leftovers to your dogs? We don't have a dog anymore. When we had them, we very rarely did. Mom did so more than me, and I wouldn't give them anything if they were begging. Except chicken nuggets with Teddy. There was no denying him chicken nuggets. Do you like salt on your popcorn? Yes. What tricks does your pet do? Well one is a snake and my cat doesn't know any because since when do cats obey you lmao. Do you believe in psychics? No. When you hear the name “Ginger” what do you think of? Jason's old fatass dog. What is the worst damage that your car has seen? N/A Who is your least favourite character on your favourite television show? In Meerkat Manor, fuck that, I loved them all, lmao. Well, I remember I was bitter towards Rita/Amira for killing Rocket Dog's pups, but even then I knew that was meerkat nature to ensure the survival of their own offspring. That '70s Show, definitely no one. I adore all the characters. For Fullmetal Alchemist, honestly, there are SO many that I don't remember probably even half of them. BUT, from what I do remember, Nina's dad whose name evades me. You watch it and you know why alkdsjf;kaldjw. Have you gotten sick this year? No. When was the last time you got a new ringtone? Eons ago. Where do you put your keys when you get home? They're always in my purse. What’s your phone background picture? Lock screen is a cute as fuck picture of Mark, home screen is two meerkats. If you could move to any country, what would it be? Realistically, Canada. Have you ever seen a snake in the wild? Plenty of times. Do you have any posters, paintings or other artwork on your walls? A LOT. My walls are cramped; it makes it feel homey to me. Would you ever take a trip to space if given the chance? Nah, too long of a journey. How do you cope with anxiety? Watch YouTube more attentively, listen to music, nap, take one of my anxiety meds. Are you expecting any phone calls or emails? No. Who makes you laugh the most? In my "real life," my dad. Out of anyone that includes those I don't actually know, probably Shane Dawson. He's a Mood, constantly. Do you know anyone with the same middle name as you? Oh, plenty. I have like the most common white girl middle name out there. What did you have done the last time you saw a dentist? I had a cavity filled. What does a successful relationship look like to you? Both ends are happy, communication is ideal and easy for the pair, both feel loved and accepted fully, and each has healthy freedom. What do you like to put on your baked potato? The ordinary butter, cheese, and bacon bits. What field of science interests you the most? Genetics. What’s the closest shop or restaurant to your house? A Zaxby's and McDonald's are tied, being right across the street from each other. What was the most memorable birthday you’ve had? My 16th is the one I remember best, but not in a good way. What is the best house you’ve ever lived in? Our last house, aesthetically. Right in the woods and relatively pretty, yet simple. Do you look in the mirror before you leave the house? Yeah. Have you ever seen someone quit their job in a dramatic way? No. Do you know why your parents named you what they did? No. I think Mom just liked the name, though. What do you like to dip your fries in? Ketchup, mostly. Is your house clean or messy right now? It's actually really clean right now. We've had a lot of help around the house recently thanks to family and friends with Mom's cancer, and then I've been much neater and attentive to cleanliness than usual because 1.) it's my responsibility to ensure it is for Mom's health and 2.) I dropped out of school so literally have zero excuses to not be doing at least one productive thing. What was the last email you received? That wasn't trash, it was from my old major's dean in school. She was trying to comfort me and give me options on what to do versus leave, but yeah. I'll 100% give it to the school that they deeply and sincerely care for their students, I just needed to go. Do you know someone who speaks without a filter? lmao me. Well, depends, I guess, actually. I know when to keep my mouth shut in some situations. What’s your favourite kind of museum? Science museums. Especially those with d i n o z. Do you believe in alternate universes? I'm open to it, especially with the mandela effect theories, but I don't think so. Whose house did you last visit? My older sister's. What games do you play on your smart phone? Pokemon GO (if I'm in an area w/ Stops to get balls) and Dragons of Atlantis. What kinds of decorations do you put up at Halloween? We don't really decorate anymore for Halloween, or holidays in general. How many tabs do you have open right now? Two. What’s something you’ve been meaning to do but keep putting off? Try more sites to hopefully get a poem I wrote published, but that crippling fear of rejection tho. :^) What’s the first thing you check on your phone at the start of the day? The time. Have you ever flown a kite? Yeah, I loved that as a kid. I’m guessing you’ve probably been asked this before, but which do you prefer - Coca Cola, or Pepsi? Coke. Pepsi is gross. Has your phone ever gone off in the middle of a class at school? No. Did you go to your school dances? Did you dance with anyone? Just two proms. We didn't dance tho because the music was shit. What’s your relationship with the last person you talked to on the phone? What was your conversation about? Like, talk-talked, no texting? Uhhh who was that. OH YEAH, my sister. My mom didn't answer her phone so she just called me to make sure she was okay. The last time you washed your hair, did you use conditioner?
 No, I never do. It just adds oil to your hair, and mine is naturally oily enough. Do you have an item of clothing that reminds you of someone? Tell me about it, and the person it reminds you of. I have a lot, none positive. If the last girl you texted told you that she was pregnant, how would you respond? Ask her who the fuck I need to kill. How would you react if your mother told you that she was pregnant again? Well considering 1.) she's past menopause and 2.) she has serious ovarian and Fallopian cancer, I'd say that's pretty impossible. Who do you have the most text messages from? Sara. The last time you skipped school, what was the reason?
 Uhhh if you mean "skip" as in I had seriously no realistic reason not to go, I think I was just really tired. I tried not to skip unless I was having serious mental health issues. When did you last see or speak to someone you dislike? Why do you dislike this person? I actually don't know who that would be. When you listen to music, do you generally sing along, or just listen? I rarely sing. I just listen. Do you have any of your exes as friends on Facebook? Yes. Does more than one person like you? *shrugs* Has your partner ever accused you of cheating, when you actually didn’t? No. Who was your first love? Do you ever miss that person? Jason. Of course I do sometimes. Other times I know it's probably for the better we have nothing to do with each other anymore. Do you like your middle name?
 I mean it's pretty, but boy do I wish it was more original. If your hair is long, would you ever think about having it cut short? Or, if it’s short, would you like to grow it long? I doubt it will ever be long again. Would you consider your parents to be strict? Dad never was at all; Mom sorta was when I was little. Do you have a mirror in your room? On the back of my door. Have you ever worked in food service? No, thank God. Do you often stay in your pajamas all day? I almost always do, unless I have to go out somewhere. I pretty much never leave my house ever, forget just quarantine, so like... why make more laundry. What are three YouTube videos you would like to film soon? N/A Do you ever listen to country music? No. What is your most severe allergy? Pollen. What’s the largest library fine you’ve ever had? Oh wow, no clue. I haven't been the library in millennia. Have you ever lost a library card? *shrugs* Name three literary characters you feel resemble you the most. UH yikes. This requires too much thought for me rn. Name three cartoon characters that resemble you, and say why. Ummmm I still don't know. Do you have a good doctor? I haven't seen her enough times yet to honestly say. Mom knows and likes her well, though. She's fine so far. Do you wear a watch every day? If so, what color is your watch? No, I never do. Does your phone alarm ever scare you? No, it's very peaceful. Which department store do you shop at the most? Wal-Mart. How old were you when you got your driver’s license? I'm 24 and am yet to have it. Do you have regrets? A good handful or two. Do you ever curl your hair? It's too short to do so. Do you know anyone who has coronavirus? No, and I pray I never do for my mom's sake. Out of all the big cities you’ve visited, which has/have been your favorite? Chicago is the only big city I've ever been it. Was pretty damn dope, though. Do you like dreamcatchers? I mean, they're cool. I don't believe in them being magical, though. Have you ever made a dreamcatcher, and if not, would you like to learn? No and no. Who was your high school’s biggest bully? I don't remember. What color was your graduation cap and gown? Red. Did you keep your graduation cap? I think I did. Did you decorate your graduation cap? Nope. What is your favorite part of nature? The animals within it. Do you use Photoshop? Yes. Favorite photo editing app on your phone? I don't have an editing app. Did you love or hate college? Well, considering I dropped out three times, guess. Favorite class in high school? Art. Favorite class in college? Idk. Probably Writing. Class you hated the most in high school? Math. Class you hated the most in college? Painting brought me the most stress. Do you know how to write in calligraphy? Not technically. Have you ever had a pen pal? No. Do you prefer brownies or cookies? Brownies. Man I could go for one. Favorite Girl Scout cookie? Those Reeses-ish ones. Did you ever go camping as a kid? No. Do you have hormone issues? No. Have you ever gotten a misdiagnosis because your parent(s) lied about you? Er, no? A shitty doctor has misdiagnosed me, though. Which Barbie doll was your favorite? I didn't even know there were "types"... Do you wake up to an alarm? No. When did you go to bed yesterday? Like, 8-something... I rarely make it past 9:30 nowadays. Do you live in a city, town, or in the country? The country. What color is your toothbrush? White. When was the last time you had a nightmare? Yesterday while I was napping. Woke up shrieking and scared Mom out of her skin. Tainted my mood almost the rest of the day. If you had a terminal illness, would you want to know? No shit I would. What was the last thing someone called you other than your real name? I don't know. If you could meet anyone who lived before your time, who would it be? I have no clue. Is there a candle in the room you are in? No. Are you currently taking any prescribed medication? More than I like. Do you have bad anxiety? If so, do you take any kind of medications for it? Yes and yes. Who was the last person you felt you were wasting your time on? I don't know. One thing you’ve experienced that you thought you never would have? A suicide attempt. What was the last thing someone said to you that kept repeating over & over in your head? Ugh. If a random person were to look through the photos on your phone, is there anything you’d be embarrassed about? No. If you could, would you work from home? Do you think that would make you more or less productive? No no no no. I need a reason to leave the house. I'm way more productive away from home anyway. What were you like in middle school? "The weird kid" describes it pretty well. If you could give one charity a million dollars, what charity would you donate money to? YIKES!!!! Now that's a question. Probably something for suicide prevention/awareness. What is something you’re surprised hasn’t been invented yet? The cure for cancer. It's incredible, just how many "possible" cures have been identified in nature, yet you like... hear NOTHING about it afterwards??? My conspiratory and "the medical industry just cares more about money" ass wonders about that a lot. Most disturbing movie you have ever seen? Paranormal Entity or The Rite. Has a life goal or dream ever come true for you yet? If yes, what is it? If no, do you think you’ll achieve it? No. And probably not. What one thing has always bothered you, but seems to bother no one else? Hm. I'm sure there's something. Do you still own a VCR and VHS tapes? No, pretty sure they've all been sold. Did you ever build furniture forts as a child? Yep. What kind of dog is your favorite? Pretty sure I'm biased towards beagles. Are the majority of your friends male or female? Female, I think? Have you ever considered dropping acid? Noooo sir. Would you consider yourself to be mature? Mostly. Describe your music style: I like unique alternative stuff. Catchy, heavy riffs do me in easily, too. I like well thought out, dark, and impactful lyrics. Are you close to any of your aunts/uncles? Not very. Have you ever had a seizure? No. When was the last time you were in a hospital? For myself, 2017. I think. Do you go on vacations a lot? I never do. Are you self-conscious around other people? Very. At your workplace, are you required to wear a uniform? N/A Have you ever witnessed a physical fight in real life? Huh, good question actually. What was your GPA in high school? 4.2/3 or something. Do you use a lot of hair products? I don't use any. I mean, besides shampoo. What is the most amount of money you’ve spent at one time? My own money, I think $300 on a tattoo. What is the best pizza place out there? Domino's. I'm such a basic bitch. Do you know how to play any odd instruments most people can’t play? Nope. When was the last time you used a disposable camera? I think the zoo visit in 5th grade. What is your favorite book series, if you have one? Can't say I really have one. It definitely used to be Warriors by Erin Hunter, but I haven't read any in maaaaaany years. Do you have any celebrity autographs? Nah. What is your favorite color of clothing to wear? Just black. Admit it – you want a Snuggie. What design/color? I got a black one one Christmas, lol. They're honestly not all that great. Do you prefer movies at home or movies at the theater? THE THEATER. I actually enjoy watching movies in the theater. It's just the vibe, I guess, and the size of the screen so you take in everything. How many songs does your iTunes have? Just over 1k. Its memory is maxed out, oof, so if I want a new song, I have to thin the library out. Do you take a shower in the morning or the night before? I've been taking showers more often in the morning, lately. It's a nice, refreshing start to the day. I'm just too tired and unmotivated to at night. Who’s your youngest teacher? N/A When’s the last time you had a rock, paper, scissors match? Wow, no clue. What’s your favorite anime? Fullmetal Alchemist. Did you cry when Ash let his Butterfree go with the other Butterfrees? Oh I probably did, but THEN AGAIN, the female was FUCKIN PINK so I'm sure I was also happy for Butterfree lmao. Even as a kiddo, I knew pink was The Shit. Skinny, flared, ripped, or faded jeans? Skinny, ripped ones. What are you excited for? Just honestly, nothing in the even remotely near future. Nothing in my life is exciting rn. Are you part of the Farmville cult? Never played. Have you ever stood on a frozen solid body of water? YIKES besides like, small puddles, definitely not. I'd be scared to. Which person from way back when would you love to hang out with? Jenna, an old best friend, came to mind first here. It'd be great to catch up with her. She called me in the hospital after my suicide attempt despite not talking in absolutely forever, and I'm never going to forget that. Does your family use a real pine tree or a plastic one for Christmas? Plastic. Literally the only positive of the real ones is the smell. Otherwise, it's a mess that dies too quickly. Do you have any foreign exchange students at your school? N/A What’s your second language? I'm not fluent in it, definitely not anymore, but the language I took for four semesters was German. Is it uncomfortable for you to take showers in glass stalls w/out curtains? OH MY GOD I would positively hate that. Even IF I had a decent body. Did you understand Shakespeare? I was alright. What was the last shot you got? It was a numbing agent into my gums. They had to do it like... seven times. Apparently, I'm just like. Really hard to numb. Ever gotten cavities? Yeah. Do you use hair ties as bracelets? I don't even wear hair ties. What was the last school project you did that you couldn’t wait to turn in? Uhhh... I don't remember. Have you ever graded papers? I actually have; I was helping a teacher on work day. I used to go back to my elementary school a lot to visit my favorite teachers. What was your favorite year of school up to this point? Maybe like, junior year of high school? Or senior. I don't remember which one of those I enjoyed more. I just remember I loved my art class, I had great grades, my relationship was strong, yada yada. What’s the latest you’ve ever woken up? Like 5-6 PM. Had a busy night and that evening was a complete panic attack because my system was so thrown off. One thing I DON'T miss from high school: how bad my anxiety was. Can you recite the alphabet backwards? NOOOO I cannot. Like, at all. Are you a sucker for foreign accents? Some, yes. Do you do yoga? Not anymore.

[sadreturn]

Unprompted and unnecessary update on nothing: After not sleeping last night nor the night before, working today on 50+ hours of no sleep, a bunch of stims and other stuffs (currently irrelevant), I developed a new technique at work: I would subtly and casually insert a sentence or two, in every conversation I had with a customer I was checking out, about an arbitrary Mandela Effect (Retcon). As an example, I’d go through my automatic few phrases I say to every customer I check out, but in between I’d say something like, “Oh and by the way, do you remember the Fruit of the Loom logo? Do you remember the cornucopia it used to have? Well check this shit out, Fruit of the Loom has had essentially the same logo which only changed slightly since the 19th century. None of any of their logos’ iterations ever included a cornucopia.” And as they silently moved their mouth to try to determine what they could possibly say in response, I’d already have moved onto telling them how much they saved or that there is a survey on the bottom of their receipt. As they skeptically stared at me like they were unsure if they had imagined what I’d said. I did this in varying ways to somewhere between 50 and 500 customers today (I have no clue) of all age ranges, personality types, what have you. After a certain point in the day I slowly began to stop seeing myself as being at a job I was forced to be at for a set amount of time and instead began to view my ‘job’ there as an IRL real-time performance art sketch that included everyone I interacted with (said ‘audience’) as part of the act itself. The only people who were ‘in on It’ besides myself were like one or two coworkers. Everyone else likely began to suspect I had either gone psychotic or was slowly melding with the ironic dry humor of reality (see: Dr. Katz) itself that I love to evoke with no indication of jesting. There’s no real point to this post nor is there an ending as I still have yet to sleep, also, I left out a bunch of details but I think you get the idea of how fucking stupid and hilarious I saw my shift at work as today. I stopped taking reality seriously whatsoever and saw it as one big joke. https://www.instagram.com/p/ByPA7JCHe7Ys-DiL3TaO9TRSQt2iTr0owhlnNk0/?igshid=8xww25k9zyy1

[blanco-journey]

Ronie and I Just made critical calls for the #EqualityAct to protect #LGBTQ people! Join us & make calls anytime @ EqualityTime.org/Phone My father asked me what was wrong and what was disturbing me and I did what I could to explain what was happening and why it was affecting me very effectively. Other than having a lack of a love life and more of economical survival than thriving, I don’t really value too much of myself. I care too much about what is happening out there. I care about abolishing the filibuster so that way the country can move forward and not let those that only want to obtain power sink the country down. (I do think what would happen if Senator Toomey just passes away or just retires immediately. Who would Governor Tom Wolf appoint? Lt governor Fetterman or State Senator Malcom Mentaya? This is also the same for Senator Ron Johnson. Who does Governor Tony Evers appoint? State Senator Chris Larson or Lt Governor Mandela Barnes?) I care about the many people that need help with rent, food shortage, domestic abuse, sexual assault, war torn/ terrorism, racism especially from those domestic terorist from January 6th and much more. I care too much. But I just know that my father would tell me to stop doing that which doesn’t help and it does actually hurt to ask. At least there is beauty to this world. Beautiful women like Cori Bush, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Megan Thee Stallion, Leonya Bloom, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and many more. Public radio sports and nature is good for the soul. And of course anime. #SonnyBoy and #theidatendeitiesknowonlypeace lead this Thursday with such striking posture and pacing. (at Newcastle, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRp879ggBQb/?utm_medium=tumblr

[netunleashed-blog]

German GP: Jolyon Palmer column - Passion, brilliance & costly mistakes

http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=17400 German GP: Jolyon Palmer column - Passion, brilliance & costly mistakes - http://www.internetunleashed.co.uk/?p=17400 Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, who left Renault during the 2017 season, has joined the BBC team to offer insight and analysis from the point of view of the competitors.I love sport because of the emotion, the passion, the highs, the lows, the moments of brilliance and the costly mistakes. At the German Grand Prix, all that happened in just 24 hours.First, there was the drama of qualifying. Lewis Hamilton, who was already on a tough run in recent grands prix, had more bad luck. A non-finish in Austria after a torrid race he had initially led, and then defeat in his home race at Silverstone last time out had left the Mercedes driver slightly on the back foot in his championship fight with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. But bad luck hit again in qualifying on Saturday in Germany. This time, it was a hydraulic leak and it meant Hamilton was consigned to starting 14th.These things happen from time to time. In fact, before Austria, Hamilton had been in the extremely fortunate position of not having a retirement caused by a mechanical issue since his costly engine failure of Malaysia 2016. However, the hurt was very obvious in this case.I was racing for Renault when Hamilton's engine blew in Malaysia, effectively costing him the title to team-mate Nico Rosberg. He caused a bit of a storm when he complained on television about it, saying "something or someone doesn't want me to win this year". But I don't remember his reaction being as downbeat and as low as he was after qualifying on Saturday.Anguish for Hamilton; a high for Vettel Hamilton suffered hydraulic failure in the first part of Saturday's qualifying session and started the German Grand Prix from 14th on the gridOn Saturday, Hamilton was so desperate to get back to the pits he started pushing the car back - when he still had more than a third of the lap to go! It was never going to work.The desperation was clear, and so was the despair as his car was ultimately pushed by the marshals to the side of the track so qualifying could resume without him.Hamilton did his now trademark crouch down against the car, head bowed, and looked a figure of misery.The fallout from it, with everyone trying to ascertain whether it was his fault or not, did nothing to lift his mood either. At first, it looked as though Hamilton had caused the failure by running over the kerbs. Mercedes initially said as much before both team and driver concluded the car had already failed, which caused the kerb-bouncing incident. Ultimately, it didn't matter. The damage was done. But Hamilton seemed affected. He posted Nelson Mandela quotes about the meaning of love and hatred on his Instagram page, and what was a bad day seemed to be spiralling emotionally out of control.The contrast on Saturday was Vettel. He took a brilliant pole position in front of a rejuvenated German home crowd, the biggest I've seen at Hockenheim by far (I wasn't around for the Michael Schumacher glory days).The eruption as Vettel crossed the line to take pole was loud - loud enough for Hamilton to hear and deepen the wounds of a torrid day.Fate turns on its head From 14th to first, this was a massive win for the four-time world championThe key thing for professional sportsmen is to deal with adversity. It happens to everybody at some point to varying degrees. I had a turning point in my career when I acknowledged I could no longer control anything that had already happened. It seems such a simple, obvious thing, but there's no point holding on to the frustration of days gone by or thinking about what could have been.You don't need to forget about the past; it's good to learn lessons from it. But whenever a new session or a new day comes it's all about maximising what you can do on that day.On Sunday, Hamilton did exactly that. Starting 14th, with the pace advantage of the top three teams over the others and with Daniel Ricciardo starting from the back in a Red Bull, a good haul of points was surely the minimum expectation, so long as he kept his nose clean through the opening few corners in the midfield melee.Top five; minimum. A podium? Possibly. But a win? Surely no chance.Well, just over an hour and a half after the lights went out, Hamilton was somehow coming back with that win. As he celebrated, his engineer Pete Bonnington declared "miracles do happen, mate" over the radio.Hamilton's great driveBut this was no miracle. This was pure determination from a driver who had firmly put his bad luck behind him. His first stint was crucial, keeping his soft tyres alive while others struggled, and matching the Ferraris for pace on much older tyres even after they had pitted for new.That meant Hamilton could pit for new ultra-soft tyres just as it started raining and the track began to get slippery, and with that his pace was electric. Hamilton always shines when it rains, and at times he was lapping three seconds a lap faster than those ahead of him. Even without Vettel going off it's conceivable Hamilton could have won the race, such was his pace in the conditions.The rain teemed down after the podium celebrations, but Hamilton didn't care. He was still celebrating with fans, amid lightning forks and claps of thunder. The same fans had cheered Vettel to pole 24 hours before. They had witnessed not only a fantastic race, but a fantastic performance from a driver who had been through all the emotions in that same period.A costly error from Vettel Vettel went from first to out after a crash on Turn 13 of Lap 52The contrast on Sunday was again Vettel.He led from the front and, barring some needly exchanges between himself, the team, and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, he was in complete control… until lap 52.When you are on untreaded, 'slick' tyres and it starts raining, they are the hardest conditions in racing. There is now enough rain to pit for treaded 'wet' tyres - as others had done erroneously - so you just have to slither around on a tyre that isn't designed for the conditions, with a tiny margin for error.Vettel got it wrong. He misjudged the conditions, braking too late into Sachs Kurve, a notoriously punishing corner in the Stadium section of Hockenheim, and ended up in the wall.He immediately started swearing and hitting the steering wheel in frustration and sounded almost in tears as he apologised to the team for the crash.It was a triple whammy of pain. Firstly, crashing out of the lead of the race. Secondly, because it was his home race, one that meant so much and he had crashed out right in front of the bulk of the 120,000 fans. Thirdly, because he then had to watch Hamilton drive flawlessly to take all the plaudits and a 17-point championship lead as well.What could have been.How does Vettel bounce back? Vettel says he won't have trouble sleeping after crashing out of the German Grand PrixVettel must now move on, just as Hamilton did before the race. It was a very different accident to his one in Singapore last year, when he arguably triggered a multi-car pile-up at the start, but in many ways it is a similar situation. In Singapore, Vettel started on pole and Hamilton was fifth and up against it. And, just as in Germany on Sunday, Vettel crashed out and Hamilton won. It seemed like a turning point in the championship as Vettel never recovered.While there are similarities, this year feels different. Not least because Ferrari are more competitive on the whole. But Vettel really needs to hit back this weekend in Budapest. A 17-point lead in the championship at the halfway point is tiny, almost irrelevant. But if Hamilton wins at the Hungaroring on Sunday and anything happens to Vettel, the lead could leap up to 42 points at the summer break. The gap would go from almost irrelevant to very big, almost insurmountable.It's a good thing for Vettel that he needs to wait only a few days to be back in the car and making amends. As a driver, the worst thing is to make a mistake and be left stewing on it for too long without a chance to rectify it.A season to savourThis brilliant season has been an epic two-way fight for the title between the giants of the sport - Hamilton versus Vettel; Mercedes versus Ferrari.It's been a wonderful year full of twists and turns and I'm sure there are plenty more to come. But in so many championships you can look back with hindsight at a key moment that decided the destination of the title. On Saturday, everyone was wondering whether Hamilton's hydraulic failure could be a turning point in the season. Clearly now it won't be. Instead, the question marks are all about whether Vettel's crash will be the decisive moment of the season. It's up to him to respond now in the same way Hamilton did on Sunday and ensure it won't be. Source link

[minnieotstudent-blog]

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to take a stand.

Our 6 weeks have come to an end! The last 6 weeks have been an eye-opener. The part or role of OT’s in the community setting was initially so basic, like I was as overwhelmed and confused as to how I would apply the principles of occupation in a community context.

I’ve learnt a lot but I must admit I have had to witness some horrifying things. Home visits-- The most interesting part of community practice is the highlight of my experience in this block. That’s where you get to see your client, and holistically plan your intervention. From our home visits, we kept seeing clients who were unable to access the health system which they so desperately needed.

We saw one lady whose diagnosis we weren’t sure as she said she had just had a fall and was now immobile, she just lay on the bed every day and had been like that for 2 years. She lived with her daughter who was responsible for taking care of her, cleaning after her own mother who couldn’t even go to the toilet by herself. She did this cleaning after her mother’s waste without gloves, like yeah I forgot to say that her mother is also HIV positive! This was really disturbing, we know the dangers of such a practice, but what was she to do? She mentioned how she had asked for the gloves from the clinic but the nurses had refused her. That’s her word for it of course, one other accusation she had against the local clinic was how they refused to give her pills for her mother and requested her to bring the very heavy mother to the clinic for them to see her. The clinic had no positive role they initiated to help this women, considering their economic status as well it was really sad how they couldn’t even afford to get food but were expected  to organise  a car for someone to take the mother to the clinic or hospital to get help. It was very disturbing.

Apparently things like this happen all the time; have been for years. One can only wonder, WHY then is it still happening, is there no one who can take up these issues. Why is nobody saying anything? The most frustrating part was how they had the community caregivers around but where were they to help?

The other role of OT can play in community practice came into view, that of advocacy. This role is very important in community health as there are many instances where we can be required to advocate our clients for multiple reasons.

What this taught me, is that we don’t live/work in a perfect world where we all think the same? I believe the tuts we have been having have served to instil in me.

Advocacy is part of the principles and values of the profession (AOTA, 1993).It takes place on many levels, or there is different types of advocacy. Ranges from educating community members on the role of occupational therapy practitioners to advocating for the needs of underserved communities (Herzberg & Finlayson, 2001).Identifying a health problem and developing a program to address this problem is a form of advocacy (King et al., 2002).This educational approach of advocacy was that which we utilized a lot during this block, every morning we did talks at the clinic advocating for the profession’s role in health services. As a group of OT students working together with the community identified the needs the community wanted to be addressed and run a project for health promotion in the clinic for the youth, called Adolescent and Youth Fun/friendly clinic. This targeted the youth in the high school, who are involved in risk behaviour and those who aren’t. Communities possess extraordinary potential and the role of the occupational therapist is similar to a catalyst, facilitating change and working with the resources that are already in the community. We must promote an inner locus of control and inner responsibility in the community. (Kronenberg, 2005)

My individual client who I should name “Bianca’ to protect her identity, helped me grown in a way. She is diagnosed with just epilepsy but from assessments and observations she presents with a clinical presentation of one who has a personality disorder has. She has anger management issues as well. The thing about Mariannridge is that almost everyone knows each other and their business. So they know her too, and the stigma is so prevalent, they have called her names and teased her a lot. She now just chooses to stay indoors and not go out, this is very unhealthy for her as she is at an age where she should be socialising and working. She cannot work or even volunteer in the community because people are afraid she will “lose it” and hence they avoid involving her in anything. Practioners must also advocate for promotion of inclusion of all in the community (Grady, 1995) because community involvement is an important component of quality of life and self-esteem for individuals.  Her mother is over concerned too, she won’t let her go anywhere or do stuff without her which is reasonable of course but can also perpetuate this ‘sick-role’ that the client has adopted.

I know I have made some  difference in this clients life through my intervention, and have opened the eyes of my “Bianca’s “mother to see that her daughter is capable of so much more. I saw the effects of occupational marginalisation in her family and community and this grew my passion into the new learning I am experiencing regarding occupational science.

The political advocacy which was a new one for me, is also essential although I had no part in it in this block, but this could have called me to communicate with political officials to voice support for initiatives in the community. With all the stuff that takes place in government institutions, such as the clinics or hospitals where you find health professionals not doing what they are employed to do, I wondered what I can do, it’s not enough to know that there is something wrong but turn a blind eye. This has been in my mind for a long time as it is something I have witnessed first-hand as you go for electives in the hospitals and you get really sad and think “is this how I am going to be also when I go to community service?”

What is the solution? What I can do, is to get there, work and awaken the sleeping consciousness of the other professionals. My passion for OT should ignite my soul and drives me to want to help those marginalised by the injustices of life and not fall away from it while others may.

"Sometimes, it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom “This quote by Nelson Mandela sums up the lessons I learnt. I may see these great discouragements around me, but I can still be great, the little I do to help my clients will make a difference.

I guess I was in a way confronted for my fear of ‘standing up”, it has been long, telling myself ‘it’s okay to be passive for now’…BUT this block has had me talking a lot and engaging with a lot of people. This block has prepared me for the other coming blocks and ultimately for next year.  

 References

Grady, A.P, (1995). 1994 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture: Building inclusive community: A challenge for occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 40,300-310.

Herzberg, G., & Finlayson, M. (2001).Development of occupational therapy in a homeless shelter. Occupational therapy in Health Care, 13(3/4), 133-147.

King,M.A.,Tucker,P.,Baldwin,K.,Lowry,J.,LaPorta,J.& Matens,L.(2002) A life needs model of paediatric service delivery : Services to support community participation and quality of life for children and youth with disabilities, Physical and Occupational Therapy in Peadiatrics,22,53-77.

[sending-the-message]

I Just Witnessed Reality Breaking by mindfulaide

Something has happened, and I know it sounds insane. In fact I am sure I am insane, either that or… or I have proof that reality is breaking. Maybe my mind is just bending this way because the truth is too great to bare. I’m not sure, but I must put it down for others to help me figure out what’s going on. If I do need treatment, if I am insane, I’d rather people tell me something is off so I can get the help, but if others are experiencing this and there is confirmation I have not completely lost my mind -- perhaps then I can sleep a little easier. The best place to start is at the beginning.

I first came across the idea of the Mandela Effect a few years ago. It came up because my partner, a frequenter of 4chan, had read about this happening to other people. It started innocuously enough, he asked me what happened to Mandela:

“Do you remember what happened to Mandela?” he asked casually, not looking up from his laptop one Saturday afternoon.

“Ya, why?” I asked not looking up from the novel I was reading.

“What happened to him?” he asked bending his computer screen down from his line of sight.

“Huh…” I paused in thought, “It was so long ago, why don’t you look it up on Wikipedia? I don’t think I remember all the details.”

“Could you tell me? Just humour me…” he said, with slightly wide eyes. A look I had come to associate with his anxiety disorder, and I knew it was best to just humour him to avoid it spiraling out of control away from him.

“Okay,” I thought carefully trying to scrape my memory of these world events, “Well, he was put in jail. There was a lot of rioting and protests… And he died. He died in jail, and there was a huge funeral all over the news.” His eyes got bigger, “I mean, I don’t remember everything that happened, I was so little, but I know that it pushed the country to end apartheid.” We sat in silence looking at each other, his eyes still a little wide. “Why did I get it wrong?” I chuckled, now curious myself I sat up and put my novel on my lap.

“No, I think you said exactly what a lot of people remember.” He answered, brow furrowing. He lifted his computer screen and his eyes scanned what he had been reading again, “It’s just that it never happened.” He said with a very serious voice.

“What do you mean it never happened?” I asked with an incredulous smirk, “If people remember it, then it happened.”

“You don’t remember him being released from jail, or eventually becoming president?” He asked, looking back at me. Now it was my turn to feel confused and anxious.

“No. what do you mean?” I jumped up and went to my desktop to search for the Wikipedia article on Mandela. Everything seemed to read fine in the synopsis, until the early nineties. I felt an overwhelming feeling of something being wrong. “What the hell is this? He didn’t die in the 2010s…. This is a massive correctional error.” I mumbled to myself trying to reconcile feeling duped somehow with my memory.

“It’s called the Mandela Effect,” my boyfriend explained, “It is apparently the case for a number of people: some remember what you said just now, a lot actually. Some remember it how it actually played out according to that Wikipedia article you’re reading.”

I sat staring at the screen, and I felt his hand touch my shoulder. “Fuck off…” I said shaking my head figuring he was just pulling my leg. This must have been some 4chan prank, someone edited the page and they were all in on it messing with a bunch of us, “This is just some kind of weird 4chan raid isn’t it?” I said looking back at him, almost proud I had finally figured it out, but when I met his eyes I could tell he was anxious and worried. “Okay… or not…” I sighed and turned back to the computer article, scrolling down, “well I mean, maybe we just remember it wrong. It happens. It’s not that weird a thing to misremember I was so little back then.”

“Is it Berenstein Bears…. Or Berenstain Bears?” He asked me, as I stood up from the computer decidedly going back to my book.

“Berenstein of course,” I said without skipping a beat, “I even remember the father wearing a yamaka for that holiday special… remember that?” I asked looking back at my partner who was still standing in front of my computer, his arms now crossed in front of his chest.

“It’s Berenstain now.” He said coolly, but with a tinge of worry. “I remember it being Barenstein, and you remember it that way… so why is it Berenstain on all the books and all the pictures online? It’s really freaking me out!” He said, obviously beyond concerned.

I got back up and went to hug him, telling him I’d make up some tea, and we spent the next hour looking for proof of Barenstein online, feeling confused, and then waxing philosophical about reality. Maybe we were just confused. Maybe this is just an example of little children not having fully formed hippocampuses yet. We drank our tea, and went down that rabbit hole, and both brushed off our anxieties with greater metaphysical concerns and existential angst… because that’s what you do when you’re confronted with something that goes against the grain of your reality, I suppose. It’s what we do anyway.

Over the next few years we would occasionally joke about the Mandela Effect. We would bring it up with others, test the waters to figure out which universe they belonged to and where everyone’s paths diverge or meet. It was strange to note that many didn’t remember what I remembered with Mandela, but most couldn’t reconcile the different spelling of a children’s book. As time went on we just used it as an interesting jump off point for philosophical conversation with friends. Eventually, we didn’t bring it up as much anymore.

Now I’m going to talk about what happened last night.

Last night before bed my boyfriend called me to tell me that Stella and Barley were in the same dog obedience class. My mom got Stella on the same day my partner’s mom got Barley. They are different breeds, but are about the same size, and apparently my mom and my boyfriend’s mom just randomly signed up for the same class. Just out of pure chance. They apparently love one another and spent most of the class playing with one another. It was a funny coincidence, and my mom is wanting to teach Stella how to ring a bell when she has to go to the bathroom instead of bark, which is adorable and funny, and very much my mom to want to do this. We had a chuckle about it, and I thought it was so undeniably cute, it was a nice end note to my evening. I got off the phone, and got ready for bed, curled up with some pulp, and eventually turned out the light while listening to a relaxation meditation.

I had nightmares all night. A man in a taxi was driving me from my grandmother’s apartment, where I used to live in high school in the early 2000s, to my apartment now. It’s an easy drive, a straight shot down the main road, into the city limits, to my place. This taxi driver refused to take the normal route. He went down, past my place, to the highway, and then up an off ramp with me yelling at him, “Stop! STOP! You’re going the wrong way!!” Barely missing oncoming traffic, swerving in a daring u-turn, to move with traffic. The highway was south of where I live and looped around back the way we had come. The cost for the taxi was astronomical because it was more than double what it should be, and the whole time the taxi driver kept saying he was going to take me to my home, but something in his eyes said he was planning to kill me. Driving well past where my grandma lived and I knew if I stayed in the cab much longer I would blink out of existence. I wouldn’t just be killed I would never exist. I was terrified. As traffic began to pile, and the car slowed, I jumped out of the back onto the highway’s curb and I ran into some bushes, searching for a knife in my purse in case this mad man came up onto the bank to find me. I hid for what felt like forever, peeked out and saw he was gone, so I meandered back to the highway’s side, and started to walk the way he had come. Eventually I was joined by a crowd of people walking on the highway, we were all walking back towards the city and none of us were happy. We all seemed confused, and upset, and we all needed to get back. Some people were crying because they were also worried about not existing anymore, and the sun was coming…

I woke up. I did what I do when I have nightmares, which is take off my CPAP machine mask, and go to the bathroom to splash my face with cold water, and drink something. I stumbled back toward my bedroom, and saw it was about 4 am. There was a flash of blue white light that filled the room for an instant. It was less than a second, like a flash on a camera went off. All the dogs started to bark. My neighbour’s dogs, the one down the hall, the dog park across the street was going nuts… howling, barking, and my cat? He was crying something awful, hissing and meowing at invisible ghosts. Running around my apartment jumping from chair to cat climber to couch. Needless to say it woke me right up, the noise was almost overwhelming, and I felt dizzy.

Then it happened. I had the memory from last night… talking with my partner about the dog obedience class. And I had a memory, a distinct memory, of the exact same thing happening over a month ago. I talked about it with my mom, we discussed the bell, and Barley, and both had happened. It happened as it did, most certainly, last night. Barley and Stella were in the same dog obedience class, mom wants to teach Stella to ring a bell, isn’t that cute? And then it happened as it hadn’t, most certainly, my mom had told me Stella and Barley were in the same obedience class… a month ago. We had a conversation about how adorable but silly a bell would be, and don’t feel bad it’s your dog you can teach her what you want, I think it’s cute… a month ago? Yesterday? How in the hell can they be starting the same class last month and yesterday?

When day broke this morning I spoke to my partner about it. It never happened yesterday. That conversation never took place. There’s no texts about it, no back and forth, no phone call log in my phone from having that conversation last night. Barley is in the class with mom's dog, but the class started weeks ago? It makes no sense, what about last night? It hadn't happened until last night, I swear it.

I have a distinct memory that it had happened one way. It has stayed with me, but now? Now there’s a very strong feeling that something is changed, and a memory of this conversation with my mother a month ago. The class started weeks ago. It started yesterday. It is both, but definitely also not both.

I know that this sounds like a ramble of an insane person, maybe I’m just losing my God damned mind. I feel out of place, like something is very wrong and I haven’t been able to bring myself to go about my day. I’m just in shock. Did I witness Mandela Effect happening last night??

What I do know for certain is that the CERN hadron collider started up again after a few years being on hiatus. I checked the news with my morning coffee. The tests are going again. New breakthroughs in press released this week. I think… and I feel… like somehow this is all connected. Reality is breaking, in small ways that don’t really add up, and maybe bigger ways I don’t even realize.