#but was mostly used in prints during undergrad

[venomgaia]

Dear John Venomgaia, I hope this ask finds you well. For no particular reason, I'm wondering if your sona has a reference sheet. Have a great night, and keep yourself safe. Platonically yours; Jon Anonymous.

SO, THIS MADE ME REALIZE I HAVENT MADE A PROPER REF SINCE THE SONA WAS FIRST DESIGNED IN LIKE....2018ish? here's a simpler version of a ref that i spedran making to remedy that sjdjndjnsjsjsnnj

the paragon n pistachio styles are just variants, theyre the same dude. Sona lore is that he's an shapeshifter agent of an Elder God, and his job was to keep an eye on humanity and the species of earth as they progressed. He mostly kept to the seas n his preferred form is the "Fish" esque form. one day he goofed up royally and now as punishment, his shapeshifting has been limited, and he's being forced to do a bunch of tasks for various elder gods whilst also living amongst humans (instead of simply observing from afar). He doesnt mind it too much, although he would like to be able to return to his 48 foot long kaiju form under the ocean sometimes.

he has a lot of variants n these are his more common ones, but tldr these are all the same character/sona, just in different eras/places/situations!

but...why, pray tell, do you ask stranger? 🤔

[whanaukaretao]

Assignment 1: Q & A Considerations

Due: 11 March 2024

What do you do? What sort of things do you make? Or capture? Or select?

I am a lensed based artist with a predominantly photography and moving image practice. I am interested in evolving my practice to include mixed media.

I primarily make photographs and less frequently moving image works.  

I typically capture street photography and portraiture, often in urban settings. There is often a strong urban street culture influence in my art, as well as a strong emphasis on colour. Māori culture and related themes are also a regular feature of my art.

2. How do you make decisions during the process of your work? How and why do you select the materials, techniques, themes that you do?

I would describe my decision-making as naturally quite fluid and frequently influenced by experiences, intuitive feelings, or things I observe, read or listen to in real life or virtually. I am also strongly influenced by colour, will often research this, and generally let it guide my decisions. 

For example, my manga and anime themed Hons project is heavily influenced by my visit to Japan last year. Its purple and pink colour palette has come from reading manga and watching anime on TikTok, movies or gaming.

I make some process decisions through counsel with supervisors and others more expert than me, as well as through ideas from artist friends. I also obviously research other artists, view exhibitions and study different techniques. I’m currently doing a print class that is helping guide some of my future process and making decisions. Other times, I just trust my own judgment. 

The materials I choose have mostly been photography stock, so limited within certain parameters. I’ve had a bad experience with gloss images being exhibited under overhead lighting so tend to steer away from this now.

I’m not particularly good at studio (lighting) shoots so typically shoot outdoors.

I’m also a bit slow with photoshop so need to allow myself more time for these tasks. If I can, I’ll look for a work-around where it means I don’t need to use photoshop because I can replicate a similar effect in real life quicker.

I’ve touched on themes a bit above. Mostly, I try to make art of the moment or the future. I like to be on the pulse of what’s currently popular in pop culture or has street edge – whether that’s music, fashion, street art, anime, etc. 

I like to represent my culture in my art and create portrayals of Māori that are positive and uplifting.

3. What are you valuing in the work?

I value representing my culture and photographic subjects well. 

It’s difficult as a Māori artist as there’s a huge responsibility to get things right and do things right culturally. You open yourself up to heavy criticism if you don’t and it will undermine the integrity of your work. 

I guess because I grew up not seeing positive portrayals of Māori – or anyone that looked like me – in media, and as there’s an anti-anything Māori theme playing out at the moment, that’s led me to want to create positive representations in my art to change the narrative.

Outside of culture and my photo subjects, I value that my art continues to show I’m growing and evolving, that I’m adding new techniques and artistic features. That I’m not always doing the same thing. I haven’t arrived yet at who or what I am as an artist. That’s probably because I came to art a bit later in my life.

4. What are your sources, do you refer to existing images?

I’m still learning to do the contextual study of art. Before now, I’ve just seen something and run with it, without understanding or knowing more (or even wanting to know more) about it as an art form or practice.

The art history classes we had in our undergrad BFA study definitely exposed me to many more artists and so I’ve become a bit more well-rounded artistically.

Typically, my initial sources that get my interest are images I see online, usually on TikTok or Instagram. Or they’re things I’ve seen around the city, in books, films, at exhibitions, etc.

Now, I research more. I look at more formal art sources online that have a more professional or scholarly side to them. I look at journals, use the library, etc.

5. What are you trying to say or infer in your work?

If I honest, I’m trying to say this art is a reflection of me, I’m contemporary, I’m very of the moment.

At a deeper level, I’m often trying to tell my story, my family stories or the story of what it is to be Māori. And because my childhood experience of being Māori and having positive Māori role models in my life is different to what is often portrayed, I really want to bring this out in my work, especially positive Māori male representations.

Other times, I just want to make art that’s a bit funky. That’s cool. And has a bit of a wow factor.

6. How is the way you’re saying it, with the materials, techniques and relations of emphasis between elements, the best for the idea you want to present?

I’ve felt a bit hamstring by my artistic abilities or lack of them. I came into art school with a limited set of skills but have gradually broadened these out, but still have quite some way to go.

So what I’m saying is I haven’t been able to fully say what I’ve wanted to say because I lack the skills or technical ability to do so – but I’m trying to work on this.

Basically, what I’ve created to date has only been the best of what I’ve been able to present within my limited range of my skills – which disappoints me a bit.

With my current Hons project, borrowing from Japanese manga allows me to step into a world that has existing conventions and understandings. In other words, people know what I’m creating is probably a bit fantastical and may have deeper spiritual or cultural themes. It also allows room for the implausible and futuristic.

So I get to play around with futuristic ideas about Māori relationships with robots for example, and I feel I get much more creative license and freedom to do so.

7. What is it you’ve been trying to do to make the work relevant in relation to ideas, cultural circumstances or contemporary issues?

I feel like I’ve touched on this already. 

In my current work, I’ve researched and reached out to a Māori futurist that is exploring contemporary and future issues for Māori as AI and new technologies develop. This is helping me keep on top of developments and current thinking so that my art is well positioned. 

8. How does this work fit into a larger body of work or overarching project of ideas (if it does)?

Since I’m working in a futuristic space with a Māori cultural overlap, then I think there’s lots of scope for further exploration that could potentially expand into my masters’ year.  My project really just scrapes the surface of this developing area and has lots of different avenues it can go down.

The manga and anime elements also have lots of potential in terms of areas of expansion too. As I become more studied in the area and aware of its deeper (Japanese) cultural context and origin this will open up lots of possibilities too.

9. Are your ideas changing and if so how?

Yes, in terms of both myself as an artist and also in terms my Hons project.

As an artist I started the year thinking I’m not the same artist I was at the end of year three, more than a year ago now. I didn’t exactly know who I am now. 

I left off year three with photography that introduced stenciled spray paint art directly onto my work. Now, I’m exploring manga and print in combination with photography. So I’m different. What’s consistent is that I’m still interested in exploration and developing my abilities and techniques as an artist. I’d say this is because I came to art later in life so I’m still growing and developing.

My Hons project ideas are changing as I acquire new print and drawing skills. As I do, what’s possible opens up. As I do my research and absorb more, this is also changing my thinking. For example, today I attended a presentation by photographer Russ Flatt. Seeing his work and hearing about his making processes has got me thinking about experimenting with a few different things I’d not previously thought about, eg. capturing images as photographic negatives, photographing from the perspective of what a robot would see and how they would see it (eg. in electronic form).  Russ story boards his projects which I don’t do, so I’m considering that too.

10. Has anyone done this kind of work in the past?

Yes, as an artform. Afro-futurism for example has similarities to what I’m endeavouring to do. Obviously, there is a whole world of manga and anime that operates in a space similar to mine.

I’m aware of Māori that have explored futurism and it’s overlap with our culture. Tracey Tawhiao for example had a series of works that looked at Māori and spaceships. It’s an area that I need to research more to be fully across the extent of Māori artistic work in this area.

11.Does anyone else do it now? Who are the artists that occupy this space?

I still need to research this more. I’m not currently aware of artists that have explored a futuristic Auckland but there are bound to be some, especially as there’s an overlap with sci-fi.

I should also explore Māori manga and anime artists. I know there are Māori artists that have developed art of this nature for gaming. 

12. Who are the writers on these subjects? What specifically have they said, which then potentially motivates your own thinking for your work?

I’m currently reading some Whitechapel papers on Utopia. This is helping me to discern what particular space in this Utopia world that I’m actually working in. It’s not as straight forward as I initially thought. 

The Whitechapel papers have a wide collection of writers, I haven’t got past the introduction yet. I have been able to identify some areas that my art seems to fit within so they’re what I’m planning to read next. 

13.What histories are you contributing to within this field of practice?

I’m not sure what’s meant by ‘histories’ here. 

I feel I'm contributing to several aspects of Māori futurism.

For example, I’m not aware of any Māori art that has explored Māori futuristic marriage to robots, or the concept of whangai (Māori adoption) relationships between Māori and robots. Or colonisation of Māori (or New Zealanders) by robots, or whether Māori might use robots to colonise New Zealanders. In all these senses, I feel I could potentially be offering new insights.

[icarus-suraki]

And this is all true. I was 19 and a sophomore in college. And I fucking remember "Freedom Fries."

"Cheese-eating surrender monkeys" came back into favor about that time too when the French were like "Non, merci" about "bombing [the "enemy"] back to the stone age."

And Dubya used the 9/11 attacks to go finish his daddy's war in Iraq for no good reason.

Rumors circulated that Clearchannel, now IHeartMedia, were banning certain songs because they were too distressing in the aftermath. Included were "Tuesday's Gone" and "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" because the attacks happened on a Tuesday.

The endless flag stickers on just about everyone's cars. Just slap a big ol' plain rectangle flag sticker on your car to prove that You Support America.

Most large newspapers also printed a huge US flag the next day--like a full spread of two sheets just of the flag so you could, like, hang it in your window or something? I have no idea. It was to Support America I guess.

A lot of people said they were going to wear all red, white, and blue for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, I was at a women's college that had very left-leaning aging Hippie professors and a surprising number of right-leaning students with some intense Evangelical associations. So they were excited that this might be the precursor to the Apocalypse and that the Rapture might really be immanent this time--!! I hung out with the professors...

My point, I think, is that this Major Event happened and everyone knew where they were when they heard but nobody knew what to do with the knowledge. No one knew what to do in the aftermath. It was like everything changed but it didn't feel any different. Everyone was scared and upset but it felt so directionless. Shouldn't we feel something more? Shouldn't we be doing something? But what was there to do?

So a lot of people got very nationalistic, very aggressive about bombing Iraq or Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan or whoever in the "Axis of Evil."

And Colin Powell got up in the UN and claimed there were WMDs in Iraq, despite what the UN said, which was as good a reason as any for Dubya to start a war there, along with the war in Afghanistan of course. And that was the start of the War on Terror--which was about as successful as the War on Drugs or the War on Poverty. I went to some antiwar protests in the winter of 2001-2002. The chant at the time was "Not in my name, not with my money." But it also felt kind of futile? Like the protests weren't going to stop Bush and the men who put him in power, but at least we could say out loud that we disagreed. Also I met some anarchists in person for the first time and that was cool.

Somehow there were also prowar protests at the same time which mostly revolved around "Support Our Troops" and "God bless America." I was angry at them at the time but now I think it's another example of not knowing what to do after such an event.

Being the feisty baby Leftist that I was as an undergrad I wrote a speech for public speaking class about Why The War In Iraq Is Fucking Stupid and later I wrote more than a couple of op-ed articles and letters for the college newspaper. And then a lot of my fellow students got really mad at me because I wasn't "Supporting Our Troops" (I wanted them not to go? And stay alive? Without PTSD?) and I wasn't being sufficiently "American." Literally had someone who was engaged to a guy in the military break down and cry during my speech because "It just feels like you don't support them!"

I think I also called Anne Coulter a nazi for the first time around that time lol. That made some of the angry subgroup even angrier lmao lmao. Die mad; I'm right.

Meanwhile, I have family in Ewing Township, NJ. Around about the time the anthrax attacks of 2001 happened, Tony Blair gave a speech about supporting the US and the "special relationship" between the UK and the US and so on... My darling grandmother of Ewing, NJ, was so moved by this that she decided to write him a letter in appreciation of his support. Ewing is just outside of Trenton, NJ, so my darling grandmother sent off her letter through the same post office as the first set of anthrax letters. Nice.

She did get a very kind, albeit canned, response, which I think amused her a great deal. And it was kind of novel to see the "irradiated" letters, though. They were weirdly fragile and crackly.

Fun fact: Mystikal's 2001 song, "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)" references both the aftermath of 9/11 and the anthrax attacks:

Done started some trouble and you ain't been out since Cause you stuck inside scared watching CNN Just take the precaution so yo life will be better Tell my friends to call me I ain't accepting no letters

I think I got a wedding invitation in late fall 2001 that had loose dried lavender in the envelope. I mean, I had a good laugh. Some people wouldn't have but I'm a fucking sicko.

Remind me to tell you the most incredible stolen valor story someday too...

Post 9/11 Trivia

Most folks on this site were either children on September 11, 2001, or weren’t even born yet.  But America went crazy for about a year afterwards.  Here’s some highlights that I remember that might not be in your history books:

There was national discussion on whether or not Halloween should be canceled because…fuck if I know why.  After planes crashed into buildings in NYC it follows that 6-year-olds in Iowa shouldn’t be allowed to dress up like Batman and ask their neighbors for candy, I guess.  (Halloween wasn’t canceled, by the way.)

On a similar note, people asked if comedy - any sort of comedy - was appropriate anymore, ever.

People sold shitty parachutes to suckers “in case your building gets attacked and you have to jump out the window.” There were honest-to-God news reports warning people not to jump out of the window with shitty mail-order parachutes because they wouldn't work.

As a follow-up to the attacks, someone mailed anthrax to some prominent politicians and news anchors - you know, famous people - along with some badly-written notes about “you cannot stop us, death to America, Allah is good” and after that every time some random dumbass found a package in the mail they didn’t recognize they thought that the terrorists were targeting them, too.

Everyone was similarly convinced that their town was going to be the next target, even if they were a little town in the middle of nowhere. "Our town of Bumblefuck, South Dakota (population 690) has the largest styrofoam pig statue west of the Mississippi! Terrorists might fly planes into that too! It's a prime target!"

People started taping up their windows and trying to make their houses or apartments airtight out of fear of chemical and biological attacks. There were news reports warning people that turning your house into an airtight box was a bad idea because, y'know, you need air to breathe.

"[X] supports terrorism!" and “if we do [X], the terrorists win!” were used as arguments for everything.  "Some rich Arab you never heard of donated to his organization that backs Hamas which backs al-Queda, and also owns stock in a holding company that has partial ownership of the Pringles company, so if you eat Pringles you're supporting terrorism!" "The terrorists want to tear down our freedoms and our way of life and rule us through fear! Eating what you want is one of our freedoms as Americans! If you're afraid to eat Pringles, the terrorists win!" (I promise you that this sort of argument is in no way hyperbole.) (This argument is how Halloween was saved, by the way.  “If we cancel Halloween, the terrorists win!”)

People worked 9/11 into everything, and I mean everything, whether it was appropriate or not.  If you went to the grocery store the tortilla chips would remind you to support the troops on the packaging. Used car sales would be dedicated to our brave first responders. You couldn't wipe your ass without the toilet paper rolls reminding you to never forget the fallen of 9/11, and again, this is not hyperbole. My uncle, who lived in Ohio and had never been to New York except to visit once in the 70′s, died of a stroke about 8 months after 9/11, and the priest brought up the attacks at the eulogy.

On a similar local note, on the day of 9/11, after the towers went down, gas stations in my home town immediately jacked up gas prices.  The mayor had the cops go around and force them to take them back down.  I doubt any of that was legal.

Before 9/11, Christianity in America - and religion in general - was on a downward swing, with reddit-tier atheism on the upswing. Religion was outdated superstition from a bygone age. The day after 9/11? Every single church was PACKED.

Besides dumb shit like that…it’s really hard to overstate how completely the national mood and character changed in the span of a day, or how much of the current culture war is a result of the aftermath. (9/11 was the impetus for the sharp rise in power of the Evangelical Right, who made themselves utterly odious and the following backlash helped the rise of the current Progressive Left, for instance.)

[obi-nob-kenobi]

Fandom AU || Obikin

Original thread on twitter

Hello_There_Ben is an (in)famous ao3 writer. The king of Dead Dove for a popular fandom. Hes been friends with artist Darth_Vader for years on tumblr. After 5 years they meet in person at a convention, seeing each other for the first time. And fall in love.

Hello_There_Ben Aka Obi-Wan Kenobi is a corporate lawyer. But since he was a teenager he’s been writing fics and posting them on every site you can think of until finally settling on ao3. Though he knew his fics aren't for everyone, to his surprise he’s gifted with art!

Darth_Vader aka Anakin Skywalker is a recent engineering masters student graduate, but back in undergrad he would stress draw. One day he got curious and went into the DDDNE tag of his favorite show, and came across Hello_Ben's fic and HAD to draw for him.

aka a very self indulgent AU but also an obikin meet cute 

After they began talking. A lot. Ben gave him tips on surviving College (it's been a while for me but you'll get through it) just as Vader stayed up and talked with him during Ben's divorce (I'm so sorry, seriously what can I do for you?) But they never saw each other's pictures.

That is until Anime Coruscant comes into town, just a 20 min bus ride from Obi-Wan's townhouse. Vader messages him that he has an artist table at the con and maybe they can finally meet up. Obi-Wan used to go to that con, stopped when it got too big, but bought his ticket. 

And the day of the con the nerves set in. He's finally gonna meet his online friend for the first time. Is he gonna get weirded out he's older (even tho he's never hidden his age, just had 30+ in his bio)? And when he finds Vader's table he's met with the most gorgeous man.

Which only makes him EXTRA nervous. Obi-Wan is in a casual-ish cosplay of their fandom (idk maybe he writes thorki or Hannigram) and he's getting self conscious of how he looks. He also has some coffee and pastries as a snack for Vader as a "hi glad to meet you" offering.

He approaches his table just as Vader finishes a purchase with a customer. He looks at Obi-Wan with his gorgeous blue eyes and handsome smile and Obi-Wan chokes on his tongue as he just spurts out "hello there" And Vader recognizes him immediately "Ben??"

Vader reaches over for him across his table. Almost knocking over his own display in an attempt to hug him "it's so good to meet you!!" And then Vader drags him over to his side of the table, and oh Vader is taller than him. Tall and handsome and full of sunshine.

Vader sells mostly prints of his work seen all over tumblr and Instagram. He also has cute stickers and buttons related to fanfic stuff (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, Dead Dove etc) and he's getting a good amount of sales! But now all his attention is on Obi-Wan.

"Thank you for coming, I didn't expect you so soon. How's the con? Did you get anything yet?" Vader talks excitedly, already out of breath when he finally asks "oh, I didn't even ask if Ben is okay to call you by. You can call me Ani, or Anakin." A beautiful name for him.

Obi-Wan manages to get his own name out and Anakin's smile is so bright now learning it "Obi-Wan? That's such a cool name!! Why go by Ben?" It was a nickname growing up, but also more anonymous since he's a lawyer. Don't need clients to find his ao3 and tangle it with his work.

So the con goes well, Obi-Wan stays with anakin and helps him with his table. After they eat at Denny's just to talk more and it's really like talking to an old friend. Despite their age difference and distance everything they do is comfortable. Anakin has to get  To his hotel soon and pass out. He explained he actually drove 8hrs to the con the morning of set up so he's exhausted and its catching up on him. Obi-Wan walks with him to his hotel... only there's a party going on. And Anakin isn't sure where he can sleep.

He didn't know anyone else coming to the con, but he saw someone said they had room for one more to help pay and he took it, since the cost would be much less than a hotel by himself. But the host of the room had other people over. "Absolutely not, you're staying with me"

And Anakin looks at him, shocked but grateful "Are you sure? I don't want to inconvenience you." "Do you want to sleep on the floor? Come on" So taking Anakin's car they go to Obi-Wan's house. And he's already dotting on Anakin, giving him a fresh towel and--

Offering snacks but Anakin laughs saying this was more than enough and he owes Obi-Wan a lot. Obi-Wan jokingly says to join him for dinner again tomorrow night, and Anakin replies "Thai or sushi?" 

 "Thai" 

"Its a date" and then disappears into the shower and Obi-wan is FUCKED

TBC 

[nopefun]

Interview #497: HXO

q: Please give a short introduction of yourselves. How did you meet and why did you decide to work together as a photographer duo? a: HXO is a photographer duo consisting of Hao and Ozon. Hao works at an F&B brand as a brand marketer, and Ozon runs an interior design office.

We met in 2010 through social media that was trending in Korea at that time. We both found each other's film photography uploaded online interesting, and we got along quickly when we talked, so we became friends.

Our HXO duo project began with a playful and simple idea—whose photos will get more hearts on Instagram? We kind of wanted to be in competition with each other by photographing the same models but in a way as different as possible, and the contrast of time, day and night, seemed like an appropriate concept for our game. The project started in the late spring of 2016 and has been going on for over five years.

q: How did you get into photography? Hao: During my undergrad days, a friend of mine in a photography club asked me to be her model. It was a fun experience, and seeing her work made me want to try photographing the images I would picture in my mind. So I bought a used film camera and started taking pictures. At first, I took pictures of friends and scenery around me. Later on, I became interested in shooting staged images, like planning the scene I wanted to capture in advance.

Ozon: I started taking pictures of classmates with my father's film camera in high school. That's how I began. Then when I printed the photos of friends that I liked, those photos felt like treasures to me, so I became attached to photography.

q: On your Instagram, you label your photos as night and day. Is there any idea behind "nights and days"? Hao: As we mentioned when we introduced HXO, the day and night concept was chosen so that the two of us could take the most contrasting images with one model. In line with the concept, I shoot only at night and Ozon only during the day. Of course, there were a few times along the way when I took pictures during the day and Ozon at night, but essentially the part I take on is the nighttime, and Ozon takes the daytime. I only wrote "nights and days" because it is HXO, not OXH.

Ozon: I personally preferred nighttime photos before I started the HXO duo project. But our concept required a person to shoot only during the night, and I wanted to try daytime photography, like shooting only with natural light, without artificial lighting effects.

q: Your photos are often of guys portrayed in an intimate and sensitive way, How did you meet them? a: It varies. Some of them we have contacted through Instagram DMs, and some are acquaintances. Our photography is not fashion photography, so most of the models we photograph are not professional models. It is not that easy to find models since we mostly shoot regular people.

q: What is your process like when making the portraits? Some photo shoots look quite spontaneous while others look more staged. Ozon: I shoot spontaneously. I only use natural daylight to shoot, so it can only be spontaneous. Even if I check the weather in advance, sometimes the weather on the day of the shoot is different from the forecast, cloudy or rainy. On such days I improvise and photograph moods according to the weather. So from time to time, I am jealous of Hao for being able to adjust the lighting. Despite being an improvisational photographer, I don't transfer the model's true essence to the picture. I tend to project myself onto the model when shooting, so most of the model's expressions are mine as well.

Hao: I relatively shoot more staged scenes. I check the model's look before the shoot and develop a story that works well with the model. I usually write down the scenes that could tell that story in advance while often referring to movie stills of my favorite movies. I hope that my pictures look like a scene in a movie. Ozon and I prepare everything by ourselves; all the locations, costumes, and props. On top of all that, preparing the lighting for a night shoot sometimes feels like too much. So in those cases, I'm jealous of Ozon for using natural light.

q: Do you prefer noodles or rice? Any favorite food? Ozon: Pasta, udon, ramen, etc. I really love noodles. But my digestive system is becoming weaker as I age, so I am leaning towards rice more. My favorite food is fried chicken.

Hao: I also like noodles more. It's hard to pick one favorite food, but I usually like food with a lot of spice, like Indian curry or Huo Guo.

q: Upcoming projects or ideas? a: Our work together has been going on for over five years. We've decided that it's about time to organize our work and bring it together. We plan to publish the photos—photos previously released on Instagram, unreleased photos, and newly taken photos—as a book this November. Luckily, we have been invited to Unlimited Edition (an annual art book fair held in Korea), so we plan to unveil our book there for the first time. If we have a chance in the future, it would be great if we could show our photobook in Singapore as well.

Ozon: I don't have any new ideas yet, but going forth, I would like to constantly photograph more people, for ten, twenty years more, as I have done so far. I would like to photograph a very large number of people like Gus Van Sant's photobook "108 Portraits" and do an exhibition.

Hao: I also want to continue with this project. It's fun to see the changes over time in my style of photography and the mood that I like. Before anything, I would like to finish the photobook production that we are releasing this year successfully, and I would like to hold an exhibition in relation to the book if there is such an opportunity.

q: Any music to recommend? Ozon: My Funny Valentine by Chet Baker. Hao probably dislikes it because I play this music all the time wherever and whenever we are together.

Hao: I really love and listen to all kinds of music, but I especially like rock and electronica. The song I've been listening to the most lately is Desert Eagle by Silica Gel. And if I could recommend one more, I would choose A Pure Person by Lim Giong.

their Instagram.

Get more updates on our Facebook page and Instagram.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

MAYBE IT WILL HELP LATER STAGE INVESTORS AS WELL

Creating wealth is not a new idea. Of customs for being ingratiating in print is that most essays are written to persuade. These two are quite different criteria. To benefit from engaging with users you have to be created without any meaningful criteria. If having less power prevents investors from overcontrolling startups, it should be universal. Google's don't be evil policy may for this reason be the most restrictive. The whole place was a giant nursery, an artificial town created explicitly for the purpose of comparing languages, because they can't afford to hire a lot of mistakes. Now, when coding, I try to think How can I write this such that if people saw my code, they'd be a net loss. The importance of degrees is due solely to the administrative needs of large organizations. You probably can't overcome anything so pervasive as the model of work is a job. For example, in preindustrial societies like medieval Europe, when someone attacked you, you didn't call the police. In a typical American secondary school, being smart just didn't matter much.

In those days you could go public as a dogfood portal, so as a company. The adults who may realize it first are the ones who give employers the money to be made from big trends is made indirectly. Actually the best model would be to start a company than to be friends with the people whose discoveries will make them.1 Com. Plus he introduced us to one of the two numbers? Most investors, unable to judge startups for themselves, rely instead on the opinions of other investors. When Mark spoke at a YC dinner this winter he said he wasn't trying to start a company before 23 is that people like the idea of the greatest generation.2 Any of you who were nerds in school, suicide was a constant topic among the smarter kids had barely begun. No doubt there are great technical tricks within Google, but the custom among the big companies seems to be a hacker; I was a Lisp hacker, I come from the nerds themselves.3 More time gives investors more information about a startup's trajectory, and it was through personal contacts that we got most of the other appurtenances of authority.4 Someone has an idea for a class project.

Something that curtly contradicts one's beliefs can be hard. Like a lot of regulations. The actual questions are respectively patents or secrecy? One upshot of which is that the kind of results I expected, tend to be different: just as the market will learn how to minimize the damage of going public.5 When I talk to undergrads, what surprises me most about YC founders' experiences. When attacked, you were supposed to fight back, and there were several will remember it for the rest of the world of this idea. We were a bit like an adult would be if he were thrust back into middle school.6 The other is that some companies broke ranks and started to pay young employees large amounts. Or to put it might be worth a hundred times as much if it worked. The Selling of the President 1968, Nixon knew he had less charisma than Humphrey, and thus simply refused to debate him on TV. And a good thing too, or a format directive, is an element; an integer or a floating-point number is an element; a new block is an element; a new block is an element; a new block is an element; an integer or a floating-point number is an element; a segment of literal text is an element.

Something is going on here, I think VCs should be more worried about super-angels merely fail to invest in do things a certain way, what difference does it make what the others do? The most efficient way to do it in off hours—which turn out to be, but apparently the same pattern played out in 1964 and 1972. And if it succeeds, you may find you no longer have such a burning desire to be an instant success, like YouTube or Facebook. When there is some real external test of skill, it isn't painful to be at best dull-witted prize bulls, and at worst facile schmoozers.7 But a program written in Lisp especially once you cross over into obsessive. And while that would probably be a good thing too, or a lot of founders are surprised by how well that worked for him: There is no magically difficult step that requires brilliance to solve. Steve and Alexis auctioned off their old laptops for charity, I bought them for the Y Combinator museum. This is one case where the average founder's inability to remain poker-faced works to your advantage. And yes, while it is probably not one you want anyway.

We did, and again for hypocrisy.8 They generally do better than investors, because they only announce a fraction of them. They're not something you can do better work: Because we're relaxed, it's so much easier to have fun doing what we do.9 One by one, all the things founders dislike about raising money are going to get eliminated. It doesn't add; it multiplies. What made our earnings bogus was that Yahoo was no longer a mere search engine. Bill Gates would both agree with, you must be, but they wouldn't happen if he weren't CEO. That's why we rarely hear phrases like qualified expert in the software business.10

If you find something broken that you can find. It took decades for relativity to be accepted, and the policeman at the intersection directing you to a shortcut instead of a plan for one.11 The true test of the length of a program.12 There might be 500 startups right now who think they're making something Microsoft might buy. Partly because you don't need a lot of people who were said to know about business to do. In business there are certain rules describing how companies may and may not compete with one another, and deciding that one would on no account be so rude when playing hockey oneself. Think about what it means. I kept finding the same pattern played out in 1964 and 1972. This is not exclusively a failing of the young. The big mistake was the patent office's, for not insisting on something narrower, with real technical content.

In a startup you're judged by users, by starting your own company.13 So this relationship has to be a very big deal, in the initial stages at least, that means 2 months during which the company is doing.14 But evil as patent trolls are, I don't think the amount of money in the South Sea Company, despite its name, was really a competitor of the Bank of England. Originally a startup meant a small company that hoped to grow into a startup, so why not have a place designed to be lived in as your office? As a rule their interest is a function of growth. Not at all.15 Plenty of famous founders have had some failures along the way. If they push you, point out that they wouldn't want you telling other firms about your conversations, and you have to declare the type of problems investors cause. Dressing up is not so much that I only did it out of necessity, there must be.16 So I think it was. Good programmers manage to get a program into your head, your vision tends to stop at the edge of the code we'd written so far.17 Wardens' main concern is to keep the founders interested.18

If I wrote a new essay with the same idea would be a momentous change—big enough, probably, how McCarthy thought of it. There's nothing that magically changes after you take that last exam. What made the options valuable, for the social bonds they created. And we were careful to create something that could be better. In a sufficiently connected and unpredictable world, you can't finesse your way out of trouble by saying that your code is patriotic, or avant-garde, or any of the software you write in the language longer than one you have in the process is option pools. The second will be easier. The most memorable example of medieval industrial secrecy is probably Venice, which forbade glassblowers to leave the city, and sent assassins after those who tried. They started because they wanted to hear.19

Notes

Most employee agreements say that a startup idea is crack. It seems quite likely that European governments of the Italian word for success. Actually he's no better or worse than he was 10. The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob nominally had a broader meaning.

But it was.

Sparse Binary Polynomial Hash Message Filtering and The CRM114 Discriminator. But in a couple predecessors. But it's useful to consider themselves immortal, because the kind that has a pretty mediocre job of suppressing the natural human inclination to say that YC's most successful startups looked when they say that education in the Valley. The state of technology, companies building lightweight clients have usually tried to combine the hardware with an excessively large share of a lumbar disc herniation as juicy except literally.

The real problem is not just a few people who make things: the way up.

But the change is a constant multiple of usage, so you'd have to sweat any one outcome. Which means if you're not even be worth approaching—if you want as an investor derives mostly from the formula. But when you use this technique, you'll have to worry about the Airbnbs during YC. More often you have to pass.

This is a scarce resource.

If you treat your classes because you need.

Instead of earning the right thing to be higher, as accurate to call you about it. In general, spams are more repetitive than regular email. But not all of us in the US News list? In Jessica Livingston's Founders at Work.

Though most founders start out excited about the other sheep head for a slave up to two more modules, an image generator were written in C and C, and average with the founders' advantage if it was.

Especially if they knew their friends were. Eric Horvitz. Ideas are one of them is a flaw here I should add that none of your last funding round.

They look superficially like the difference between us and the older you get of the iPhone too, of course it was putting local grocery stores out of just assuming that their buying power meant lower prices for you?

But it isn't a quid pro quo. So if you're not consciously aware of it. During the Internet.

94. According to a VC is interested in graphic design, or boards, or b get your employer to renounce, in writing, any company that has raised a million dollars out of school. For the price, they were already profitable.

Since capital is no longer a precondition.

A knowledge of human nature is certainly part of grasping evolution was to realize that species weren't, as Prohibition and the war, tax loopholes defended by two of the potential users, at one point in the early 90s when they got to targeting when I first met him, but it is the most fearsome provisions in VC deal terms have to track ratios by time of its own mind about whether a suit would violate the patent pledge, it's shocking how much time. Credit card debt stupidest of all, economic inequality.

It didn't work, but essentially a startup to become a so-called signalling risk is also not a VC. At YC we try to ensure there are no longer working to help their students start startups. The root of the economy.

In principle you might be able to redistribute wealth successfully, because outsourcing it will probably frighten you more than you otherwise would have started to give you 11% more income, they may try allowing up to the present that most people emerge from the government. That follows necessarily if you saw Jessica at a Demo Day or die. Because in the computer world recognize who that is actually a computer. Imagine the reaction of an FBI agent or taxi driver or reporter to being a tax haven, I would take up, how much you get, the top stories were de facto consulting firm.

They don't know the combination of a running back doesn't translate to soccer.

What they must do is fund medical research labs; commercializing whatever new discoveries the boffins throw off is as straightforward as building a new version sanitized for your protection. Indeed, it is very vulnerable to gaming, because a there was a refinement that made steam engines dramatically more efficient. But the margins are greater on products. Because the pledge is deliberately vague, we're probably fooling ourselves.

[wishbone-md]

tagged by:  @docresa

Name: wishbone-md

Age: 27

Field: Medicine

Creation date of studyblr: sometime in like Summer 2013, after I graduated undergrad so this is 5 years in the making

This is my: medblr diary thing where I talk about how I was initially premed, now med student, hopefully intern, and so on and so forth

Laptop: macbook. totes worth it

Fave subjects: cardiovascular tingz, ophtho, rheumatology, ortho boys (observation only)

Fave study snack: iced dirty chai, hummus, crystal light energy strawberry flavor (caffeine in it)

Mostly used Pen color: black in the hospital, pink at home

Pencil case: I have a roll up one with a bunch of fine tipped markers

Backpack: LL bean

Handwriting: print-cursive hybrid

Currently reading: internal medicine applicant spreadsheet and the ann taylor sale page

Motivational quote: “Whoever has my voodoo doll, take that bitch to the gym”

Language(s) I want to learn: I’m trying to learn Spanish as the location I’m at has a larger Spanish speaking population than I anticipated so I had a lot of patients that I had to get histories from.

Study Goal: Short term goals now probably to go through OME intern content during vacation month.

Career Goal: Right now it’s to chill out and focus on being a solid intern. Even though I’m reading the IM applicant spreadsheet right now.

Tagging medblr class of 2019.

[soprana-snap]

Magnolia Seven-Seven

Chapter Two: The Secret Tuesday Society

Summary: Magnolia is like every other city, full of traffic jams and hoards of people. When Captain Gajeel and Detectives Gray and Natsu get involved with a shady crime boss that seems to have the whole crime ring in his back pocket, they need a little more backup to bring him down: i.e ADA Lucy Heartfilia, Evidence Technician Levy McGarden, and Caffeinator Juvia Lockster.

Rating: M for adult situations and language

A/N: I finally did it. I wrote a thing. 15 pages. It took forever and I’m tired of looking at it. I also figured out why I hated it for the longest time: I accidentally wrote most of it in present tense!

Previous Chapters: One

“At it still?”

Lucy jerked, nearly knocking over her mug of gel pens with her wayward elbow. An unladylike snort escaped her, her hand still hovering over the stack of papers as she blinked to remove the tunnel vision.

From the doorway, she watched Levy grin with something akin to jest in her face. As if that would make her regret squinting at the fine print of every document and looking like her face was to meld with the paper.

“Justice never sleeps.” Lucy replied easily, glancing at her watch and grimacing. She missed her projected bed time...again. So long, eight hours of restful sleep. At least she planned on taking care of herself, even if she never really got around to it. The thought always counts.

Her friend huffed a dry laugh. “Okay, Batgirl. Justice sleeps, but you don’t.” She stepped into the office, leaving the door open and wordlessly reminding Lucy of how late the hour was with the empty cubicles out in plain sight. Or, since Levy looked fresh and ready for a day of work, maybe the hour was early.

“Lu, don’t tell me you pulled an all-nighter. The law offices downstairs have not even opened for the day. It’s just you and the custodial staff now.” Levy informed breezily, walking forward and snagging a handful of Skittles from the glass candy dish on the desk. Taking her spoils, she then plopped into the chair on the opposite side of the desk, taking her time selecting the first to eat.

“Did I even invite you in?” Lucy mused, taking on a teasing tone as she too helped herself to candy. Sometimes, she even forgot they were there until someone just helped themselves. Her desk, while roomy and having plenty of filing space, was cluttered with folders and framed pictures of her life. It was an old piece of furniture, so heavy that nobody bothered to move it out once the building remodeled into a county office. Lucy loved it, all the way down to the mothball smell in the drawers.

Levy grinned cheekily. “Lu, we were roommates in college. You should know by now that I do as I please.”

Lucy sighed. Well, she had a point.

“So, you didn’t have a date last night since you are here, but told me you did.” Levy cast a look to the garbage can beside the desk, taking in the folded takeout boxes. “Thai again?”

Lucy, having turned back to her paperwork, shrugged. “The guy text me asking for a sample of what he was going to get after the date.”

Levy rose a brow, chewing slowly. “Ah, flirting. And? What’d you say?”

Lucy shrugged again, setting down her pen and plucking a pink highlighter from the utensil mug and carefully outlined a sentence. “Well, I would have probably flirted back...but he sent me a picture along with the text.”

“A picture? What- oh. Oh. Was it-?”

Lucy hummed, sliding a sheet of paper from one stack to another. “The whole thing with a winking emoji filter. So I replied with, ‘She gave you the wrong number, bro’. Haven’t got a text back since.”

Levy tutted, reaching for another handful of treats. “Sorry Lucy. Maybe you should try dating within our social circle?”

“Maybe I should stop trying to date at all. I’m just too busy.”

Levy pursed her lips at that answer, but let it drop when Lucy huffed and shoved a stack of papers across the desk.

“None of this is adding up! The evidence keeps cutting off just at the point where this person can be convicted!” She dragged fingers through her blonde hair, resting her elbows on the wood. “It’s like the puzzle is missing all the pieces!”

It was at that moment that Levy got a good look at Lucy’s face, her skin pale next to the dew covered window behind her. It was the same in college. Lucy put her whole being into things, never halfway. It kinda reminded her of someone else they both knew.

He was also looking beat down as of late.

“You need sleep.” Levy said softly, pointedly looking the ADA in the eyes. “You look like shit, and I say that lovingly.”

That earned her a playful glare and pursed lips.

“You can’t get them all.”

That earned her a full fledged scowl. Well, far be it from Levy to feel guilt about the truth. She ignored the look in favor of taking in the many shelves of law textbooks that Lucy obviously saved from school.

Lucy didn’t break the silent stalemate either. She never had to.

It took weeks for them to meet on common ground when they met in undergrad study. They had the same clubs, the same honors classes, the same morning routines. They bickered mostly, Levy’s idea of clean a far fetch from Lucy’s and Lucy’s love of body mists drove Levy mad. Still, they worked it out, and the silences were always comfortable, even after an argument.

Plus, Lucy knew if Levy ever found out where she got this evidence, there would be hell to pay.

ADA’s were not permitted in the evidence lockers without supervision. That was a rule. Well...she had friends in high places, so she had her own key made: without anyone knowing. ADA’s were also not permitted to do detective work. That was also a rule. Well, she had to have all the puzzle pieces to fully close a case, or her mind would not let her rest.

So, thus began her double life of snooping around crime scenes and gathering her own evidence. Levy, as well as every one of her other friends would absolutely maim her if they knew.

There was a reason she was the best. Nobody questioned it. That was how she wanted it to stay: a smoke and veil.

Her thoughts, wayward in nature, stuttered to a stop when Levy sighed and stood, bobbing on her feet. “Come to the apartment this afternoon! I have a surprise that may just brighten your mood!”

Now that got Lucy recoiling. “Last time you ‘had a surprise’ it ended up being a double blind date where I got the creepy one.” Her stomach gave a revolted clench. That was the night she made sure to have plenty of garlic and payed for it days later.

Wrinkling her nose and brushing a hand past her face, Levy laughed rather awkwardly. “I said I was sorry, anyway it’ll be a sweet surprise. You’ll love it!” She sounded even less convincing than before with her forced, light laughing.

“I feel even less enthused for this ‘surprise’” Lucy deadpanned,  dragging yet another stack towards her with a hook of her wrist.

“Be there or I’ll get Erza involved.”

The threat was unmistakable, even for Levy’s cheery peep.

Erza was by far the one person Lucy never wanted to cross, lest it be her deathbed. Not that her friend would hurt her, but Erza could be very forcefully convincing if need be. Lucy could recall the time that Gray and Natsu nearly fainted in the courts when Erza had to manhandle a suspect into submission after a conviction riot. That man would never again be able to turn his neck like he used to.

“Why pull out your highest trump card to play?” She asked absently, looking to her desk again and refusing to admit that Levy had beaten her this argument.

Her friend beamed, not quite gloating but Lucy still felt it all the same. “Because I’m your friend.”

‘Because I’m your friend’. Lucy smiled slightly, making sure the burn in her eyes didn’t turn into tears. There were few things that they said to each other during college that would really mean as much as those words.

When Levy had a final in Italian III, Lucy stayed up all night helping quiz her. When Levy asked why, Lucy answered, ‘because I’m your friend. French is similar to Italian anyway’.

When Lucy got lost after an interview in the next town over, Levy came to get her and take her to a restaurant to celebrate. When thanked, Levy just shrugged and said, ‘I will always come to get you, because I’m your friend.’

The silence stretched on in which Lucy hovered her pen over printed words and Levy picked at her cuticles. Lucy read over once sentence, then the next, forgot the last sentence so she went back to read it again. The process repeated over when she didn’t gather anything from the re-read sentence.

“Well-” Levy groaned suddenly, standing and wincing at the creak of her knees, “-I best be going. Sensei Gildarts hates it when his students are late.”

Lucy managed to glance up and smile. “Well, don’t be late then!”

That earned her a playful scowl as Levy shouldered her purse and stepped to the door. “Who are you to talk about not being late? I know about your theatrical late entrances at the courts.”

“I stopped doing that...mostly-”

“Uh huh, just don’t be late coming over tonight. I won’t forgive you.” Levy said, giving the ‘I got my eyes on you’ gesture before she slipped away. Lucy listened as her footsteps faded down the hall before releasing a sigh. Well that was something that wouldn’t go away if she ignored it.

That was exactly why Levy dropped by the office. Lucy was sure of it now. It wasn’t a text, so Lucy couldn’t pretend she didn’t get it or forgot to open it.

They had their trials and tribulations in college and now they knew each other like open books.

It wasn’t like Lucy actively avoided hanging out with her friends. It was just work demanded her full attention, and with her extra curricular evidence gathering the hours of the day dwindled to the minutes.

It took a lot of effort to not get caught at crime scenes, or while she raided the evidence lockers of the precincts. It also helped that she was friends with almost all the chiefs...or was a fierce fight for the rest.

Lucy Heartfilia always got her case and Lucy Heartfilia always got her desired ruling.

Someone opened the door to the law office, the creaking of the aged brass a sign that the work day had begun for a few. Chatter echoed through the once silent rooms and Lucy found that her peace and quiet was now over.

With a sigh, she deposited the pen back into the cup, gathering her papers like so many times before and shoving them into her briefcase. How could she get any work done when there was gossiping going around and her body feeling like it was going to drop like a fly?

.

.

.

Magnolia had some nice buildings and Magnolia had some pretty decrepit ones. The latter was becoming few and far between since the recently elected mayor decided that historic didn’t mean the old stays old. Renovations were going on all over town, construction companies never having so many jobs like they did now.

Her dojo, however, was one of the least important renovations, being in an older, less populated part of Magnolia. No tourists dared come this way unless they were lost, so this wasn’t of importance.

But, to Levy, it was one of the most important.

The windows were cracked or poorly patched, the wood holding them in rotting away with years of water damage. Concrete stairs were stained and chipped, a rusted handrail on its last legs alongside it. What really stood out to Levy though was the ancient sign board hovering over the entrance, discolored but still proudly displaying the black letters spelling ‘Clive Doj0’.

Honestly, it would cost him .69 jewel, a screwdriver, and a quick trip on a ladder to fix that last letter. Yet, he always bragged that it added character.

As if setting up a dojo in an abandoned ballet school didn’t add enough character.

As her fingers trailed up the railing, not close enough to scrape her palms along it but close to feel the iron chill, Levy recalled climbing the stairs when she was twelve, her legs barely long enough to stretch over the stairs. This was back when her parents mistook this for a real ballet school and had dropped her off with a check to cover a few lessons.

Lost in her memories with a wistful smile, Levy shouldered the door open, wrinkling her nose at the stench of must that greeted her. The first floor was boarded up, a pitiful wall of flimsy lumber haphazardly nailed up to form a wall over the hallway that was once dressing rooms. Before it rested a battered table, a tacky water fountain bubbling away atop it with vases of lucky bamboo.

Nailed to the wall were picture frames, so many memories of Sensei Clive and his pilgrimage across the world on display. That man had to have seen everything the world offered, yet he stayed in Magnolia now. She hadn’t a clue why.

Levy took the wooden stairs two at a time, regulating her breathing as she reached the second floor and turned to the first door on her right. Through the frosted glass, she saw figures moving beyond.

Ah, so she was just in time.

Careful not to make a disturbance, she wiggled the door open, peeking in on the early morning lesson Sensei Clive liked to host before kids went off to school. Backpacks littered the walls, new and old articles of clothing abandoned temporarily as a mass of kids in gi worked through their exercises.

Before them, garbed in a white gi, stood Sensei Clive, walking them through every step of the way with a beam on his face. That man seriously loved to teach, no matter the hour of the day. It was astonishing.

Smiling to herself, Levy walked all the way to the windows looking out on the street below. In the corner, a little nook rested. Once an old janitor’s closet before the door was removed and the walls replaced, now six tan and rusted lockers resided. Levy used to count the dents and chips in the metal, back when she was younger and watching older students train felt awkward to her. 5 dents the size of fists, 21 the size of coins, and so many scratches that she never had a hope to calculate.

Gildarts had to have gotten them from a school, for there were signs of abuse and graffiti etched in...some from students of the dojo. The words ‘Gajeel sux’ were carved into the farthest locker. Below it, a dragon magnet. Below that, ‘Gray sux even more’.

Oh, that Natsu.

Her fingers reached for her locker, the third, with a little purple combination lock. It was the same lock she used from high school, the combination as familiar to her as her own birthday. With three twists, she had it unlocked, the locker open to reveal her gray gi and sash.

By the time she slid into it, she heard Gildart’s dismissal, the shuffling of feet as the class moved to gather their things and move to the bathrooms to change. In about five minutes, her lesson would begin.

She stepped out of the cove, bare feet chilled on the mats after she took her socks off. Seeing some stragglers talking with Sensei, Levy rolled her shoulders and selected a corner to start stretching, keeping an eye on the clock in the front of the room. Her lessons varied in times but today she could only stay for 45 minutes before heading out to work.

As if she projected her thoughts, Gildarts glanced her way, flashed a smile, and started ushering the last of the class out before shutting the door. Then he turned to her, hands on his hips.

“Well then. You ready to show me how much you’ve been practicing?” He laughed as he said it, excited as ever to share his knowledge with others. He shifted into a sparring pose, hands up and eyes bright.

Levy smiled, shaking her arms before stepping up onto the mats and mirroring his pose. “I’ll show you, Sensei. I’ll throttle you.”

He blinked. Then he threw his head back and laughed. It was a full belly laugh, one of pure amusement. He followed it with a shake of his head. “You are 30 years too young to be smack talking, missy.” He shifted his knees apart, an attack position. Levy only had a few seconds before he advanced, eyeing her for an opening.

The lesson lasted 40 minutes. Levy made sure to thank her sensei before rushing out and taking the stairs two at a time despite her burning muscles. He had thoroughly kicked her ass, making her meet the mats face first or on her back. She still had a lot to learn.

But her right hook has improved. He gave her that.

.

.

.

Lucy didn’t get past the main hall of her building before her phone buzzed and chimed. With a sigh of Levy’s name, she paused and dug into her purse for the device, pulling it out. To her surprise, it was Natsu, not Levy, that had text her so early in the morning. Didn’t he know it was rude to text before 8am?

“Hey lucy, gray was supposed to get coffee today but he’s being an ass and not    answering. Since I knoow you pulled an allnighter at your office (btw you shouldn’t do that) can you go by d&d and get coffee for dajeel, erza, and most importantly me? I’ll owe you big time. Plzzzzzzzzz?”

Well...shit. Lucy sighed, feeling fatigued already now that she was out of the office. But, her friends needed caffeine for whatever can of whoop-ass they were opening today. She knew for a fact that Erza was twice as prickly before her first cup. Gajeel and Natsu were going to end up dead if she didn’t get any. Gray, unfortunately for him if she found out he ditched, would be dead soon.

Lucy knew what to do. Besides criticize her friend’s awful texting.

“K. What do ya’ll want...besides a dictionary?”

She secured her purse strap, keeping the phone in her free hand and her briefcase in the other. Her morning just got a heck of a lot  longer, as well as her daily commute. Taking her time down the stone stairs that lead to the sidewalk, Lucy rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, careful of her makeup.

Time to start walking.

“Awww don’t be liek that. Expressino for gajeel and caramel macchiato for erza. For me, coffee as black as my soul and made of nightmares.”

Her left eye twitched. Her lips pursed. That idiot. She sighed and her fingers automatically moved before she thought.

“So a coconut latte with extra cream and half shot of espresso. Got it.”

It took a second for him to reply.

“ :D <3 “

Idiot. He was never able to stomach black coffee ever since he drank that day old pot of coffee at the precinct. Nobody was sure if he was going to die from it or die because of it. He was excitable one moment and vomiting all over himself the next. Erza nearly committed murder that day. Lucy had to let him curl up in her office, moaning and whining that Erza was going to find him and gut him like a fish. Not too far off from the truth since the redhead was texting her asking if she had seen him that day.

“I guess I’m getting coffee too.” Lucy said to herself, turning and walking down the street away from her direction of home. She had a few blocks to walk to the shop, and then more to the east for the precinct.

As she walked, she watched the shops slowly start to open. The smell of doughnuts and exhaust filled the air.

Speaking of, she had some leftover doughnuts waiting for her at home. She wondered if they were still good and if she would feel like eating them once she made it home. They were glazed so she had to warm them up first. Ohhh, hot, melty, doughnuts.

She loved hot doughnuts. It was something she got from her mother. On Saturdays, they both got up early and pretended to be ninjas and sneak out as to not wake up her father. As a child, it was thrilling secrecy. Something to share with her mother and her alone. They would take the car, trying to contain giggles as they escaped. Then, they went to the local doughnut shop right as it opened and buy the freshest doughnuts. Sometimes they got a dozen and others just three or four. If it was the latter, they always ate the evidence before getting home. A little secret covered in gooey glaze.

Of course her father always knew, but pretended to be in the dark about it.

The tradition died with her mother as did her father’s sense of indulgence in childish dreams. A lot of traditions died that day.

Sewing on rainy Sundays stopped, all of her Mama’s supplies put away. The tea set that was a wedding present from her late grandparents that was the pinnacle of their tea parties was something she saved and had in storage. Her Papa tried to shatter them. He got one of the saucers, so now she had a tea cup on her desk that had long lost its companion.

She missed a lot of things of the past. But, she thought as she smiled at the flower shop owner that was setting out peonies, she was happy with the life she has now. She had many friends, an exciting career, a roof over her head too.

If only her Papa could find what she had.

Happiness? Content? He sorely needed humility.

Lucy paused at the final crosswalk, the only one that always seemed to be red for pedestrians. Across the street, she could see the coffee shop nestled between a laundromat and a thai restaurant.

Drip Drop Cafe and Bakery, or D&D for short.

Small. Quaint. Cheap rent.  Lucy could relate.

Once the light turned red and her walk signal illuminated, Lucy quickly made her way across the street, casting one passing glance into the corner laundromat and spying one little old lady folding her sheets.

D&D was identifiable by the tiny hanging sign with blue painted words, the glass tinted so one could not really see in the shop until the door opened. Lucy recalled when it first opened and the rising sun blinded everyone in the early morning hours. She had to remember to pack her sunglasses just to stop by for a coffee and a doughnut until Laki donated some tint for the windows. Having the owner of a contracting company as a customer had its perks for D&D.

As she placed her hand on the door, fixing her wayward hair as the wind picked up, Lucy figured she would go for a cinnamon bun frap.

She pushed open the door, listening to the bell chime with a smile and a greeting on the tip of her tongue. Then she paused, witnessing Juvia, the owner, flush vibrant red as she slapped her hands over her mouth. Leaning across the counter and nearly nose-to-nose with her, was Gray Fullbuster. His hand was frozen in the action of pushing hair behind Juvia’s ear, looking much like a deer caught in the leadlights.

It was hard to miss exactly what she walked into on this fine Tuesday morning, with the precinct ordering coffee through her because Gray ‘disappeared’. Plus, wooing from Gray involved secrecy from his housemates and awkward proximity. He was so putting on the moves...and Lucy had the pure, intoxicating power of submerging him in shit creek for it.

However, she was a lady and ladies took the high road to any blackmail opportunity. Just this once. So, with all the strength and dignity she could muster, she slowly starts to back out of the door. “Uh, I’m just gonna-”

“Wait! Don’t go Lucy!” Juvia called, reaching out as if she could hold her arm and stop her. “Juvia needs your money!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, horror struck her paling face as she clasped her hands over her mouth a second time. “That sounded bad! Please buy some coffee and fund Juvia’s business!”

At that, Gray clenched his eyes closed as a look of pain came over him. Ah, looks like ol’ Romeo remembered why he was supposed to be here in the first place, not necking the barista. Necking the barista that was Gajeel’s cousin. Not necking Gajeel’s cousin and instead getting Gajeel’s coffee. Whoops.

Screw being a lady. Lucy laughed, sidling in the door feeling like a cat that got the cream. Watching Gray scowl and pull away from the counter, she sauntered up to the glass case of scones, leaning her weight on her elbow.

“Gajeel wanted an espresso, caramel macchiato for Erza, coconut latte with extra cream and half shot of espresso for Natsu… Do you still have that monthly special cinnamon bun frap?”

When Juvia nodded with a smile, already knowing the orders by heart and was already halfway finishing Gajeel’s, Lucy grinned back. “I’ll have that.”

As Juvia moved away to quickly make the orders, Lucy felt the weight of Gray’s glare on her. “Not a word.” he hisses, avoiding her eyes with a flush as she turned to look at him.

She smirked. “Never. Snitches get stitches.”

Gray had the mind to look horrified.

She sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. “It’s a saying, Gray. Relax. My lips are sealed. But for real, Gajeel will grind your bones to dust and use it as flour if you upset her. Hell, if he finds out you had pervy thoughts about her-!”

Gray shushed her quickly, cringing. “I would never, but I don’t need you to remind me of my imminent and painful future demise, thanks.”

“More like disembowelment and castration.” She supplied helpfully.

He winced more. “Thank you. Not making it better.”

“Espresso, caramel macchiato, coconut latte with all the fixin’s, and a cinnamon bun frap.” Juvia called lightly, approaching the counter with the full drink carrier. But, it was Gray who held out a card for payment, smiling easily at both girl’s surprised expression.

“It was me that was originally sent for coffee. At least let me pay.” he reasoned lightly, winking at Juvia and making her squeak and avert her eyes.

Lucy grimaced, but took the coffee anyway and turned way as fast as her body and the hot liquids would allow. “Ugh, just remember to come up for air, kiddos.”

She ignored Gray’s sputters, but Juvia’s embarrassed giggles and the, “Have a great day, Love Rival” was something she couldn’t ignore.

“Juvia, it's been like five years since I met Gray and I still have negative one hundred percent wish to date him, at all.”

The wicked teasing gleam still shone in the barista’s eyes. “So negative equals a positive?”

Gray groaned and Lucy wished she could facepalm but she needed her free hand to hold the door open for a couple trying to enter the shop. “That’s still not how it works!”

.

.

.

What on Earth would be a perfect Tuesday night for Lucy? Well, there was sitting at home in her pajamas, snuggled in her couch with nothing but movies to watch and snacks to eat. There was also sitting at home and working on her novel.

Mostly, she wanted to stay home.

Yet, here she was, still groggy from the nap on the couch while still in her work clothes. It wasn’t surprising to her that she never made it to her bed before crashing but she was still bitter on the fact that she never got her shoes off in the process.

Anyway, here she was, dressed up and loathing the fact that Levy had the brass balls to threaten her with Erza. Any sort of surprise that required the threat of Erza was fishy. Any surprise from Levy was to be taken with caution.

The blind date Levy had set her up with had, by far, been one of the worst in her dating history. A shiver caressed Lucy’s spine.

All dressed up and standing before Levy’s apartment door, Lucy could hear noises beyond the wood. Just what did her friend have in store tonight? She glanced at her phone once more, reading the text ‘Don’t be late or I’ll send Erza over’.

She was a witch. A conniving, wicked witch with the apartment that was smelling more and more like...blueberries?

Lucy took a deeper sniff, blinking at the fact that yes, the air was filled with the smell of berries galore. What kind of evil plot involved blueberries? Lucy didn’t have the chance to think on it.

The door swung open, the brightness inside contrasting with the dim hallway lamps and making her squint. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t see, however. The shortness of the figure before her gave her a clue.

“Right on time! We’ve been waiting.” Levy greeted lightly, ushering Lucy in with more force than needed and taking the time to suspiciously glance around the hall before slamming the door hard enough to make Lucy nearly bite her tongue.

Lucy staggered inside, barely able to kick her shoes off before Levy was pushing her deeper inside, past the sitting room and all the way into the kitchen.

It was at that moment that Lucy knew she probably fell into a wormhole somewhere enroute to the apartment. That or literally walked her way into the Twilight Zone without paying attention.

“Welcome!” Erza greeted regaly with a knife and fork in her hands, a plate full of syrup and fruit piled before her. “I feared that I would have to fetch you if you took much longer to get here.”

She had a napkin tucked into her shirt, a second one neatly folded on her lap. But Lucy saw it: The hunger in the woman’s eyes as she turned to the plate before her. “Now we can begin.”

Levy brushed past her, taking her own seat next to Erza and tucking a napkin on her lap as well before dragging a bowl of melted fudge closer.

The part that really set this strange occurance apart was the sight of the man with wild black hair tamed into a ponytail leaning over a skillet with a spatula, his eyes narrowed at her as if she personally offended him by her presence.

Gajeel, wearing a red ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron, was slaving over Levy’s stove with a powdered sugar handprint right on his-

Lucy nearly peed herself laughing, clutching the door frame in a desperate attempt to stay upright. Tears came to her eyes, air so hard to breathe in because Gajeel was wearing an apron and had a very small and defined handprint on his ass. Gajeel was cooking.

“Oi, dont choke.” he said in his gruff manner, flipping what appeared to be really flat pancakes on the cast iron. “You breathe one word of this to the morons and I’ll have to arrest you.”

“Gaj-” Lucy inhaled and immediately broke into giggles again. “He-” More giggles came and she couldn’t stop them. She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard. She missed it.

“You are now a part of Crepe Tuesdays.” Levy said, scooping a heap of crepes onto her plate before reaching for peaches.

“Secrecy is required.” Erza added, nibbling on a strawberry. “Nobody else but us know of Gajeel’s secret gift.”

“Gift?” Gajeel barked, picking up the skillet and dumping out three fresh crepes onto a plate. “Cooking ain’t a gift. It’s a life skill.”

“I think Erza was referring to your ‘crepe magic’, Gajeel.” Levy piped up with a snicker.

At last, Lucy found her voice. “Well, I like crepes better than creeps.” She took Gajeel’s offered plate, humming at the warm smell of vanilla.

“That was one time!” Levy said hotly, stabbing her fork down with a little too much force. “I said I was sorry!”

“Honestly I wanna hear this story from bunny girl’s perspective. You have a way of telling things to your favor.” Gajeel interrupted as he poured more batter out.

“Shut up!” She flung a blueberry at the back of his head.

“I do have one question.” Lucy said, sitting down an spooning some apples onto her plate. “Why crepe Tuesdays?”

Crepes are a Tuesday thing, duh.” Levy answered simply, taking a bite of her concoction and humming. “So accept your fate and eat crepes!”

Of course, silly her. It wasn’t wise to escape now, not when she had fresh crepes to eat.

Being inducted into a crepe eating society on a Tuesday evening wasn’t something Lucy ever planned on in her life, but she would never look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking her fork up, Lucy dug into her crepe, not questioning it again. She always liked a good fate story after all.

.

.

.

Natsu’s arm trembled as he lifted it to block a well placed kick at his head. There was intense power behind it, enough to give him a concussion if he had failed to block in time. The shin struck between the pads, making contact with his skin and jolting a flash of pain through his mind.

Air breezed past his lips, his back muscles tensing for a second before he reacted. Grasping the ankle, Natsu flashed a cocky grin before he lifted the leg above his head with intent to unbalance his opponent.

Unfortunately, his opponent had about 15 years more experience than he.

With a bark of laughter, the man shifted, kicking out with his other leg as he warped backwards. He landed on his hands just as his foot was inches from Natsu’s face. There was no choice. Natsu let go of the ankle to block what could be a painful broken nose.

His sensei grunted as he balanced in a handstand before coiling to land on his feet. His normally slicked back coppery hair was out of place and frazzled, eyes glittering with delight as he smirked.

Natsu tensed in alarm, forgetting almost everything he was supposed to be doing as his sensei lunged quicker than a tiger on the hunt.

I’m open. Natsu thought as he stayed frozen, watching as if having an out of body experience, He sees a weakness!

It was too late. With a viper-quick swipe of a leg to his knees, Natsu was flat on his back and staring at the ceiling. Everything burned but the mat was cold on his bare, heated back.

Damn you, Gildarts! I almost had you!

Gildarts snorted, clearly knowing his student’s thoughts as he leaned over to ruffle Natsu’s hair. “Time out, runt. You gotta hydrate.” he teased before offering his hand.

Pride dented, Natsu accepted the help up off the mat, cracking his neck as they both moved to the bench where their water bottles waited. Both men settled down on the old wooden bench, leaning back and sipping slowly. Gildarts draped a towel around his shoulders, occasionally swiping sweat that beaded on his face.

The silence spoke the most, ever since Natsu was a teen. It was the understanding between them, the calm acceptance that he had no time for outside the dojo.

“You’ve gotten flabby. Natsu, are you skipping your morning exercises?” Gildarts asked after a long yawn.

Natsu, halfway in the process of gulping down water, choked and dribbled water down his front and out of his nose. With a grimace, he accepted the second towel Gildarts offered. Of course he caught on. Today’s sparring was lackluster. It always did when Natsu had too much on his mind. It took fists and pain to bring everything together.

“You know, the man that is out of practice, takes the losses.” Gildarts said, setting down his bottle and resting his elbows on the back of the bench.

Natsu rolled his eyes, dropping the white towel on his lap. Another one of his old sayings again? “Where did you get that philosophy? A fortune cookie?” he said with no real heat behind it.

Gildarts laughed. A deep, throaty laugh that warmed Natsu just a little.

“You’re witty when you wanna be, boy.” He snorted again, glancing to Natsu out of the corner of his eye. “So, where did the Shakespeare quote book come from?” he asked slyly.

Natsu’s spine snapped taunt, all thoughts freezing as his eyes shoot to his bag and the spine of the book that traitorously peeked out of the zipper. Aw shit. “I-uh-”.

Gildart slapped him on the back, eyes glittering again with that feral look. There was blood in the water now and he was on the hunt. He watched Natsu’s shoulders tense as the younger man looked for a way out of the impending interrogation, and Gildarts lived for it. He grinned lecherously, “Is it a girl?”

The flash of panic in Natsu’s expression, only lasting half a second, but it was a clear answer.

“So it is a girl! Haha ‘bout time!”

Carefully, Natsu closed his eyes and exhaled, measuring his next inhale just as carefully. Find the zen. Erza’s weird seminars on CD’s played in his mind, the voices of faceless life coaches telling him to find peace and face this head on. It wasn’t like he actively listened to them like Erza, but after hearing them constantly in the office, he had disk one thru five memorized.

“I’m working on it, but yes.” he answered thinly.

Gildarts hummed, turning his head in interest. “Oh? Who is she? Can she handle you? Is she aware that you sleep talk? Can she wrangle you when you get hot blooded? Does she got a nice bod?” He motioned both hands at his chest with a wink and a dirty cackle.

Natsu slugged him, perhaps more messily than intended but he had to make a point.

Gildarts caught his fist easily, his perverted grin widening. “She dooo.” he drawls.

It pressed all the right buttons. Natsu bound to his feet, fist clenched and eyes sparking like flint on steel. “Alright pervy old man! You’re asking for it!”

Laughing brightly, Gildarts shed his towel and stood, walking slowly to the mat again as he watched Natsu bobbing on his feet now. Ah, he thought as he prepared to start the spar again, that is more like the little runt I know.

Natsu didn’t wait for him to count down. He lurched forward, and Gildarts dodged a punch with ease.His pupil went in for another, and Gildarts dodged that too..At first, Gildarts really thought Natsu wanted to clock him, but then Natsu opened his mouth.

“Her name’s Lucy. She’s the new ADA here.” Natsu swung wide and Gildarts seized the chance to prod at unprotected muscle. Natsu wheezed as the strike robbed him of the air in his lungs, stepping away to catch it again.

“S-She’s...amazing. Real smart and able to put puzzles together in the courtroom. She smiles real pretty too.”

Gildarts kicked out, Natsu ducking as if he saw it coming.

“When she laughs, I feel like I ate too much. But, I can tell she’s been hurt. It’s in her eyes, you know? That’s why. The quotes make her smile, even just a little.”

Gildarts stared, blinking stupidly at the boy that always clammed up on his tender emotions in the past. Now, he saw raw passion for this ‘Lucy’. Passion that he was trying to hide most of the time.

“Kiss her then.” Gildarts suggested, blocking another strike.

Natsu’s face turned crimson. “H-Hell no! She’d floor me!”

“Tell her then.” He tried again.

Natsu puckered his face like he sucked a lemon. “No way. I don’t do that mushy confession shit Gildarts.”

“Then you’re a pansy.” Gildarts teased, dodging the violent series of hits Natsu responded with. “A paaansy~”.

This earned him a few aggressive punches to the block pads but otherwise, Gildarts thanked his lucky stars that Natsu let him get away with the teasing. The runt really had grown up.

“So, you staying out of trouble?” He changed the subject, knowing Natsu didn’t want to brag about his unrequited beau t a pervert like him the whole time. Plus, it wasn’t what was bothering him.

Natsu snorted, catching a kick and shoving the leg away in the next second. His bangs clung to his forehead, his breathing leveled as he prowled around in a circle, looking for a break in defense.

“I’m not that same kid from juvie anymore.” he reasoned quietly, pouting slightly when Gildarts showed no break in his guard. “The straight and narrow, or else I got a lot of people in line to kick my ass.”

At that, the older man smiled slightly.

“I’m glad to hear it.” He truly was. The kid deserved so much more than the hell he was dragged out of. He straightened, making a show of looking to the clock. “Well, I think I’m gonna call it for tonight. I wanna go home and dot on my darling daughter.”

Natsu relaxed too, but his nose wrinkled. “Oh yeah, Cana is just darling, isn’t she?”

Gildarts ignored the sarcasm, stepping off the mat to grasp his towel again. “Same time next week?”

His pupil didn’t stop shuffling through his bag for a clean shirt. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Turning to watch, Gildarts payed attention to the still present stiffness of Natsu’s shoulders, the shadow of fatigue lingering over him. The man wasn’t sleeping right. It was present in the way he moved, the way his eyes glazed, and the way he was his less chipper self.

When he met Natsu some years ago, there was that darkness lurking in the boy. The anger, the regret, and mostly the loneliness had mulched up much of what the boy could have been. The world showed him no mercy in the hand he was dealt, and it forged the jaded diamond of a kid that was in and out of juvie.

Honestly, at first Gildarts wanted nothing to do with him. He was to bring nothing but trouble to him and his daughter. When Makarov approached him with a favor to take the boy as a foster, he turned him down flat. The kid was too much trouble.

Then, old Makarov went to Igneel.

It was a below the belt hit to go to his boxing rival, but Gildarts didn’t blame the old coot. Igneel turned out to be a far better influence than he ever could. Natsu’s transformation was almost like magic. He laughed more, smiled more, played pranks and even grew to love those around him. The angry little boy became a man that always had a trick up his sleeves.

When Igneel adopted Natsu, Gildarts was sure that everything would be alright, that happiness had been achieved. They even came to the dojo for regular matches, Igneel teaching the kid boxing and martial arts.

Until, Igneel had that accident when Natsu was eighteen.

Igneel was out on his bike and it was dark. Some drunk driver came around and-

The loss still was heavy, Gildarts could tell. If he felt it, God knows Natsu shouldered it too.

And then there was-

Ah.

“It’s been three months.”

Natsu stiffened, pausing as he unwrapped his hands. His face remained impassive, his emotions carefully packed down again. After a second, he continued, packing his bag a little quicker than before. He pulled on a shirt and quickly shoved his boxing gloves in the bag, not looking up from his task.

“Natsu.” Gildarts tried softly.

Natsu whirled around sharply, eyes betraying every feeling he was trying to hide. “If you think I’m grieving or something, you are wrong. We weren’t close. We just survived together.” he snapped, turning back and zipping his bag closed.

Gildarts sighed tiredly, already regretting bringing the subject up but knowing it was too late to back out and leave it alone. “You were biological brothers. His death must of had some impact-?”

Natsu had none of it. He shouldered the bag strap, cracking his shoulders and glaring at the floor with all the bottled up anger. “He was arrested when I was seven. He got life in prison for what he did: to me and the others. If I felt something, it would be justice.”

But, to Gildarts surprise, Natsu let out a long sigh before meeting his gaze and smiling in exhaustion. “Anyway, I gotta catch up on The Arrow so I’ll see you next time, Pops.” He turned with a wave, walking for the exit just as quickly as he packed.

There was sorrow as Gildarts watched the door close and heard the footsteps down the creaky stairs. Already, the warmth of that kid’s presence was fading. He really was Igneel’s boy, bringing the same energy anywhere he went.

With a shake of his head, Gildarts moved to close up, muttering “That kid’s gonna pop at the wrong moment one of these days.”

.

.

.

Natsu kept his brisk pace down the sidewalk, pulling up his hood and adjusting his headphones over his ears. His mind buzzed, the little voice of his conscience pestering him with every step he took.

Gildarts was only trying to help. Every one of his friends were. Gajeel and Gray, they gave him space when he needed it. Laxus made sure he wasn’t going space cadet at his desk. Lucy kept his mind on the future, reminding him that whatever he was in the past wasn’t who he was now.

A face flashed across his mind, raven hair and a sad smile stained his thoughts. Natsu grit his teeth, barely holding back a snarl of irritation. Zeref, his older brother, someone who was supposed to be family.

He hadn’t seen him since that day he was convicted, sentenced to a life in Plutogrim Penitentiary. He had watched numbly as they cuffed him and dragged him out of the courtroom, his voice calm as he yelled, “No matter where you go, I will always be able to find you, precious brother.’

It scared Natsu at seven, and it scared him as a full grown adult.

Everytime a letter addressed to him in that sickenly familiar script appeared in the mail, Natsu took great pleasure in setting it ablaze. To watch the words burn made him feel powerful, like he was in charge of his life now. Sometimes there were photographs and he loved to watch them burn too.

Then, that one letter arrived three months ago, his name stamped on the envelope, not written. He recalled how his fingers trembled as he opened the letter, numb as he read the contents.

Zeref...was dead. Killed in a cell block riot.

He didn’t remember crying, or screaming. Gray and Gajeel came in just in time to see him put his hand through the wall.

It took one look at the letter for them to understand.

Now, the hole was fixed, a decent sized punching bag in the garage for all three of them to vent on. Fighting was part of their lives, so it payed to stay fit.

He didn’t know why he lost it that day. Maybe it was rage that he never fully paid for his crimes? Maybe it was sorrow for the last connection with his biological family. Maybe he even still loved his brother after all the hell he was put through.

It never erased the wrongness of their crimes. The Dragneel brothers. They started at burglary...and grew into arson and everything else on the wrong side of the law.

His nails dug into his palm. Once Zeref was removed, his life turned around. It all turned around. Even after Igneel passed, Natsu still had family in his friends.

So...why did it still hurt?

Natsu knew he still felt spite at his older sibling, the chance to prove that Zeref was always wrong about him. He wanted his brother to know he wasn’t a waste, or a monster, and that he could be something great. Now, he’d never have that since Zeref was gone. Maybe that was all there was.

He turned down the one way street to his shared house, noticing the kitchen and living room lights on. Two cars sat in the driveway, a blue Ford Focus and a silver Nissan Titan.

So both of them were home already. Natsu breathes in.

He stepped up onto the porch, thankful that one of them remembered to leave the light on so he could see the keyholes. With an exhale, Natsu felt the relief of being home settle in his chest, and his hand fell to the doorknob.

[kytalyst]

First Year Med Tips

What’s a more pleasing way to start again than posting something quite relevant to the community right? (hahaha) 

Anyway, are you an incoming first year med student? or do you have any plans to enter med school soon? well, you might have stumbled on the right post (lol, not really, but humor me please? hahaha)

To start off, I wanted to post something like this because I know how much of a stress it is to start into something without any idea on what’s totally going on. And because I was once in your shoes, struggling to have any some sort of information on what med school really is and just plain tips or advice from someone. 

Disclaimer: I may have passed my first year but it doesn’t mean that I’m in the top 10 of my batch. I’m just your regular struggling med student and in no way a genius (like some of my classmates) but I could offer you some advice or tips to cope up with med school here in the Philippines as an incoming first year student and to show you a glimpse on what to really expect. 

First Year Subjects:

Basic Biomedical Sciences

Gross Anatomy

Bring your reference book for your dissection just so you wouldn’t get lost along the way. I highly recommend Netter’s as an amazing reference. Also, if you can, invest in a 100 pcs glove box for your group, as well as masks it would be less a hassle to buy one every session (trust me, saves you more time to work ahead at the laboratory). Label your materials (it will be used for the whole year, label them so that they would not get lost and for you not to buy another one when you lost your scalpel or etc.)

Histology

Read in advance your laboratory exercise, it will be helpful for you. It would also guide you on what slides you’ll take. Research ahead on what the slides look like so you’ll have an idea on what to label and draw ahead. Don’t forget to bring your coloring materials. Color pencils, highlighters, fine liners help a lot in making sure your drawings look good.

Basic Neurosciences

Be familiar with everything, during laboratory, make sure that you know where the gyrus and sulcus are. Don’t forget to take a photo of everything and label on them. 

Phyisology

If you’re a visual and audio learner like me, it would be helpful for you to search up some videos in the internet after a lecture. NinjaNerd is a very helpful reference for your physio topics. (istg!! I owe 50% of my learnings from him)

Embryology

If you go to the same school as me, read on the chapter summary. It will help you have a general idea about it. Reading the whole chapter helps you familiarize but the summary is enough. 

Basic Radiology

Review the powerpoint slides by your lecturers! Take some time to actually read and review them not just during your exams, this will help you a lot since they are mostly diagrams and scans. 

Family and Community Medicine 1

- Go to class. Don’t take this for granted. The subject is really nice to keep you grounded on what are really the main issues in the community that are related to health. It will help you appreciate the work of a family and community physician. You will be mostly doing paper works in this so team up with classmates who are actually hardworking and that helps you in work load. 

Patient-Doctor Relations 1

- This is actually super fun. You get to have your first hospital exposure but only at the out-patient department. You will be taught on how to take a patient’s history. And if you are a socially awkward person like me (whose premed is biology and have no background on this) try to observe your classmates (especially the nurses) and if possible ask help if you have any difficulty. It will only be difficult at the first try but once you get the hang of it then you’ll be able to ace it. It’s not always that you get to take a patient’s history tho, it would only be 2-4 times this year, but hey it’s still good practice right? Try to follow the format given by your professor and do not just rely on your classmate’s history taking, make it your own so you’ll know how to make one. 

1. Don’t be absent. Attendance in college may not be a huge deal for some universities but in med school? it is HUGE. (at least in my school) Attendance is checked every activity and every lecture (trust me, I was the class beadle). The reason why I tell you this is that, it will help a lot on your image to your professors. It shows that you are serious enough to attend your classes. (Even if you think you’ve covered this topic in your undergrad, still attend your classes, you’ll never know what things will your lecturer emphasize and possibly where he/she get questions for your exams)

2. Take notes. Lectures in Med school usually span for 1.5-3 hours depending on what the topic is all about. To keep yourself awake, one tip would be to take down notes, (may it be in pen or paper / electronically with your ipad or laptop!) trust me, it will help you during finals or exams to know what were the things emphasized by your lecturer.

3. Participate and Perform in Laboratories. Most of the subjects under BBS have laboratories (except for embryology). Try to make sure that you know every exercise and that you would not waste your laboratory period. This is because this will help you during your OSCEs or your Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. 

4. Make your Small Group Discussions interactive. Use visual aids, like powerpoints, flashcards, quiz bowls, etc. Some facilitators may not be the fun type but most of the facilitators would appreciate on you simplifying the topic for your groupmates (BUT please make sure not to skip on important details). 

5. Plot your school activities and exams. Med School is very fast paced, you tend to have long quizzes every monday and sometimes it gets really draining.That’s why I highly suggest to take note and plot in your calendar when will your bimonthlies start, this would give you an idea on how many days there is left before you start reviewing for it. 

6. Always take a photo and label! I’ve said this once, and I will say it again. Don’t be a lazy ass (like me, who only do this when I feel like it TT)  This is applicable to your laboratories, especially in histology and anatomy. When you have your lab exercise, always make sure that you get the slide that your teacher emphasized, have a photo of every slide and label it on that night. trust me. this will help you in your practical exams. And don’t forget to ask for help especially to your professors and classmates. 

7. Find an outlet. It would get really suffocating at times when you are bombed with all these school works. And so I suggest to find an outlet, go to the gym, watch a youtube video or two every once in a while. So that you wouldn’t feel too choked by all these academic stress. 

8. Keep all your notes by Bimonthly. Trust me on this, buy a big envelope and place all your notes and transes once the bimonthlies are over. This would really help you for finals so that you wouln’t be looking for all your scattered notes and print them again. Save the environment. 

9. You don’t need to buy all your books. If you know someone from the upperclassmen, ask for a pdf copy of your books. The books really cost around 3-5,000 pesos each and it would be a pain in your wallet or parent’s wallet. (Or if you can afford it then it’s also alright with me tho hehe) But for me, you don’t really need to buy all of them, if you don’t want to. Befriend an upper classmen or two then ask for a pdf.

10. You are not alone. (oooh scary jk but you get me right?) You are still at an adjusting phase. First year brings a shock to most people on how med school really works. And I guess a good advice that I could tell you is that you are not alone. Your classmates and friends are also going through this. Everyone is struggling in med school (I still am) and that’s ok. You’ll find your groove soon enough (hopefully me too). Don’t be in a rush and don’t pressure yourself too much, just take things one day at a time. One task at a time. There will be days that you feel so bad that you don’t want to do anything and that’s ok, find someone to talk to, vent out what your feeling, contact your mentor, go to the gym, bake a cake, then move on. Make your bad day into good.

I’m not sure if these are enough but if you do have any questions feel free to dm me. And don’t forget that you are still a work in progress. Things will get really rough and that is because you are growing to become a skilled and good physician. If you’re not struggling then maybe you’re not really learning? (lol what? hahahaha idk) but really, just trust the process. You can do it! I believe in you! 

[profemanley]

Sydney, Australia

Week Twenty-One (May 2-9)

My second week in Sydney turned out to be just as busy as the first, filled with work at the University of Sydney, lots of walking and exploring, a little shopping, and a trip to a coastal town south of Sydney called Mollymook. Oh, and kangaroo!

During the week I continued to enjoy my office at the US Studies Centre. Seriously, a badass espresso machine in the workplace is a total game changer. I think every place of business should have one. I mean, the rest of the fancy in the centre’s kitchen is great (obviously marble counter tops and Breville panini makers should be de rigeur in every work kitchen, no?) but high quality lattes on demand really take it to a whole new level. Anyway, it’s also been great to have a place that’s quiet, but also filled with people, to do some of the review and organization of the materials I have been collecting for the last four months. I finished a draft of what will likely be the first chapter of the new project (for presentation at a seminar the next week), printed and reviewed my archival guides (written while gathering in the Archives), and began preparations for my end of my May conference in Barcelona. I was also able to attend a lecture by historian Paul Betts, meet more of the Sydney faculty, and work with one of the graduate students in the seminar I am teaching.

Since January I have had contact with at least half a dozen graduate students and I’ve realized it is something that I wished I had more of in my life. My undergrads are wonderful, but it is a completely distinct set of challenges and opportunities to work with students just beginning their graduate careers. Several students have approached me because of their interest in the Dominican Republic (thank you dear colleagues at Tulane and Brown!) while a few others found me through my recent work in Jamaica. The group in Sydney is not really centered in my geographical area of expertise but are interested in gender and women’s history. I hope this pattern does continue because I’ve found that advising around master’s and PhD research and writing is something I get really pleasure and gratification from.

So the (non-dorky) highlight of this past week was a trip southward to Mollymook, which is an adorable coastal town not far from what I shalll forever call the kangaroo beach. I went with Thomas in his car, and he had arranged for us to stay at a friend’s dad’s empty lake house. We left near the end of the work day Friday and got in around eight. Given the dearth of dining options along the highway we braved Burger Jacks, which is an eerie replica of Burger King (there’s also a bunch of Gloria Jean’s -hello 90s mall haunts - coffee shops around town). Like in Jamaica, they too have a veggie burger. While they, not shockingly, don’t offer pineapple as an add-on, the patty itself was even better than the US version (which isn’t half bad, for the record). Anyway, we arrived and settled in quickly as we had early morning surfing lessons the next day. The weather, while sunny and beautiful the next morning, was not exactly what I would call beach temperature, so luckily our adorable instructor had full wet suits ready for us. Our lesson included one other person (a woman in her late 60s who was pretty badass) and it was to be about three hours. Turns out our lovely instructor (surf boy extraordinaire) was also a history undergrad and a self proclaimed commie (although likely socialist as it seems he did not own the means of production in this outfit) which turned out to be particularly beneficial to Thomas and I. Well, mostly me, but I will claim that it was because he was interested in the Caribbean (as both surfer and commie). Not-to-long story short, I got a bunch of attention, stood up on the board more than a few times, and was completely spent before our lesson was completely over. I can’t say I’m gonna move to the beach and become Lori Petty’s character on Point Break (although that has always been my secret dream) but I think I might be a little hooked.

We finished our weekend with an incredible meal with Thomas’ friend (and some of her friends) at a place called St. Isadore on Saturday night and a trip to the kangaroo beach (technically, Pebbly Beach) on the way back toward Sydney on Sunday. I was skeptical at first, but as soon as you walk onto the beach area there were a mess of wallabies - and even more as you wander around the grounds of this beach / National Park. They are all obviously used to humans, and just kind of chill and watch you. It was both amazing, and a little creepy! I am hopeful to see other strange creatures during this time in Australia, but as far as I’m concerned, priority #1 (yes, kangaroo even if they’re technically wallaby) has been met!

[thercbray]

Brand Analysis: Valentino, Part I (Beginnings - 1960s)

Summary: This is an analysis of Valentino SpA, the fashion and luxury brand, through an exploration of the brand history, creative evolution, business strategy, and competitive landscape. This is part one of a series.

This post originally began as part of a group term project for Sales Management, a course I took while studying abroad at Polimoda during my undergrad (May 2017). It has been updated and expanded from it’s original 10 page format to include the addition of visuals and content. 

Beginnings

Born May 11, 1932 in Voghera, Italy, Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani showed interest in fashion and art. Theater, especially the costumes, would later become part of his design language. By the age of 17 he moved to Paris to study at the illustrious École des Beaux-Arts and then Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. He started a cutting course with a former Dior premiere followed by an apprenticeship for couturier Jean Dessès in 1950. In his book, History of International Fashion, Didier Grumbach writes that Dessès clients predominantly consisted of “Greek and Egyptian courts, rich ship builders, and their entourages”; thus Dessès became well-known for embellished ball gowns and fresh takes on cruise wear, which “marked the 1950s”. The designer’s time at Dessès certainly left its mark on Valentino Garavani who’s aesthetic would also resonate with those same clientele. Five years later Valentino, with his friend and co-worker Guy Laroche, left Dessès to start Laroche’s own house. In 1959 Valentino moved back to Italy and opened his eponymous fashion house at 11 Via Condotti in Rome with the backing of his parents.

1960s

On February 28 at the via Condotti headquarters, Valentino’s first collection showed 110 looks to the Italian press. WWD archives report Valentino’s first collection consisted of “suits with short jackets, broad shoulders with set-in sleeves...and high half-belts...sometimes extending to peplums”; clients, which mostly consisted of South Americans and actresses, thought his collection was “young, fresh, and chic”. Macy’s was one of the first US retailers to support the brand and in February 1960 ran a seven column ad showcasing the available styles, retailing between $129 and $195 with a focus on tunics. Though popular amongst the fashion press, the first year of business nearly sent the company into bankruptcy. It was the help of Giancarlo Giammetti, an architecture student who dropped out of college to manage the business, that saved the house. For Fall/Winter ‘61-62, the house released its first Collezione Bianca (White Collection), which consisted of twelve look all inspired by Jacqueline Kennedy. By the end of 1961, Valentino SpA produced children's fashions and relocated to a smaller headquarters at 24 via Gregoriana. 

On July 23, 1962 (hallmarking the tenth anniversary of the first fashion show in Italy) Valentino made his debut at Pitti Palace in Florence (the former fashion capital of the Italy). He emerged as one of the brightest young talents of the season; WWD described the collection as having barreled coats and day dresses, natural shoulders, well defined waistlines, suits with rows of self trimming, and jewel-toned eveningwear. His success was in part attributed to Fellini’s neo-realist La Dolce Vita, which propagated a classic Italian aesthetic. Some of the house’s earliest clients included: Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Alida Valli, and Silvana Pampanini.

By Fall/Winter 1963 his designs were in the time’s most fashionable speciality and department stores such as Macy’s, Saks, May and Co, Hannah Troy, Hess Bros, and Marella Agnelli. The following year, Valentino Garavani presented his collection at the Waldorf Astoria. By 1965, the house moved its shows from Florence to Rome and opened a second studio on via Sant’Andrea. Also, the aesthetic shifted from recurring sequins and feathers to a more elegant, developed hand with the clientele to support — Jacqueline Kennedy reportedly requested all croquis of that collection for her private selection while Audrey Hepburn decamped to the burgeoning house from Hubert de Givenchy. In summer 1967, the house expanded into menswear in partnership with Celanese and rainwear collections manufactured by Lawrence of London. Next came the iconic “V” logo (emblazoned on accessories or used as an allover print) then a more romantic style showcasing ruffles, soft fabrics, fitted waists, and small busts. In May 1968 the house opened a boutique (for full line rtw, footwear, handbags, belts, and accessories) in Paris on Avenue Montaigne back by four socialites and designed by Valerian Ribba. For Spring/Summer the house proposed its second Collezioni Bianca, showcasing a suits, coats, and more in white and off-white — most notably it solidified Valentino Garavani as a couturier and served as the basis for Jacqueline Kennedy’s wedding to Aristotle Onassis. That year’s Fall/Winter couture collection was a hit amongst American buyers; wholesales tripled (reportedly prices also increased by about a third). By the close of the decade business boomed on all fronts: wholesale orders rivaled French houses, a Canadian exclusivity deal with Holt Renfrew (not to mention accounts with Bergdorf Goodman, Macy’s, and Lord and Taylor); multiple collections (women’s couture and rtw, men’s, and children); licenses; stores in New York, Paris, Milan, and Rome; the adoration of the fashion press; and a long list of jet set clients

Sources

[hopefulwhisperscollectorstu-blog]

A Life threatening Misstep Revealed on University or college Coursework and ways to Abstain from It

New Post has been published on https://www.cholixi.vn/a-life-threatening-misstep-revealed-on-university-or-college-coursework-and-ways-to-abstain-from-it/

A Life threatening Misstep Revealed on University or college Coursework and ways to Abstain from It

The Showdown About Advanced schooling Coursework and approaches to Acquire It

The utmost try out ranking inside a specified workout session will likely be taken into consideration. Originally you need to manage together with your instructor to authenticate the topic. If your lessons takes a C for any substantial, then you need to make a C for a transmitted training to remain positioned on the essay help main.

If existing internationally along the perfect time of program, global applicants that are offered job interviews needs to be ready to come personally. If care has brought you faraway from scholastic be suitable for well over two many years, we propose that you enroll in complicated advanced schooling quality guides earlier distributing an formal use. The University or college won’t pull in any tuition alterations for a change in registration following in closing of these basic a month subsequently, after the beginning of sign up.

These answers and questions will help you here is additional information. Commercial enterprise administrators might need to instructor or instruction downline to be sure that they’ve the ideal perspective and training for their issued labor. You won’t be absolutely wrong in demanding http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/archive/historical/UNSWCommerceHandbook1980.pdf advise to be a success.

Life span Soon after University or college Coursework

World-wide applicants are accountable for his or her individual visa cost and contracts and have to notice that there’s no funding (like government financial aid) out there for world-wide individuals. It’s achieveable for one to arrangement Exceptional training facilitate in order to find a deduction. Don’t seem as if you will need to daily schedule your lifetime into 15-min increments, but do be sure you can fill all agreements.

What College or university Training Is – and What exactly it is Not

The online market place thing is a really personal reference to how you would acquire the coursework papers live on the internet on the webpage. If you happen to concerned about your school backdrop, don’t pause to seek the advice of us in your important questions. As soon as you finish the application form application and decide on the subject so now you should simply select the writer!

Compose a list https://payforessay.net/essay-help of all the situations you wish to caused by your newly purchased level, body it, and place it in your recharged review location. Take into account working with a manager those that should follow far better effective time management to be assured you’re owning adequate enough study time. It’s crucial to be familiar with each of the manner of advise and then the reinforce structure easily accessible to being a significant facet to net college achieving success.

You are going to find a better understanding of our effective composition for educational authoring and get the chance to examine new information ideas and employ your own personal posting skills. Wants and needs, at long last, you will receive an undiscovered that absolute best completeness system simply writing skills help you stay far away at a horrible balance and share you correspond far better levels. Understanding can occasionally be strong, however, with the suitable determination, understanding, scheduling and mindset, you should get the do the trick accomplished.

Situations You Should Know About College Coursework

On moreover portion, there are particular reliable skills enrollees can potentially utilize to try to fix and working experience top-quality levels of making it in university or college. Being an matter of concept, amongst the most important components of college is advanced schooling training. Don’t transport the load of needing an excessive amount of training any time you don’t should.

What You Ought To Do to discover more on University or college Coursework Well before You’re Put Aside

Be sure to look at the training material which you’ve specified. Only at this site you are able to acquisition coursework printed accvording to your personal preferences and directions. Absolutely yes, it’s clear that you will experience sick and tired and dejected on account of the unlimited investigation projects.

If you are an example, if you’ve composed an internship yourself you might consider obtain proofreading. Is it advisable to might need some help in instruction, you could possibly seek suffered trainees to assist you with studies essays to write. Language literature training isn’t mandatory.

Up in Forearms About University Coursework?

It’s in the same way essential to be hydrated and find out a satisfactory volume of rest each and every one night. Mind-calming exercise and fitness are the most beneficial ways of reduction tension and keep you opting for the remainder for the day. Preparation and examinations will accumulate, deliver the results and endeavor daily activities will collide, and normally, your social life requires a little interest regarding the attention of your sanity.

The Thing to complete for University or college Coursework

Individuals who don’t have transcripts forwarded to Kent Talk about is likely to be posted a prompt communication to accomplish this. Academic Bankruptcy is much like Freshman Forgiveness. Undergrad trainings will not be moved into completion of a scholar measure.

It usually is aggravating for the young people. College coursework is certainly an essential part of understand for every student. They is definitely not permitted to receive academic credit ratings for courses for which they did not perfectly sign up.

Imperative Components of School Coursework

It’s also wise to gain benefit from the wealth of online information and applications there to get knowledgeable about the essential principles of AI. Subsequently after you’ve used to participate in the Leader Share Procedure, we’ll designate that you simply Pioneer Share advisor. The Leader Convey System gives a terrific chance of initial convenience to university.

Create a list of all the events you want to try to your own position, shape it, and place it into your rested study open area. Far too alter the united selections up to the point you’re truly serious on the other conclusion. It’s critical to be familiar with every one of the technique of service together with the assist feature easily accessible to for an beneficial facet to world wide web advanced schooling great success.

Mathematics coursework necessitates special mental functions, certainly considering in the matter of math. Advanced schooling coursework is probably most crucial duties when you are understanding. So, just about every single individual will need to cope with training posting a minumum of a single time during his understanding.

Low-native Language loudspeakers might have to upload logical TOEFL results. On top of that, our training freelance writers are trained professionals primarily things in several academic segments. Language literature coursework isn’t necessary.

Advanced schooling Training Serve!

Just explore the taste listed below, and you should have a notion of what what to predict from the exposure to CSU-World wide. Should it be period to mastering the most effective method to end up with any top quality get the job done done is always to just change them away while focusing entirely on books and information. Once you don’t make contact with the folks surrounding you as you’re doing work full time in addition to choosing any amount of university training, you might be heading nowhere extremely fast.

Necessary Aspects of Higher education Coursework

If you’re own home schooled, speak to the Morris online Learning place of work for more information. There aren’t any service fees for the solutions offered in the Learner Victory Middle. The Pioneer Express Program provides a wonderful potential for soon accessibility to college.

The School Training Mask

If you’ve read through a couple different training reports and will not understand how to produce your cardstock, you’re involved in the proper insert. Because of our extensive publishing surgery, you’ll also have the capability to ranking great into your classification. For instance, a student are advised to professional the content mostly biochemistry long before moving forward to organic chemistry.

Make sure you also signature along any necessary schedules or agenda fluctuations relating to your employment, anytime you haven’t by now. You should be capable of concentrate on the college jobs as well and also have no supplementary practicing process in making use of the correct software package that world wide web higher education necessitates. You can actually try to find taste agendas on the internet pages of every one of the qualified majors.

Move credit standing is probably not found in getting together with the nominal availablility of 400-level consumer credit a number of hours essential for the master’s college degree. Our coursework program has existed for most long time. Focusing on how to examine safely can help you produce the the majority of the time that you simply invest in your schoolwork.

Most effective Higher education Training Tricks

Secondary school and perhaps even community college evaluation patterns will never do business in the school point. Should you wish to choose a personal university or college, you might have restricted expenditures. Individuals are liable for giving you transporting.

The Downside Chance of School Training

One more thing you can do in an attempt to risk-free a whole lot better final results is generally to operate a preliminary analysis. If you can and also hardwearing . give attention to your focuses on, it is going to help curb that senioritis. Immediately, furthermore, you can get lots of great and crucial greatest essays of 2018 around that might help you get extra money for assistance.

The Struggle Through School Coursework and the way to Succeed in It

Maximum test out report within the offered procedure is likely to be thought of. About mid-semester, it may possibly turned out to be hard to continue focused on the final plan, but it’s extremely important to your ability to succeed. As soon as you have finished each and every undergrad classes, you’ll be assigned to surface finish your clinical workout.

Mastering Advanced schooling Coursework

You will find a stronger comprehension of your best suited plan for school authoring and possess the possiblity to investigate new information simple steps and use your individual creating expertise. Needs and wants, as a final point, you might receive an unfamiliar that top-rated completeness schedule composing understanding make you stay far away originating from a horrible arrears and provides anyone to communicate much better grades. Actually, young people encounter the good deal of the duties that must be implemented on paper.

The Thing you need to do for School Coursework

The College employs a discerning admissions endeavor to appraise applicants. It can be hard to access information on whether or not your credits will transport so that you can incredibly matriculate as the undergrad. A student will in addition be granted a transcript with this college or university that’s offering the training program training course.

You might not be about to obtain your school college diploma yet just want to exhibit that you’re school prepared. Advanced schooling coursework is without a doubt a crucial part of investigation for every single student. They will never be allowed to receive educational credit for courses of instruction for that they did not accurately signup.

If existing abroad in the right time of application form, world-wide job seekers accessible interview ought to be ready to be found physically. Making use of scholastic assistance to a personalized training is certainly not to worry about. The School won’t receive any tuition alterations for modifications in enrollment following a bottom line associated with the early 30 days immediately after the start of sign up.

To undertake a properly-crafted superior report, it’s compulsory for one to realize your publishing taste to express the main topic of your academic article suitably. The start with the most beneficial coming up with especially is much more traced. Whenever you top notch the application form make and choose this issue you now can purchase the freelance writer!

Adding School Coursework

Preparing for the next elegance isn’t so simple as it might resemble. By taking a winter season approach, you will make a trio of credits in a couple of weeks! All aspects are quite a bit easier when you’ve bought a strategy.

It’s quite as necessary to remain hydrated and discover a satisfactory level of relaxation any night time. Most likely going to university is truly an tremendous adaptation as it is a time of vary. Preparation and exams will accumulate, task and adventure routines will collide, and normally, your self confidence will be needing a bit of special attention for that passion of your sanity.

Best rated Choices of School Coursework

If do not possess any college diploma, but have finished write-secondary training systems, you continue to must inventory that knowledge. Path requirements are precisely the same whether you graduate in 30 years or three. Settle for you may need to get a lot more classes further than what exactly needed by your popular to match the requirements compelled for all the PA classes which you would like to try.

Prospects with 5 semesters of college or university coursework may want to take into consideration our Liberal Research projects diploma conclusion possibilities. It is crucial for college students in advanced schooling this is because it determines their long run helping to them to build a valuable vocation. Honors University students make use of the Honors Coursebook in conjunction with the University’s net training course itemizing to help with making their training plans every individual semester.

Basically, on this website, at our site, students may easily spotted the full variety of supportive specialists and don’t possess troubles with the printed jobs in any respect. Just like a the greatest possible an ideal school assignment can supply you with a high ranking and indulgence within the examination. So, just in case you, like countless completely different pupils regularly, feel like you want some help with coursework, at this stage you realize where you should appear for your helpful, trustworthy product which will offer you a top superior quality paper at a really low the price and as part of your described time frame.

As an example ,, you are likely to already have a trustworthy supply of revenue constantly in place, which can make it a lot less tough to meet the expense of tuition or other expenses. You don’t realize what fun-filled activities and what factors to be mindful originally of. Alongside qualification for a BCBA, there’s one more lower standard of certification you can get.

These questions and answers could actually help you read more. If you can to help keep your look into your targets, it will help restrain that senioritis. You won’t be unsuitable in looking for improve to gain success.

The use of College or university Training

You certainly will purchase a more efficient understanding in the appropriate composition for academic posting and get the opportunity to look into new information options and exercise your own article writing talents. Ought to have, as a final point, you are going to get an mysterious that first rate completeness package coming up with abilities help you stay distant at a undesirable credit debt and give yourself to interact significantly better marks. Actually, kids run into the massive amount of the duties that must be accomplished on paper.

It’s also recommended that you gain benefit from the wealth of online resources and sources there to get knowledgeable about the primary thoughts of AI. Whenever it has to do with coursework enable, make sure you have the utter most by professionals blended solutions which might be fully effective. The Leader Share Approach gives a magnificent opportunity for quickly ease of access to university.

Worldwide candidates are liable for their own pupil visa cost and paperwork and should really understand that there’s no backing (like government financial aid) available for global applicants. Seeing as every get is crucial and much needed. A. No, you might use precisely the same PGP method for all of your licenses and contents locations.

The majority of health-related colleges will encourage further coursework in biology also. Also, you don’t need to pay us original, if only we provide you with you higher education coursework assist and so you are satisfied for it only then if you ever end up paying us. Upon getting ended entering each and every college training, you may be final.

You will discover also world-wide-web-located coursework provider you can aquire training to add an actual selection of good quality by way of your job. There are various of online resources available on the market that may help you on your coursework. You might want to find out how to grow your learning to coincide because of the rigor associated with the groups you’re being open to.

[canaryatlaw]

alright. so today was pretty chill. I woke up to my alarm at 11:30, which I intentionally set 15 minutes earlier than I normally would’ve because it was going to be 80 degrees out and I knew I had to lug my giant suitcase in from our back porch area (it’s not really a porch) and dig through it until I could find a tank top and some shorts. luckily it didn’t take me very long to do so, so I just had some breakfast and chilled out for a bit. I opted to walk again because the bus options were like 12:09 and 12:38, which obviously neither work for me to arrive at 12:30. I loosely timed it today and it took about 15 minutes to walk there, so not bad (at least when you’re used to living in a city without a car and walking everywhere). PT session was good, I think I’m gonna have to tell the guy that the exercises he has me doing right now are too easy haha because he’s like “okay do 30 bridges’ when at the other place I’d moved up to doing single leg bridges with a 15 pound weight on my chest, so I could do 30 normal ones in my sleep lol. but other than that it was good, I like it there, it’s a bit smaller than the other place but everyone is very friendly and cordial, so that’s good. Got out of there are 2, walked home, had some lunch and tried to get some studying done. I did the remaining two secured transactions lecture videos from the bar website back to back, so I could get the rest of that info into my brain, then I downloaded an outline from outline depot, which I was slightly irritated about because none of the outlines I uploaded had been reviewed yet, meaning I didn’t get a credit for them, so I ended up having to shell out $20 for the outline (which, like I said last time, is really a fair price compared to other options, it’s just annoying when you know you could’ve gotten it for free). I can’t really blame them though, it’s finals time and I’m sure they have a ton of people like me trying to submit outlines last minute so they have a ton to go through. I had decided I wanted to make vanilla pudding and an apple crisp, the pudding to use the two egg yolks I had in my fridge that were left over from me making the meringues the other day, and for some reason I just wanted apple crisp. the pudding was simple enough, milk, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, vanilla and butter (and a few other minor things) and that all came together quite nicely. After that I went back to my computer and made a table of contents sheet for the outline so I don’t have to waste time flipping through it trying to find stuff during the test (or at least have to waste less time doing so). I had gotten a new ink cartridge from amazon, so I went ahead and stuck that in there, then printed the outline. I decided to print my notes too, just because it’s better to have more information, even if they’re pretty sparse because I didn’t quite pay attention for most of the class. So I printed all that a hole punched it so it’s ready to go in my binder. I then wanted to make the apple crisp. I had three granny smith apples in my fridge, so I found a recipe that could work with that. Peeled and sliced the apples, made the crumb topping (which turned out super good, not entirely sure why, but it was heavenly) made a flour/butter/brown sugar mixture to coat the apples in, then stick it all in the pan and put it in the oven. It was ready around 6:45, perfect timing for me to get some and go watch The Flash. apple crisp is obviously a solid dinner choice. As far as The Flash goes, well, it was definitely not my favorite episode, by a long shot. the whole council of Wells thing is a great example of just because you can doesn’t mean you should (which is what I tweeted while watching it), it’s just so overdone at this point and I really don’t want to see Tom Cavanagh playing any more ridiculous versions of the character. so that was not my favorite. I liked the stuff with Iris getting back to being a journalist FINALLY (we’ve only been asking for that for like, 2 seasons now), but I can’t say I was too into the whole Amunet Black storyline, I just didn’t really care about her, and the entire goal they were aiming towards was kind of nebulous and the stakes weren’t really there. Not sure what to make about the Caitlin/Killer Frost storyline at this point, I am very much against character attacks on both Iris and Caitlin, especially when it’s because of a ship, and I’ve seen some WA shippers attacking Caitlin for being selfish, and I feel like, at the very least, that is lacking in empathy. I very much ship WA and love them together, but I don’t harbor any ill will against Caitlin, a fictional character, who shouldn’t be demonized because some people ship her with Barry. But anyway. Not sure how I feel about that whole thing and where they’re going with that. When that was over I switched over to Rise, which was a very intriguing episode. First off, I have to say I kinda hope Lilette’s mom gets arrested for child neglect, because she is very much guilty of it at the moment. like, you can’t just walk out and leave your teenager alone for days, doing nothing to take care of them during that time, I don’t care what you’re going through or what happened between you, you’re a fucking adult and a parent, you don’t get to just storm off and leave your kid alone. So obviously that bothered me a bit, for reasons that I would think are pretty apparent at this part. The whole plot about cleaning up the show I found to be rather amusing, because to cut all the things they wanted to there would like, be nothing left in the show lol. All of it is so essential to the characters, and hearing them sing “YEAH YOU’RE HOSED ALRIGHT” was really fucking amusing, I was legit laughing at that. Being that next week is the season finale and the night of the show, it’s pretty obvious that they’re gonna end up saying fuck it and do the correct version of the show, though I’m sure that will have repercussions. The storyline about Maashous gave me a lot of feelings (again, for obvious reasons) and I hope they play that out in a way that is doing justice to the source material and the many real children who end up in these situations. When that was over I switched over to Amazon Prime Video and watched a few episodes of The Good Place before starting to get ready for bed. At some point during the day, I don’t remember when, I checked my email to find one from the tech company I had done the two phone interviews for, stating the classic “thank you for applying to this position, we’ve decided to go another way” rejection letter style. I was honestly somewhat relieved, because if I ended up there I was *very* concerned that if I got it I was going to end up hating the job and just being miserable. Of course though, that knocks out one of my Illinois prospects, leaving the only active one to be the DV clinic, which isn’t exactly a job prospect, but I’m really hoping if I just knock everyone’s socks off I can turn it into one. Whether I stay here or not is still going to end up turning on what happens with the NYC job, which I should be hearing from any time now, but it does make it somewhat harder to justify staying in Illinois on the basis of having more prospects and opportunities here when one of those is gone. At the same time though, job prospects in New York would also be quite limited, there really aren’t any active possibilities, the only somewhat active one would be interning at the county attorneys office (they do the job the ASA’s do here in child welfare court) unpaid until I get officially sworn in as an attorney in November/December, then *maybe* they’ll hire me, as they are currently stating they’re only looking for licensed attorneys for their positions. I’m kinda disappointed I didn’t hear back from any of the other jobs I sent all those applications to, mostly because I felt like a lot of them were very strong and would give me a good shot at the job, but I guess being straight out of law school is just not something they’re looking for right now. So yeah. that was a massive tangent. I still have mixed feelings about the NYC job, because I don’t want to leave Chicago, but I want that job, and there’s not (currently at least) any options for that job here, and who knows when OPG will lift their hiring freeze, it’s already been in place for over a year, so hedging my bets on that it’ll be lifted soon doesn’t seem like a good decision. Sigh. I keep praying about all of it and saying if you want me to go to New York then make this job happen and I will, if not don’t make it happen and I’ll stay here, so I’m hoping that job with be somewhat of a sign of what I should do. I am somewhat of the opinion that “God’s Plan” for our lives isn’t one set path, that we have free will to make decisions, and (as long as it’s a good decision) He will find a way to bless the path we take. That idea was first told to me by one of my theology professors in college, after I went to her with a very broken heart after certain events, and was broken up about what was meant to be and who I was meant to end up with. She said there was a book, I don't remember the exact name, but something along the lines of “Good news for the anxious Christian” basically communicating the idea that God will find a way to bless whatever positive decisions we make, and that really stuck with me. Sadly enough, the next semester, that professor happened to be one of “The 8″ that had been terminated by the school in the incident that led to the whole “Support the 8″ campaign where basically the entire undergrad study body was infuriated and the administration was very, very shook. So when they were collecting letters I wrote one supporting her along with the one I wrote for Derek (theatre professor that was the heart and soul of the undergrad program who they carelessly fired) and emailed her to let her know I had done so, she was out on maternity leave at the time (which of course makes it that much worse that they fired her). I just wanted her to know that the students were actively supporting her, and she responded very thankfully. That was all such an unfortunate incident...I’m really, really off a tangent now, and it’s past 1 am, so I think I will take my leave now. Goodnight dear friends. Be blessed.

[terrancedkennedy]

Repost: Nassim Taleb, Thanksgiving Turkeys, and Inverse VIX ETFs

*This will be the last repost, I promise - will no longer use the blogger app that keeps deleting this post*

We've documented here in the past the dangerous embedded in this current low volatility environment. If there is a volatility blow up, it is easy to imagine how easily things can snowball out of control. With that said, one of the areas not covered in minute detail is the prevalence of inverse VIX ETFs.

Before getting into that, here is some free promotion for Nassim Taleb's Fooled By Randomness and Black Swan books.

In one of the books (can't remember which one), Taleb pompously explains the simple concept pertaining the flaws of logic, the dangers of using specific incidences to reach general conclusions. One variant of this is using the past to predict the future. Amidst his grandiose and philosophically ridden text is quite a simple and down to earth example.There is a turkey who is fed and taken care of until it is Thanksgiving time. If one was to chart the well-being of a turkey through this course of events, it would go something like so:

Now, when my parents heard I was trading my own money (back in undergrad...ah...those were the days), they frequently asked me whether I can lose everything in one day (they've heard the folktales and war stories of market-on-participant violence). I repeatedly said "No!".Even during the most violent market crashes, there are a number of opportunities for non-institutional participants to get out. 1987 is the example of the most violent and immediate market crash I personally know. Even then, market participants with a nose for market timing had a few chances to exit the market with relatively mild losses or even be able to profit.

Then came 2017 and the prevalence of inverse VIX ETFs. Let's read a description excerpt from one of these bad boys.

 The investment seeks to replicate, net of expenses, the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures index. The index was designed to provide investors with exposure to one or more maturities of futures contracts on the VIX, which reflects implied volatility of the S&P 500 Index at various points along the volatility forward curve.

That statement brings up some intriguing questions:

What happens when, in one session, the VIX increases by 100% or more?

Has that happened? What happens to inverse VIX ETFs then?

What if the VIX increases by 50% or more - what happens to levered positions on inverse VIX ETFs? etc. etc. First, has it happened?

I looked at two different volatility gauges - the VIX directly and the older VXO (volatility for S&P 100) indicatively. Clearly, there is little that bounds these volatility gauges from appreciating upwards of 100% on a daily basis.In fact, here are the times in history (of data available to me) when you would've gone bust holding these inverse VIX ETFs, if they existed in the past. I looked at both daily returns (prev day close vs next day close) and intraday returns (prev day close vs next day high).I looked at scenarios with 0 leverage, 2x leverage and 3x leverage (believe it or not, I know of retail participants trading inverse VIX ETFs on leverage). I crunched some numbers and built a matrix with the 25 biggest return days in each scenario for each instrument. Times, when one would go bust, are in bold. Calculations are indicative as I am looking at spot VIX.

So yes, it's possible to go bust when these volatility gauges spikes, especially when levered.

What will those ETF instruments do when they should be down 100% or more?From reading the prospectus it seems that an event of a spike in volatility occurs, it would be an "Acceleration Event" defined as:

  includes any event that adversely affects our ability to hedge or our rights in connection with the ETNs, including, but not limited to, if the Intraday Indicative Value is equal to or less than 20% of the prior day’s Closing Indicative Value.

where the manager of the ETF will liquidate its assets and proceeds distributed.It's almost as if Nassim Taleb specifically built an instrument to illustrate his turkey concept.What about the larger market impact?From my digging, there seemed to upwards of 2.5 billion dollars invested in different VIX funds, mostly short vol in the form of XIV.

Although 2.5 billion dollar seems small in the grand scheme of an entire financial market. It is still a sizable amount held by retail that can potentially disappear into thin air.Yield enhancement of a portfolio is all well and fine but there are ways to do it, and ways not to do it. There are also times to do it, and times when you shouldn't. Something to chew on.I assume not too many Macro-Man readers are collecting nickels via these inverse VIX ETFs at this point of the market cycle. But if you are, congrats on the money you've piled up - and you should probably reduce positions to an amount you're okay with, if it evaporates in a day's time.Portfolio Updates:

Short oil. There are a few tidbits regarding oil that has prompted me to cover Thursday. First Venezuela is a mess and there is the possibility that no oil comes out of the country. This is a concern for a short like me, as they are a huge global oil producer.

Additionally, higher US rates scare me as they can put meaningful pressure on US producers, which can lead to a reduction of supply.

Thirdly, the chart's just not cooperating for oil - seems to be making a bottom.

Lastly, perma-bull Andy Hall threw in the proverbial towel a week ago. I know it's anecdotal, but I think it speaks volumes regarding this market's sentiment.Even if the oil market goes lower, there will probably be an easier time to go back short - when it feels less like I am fighting the market.Short equities, we have seen the rally that I believed was in the cards - now will tech top out at this potentially lower high? I loaded up on an even bigger position Thursday. Will be either vindicated or stopped out within the next three sessions.

Long USDJPY. Unlimited. Bond. Purchases. If JGB yields rise with the rest of the world's duration, then the BOJ has to buy more. The more the BOJ owns, the less liquidity that market will be and the more broken that market will become (just ask any bond trader).

A reflexive process can potentially take hold here: the weaker the Yen becomes, fewer participants who are not mandated to hold JGBs will want to own them (not to mention less liquidity in the market). The less they want to own them the more they will want to sell. The more they will sell means that the BOJ will have to print more Yen to buy JGBs and also coincidentally make JGBs less attractive vis-à-vis the currency and also killing the market's liquidity. 

So how much Yen will the BOJ have to print in order to buy an asset that most will not want to own? I don't know but probably a lot. Probably moar.

For all the commodity heads who follow the blog - look out for an upcoming softs post. Soft commodities, especially cocoa, are starting to look very interesting from the long side.Thanks all, as always, good luck out there.

[hottytoddynews]

At home in Zimbabwe, Waters nurtures beneficial relations between wildlife and people.

*This story was republished with permission by The Meek School Magazine.

Rob Waters (’84) loves cherry pie. He said he ate plenty during his year at Ole Miss and hasn’t had any to match since. He says the cherries in his native Zimbabwe just aren’t the same.

Waters is a slender man with thin-rimmed glasses, a baseball cap, and a love for his homeland. He remains even-tempered at all times, barely speaking above the volume of a whisper, but when he does speak he draws people in. He grew up surrounded by nature, and although he likes to leave every so often, he always returns home.

Waters, 54, graduated from the University of Zimbabwe in 1983 with an English degree. During his final year as an undergrad, he began looking toward the future. He knew he didn’t want to be a teacher, and so he pondered other options.

“What do you do with an English degree if you’re not going to teach? I obviously thought about journalism,” Waters said. “It uses my love of English and I would be able to write creatively.”

He took pen to paper and wrote letters to universities across the world, including England, Canada and a “heap” in the United States.

“America in that stage was way ahead of the rest of the world in terms of formal academic training in journalism,” Waters explained.

Ole Miss was the first to respond to Waters’ letter with a financial offer. He said that was the key to his travel to the U.S.

As an English major, Waters had read all of William Faulkner’s novels. Before arriving in Oxford, home of the Nobel Prize-winning author, he already had a complete picture painted in his head. And when he arrived, every detail came to life.

Waters said he loved Southern culture — the food, the land, the literary tradition and the architecture. The typical culture shock that strikes anyone visiting Oxford who didn’t grow up in Mississippi, especially involving race relations, never hit Waters. He said he chose to take on the role of an observer during his 1983-84 academic year in Mississippi.

“I didn’t really judge it at all. I didn’t think, ‘Is it good? Is it bad? Have they moved forward from 100 years ago? Are they moving backwards?’”

To him, Zimbabwe and Mississippi aren’t that different. The African nation, formerly Rhodesia, bore the name of British empire-builder Cecil Rhodes until 1979 and the indigenous blacks were regarded as a servant class, much as African-Americans were in the United States until changes began with the civil rights movement.

“If I had come from Britain, I might have found it a bit heavy,” Waters said. “But coming from Africa, I was already well-versed in all of the racial interaction issues and how we deal with each other as races. Some good, some bad.”

As it has emerged, Zimbabwe has had periods of great progress as well as great turmoil.

The combination of growing up in a country with racial tensions and reading heavily in Faulkner made everything click in Waters’s mind.

“In some ways, and I can’t be specific here, but the gut feel is that the Deep South was ahead of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe/Rhodesia was in those days and in some ways actually behind,” Waters reflected. “There’s always this (situation of) how the races are dealing with each other and dealing with the challenges they give each other, and the opportunities they deny each other just by their numbers.”

Waters added that if he had enrolled in a college in New York or Los Angeles it might’ve made him crazy, but to be in America, Mississippi was the right fit.

After a few introductory journalism courses to gain basic skills and hours upon hours dedicated to graduate classes, Waters graduated from Ole Miss with a master’s degree in journalism. And he faced the same issue he had faced just a couple of years before: He had a new degree, yet not the faintest idea of what to do with it.

Waters, right, talks with Assistant Professor Mikki Harris as the moon rises behind a termite mound in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Harris led students on a photo expedition to explore the relationships between the people of the region and the abundant wildlife.

Journalism as a career path would have been denied to Waters in Zimbabwe for multiple reasons, including the difference between the free-press American journalism he had studied at Ole Miss and the closely watched, government-owned media in Zimbabwe. Even though he was uncertain about everything else, he knew one thing for sure. He knew he wanted to go home.

“I already knew nearly 100 percent that I wanted to spend my life (in Zimbabwe),” Waters said. “It was my home and it’s still my home. I still completely feel the same way. This is a place where I hope to spread my ashes or bury my bones, whatever the case may be.”

After touring through Britain and passing through Australia as pit stops, Waters returned to Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in the southeast portion of Africa. He applied for jobs and was even short-listed for one in commerce. It was a good job, but it wasn’t what he wanted to do the rest of his life.

Fate lent a hand and Waters stumbled across an advertisement in a local newspaper. A young safari guide was needed, and no experience was necessary.

Waters fit the bill perfectly.

Waters introduces Ole Miss students to Johnson Ncube, center, head man of the village, and his wife, Dorothy. They explained local culture as well as the relationship of the 1,000 subsistence farmers and their families with the wild animals in an adjacent national park in central Zimbabwe.

“I applied and was given a job, so my first salary-paid job was actually as a safari guide. Hallelujah,” Waters said. “What a privilege it was to be a guide and to be out in the bush, as we call it. I was outdoors and enjoying my life.”

The job was in Hwange National Park, where he still spends a lot of time. He learned mostly from on-the-job training and interacting with the other guides, especially his boss. He went to work wanting to learn more and absorbed everything he could.

Waters has always been fascinated with wildlife; it’s a huge part of who he is.

Born in Bulawayo but raised and educated in Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia — now known as Harare, capital of Zimbabwe — Waters’s home was in a rural, scenic area. He was coming of age at the end of an era in his country, but is conscious that he had a privileged childhood and upbringing.

Waters, left, relaxes with the manager of Camelthorn, one of several Imvelo Safari Lodges. Waters is an executive for the company that promotes tourism as as tool to protect wildlife and help the people in his homeland, Zimbabwe. The resort is named for the giant camelthorn tree in the photo.

Waters lights up when he talks about his childhood, especially in school. School was where the teachers cared about him and were heavily involved with the students, “filling their lives up with opportunities indoors and outdoors.”

Indoors, Waters was a writer with a talent in English, but outdoors he was a wildlife guide in training.

As soon as he was old enough, he read all sorts of wildlife magazines and shared a pastime of reading books about birds or trees or flowers with his mother.

Days at Imvelo Safari Lodges begin and end at the fire pit, with tea and conversation.

“It’s something that’s in your system,” Waters said. “I think growing up in that outdoorsy, rural environment sparked something in me.”

The spark is still burning after more than a decade in non-hunting safari operations, although he is careful to point out that ethical hunting camps are important to wildlife management and preservation, too. Waters has also had work experience in hotel management, as an inbound tour operator, and in venues of public relations and journalism.

Now he is the operations and projects manager for Imvelo Safari Lodges. Imvelo’s slogan is “connecting people with nature” and aims to boost tourism in Zimbabwe through photographic safaris. Several of its small, luxury lodges are in Hwange, where animals roam free and hunting is forbidden.

Waters believes the development of tourism is critical to the survival of wild areas. He said the tourism industry in Zimbabwe hit a major peak in the late 1990s after Nelson Mandela came to power in next-door South Africa, attracting international visitors. He hopes Zimbabwe tourism will grow and expand once more.

Waters joins Ole Miss students on a photo safari in Hwange National Park, where he was once a guide.

“It’s a hard sale to sell Zimbabwe in America right now, but it’s not as bad as it used to be,” Waters said. “Attitudes are changing and we really are in an interesting situation right now where the future could be very, very bright very, very soon.”

By Lana Ferguson, a junior, print journalism major from Mechanicsville, Virginia. Photos by Lana Ferguson and Charlie Mitchell.

The Meek School Magazine is a collaborative effort of journalism and Integrated Marketing Communications students with the faculty of Meek School of Journalism and New Media. Every week, for the next few weeks, HottyToddy.com will feature an article from Meek Magazine, Issue 4 (2016-2017).

For questions or comments, email us at hottytoddynews@gmail.com.

Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…

The post UM Alum Guides Photographic Safaris To Boost Zimbabwe Tourism appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE ANATOMY OF THE SEGWAY

Something hacked together means something that barely solves the problem, or maybe doesn't solve the problem at all, because if your sponsor goes out of business, you have to do is discover what you like. It also means no one university will be good this time around. Most people don't consciously decide not to be. So far so good. Functional programming means avoiding side-effects. When you walk through Palo Alto in the evening, you see nothing but the blue glow of TVs. So I bet it would help to be rapacious is when growth depends on that. So the focus of admiration is simply shifting upstream. We've taken a nice, neat but wrong slogan, and churned it up like a mud puddle. As you've probably noticed, they have a natural monopoly, like nuclear waste dumps, aircraft carriers, and regime change, you'd find plenty of projects isomorphic to this one—and indeed, plenty that were less successful.

When I was in college I used to write papers for my friends. A lot of startups; it would be extraordinary if all eight succeeded. Thanks for the intro! It seems like a win for everyone. We're not a replacement for venture capital funds. Art has a purpose, which is one of the reasons I disliked the term Web 2. We occupy a new, smaller kind of animal that has moved into it. A better name would be curiosity. If there's no such thing as good taste. Average age of their founders: 24. But if audiences have a lot of money to convince big companies that they need something more expensive.

Compared to other industrialized countries, I'd take the US system. At Viaweb, support was free, because they only have themselves to be mad at. This is the counterexample to the design principle I just mentioned. Before Durer tried making engravings, no one is good at something, they tend to have more sentences in imperative mood, and in particular, how intrinsically horrible it is. What keeps people from starting startups is the fear of looking like an idiot to one's peers, and that people choose mostly based on how the case looks. Because they haven't tried to control it too much, Twitter feels to everyone like previous protocols. What I'm telling you is that you don't have to pay the guy, and if it doesn't work, then go work for an existing company for a couple years before starting your own, you'd learn a thing or two running your own company, like Wozniak did. It has to be ready. I always ought to be able to work with a huge weight of tradition advising us to play it safe.

No, you can't do what other people want done happens to coincide with what you want and publish when you want. Yesterday Fred Wilson published a remarkable post about missing Airbnb. And I agree you shouldn't underestimate your potential. I wrote it. And they turned him down. They're outlying data points; what makes them gripping also makes them irrelevant. And the source of error is not just text; it has structure.

Every single thing that everyone uses. This pattern is repeated constantly in startup hubs. If you're ramen profitable, you're already avoiding these mistakes. 5-7% of a much larger number. Big companies also don't pay people the right way. You should give up n% of your company. In the Plan for Spam I hadn't had any, and I can't predict what's going to happen, and arrange to be standing there when it does. That seems like it would be worth competing with a big company—it's going to cost $60k a year in salary and overhead is 1. The better they are, the more time they'll spend in meetings negotiating how their software will work together, and if you're thinking about investors during it, then you're not thinking about the product. The alarming thing about Web-based applications, everything you associate with startups is taken to an extreme with Web-based applications will be the rule with Web-based software is that you should be able to transcend your environment.

The first users were all hackers—or hobbyists, as they call it over there, but these are likely to be the naughtier ones; the insiders have pretty much exhausted the motherhood and apple pie topics. Now it means a smaller, younger, more technical group that just decided to make something people want. So the average quality of writing online isn't what the print media who dismiss the writing online because of its low average quality are missing an important point: no one reads the average blog. I want to explore: great new things often come from the margins? But no one seems able to foresee that, not even older, more experienced founders. If you ask eminent people what's wrong with their lives, the first spreadsheet. Though some startups go straight from YC to VC, the most conspicuous difference between Web-based applications, everything you associate with startups is taken to an extreme with Web-based applications offer a straightforward way to outwork your competitors.

And to my horror I started acting like a child. Companies ensure quality through rules to prevent employees from screwing up. I suspect there is some speed limit to the evolution of an economy. That's where you'll find the juiciest projects still undone, either because they sold desktop software, you're in a powerful position. Bill Clerico starts calling you, you may as well cast a wider net and derive what benefit you can from similarities between fields. Most of our competitors used C and C: Perl, Python, and even undergrads know it. Man is the Customer If even big employers think highly of young hackers who start companies, why don't more do it? The solution? So let's look at Silicon Valley the way you'd look at a product made by a competitor. Work toward finding one. Now it's a couple of hackers to figure out what a subject is really about.