#e podcasts so bad that’s a fact no one has ever know before my blog definitely isn’t all about audio dramas the people are definitely not a

[james-spooky]

this is a test

[ivory-sunflower]

Arty Art Things ✨

Hellooo!

I've decided to post some of the arty things I've done either recently or in the last few years, well the pieces I'm somewhat proud of at least. All my posts tend to be a lot more wordy than they need to be but hey it's what I do here!

Conchúr White

Anyone one who's been on this blog for a bit will have probably have seen me talk about this lovely Irish fella. The pencil drawing is actually a year old as of yesterday, I only know that because screenshots of me flipping out about Conchúr following me on twitter popped up in my memories yesterday. I think I'd sent it to him at about 3 in the morning (I was not in a good head space at that point in time), so probably not what he was expecting to see when he opened his phone in the morning aha

The biro version is much more recent: I got bored while sat at my desk and doing research about university courses, saw a biro, saw my old drawing of Conchúr, had an idea. I revisited my GCSE art techniques and here we are. Again, I put this up on Twitter and now (at the the time I'm writing this) when you google "Conchúr White" it's the third top image of him which is a bit mad really. I think I spent all of about 20 minutes on Conchúr but another 45 minutes on the words behind him. The words are the names of the songs on his EP 'Bikini Crops', he doesn't just really love the idea of Channing Tatum driving him around at night in a daisy print bikini... Well maybe he does but what he does in his spare time is none of my business...

TechDif

So I mentioned that the pencil drawing of Conchúr came from a rough patch in my mental health and this one is no different! In fact this one came from an even worse circumstance so we love to see it. I had a bad, bad time in July and this started as a way of distracting myself from what was going on in my head. Without it, I can't honestly say I'd still be here so even if the final product of this had been a terrible mess I would still love it for keeping me alive. However, it did not turn out to be a terrible mess!

Now that the origin of this is out the way, where do I start with TechDif? Unlike Conchúr, I haven't really talked about them on here (unless you count one brief post about Citation Needed) before so I guess I'll do it here. The Technical Difficulties are a wonderful group of 4 British fellas who have had their fair share of fun online and even before. They did a radio show at university together, which went on to become their Reverse Trivia Podcast, later moving on to a panel show called 'Citation Needed': and a game called 'Two of These People Are Lying'. All of which I would thoroughly reccomend, they're one of my go to things when I'm having a rough time. All 4 of them are excellent! Tom Scott (red top, blue jeans on the picture) has his own YouTube channel which does content aside from TechDif. If you're quite nerdy and like science, linguistics, computers, or any number of other things you may enjoy Tom's channel. He is probably best described as "The Moderator" of the group, much like a tired teacher he tries desperately to keep everyone on track with what they're meant to be doing, but usually it does not end well for him. Then we have Matt Gray (space top, holding an ice cream) who also has a channel away from TechDif stuff, he does techy electronic things and has a series called 'Will it Soft Serve?' where he puts all kinds of strange things through a soft serve machine. Matt brings a very specific energy to TechDif and I can't fully describe what that vibe is but I love it. Matt and Tom also share a YouTube channel where TOTPAL is posted and they had a series called 'The Park Bench'. Moving on to everybody's favourite Gary Brannan: Gary Brannan (SATIRE hoodie, glasses) and can I just say, what a fella he is! He's just excellent! He is the one that will argue and rip into Tom the most (not in a malicious way) and hilarity ensues. There are some episodes where he is absolutely on it, getting all the points and others where he very clearly has no idea and that's where some of his funniest quotes come from. Given how badly I was doing at the time I made this, his response to it on Twitter was so so lovely. I specifically remember one tweet where he said I'd made him happy and although it was probably a flippant comment, it just made feel alright for a bit. Yeah I might be feeling awful right now, but I've made someone else happy so that's a nice feeling. Then last but certainly not least, we have Chris Joel (buffalo check shirt, beard)! I would be lying if I said he isn’t my favourite... His sense of humor is the one I vibe with most, he can get rather dramatic in parts and can chat bollocks like a champion. He has absolutely no online presence away from TechDif and, like Rens from Temples, I fully believe he’s a cryptid and lives off in a tree somewhere. 

The picture took me about 4 days to complete, well 4 nights because I did most of it between the hours of 12 a.m. and 7a.m. - I remember watching the sun come through my window each morning. It’s made up of lots of little pieces, all cut out and stuck on; even the sky and hills are made of separate pieces of paper. Nothing was actually drawn on the piece of paper it’s all stuck on, it’s not how I usually do things but if I messed up one little but I could just redraw it rather than ruining the whole thing. The most tedious parts to make were Chris’ shirt because I had to draw each square individually and then join the as well, and cutting out the ban-hammer in the bottom right was surprisingly hard. Every single detail of the picture is a reference to the podcast/shows, I still have the plan sketch and reference list knocking about somewhere. I listened to a lot of true crime videos while making it to the point that certain parts remind me of different cases: the brandy now reminds me of Peter Tobin, and the big spiral thing reminds me of Tim McLean (very harrowing case) - sorry that fact is a bit morbid but interesting nonetheless. 

I did post this for a little bit back in July, but I received some rather awful messages so I took it down. Generally, Tom Scott/TechDif fans are lovely but there’s been a few that have taken a disliking to me for some reason so I’m hoping they don’t resurface again. I’m in a better head space now though, so even if they do I’m more equipped to deal with it this time.

Hozier

This was a quick sketch I did in April, I was getting bored with lockdown and decided to summon the bog man himself. There’s not really much more backstory than that, no poor mental health story, no fun twitter story - he’s just here. He’s vibing. I will say I’m particularly proud of his nose, I just think it’s one of the best noses I’ve ever drawn. His hand is okay, but I think that the hands on my Conchúr drawings are better. So there is the Hozi-Boi...

The Corpse Bry

I’ve talked about Bry on here before as well, I love him, he’s excellent, top lad. He is a living Tim Burton character, he’s 6′6, very skinny, and his legs are longer than my will to live. I was watching ‘The Corpse Bride’ a few weeks ago and suddenly had an idea and so ‘The Corpse Bry’ came to be. I gave him a little panda friend because the panda has always been his animal - he used to wear a panda beanie all the time and his album had a panda on the cover. Again, there’s not really a fun story behind this one, I guess it’s somewhat fun because it’s the first art I made after finishing my psychology exams in October so it was nice to actually have the time to draw.

James Bagshaw

Ginger talking about Temples for the third post in a row? it’s more likely than you think! I did this one last week, I’d had a bit of a wobbly day and had group therapy on Teams in the evening and I just couldn’t concentrate on what was going on and I ended up doodling Mr James E. Bagshaw, the glitter crying fraggle man himself. It’s a bare-bones drawing that I could definitely work into more but I’m happy with it as it is to be honest. I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit and add the individual bits of fringe to his jacket, just thinking about doing that makes me tired. Maybe I’ll get around to drawing the whole band at some point...

Alice in “Wonderland”

This one is from about 5(?) years ago, it’s not my typical style and was a “study” based on another artists work (basically i just had to copy this fellas work). I’ll be honest, this one has a sketchy backstory that I won’t go in to because it’s not exactly a nice one, and because of that I also won’t say who the artist is that it’s based on. Despite this, I’m still really proud of this one and I’m so sad that I never got this piece back after I got taken out the class. I’ve considered trying this style again, I’ve even joked about doing another Conchúr drawing in this style as a nod to my progression through GCSE art, eventually leading to Conchúr drawn in ink on music manuscript and stained with neon paint and dyes - it would be quite the project!

So this has been quite a lengthy post so apologies about that but life goes on. Similar to the vinyl post, I’ll probably add to this as and when I make more art. Even if no one is reading these posts, I’m enjoying making them so that’s the main thing. It’s just nice to document things and the feelings that go with them. 💕

~ Love Ginger xx 

29/11/2020

[bryanllamado]

ATM with Bryan | 23

We’re finally doing this thing… again. Welcome to ‘how to be bryan.’– the reflections and musings of a young professional on a pursuit to educate and live purposefully. What about that intro, though? Haha! Just trying to open this entry in a different manner this time. It has been 3 weeks since I last wrote and published an entry here, and I took some time off from updating the blog to *sort of* absorb the fact that the new year has come. Well, the year started just fine, but there hasn’t been any obvious change if we were to compare it to the previous one.

To those of you who have been reading the blog for years now (and have been here before my hiatus), you may have stumbled upon this ‘ATM with Bryan’ series where I talk about my currentlys. The last time I have written a volume under this series was in 2018, after the 1st semester of my last year in college. Now, I have been off of school for a year and a half now, and a couple of years older. Isn’t that insane? Time flies so fast, indeed. But we’re not here for that, so I’m giving you a list of my ‘at the moments.’

C U R R E N T L Y

Reading

Worlds of You by Beau Taplin. This is Taplin’s second collection of poetry, first published in 2017. (I know) I am years late, and only learned about this during the ECQ after I asked my IG friends to suggest poetry books for me to read. On another matter, it’s also one of my goals this year to read more (poetry) books because I don’t think my schedule can cater novels. *bleeds in metaphor and imagery*

Writing

the 23rd volume of ATM with Bryan, alongside some songs and poems. Just like what I mentioned in my past entries, I’m ~trying~ to go back to my roots. I’m looking forward to rolling out content for the Valentine’s Day which includes *insert a list of planned online gimmicks* and then some. I just feel like now is the perfect time for us to spread love and actually do so.

Listening

to Spotify’s Hallyu Boy Bands playlist. Isn’t it surprising? Well, the old Bryan that you know is gone. *face palm* To my defense (in case you’re confused AF), I’ve always had a diverse taste in music and it just happened that a few weeks ago, I was listening to a random K-Pop playlist when I heard TXT’s CROWN and the chorus just stuck in my head. I knew I had to give in and listen so yeah. #justified lol

Thinking

about how to handle my finances better during this time of the year. This is one of the constant conversation pieces now that I’m a young adult. I started 2020 on a bad note financially by splurging on unnecessary stuff and not realizing that a ~no work, no pay policy~ pretty much exists. I don’t want to make the same mistakes again, but the thing is, I don’t even have money to spend in the first place. So why bother? *insert GCash number*

Smelling

the alcohol scent from my hands. Here’s a reminder for you all to STILL sanitize and follow the minimum health standards. *winks*

Wishing

for motivation to finish all my assigned tasks and activities this week. I’ve always been an intrinsically motivated person as I do things out of love and passion, but the old Bryan is gone. Haha! Not that I don’t love what I do now, I need extrinsic motivation now more than ever, and I think I’d appreciate it in material manifestations. Long story short, hindi talaga sapat ang love lang! *sighs*

Hoping

to be more organized and to have more storage space in my room. I’ve been watching a lot of lifestyle vlogs recently and I’ve seen some creative ways on how to maximize your space. I also hope to declutter my stuff and get rid of the ones that no longer serve my goals and interests for the New Year. The bad thing about it is that I’m sooo sentimental. I don’t just throw my stuff away– not even coffee receipts and movie tickets from years back.

Wearing

a red pambahay shirt and a pair of swimming shorts.

Loving

my new set of fave Starbucks drinks! Oh God, I can’t stress enough about how addicted I’ve been to some SB drinks these past few weeks. My top three drinks (on the menu) at the moment were Iced Caramel Macchiato, Iced Chai Tea Latte, and Iced Hibiscus Tea with Pomegranate Pearls, and off the menu, I love the Barista Drink, Pink Drink, and Tiktok Drink. I can def write a whole entry about this but yeah. #coffee_forever_and_ever

Wanting

to meet up with my friends who I haven’t seen in a while. I just thought of this now, and while I have internet friends who I can converse with to vent out and rant, I’d also love to catch up with my friends. Zoom meetings are not enough! Good conversations would be better over good food, so to my friends out there, baka naman. I would need money first, though!

Needing

a new phone or tablet. I was supposed to gift myself a new phone last year but due to money matters and delays, I did not meet my expected budget. Quite frankly, this isn’t an immediate concern as my current phone is still very functional, but for me to fully multi-task and maximize productivity, I need a separate phone for gaming, video editing, and file management.

Feeling

bombarded and mentally overwhelmed. I’m grateful for the work and endeavor that I have right now, but now is also the time when I want to pursue artistic and creative pursuits– just like this blog. I want to work on my passion projects, but the guilt eats me up when I try to set my professional tasks aside. I’ve felt so overwhelmed at times that I end up not doing anything. #jokesonme

Clicking

through some podcasts episodes. I think I’ll write an entry about this soon, so watch out for that. I’ve been consuming a lot of audio content in the form of podcasts, for I have grown tired of the current YouTuber culture of pranks, click bait, and nonsense content. Praise the heavens for podcasts! I have discovered a lot of local podcasters and met people through the podcast community– like the AWJP x SOS Fam.

This is where the entry ends for today.

Please check out the other entries on the blog and if you have any requests or any topics you want me to write about, feel free to send me a message.

Till the next entry!

Bry. x 012320

[shanetzye839-blog]

Your Seo Company - Protecting Your Time and Your Brand name

Did You Know? Today, over 81% of individuals first search online before purchasing vs utilizing yellow pages, papers, standard "offline" methods.

Did You Also Know? - 60% of traffic that concerns the websites is from searches-From individuals typing in what they are searching for in Google, Yahoo & MSN/Bing. Now, if your site is not on the first page of the online search engine results, then regrettably you are no place. So understanding that, I make sure you want to know how to achieve first page search results page ... and it starts with proper SEO strategies.

Let's start!

First things initially!

" A bit of info is a dangerous thing"

When it comes to SEO or Search Engine Optimization, well the same holds true for too much info. When you are taught how to drive, was it essential for you to have an understanding of the combustion engine, proper valve timing or be able to rebuild a transmission?

Obviously not!

You merely required the facts of getting your car going securely and efficiently down the road to your location. Otherwise you will never leave the driveway or be too overloaded and never ever discover to drive ... never ever accomplishing your preferred results.

Marketing Lesson # 1 "You can not guide a parked automobile!"

There is a lot of miss information that appears to be right in line with what people are attempting to offer you online today. Imagine that?

The 3 reasons for this are easy:

1. SEO Business, Gurus and Consultants desire you to think that only their big brains, experience and magic wands can make your website enhanced and that little old you has NO possibility, so do not trouble and pay us lots of cash.

2. Pretend Gurus and Professional discover a couple of techniques and offer their wares unscrupulously all over the web for cheap leaving you with a bad e-book and no results.

3. There are the true web designers out there who take On-Page optimization well beyond where it requires to go. (in my rewarding & humble viewpoint) If you don't think me, go on and purchase among those 200 page e-books that expect you to have degree from M.I.T. and a complete working understanding of website coding. I would rather consume glass ... I understand this due to the fact that I have checked out not one of these, however lots prior to seeing the light.

To put it simply, they tend to try and paint the Mona Lisa within every site however forget to welcome anyone to the museum. I.E. All tech and no marketing. Keep in mind, we did speak about the importance of getting the automobile moving didn't we?

Eliminating the Myths of Seo

PPC or paid marketing is more affordable and faster. WRONG. Paid advertising is only as excellent as long as you are spending for it, where On-Page optimization is a onetime established. If your website is NOT optimized, natural Browse Traffic is still 60% of all traffic & you will pay more per click in advertising.

SEO results take months, if not years, to attain. WRONG. You can anticipate immediate results within a couple of days. No one has the time or patience to wait nowadays ...

Optimum SEO results can only be accomplished by an SEO professional. WRONG. No technical knowledge or SEO competence is needed to attain significant success when you utilize the best SEO Methods.

Hundreds of links are needed before I can begin to see considerable outcomes. INCORRECT. Have you ever heard the stating, "Work smarter, not more difficult"? You can optimize your outcomes with extremely little connecting.

The Google algorithm is made complex and takes over 100 aspects into factor to consider. It's impossible to attain optimum SEO results without targeting them https://en.search.wordpress.com/?src=organic&q=what is seo all. INCORRECT. There are crucial locations that have the best bearing and weighting over online search engine outcomes. In truth, these crucial locations comprise the majority of the search algorithm.

SEO software yields the finest outcomes. INCORRECT. Simply put, if you understand the essential areas to target, you'll surpass any SEO program WHENEVER. It's not a complicated process if you know what you're doing. (famous last words).

What is SEO Everything about Then?

All right, you have actually been client. Here are the basics of what you need to understand about WHAT Search Engine Optimization is all about and after that I'll get to the "HOW TO's" in simply a minute. Let's walk prior to sprinting into uncharted territory.

OKAY so here's you initially captain hook ... there are 2 type of Browse Engine Optimization! What? Who knew? Well I did and now so do you.

There is "ON PAGE" SEO and "OFF PAGE" SEO.

On-Page SEO is the technique of configuring your site's size, design, text, pictures and videos so that they are easy to discover by the online search engine when someone is looking for them online.

Off-Page SEO occurs outside of the website. It is the method of dispersing important and appropriate content about your services and products onto the web in the form of blog posts, videos, posts, online forums, podcasts and so on that all point back to your site to help raise its rank in the online search engine in addition to drive traffic.

Now there is a middle man (more like a Judge) in the procedure and that is the online search engine themselves like Google, Yahoo & Bing/MSN. They walk around sneaking and crawling around the internet and index or rank your website based upon their own formulas known as algorithms.

No one knows the precise formulas ( other than those web geeks at Google, however they're not talking) but we have actually established some definite Do's & Do n'ts when it pertains to optimizing your site. The other thing to CoseoDesigns SEO Longmont Colorado comprehend is that the Google's & Yahoo's usage both On-Page & Off-Page optimization when ranking your website. For now, we'll focus on the On-site SEO which is the foundation for all other web marketing anyhow.

Even paid web traffic from advertisements will cost you less with an optimized website because the search engines will reward you for playing by their guidelines ... And merely the one style that governs the guidelines of the search engines is to safeguard the consumer.

The Online search engine main job is to bring the most PERTINENT outcomes (websites, videos, articles etc.) to the customer or person doing the search based upon the search term they enter. : If you were to Search for "Snake Poison Antidote" on Google, you would be less than understandably mad and delighted if it pulled up websites on snakeskin handbags and boots . You understand.

Now, if your website is not on the very first page of the search engine results, then sadly you are no place. Knowing that, I am sure you would like to understand how to attain first page search results ... and it starts with correct SEO methods.

There are essential locations that have the biggest bearing and weighting over search engine outcomes. Here are the essentials of what you require to understand about WHAT Browse Engine Optimization is all about and then I'll get to the "HOW TO's" in simply a minute. The Browse Engines main job is to bring the most APPROPRIATE results ( sites, videos, posts and so on) to the customer or individual doing the search based on the search term they type in.

[lets-misa-blog]

Heres a post about  http://google-keyword-research.s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com 7 Advanced Content Promo Strategies for 2019

Today I'm going to reveal 7 of my all-time preferred web content promo techniques.

Actually:

These are the same precise approaches that I utilized to obtain 7,077 gos to on one of my most current posts ... in less than a week.

Allow's dive right in ...

Prior To Your Promote ANYTHING, Maintain This In Mind ...

The majority of people fall short with material promotion for one basic factor:

Their content STINKS.

For example, check out this outreach e-mail someone sent me a few days ago:

Was this outreach e-mail excellent?

No.

It's in fact pretty horrible.

But that's not why I removed it.

I removed it due to the fact that they sent me a bad infographic!

I truly can not highlight this enough:

If your post is something like "5 Tips for Weight Loss" or "8 Factors Why Email Marketing Is Vital", don't bother advertising it.

However if you have something really AMAZING, then you'll discover that people more than happy share your things.

Keeping that little caveat out of the way, it's time for our very first technique ...

Method # 1: (Targeted) Blogger Outreach

So you simply released an outstanding item of web content.

Currently what?

It's time to advertise it with blog writer outreach.

Actually, among my most recent article got a wonderful spike in website traffic largely because of a solitary tweet from an influential blog writer:

The concern is ...

Exactly how?

All you need to do is find bloggers that share content on your subject ...

... and also send them a non-pushy email.

Below's an actual life instance of this process in activity:

First, I sent a personalized email to a blogger that's already shared material on my subject:

(This way, I recognized she 'd in fact INTEND TO review my message ... before I strike "send")

After that, when she obtained back to me, I sent her a web link:

([ $-$] Pro Suggestion: Do not ask the individual to share or web link to your material. If they assume your content is great, they'll share it) Since I had not been a pushy jerkface, this blog owner enjoyed to spread the word:

That's all there is to it.

Keep in mind:

If you intend to discover A WHOLE LOT more about blog owner outreach I recommend reviewing this extensive overview: Approach # 2: Content Roundups

Imagine if people released article with the single purpose of connecting out to top quality web content.

(The sort of high quality content that you currently publish on your website)

It would certainly be pretty great, appropriate?

Thankfully for us, that's a genuine point. And they're called material summaries.

(Also often called "Link Roundups")

Right here's an instance:

So: what are web link summaries?

Link summaries are daily, regular or monthly article that link to AWESOME web content. Below's an example of a web link I lately built from a roundup: Now allow's break down the precise process I made use of to get this web link.

First,

discover roundups in your specific niche. Right here are a few search strings that function really well.

"Keyword phrase" + "link summary"

"Keyword" + roundup

"Key words" + "finest of"

"Key words" + this week

Next,

pitch your content. Right here's the e-mail script that I directly make use of.

Hi

[Website Proprietor Call] , I simply stumbled on your

[Saturday Roundup] this afternoon. Good things! I'm just getting to out because I just recently published a material advertising instance research study that could be a great fit:

[Your Web page] In any case, maintain the amazing job

Thanks,

[Your Given name] As well as if your message is a good suitable for that person's roundup, you'll get a pleasant web link.

Approach # 3: Email Newsletter Promo

This is HUGE.

If you desire more individuals to read your web content, you require to begin constructing your email checklist.

(And afterwards let your subscribers find out about your brand-new stuff).

Situation in factor:

A while ago I sent this tweet to promote my most recent blog message:

That Tweet got a grand overall of 111 clicks:

I likewise sent an e-newsletter to my e-mail subscribers.

The amount of clicks did the e-newsletter get?

7 THOUSAND.

(To be reasonable, I have two times as many e-mail customers than Twitter fans. But you get the concept).

And also if you desire to get going developing your email list, I advise taking a look at this listing of 17 untapped list building approaches, suggestions as well as techniques.

Method # 4: Content Makeover

Material Improvement is simple:

You just convert among your post right into an additional style (like a digital book, video, infographic or podcast).

For instance, I released this situation research on my blog site a while back:

As you can see, this message generated lots of social shares ...

... and comments.

However I recognized that I might press much more value out of this content.

So I turned that blog post into a YouTube Video clip:

That solitary video clip has actually generated over 150k views ... and also hundreds of website site visitors.

(All from a piece of content that I published YEARS ago)

Great.

Approach # 5: The Web content Relaunch

Sometimes the ideal means to promote your web content

is to spruce up as well as relaunch it. (Likewise referred to as "The Web Content Relaunch")

Below's an example:

I just recently spruced up and relaunched this listing of SEO copywriting strategies:

So I shared the blog post on social media sites:

And sent out a statement to my e-mail subscribers:

Which brought about a considerable increase in web traffic (including virtually 5k site visitors in someday):

Currently:

The key to this technique is to in fact change the blog post's "Published" day in WordPress.

Why?

When you change the blog post's "released" date, your article shows up at the top of your blog feed.

To transform the date, just head over to that blog post and click the "edit" link under the message's day:

Then change the day to today ...

... and also hit "update".

Like magic, your message will certainly show up at the very top of your blog feed.

Strategy # 6: The Material Roadshow

The Content Roadshow is one of my best content promo approaches.

Why?

Due to the fact that simply like with method # 1 from this message (Targeted Blog writer Outreach), you're getting your web content before individuals that are official thinking about your topic.

The distinction is that with The Content Roadshow, you're not just trying to find individuals that shared material on your topic.

You can likewise email blog owners

that discuss your subject. Allow me reveal you how a genuine life example of how a Backlinko visitor (Emil) made use of The Material Roadshow to get a HUGE traffic spike:

Emil recently released this message on his business blog site.

ANd he made use of The Content Roadshow to obtain words out.

Here are the deets ...

Initially, Emil browsed for blog owners that covered his subject (staff member wellness, personnels and other relevant subjects) on their blog

As well as when he discovered a piece of wonderful material such as this one ...

... he emailed the writer:

In this instance, Kristi asked Emil to send his content to her material roundup:

He did ... as well as obtained a wonderful backlink in return:

Approach # 7: Email People and also Brands That You Mention In Your Article

This is simple. However it works.

Whenever you point out or connect to a person in your web content,

allow them understand. For instance, Emil mentioned Authority Nourishment here:

So he sent them a message to allow them know that they have actually been featured:

As you can see, they gladly shared his post:

Bonus Strategy # 1: LinkedIn Republishing

LinkedIn is an

amazing area to distribute your content. For instance, I published this study of YouTube ranking elements on my blog regarding a year and also a half ago:

This blog post did well. Great deals of people read my article and shared it on social media sites.

However I RECOGNIZED that there were hundreds of people that might take advantage of my web content ... however hadn't seen it yet.

So I republished my content as a LinkedIn write-up:

Which (in addition to my various other LinkedIn articles) led to a good piece of targeted web traffic:

Bonus offer Strategy # 2: Make use of "Click to Tweet" Buttons

This takes place to me a minimum of when a week:

I read a short article, assume it's cool, so I make a decision to tweet it ...

... just I can not locate a tweet switch.

So I state "oh well" as well as shut the tab.

Bottom line: You intend to make sharing your material on social media sites exceptionally very easy.

Get in: Click To Tweet Buttons.

Here's how it functions:

Initially,

discover something "tweetable" in your material. This can be a bite-sized suggestion, approach, quote or figure.

As an example, I made use of click to tweet switches to promote this post:

Since my article was a listing post, I thought about each suggestion on my list "tweetable".

Second,

create a click to tweet link. Head over to ClickToTweet.com and also create your tweet:

As well as the device will certainly produce an unique web link for you:

Finally,

include that link in your web content. Whenever someone clicks the link ...

... they get a pre-written tweet for easy sharing:

It's that very easy.

Conclusion

It's more difficult than ever for your material stick out.

Also if your material is AMAZING.

As a matter of fact, Derek Halpern recommends that you invested 20% of your time producing and 80% of your time promoting.

I don't always agree with that ratio. However I DO concur with the premise.

And also I really hope these 7 advertising techniques help you obtain words out about your next blog site article, video or podcast episode.

[checanty]

HELLO this might be a little personal so if you don't want to answer this question I completly understand. I was wondering how you deal with your (art)-anxiety (you know the thing: self critisism and knocking yourself down all the time, being scared shitless about the future because life is getting real now). Do you have some tips or thoughts? X

Alright. So this is a big topic. It’s not always easy to tell since we tend to make sure to project our best self via social media, but anxiety and self doubts are not especially rare with artists including the ones you think have *made it*.  However, while I can talk about how I personally deal with anxiety, we all feel differently and not everything that works for me will work for you. Take what’s useful to you and leave the rest here. I’m just a silly 23 year old spewing nonsense into the void.

Also, if you struggle and feel like you need help, please do the scary thing and reach out to somebody you trust and/or talk to a mental health professional.

And obviously this is not a complete list because I have come to the realization that at the pace I’m writing we’ll be old and grey by the time I’m done.

Anyways here we go …

I. Assorted things

a. First, it helps to acknowledge that imposter syndrome, the fraud police or however you want to call it is a thing. Once I identify that nagging little voice for what it is, I can call it out on its bullshit. Sometimes it just haunts me in the back of my mind and I actively formulate the negative thought out in an ‘Ah yes, I’m a lazy little shit, that will never be good enough. That what you wanted to tell me, brain? Well, you gotta come up with something new because I know this trick and it’s not true.’ fashion. It helps me to recognize the pattern, pull it out into the open and then reject it. It’s easier than having my head buzzing with negative fragmented ideas that can continue to fester until I can’t deal with them anymore.

b. Trust others. When a person says they like your work? Trust that they do. Don’t draw the conclusion they’ll be your über-fan and throw money at you or that they’re an art critic guru, but take them by their word. That person likes your work and that’s awesome! (Obviously my grandmother predicting me to become a great artist won’t mean it’s true, but I believe she means it.)Also, somebody hires you for a job and it’s super scary and you feel like your going to fail? Trust the person who has hired you. They’ve seen your portfolio, they pay you (make sure they do), they believe you can do it. They’re not stupid.

c. When you’re sitting in your pajamas surfing the internet, eating cereals with a fork trying to eat away your felt 3000 failed drawings (But you’re lazy, so really you only drew like 5 things, but they’re so bad the failure counts for more.) of the day it’s hard to believe you can ever be as pro as those glorious drawing machines on the internet with their polished websites and portfolios who make it look so easy.

Now imagine stumbling upon yourself on the internet. What do you see?Your latest cool artwork, your work ethic (even if you really just queue your posts cleverly) … And this is just your online presentation. Think about the artwork. You know your stuff. You see it all the time. You know all the frustrating bits and problem areas. You know what parts you’re just winging or obscuring by drawing decorative ornamental elements on them and pretend it’s your style. Other people don’t. (They might if you tell them. So try not to be too negative about your work.) Try to see your work with their eyes. Design a book cover mock up with your artwork (or whatever is applicable to the area you want to work in) and imagine it’s by somebody else and you just stumbled upon it in a book shop. You might realize it’s actually kind of okay …You might actually start to really like some of your works. (or all of it.)

d. Trust in the fact that drawing is a skill that is constantly developing. Even if you’re not at the level you need or want to be at, as long as you practice and keep at it you’ll eventually get there. It’s a process. It might be a really slow one. But there’s just one direction to go and you have time. You do. Even when other people your age (or younger) seem to have made it (whatever that means), it’s frustrating, alright. Have a cry, that’s ok. Get back to the drawing table. You’re on different paths. Stay off the internet for a while if comparisonitis gets too bad. There’ll always be people who are better than you. Focus on your work. (My drawing teacher’s advice on this was: Get inspired, not frustrated. Which is easier said than done.)

e. Learn a new skill that has nothing to do with your art, simply for the joy of learning it and then fail a lot. It’s a lot easier to learn being accepting of your mistakes and failures this way. It’s much easier to learn when nobody judges you (grades you. Makes you take tests.). I’ve started yoga and learning a new language last year and I am still bad at both, but whenever I mess up my vocabulary or can’t do a pose it’s … okay. Nothing bad happens. And it’s lots of fun. The failing. The times when things do work. It’s easier to realize a mistake isn’t the end of it all when you practice with something that doesn’t already come with all the old pressures and expectations.

f. Get your sleep. No screens before bed time, seriously. Those are an invitation for insomnia. Try to keep a regular sleep schedule. I sound so boring with my whole scheduling habit, but it helps a lot.

g. Find a way to release stress. Do something besides work. When I find it hard to allow myself to do non work related things I tell myself being good at what I’m doing or being successful early on doesn’t actually mean much when it means I’m burned out by 24 and dead by 27. It’s really hard to follow your passion when you constantly fantasize about running away to hide somewhere in a forest cave living only on dirt and roots until you eventually poison yourself or freeze to death.

What also helped me to stop feeling like I’m not working enough was using a timer so I could show myself by the end of the week how much I have gotten done.Also using a schedule. And sticking (at least roughly) to it.(Although it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out how to best put your schedule together. It’s important to be aware of how you’re feeling and to be able to make some changes to accommodate your needs. Don’t start out by assuming you’re always your best and most productive self. Are you doing something that will probably exhaust you? Factor that in. Figure out how much you can actually effectively work. Buffer days in case you have deadlines. You might get sick or have a bad art day. Time off for regeneration. Don’t do the ‘I work best under pressure a day before the deadline’ thing if you can help it.)

h. Realizing you got time and you don’t actually have to be a fully functional amazing, successful artist person by, like, tomorrow. You don’t. You take the time you need. You make sure you’re okay first. Figuring out what exactly is important to you and what you really want to be and do takes time. It takes going down the wrong path sometimes. I started out wanting to be a comic artist, but ended up doing creepy dark fantasy illustrations. Now I’m realizing that this is not everything I want to do. It’s a process and nothing you do is in vain, but things take time.

(–> Goal setting on the other hand is a great way to succeed at something, but you have to know what you want first. Of course you can set a goal and realize on the way that you have no interest in reaching it anymore. I guess then it depends on what your goal is whether you want to continue or change course. E.g. I’d finish that big project you’ve been working on for years, but maybe stop trying to get that job you actually don’t want anymore.)

In a similar vein … Learning to be patient with oneself. Patience is always good.

II. The future is scary and I don’t know what to do

a. Research first! The monster is way less scary when you can see it clearly. Only once you know how it looks like you can plan on how to slay it. (It might not even be a perfect plan, it just has to be good enough to make you feel like things might turn out okay.)Hit the internet, read a lot. Learn what you can. See how other people do it. Ask questions. Try to find out where your crowd hangs out. My personal advice is to be a bit careful with those 10 ways to be a successful artist articles depending on how in depth they are. I either find them not especially informative or they’re a great way for me to spend the rest of the day crying (even and especially when they’re supposed to be motivational. There’s so much motivational stuff out there that really just makes me feel super insecure.) because after reading them I’m pretty sure I don’t do any of those things and am a horrible person anyways. Articles dealing with matters in a more nuanced manner might often be more to read, but have been way more helpful to me.

Some resources that help(ed) me a lot (consider I’m mostly doing fantasy art, so it might not all be for you):

http://muddycolors.blogspot.deAmazing artists and art directors sharing insights. There’s a lot. Maybe matching this ask’s subject:

Arrogance & Doubt

How to get what you want

The secret to success in art

@dearartdirector here on tumblr. Make sure to check out their prior asks&answers before sending them your questions. There’s already a lot of important stuff in there.

Bobby Chiu’s Youtube Channel1FantasticWeek Podcast (& Facebook Group)Drawn&Drafted

Giuseppe Castellano’s Blog and #arttips on Twitter

For children’s books: find the hashtag #kidlitart on Twitter

Otherwise try to find blogs and podcasts about what you want to do.

III. Everything is too much and I can’t manage or think or …

a. Sometimes things just get too much and I put everything on hold and write through it. I think faster than I can write, so putting thoughts to paper slows me down. I also see the stuff in my head written out and it is easier to confront it and recognize what actually makes sense and what doesn’t. The process is obviously different every time, but basically I try to boil down what upsets me and then find ways to deal with it conversation style. (I usually even include the bits where I don’t know what to say and then write exactly that down.)For example I’ve written  myself through some phone call anxiety last year by listing what I am actually afraid of and why it makes me feel insecure and then writing down what I know to be actually true.

The last part looked somewhat like this: You’re safe. You’re sitting in your room on the floor and there is nobody around. Nothing can happen to you. You are physically safe.It is their job to help you. If you don’t know something, they will help you.  If they are mean it is not on you. They might have had a shitty day. Also, they don’t know you and their opinion on you has no influence on your life. They talk to a lot of people in a day and will probably forget you. You are not important enough to ruin somebody’s day. If they make fun of you at home it has no influence on your life.Just be as polite as you can be and you have nothing to feel bad about.

And so on.

Most negative thoughts are similar. e. g. ‘I’ll never achieve anything.’ vs writing down successes (as small as they might be): I’ve been able to feed myself for a week. I can speak a second language. I survived school. I’m keeping my rats alive. I know myself better today than I did last year.

When I feel like I’m dancing on too many parties and feel like I am constantly forgetting something or feel just vaguely haunted I try to figure out what the immediate issues that freak me out are. Being as specific as possible. Being as honest as possible. It’s not like anybody has to see what I’m writing. This is not just about art. It’s about everything, even and especially the petty little things. If you gather enough of those they can be crushing. Once they’re all written down I can decide which have priority and which I can put aside. The important part is to make a conscious decision (really, decision making. Sometimes stressing about making a decision is worse than making the wrong choice.). I don’t have to answer my friend’s Facebook message today, I can just tell them I’m currently stressed out and will get back to them at some later point. Or let them wait for a day or two. They’ll survive. I can simply say no to this or that thing. I can totally schedule this thing to next week and not think about it until then. (Actually write down when you’ll do it, though. Everything you write down you don’t have to keep juggling in your head.)

Then I write down possible solutions for what is still left. Afterwards I figure out which ones I can implement and which one’s I cannot (for whatever reason.). What can I do right now? (Starting with the easiest fixes. That might be doing the dishes that have piled up over time.) What can I schedule? I need to have plan of action* for every problem on my list. Sometimes it doesn’t mean I’ll solve it, but at least I’ll feel like I’ve done everything I currently feel capable of doing.

* Those may be suuuuper small steps. Or maybe even acknowledging it scares me, but accepting that it is something I cannot influence and therefore something that just goes into my calendar and out of my brain. It’s a lot about planning and scheduling for me.

b. I use a friend of mine and my  mum for reality checks sometimes when my brain gets stuck on something totally irrational and I need somebody to explain to me why I don’t make sense.

(I also use my friend when I’m not sure whether I’m interpreting a message or social situation correctly. Good to have a second opinion when your paranoid brain sees cryptic messages and overt criticism everywhere.)

c. When I feel I’m about to freak out and can’t sit down to write or think something through I have a book lying around that I can grab and read aloud until I calm down. I like Jack Kerouac for this because I don’t have to try and understand what is going on. It’s just a stream of pretty words and sound.

[blueorangeasia]

In the ever-changing landscape of digital online marketing, it can be hard to truly know what works,  and more importantly, what doesn’t.  With over 20 years of Award Winning Experience in Digital Marketing in London and Bangkok Thailand, Blue Orange Asia has worked with many of the best brands in the world, consistently delivering better ideas and better ROI results for our clients.

Below are 10 examples of dynamic and strategic digital marketing campaigns that have that increased company ROI and added massive value to customers.  The campaigns below are not just doing digital marketing..... They are  creating experiences and content that engage and captivate their audiences and bring outstanding brand awareness. They are the best.

( HOW TO STAND OUT from the competition in today's ultra competitive world ? Simple. Think Different and Create Different.    Contact Us Now.  We'll Show you How.)

1. Zappos

Zappos, a leader in online shoe commerce, sets the gold standard for online customer care. In fact, their CEO wrote the book on it. It’s no shock that they have a stellar digital strategy.

Not only does Zappos provide a 365-day money back guarantee, but they also have free shipping both ways as well, should consumers decide to return or exchange products purchased on the site. As a result, Zappos doesn’t have to work hard to market its online presence—its policies are so appealing to consumers that shoppers are eager to sing the company’s praises to one another in a completely organic (and viral) fashion.

Of course, Zappos does still invest heavily in online marketing, and its social media campaigns shouldn’t be missed! Notice how they focus on what the customer wants and needs, not on what they want the customer to want or need. This is a key part to any effective digital strategy. Listen to your audience and plan accordingly.

The Lesson: Content marketing is the way of the future, but it must be managed appropriately to be effective. Online content marketing campaigns should strive to produce measurable results in proportion to the resources committed to them.

2. American Express (AMEX)

Plenty of companies talk a big game about “the communities” they’re creating online and the inherent value of the “online conversation.” However, very few actually create any community of value. Far from being all talk and no game, American Express puts its money where its mouth is by leveraging the value provided by industry experts on its Open Forum website.

Open Forum is a collaborative website, on which American Express invites guest authors from a variety of sectors to share their business knowledge and wisdom. The result is a content-rich mega-site that’s popular with the search engines, all created without American Express needing to shell out cash to content contributors.

The Lesson: The creator of your content does not need to be you. Find industry leaders that produce great content, and ask them to write a couple articles on your blog. It will build their audience and your traffic, as long as the content provides value. Good content marketing strategies draw on a range of user-generated sources to both grow online communities and minimize financial investment.

3. Mint

Entering the crowded personal finance niche (or any popular niche) is a daunting task for any new startup, but the approach that financial tracking tool Mint took proves that it’s possible to stand out in a crowd through well-executed online marketing strategies.

Although the company was a relative unknown amongst its more popular predecessors, Mint committed to a digital strategy publishing hundreds of high-quality content pieces, from informative blog posts to viral, attention-grabbing infographics (like A Dude’s Guide to Not Going Broke during Wedding Season) to grow their business. As a result of Mint’s digital marketing efforts, the tool gained a massive online following before being sold to Intuit for a whopping $170 million.

In a podcast on Growth Everywhere, Neil Patel discussed why he spends up to $30,000 dollars on content and gives it away for free, and how it is all worth it in the end.

The Lesson: Investing in content marketing often requires significant amounts of time and money, but committing to content production and high-quality standards can build substantial market attention in a short period of time.

4. Dollar Shave Club

Shaving is the epitome of a boring routine, right? If you answered “of course,” then you obviously haven’t seen Dollar Shave Club’s now legendary launch video. DSC shook the notion of its drab, buttoned-up industry and kicked it out the window.

Today, this company has over a million subscribers, its promotional video has been viewed over 24 million times, and it was recently acquired for $1 billion by Unilever. During their hyper growth, Dollar Shave Club continued to share cheeky content such as “Is It Bad to Pluck Nose Hairs with My Fingers?” and “Do I Really Need to Wash My Hands After I Pee?” These guys know how to let loose and get attention.

The Lesson: Don’t be afraid to have some fun! DSC doesn’t take itself too seriously (or at all seriously, for that matter). Everything from its marketing to its onboarding, from its packaging to its social engagement is lighthearted, silly, and tongue-in-cheek. And its customers love them for it. They’ve made something as tedious as buying razors and shaving hilarious and entertaining, and that’s what stands out in people’s minds.

5. The Wirecutter

Affiliate marketing can be a bit sleazy, but it can generate big results when done properly and genuinely. The Wirecutter has set the standard since its launch just five years ago. Labeling itself a simple “list of the best gadgets—like cameras and TVs—for people who don’t want to take a lot of time figuring out what to get,” the site generated $150 million in e-commerce transactions in 2015 and was recently acquired by the New York Times for $30 million.

They write reviews for products they love, embed a link to buy it from someone like Amazon, and take a cut of each sale. Their reviews take anywhere from 20 to 200 hours to complete, involving experts and other interested parties depending on the product. It works because they’re real.

The Lesson: Trust more in the power of real people. Modern consumers are wary of ads, banners, and paid search results. They want real recommendations from real people. And that’s what The Wirecutter delivers with such sparkling success. They’ve made the review (a.k.a. the “ad”) the product. People share them, like them, and rely on them to decide what to buy. The only marketing they have to do is sharing their top-notch reviews. Their fans take care of the rest.

6. Slack

Slack is a collaboration tool that allows teams to communicate more efficiently and share files, all on one easy platform. They’ve had a pretty spectacular rise, with 15,000 users at launch in 2014, just north of 171,000 six months later, over 500,000 in less than a year, and currently sitting at roughly 5,000,000 (nearly one and a half million of which are paid accounts).

Their “secret sauce” is delivering a high-quality customer experience. The company responds to 8,000 help desk tickets and up to 10,000 tweets each month. Even their Twitter feed contains a bunch of 140-character #SlackTips.

The Lesson: From day one, Slack has been about selling a solution, not a product. They’ve focused on customer experience, believing that one positive experience does more than a big marketing budget could ever hope to accomplish. As their tagline says, they’re “on a mission to make your working life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.” Make it all about solving your customer’s’ pain points.

7. Airbnb

Airbnb has changed the way we travel and look for accommodations. Launched when its founders couldn’t afford their rent, the site now boasts 100 million users, 2.3 million listings, and a total valuation of $31 billion in 2017.

Their marketing strategy is aimed at getting both travelers and hosts for the platform. Its digital marketing relies primarily on user-generated images and videos on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (highlighting the cities and properties in its stable), how-to videos and posts geared towards owners, and popular city guides. Their Instagram campaign matches humor with compelling images of different travel locations around the world, making it more than just a service—it’s a travel forum as well.

When it comes to social media superstars, Airbnb shines the brightest. During a 2015 Instagram campaign, the company received 13.3 million interactions and increased followers by 341 percent.

The Lesson: Create demand around your product or service by finding a topic related to your business that’s interesting. For example, Airbnb is ultimately a crowdsourced hotel business, so interesting content for them is related to travel sites around the world. Generate interest with content, and the dollars will follow.

8. JetBlue

One of the biggest mistakes we see companies making when it comes to online marketing strategies is the tendency to post self-promotional materials only. Nobody wants to follow a company that can’t stop talking about itself long enough to post something of real value!

JetBlue, the popular discount airline, is one company that gets it. Instead of using Twitter to post fare discounts and special offers, the company uses its handles to provide fast and easy customer service. In fact, the effect is so profound that nearly all the messages in the company’s feed include @ replies, which is highly unusual in the world of social media marketing for businesses.

The Lesson: Make it a priority to balance self-promotional materials with information that followers can actually use, and respond to users whenever they interact with your web profiles in order to boost rapport and consumer confidence.

Nobody wants to follow a company that can’t stop talking about itself. Click To Tweet

9. Mastercard

Mastercard is the king of “Priceless” surprises. The financial services giant has a knack for creating engaging experiences that excite and retain their customers.

As a major sponsor of the MLB, the company wanted to execute their “priceless” strategy and take advantage of the Chicago Cubs making the World Series for the first time in 71 years. Why? So they could be a part of history if (and when) the Cubs won.

Their main objectives were to (1) connect with suffering Cubs fans and (2) insert themselves into the World Series conversation.

Mastercard went out looking for the perfect way to implement their campaign and came across a great piece of content: A player on a rival team had accused Cubs fans of lacking passion for their team. This was a perfect sound bite to build an entire campaign on, so Mastercard ran with it, titling their campaign the “Sound of Priceless.” They built a sound meter and placed it around Wrigley Field to measure just how loud the fans were. After measuring the sound and learning how loud the fans truly were, they created a piece of video content around the story.

In order to create the ultimate impact, Mastercard released the film online and on social media just as the Cubs won the final game of the World Series. The results were priceless.

The Lesson: When you are trying to create viral digital marketing campaigns, look for content that is already out there, and put a spin on it that will benefit someone else as well as your brand. Also, notice how Mastercard was patient enough to wait until the very last game to release their content in order to maximize the reach. This is key to any great digital campaign. Timing does matter.

10. Uniqlo

UNIQLO is an innovative Japanese apparel company that urges the world to dress casual. Their mission is to provide simple apparel that makes your life better.

If you have ever lived in a major city, you have probably seen a Uniqlo advertisement or shopping bag, but the company wanted to help customers see Uniqlo as a technology focused company, not just a fashion brand. They wanted to build on a statement made by UNIQLO’s President and CEO Tadashi Yanai that said, “We [Uniqlo] are not a fashion company. We are a technology company.”

The best way to do this? An effective digital marketing campaign. Uniqlo created a world-first “fast-moving” image campaign and activated it in 100 locations and online. The campaign utilizes fast moving images to deliver a unique product code which is indecipherable to the naked eye.

[tshirtfashiontrend]

Meet Lena Dunham’s Podcasting Partner, True Crime Zine Queen Alissa Bennett

Link Buys Now: https://kingteeshops.com/meet-lena-dunhams-podcasting-partner-true-crime-zine-queen-alissa-bennett/

Meet Lena Dunham’s Podcasting Partner, True Crime Zine Queen Alissa Bennett

“You know what rich people love? Fucking Egypt,” says Alissa Bennett, director at Gladstone Gallery, zine queen, Lena Dunham’s newly minted podcasting partner, serial muse to artists like Alex Bag, ex-model, and ex-ex-wife of Banks Violette, the bad boy breakout artist of the early aughts. (They married and divorced, twice.)

Gesturing at the majestically tacky granite sculptures of sphinxes flanking the entrance, Bennett murmurs in her wry deadpan, “I can’t believe no one leaves this bitch any flowers.” We’re marveling at the hulking Egyptian revival mausoleum of Barbara Hutton, famously dubbed “Poor Little Rich Girl” by the press for throwing a deb ball at the Ritz during the Depression that would have cost $842,000 today. (Within a few years, Woolworth Girls—the little-appreciated cogs in the machine that was Hutton’s father’s well oiled fortune—would lie in wait outside hotels to throw eggs at her.)

I’ve tagged along to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx for Bennett’s annual pilgrimage to celebrate the socialite. Bennett dedicated one of her zines about bad behavior to Barbara Hutton, out of reverence for the heiress’s belief that money should be spent, and happiness can be bought. The grave’s opulence mirrors its inhabitant’s distaste for boredom and being scaled, and highlights her yen for exoticism, largesse, and trinkets. For one wedding—she married seven men—Hutton demanded Cartier make her a “Balinese wedding tiara of tortoiseshell, with a diamond pattern identical to the blossoms of her wedding veil.” (Later, she bought Catherine the Great’s jewels.)

This isn’t Bennett’s first time in a graveyard. In fact, most of Bennett’s interests start with a dead body. As a young fashion model with bleached eyebrows, she was locked in Père Lachaise, in Paris, after drinking too much champagne on Chopin’s grave with “two boys, one of whom was later hit by lightning and died.” She remembers, as an ex-model, “hauling my gigantic pregnant body past 29 Avenue B” to see the building GG Allin died in. When that baby was in elementary school, she guiltily stalked a memorial using her “young child and his poor skateboarding skills as a means of moving closer to the gathering in the park.” (The next day her anonymous sources at the memorial clandestinely sent her the “holy grail” of postmortem ephemera: “A link to a 13-page typed transcript of the seven eulogies delivered at the funeral.”)

I should mention that—besides having a rolodex of people who want to talk about dead people—Bennett is whip-thin and translucently white as a ghost. And that her dear friend, the artist Bjarne Melgaard, put a picture of her brushing her teeth on the cover of a book called Alissa Bennett: Laying the Ghost? And that we were originally introduced, one person removed, by a decorator who selected rosewood closets for Larry Page’s house, only to get an irate call that the scent was “killing him.” (The decorator has since died, unexpectedly, of unrelated causes.) And that she’s published an entire series of zines about criminally-minded fuck-ups, many of them now deceased, with the cult avant-garde publisher Frank Haines, a psychonaut from Florida who moonlights under an alter ego anagram of Ted Bundy.

This year, she launched The C-Word with Lena Dunham, a podcast that trawls through binders of dead or forgotten women dismissed by society as crazy, cataloging crimes and misdeeds, from murder to merely having once been alive. The opening line of the podcast? “I’m internationally reviled celebrity Lena Dunham, and I’m Alissa Bennett, historian of bad behavior.” Who better to talk about women society hates—from Judy Garland to Johnson and Johnson heiress, Casey Johnson—than a celebrity we all love to hate, and a woman who dedicates her free time to stalking dead people?

The podcast is a savvy marriage of Dunham’s mood—the distillation of years watching people online say she’s nuts—and Bennett’s life’s work, a series of true crime revisionist zines: Dead is Better (2016), Legalize Crime (2016), Bad Behavior (2017), I Expected Something Nice (2017), and Pretend You’re Actually Alive (2019). I say revisionist, because Bennett plays a sympathetic graverobber of sorts, retelling the stories of those who have been subject to the “drive we have to exsanguinate public women.” It might be more accurate to call Bennett a eulogist gone off the rails, in that she addresses the dead directly. She’s written “short devotional texts” personally addressing Michelle Carter (the teen who texted her boyfriend to kill himself), Anna Nicole Smith, Heidi Fleiss (Hollywood madam), and artist Theresa Duncan (“You began attending 9/11 truth movement meetings…people still wonder if we will ever get to read the 27-page legal document you were preparing for your Scientology lawsuit”).

Bennett takes a non-consequentialist tack in writing about her heroines’s tragedies. She appreciates, above all else, a story girded by a kind of tragic, even poetic, optimism. “I appreciate your commitment to the idea that a new life is just a Greyhound bus ride away,” she writes. “Oh I have dabbled in reinvention myself—I have pretended to be studious and organized and ‘engaged.’” Activities someone else might write off to derangement, Bennett celebrates as creativity: “Your interrogation tapes are incredible…You used the euphemism ‘nose job’ to describe the initial gunshot to Ryan’s face.”

It’s important to note that she doesn’t frame anything as a cautionary tale. They’re more like sendups, as if she’s submitting a post-mortem application for her subjects’s icon status. Of Elizabeth Siddal—the 19th-century artist’s model who miscarried “rowing a boat around a lake at night and writing a poem to the dead baby” inside her—Bennett writes, “I understand why you finally had enough and overdosed by your fireplace with a note pinned to your nightgown.” Her subjects aren’t A-list celebrities, or rarely. “There are always going to be people who are interested in investigating culturally significant people. I’m more interested in failure. I relate most to disappearance,” she says. Spectacular failure, really, is her subject, and it throws her into a “death obsession lustmord.” (Of Peaches Geldof: “I read that Reddit feed about the time she did heroin with a stranger and then took him to the Hollywood Scientology center where they took tons of Niacin and sat in the sauna…”)

Much of Bennett’s scholarship occurs in semi-abandoned corners of the internet flat with the dust of understimulated hit-counters. She scours websites like Bestgore, Websleuths; FindaDeath.com (“Amanda [Peterson] you are special to me as the only celebrity I ever commented on in a public forum. I would call this forum a must read.”); dead people’s mother’s blogs; even self-published, unauthorized, fan-written scandal biographies. In Bad Behavior, she addresses “Call Girl Killer” Alex Tichelman, the woman who accidentally killed a Google executive: “In my experience, the parents of murderers are not reliable judges of character, so I felt very lucky when I stumbled upon a 46-page-long Topix forum… One of the most remarkable things about these comments is that almost everyone who knew you as a teenager uses exactly the same word to describe you, and that word is off.” Bennett happily watches YouTube tapings of 48 Hours, Dateline, Hard Copy, Dr. Phil, E True Hollywood Story; Nancy Grace; Lifetime re-enactments of crimes; Candice DeLong’s “Deadly Women”; episodes of Unsolved Mysteries. She sources National Enquirer post-mortem photographs; she reads non-fiction books like Mike Sager’s Scary Monsters and Super Freaks and Suicide in the Entertainment Industry (which she read while attending “a pathetically produced murder mystery weekend in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania”); and pornography forums.

She notes that a Yahoo group dedicated to Brittany Murphy claims that she picked up her Vicodin under “Lola Manilow,” and uncovers a website Murphy’s ex created after her death “where he posted a lot of horrible photographs that he took of you [dressed] as a clown.” She finds someone selling the handles from Judy Garland’s casket.

At the end of the day, though, the most interesting person in the zines, again and again, is Alissa herself. Like most obsessives, she’s worth obsessing over. It’s hard not to view her as a little touched. A snapshot of her 20s (I’ll let you find out about the rest of her life in the zines): Seventeen-year-old Alissa follows an older man to New York from Rhode Island after high school. He dumps her, so she rents an apartment in Brooklyn with the money she steals from her cashier job at a hair salon downstairs from the Saint Mark’s Hotel. (“A real loser job for 1996.”) Within a year, she’s discovered by a model scout, who cuts her hair and sends her to London to meet Edward Ennufil, who books her for two shows on the spot: Junya Watanabe, and the now infamous Hussein Chalayan “Burka show,” with models dressed in successively diminishing fabric. (“I was the cut-off before Zora Star showed full bush.”) She’s twenty years old. Steven Klein starts booking her for dozens of magazines. She moves to London, where lands the cover of i-D, and Dazed and Confused, and Juergen Teller includes her in his famous Go-Sees portrait series. She meets her future ex-ex-husband Banks Violette, the catalyst for an epiphany that “this guy is so smart and I’m like a stupid idiot.” This is the kind of epiphany, for a normal person, that would lead to a new hobby, or something.

But Alissa, incapable of doing anything halfway, quits modeling and moves back to New York to become a “passionless shop girl at If Boutique.” It’s just more dignified. For a few years, she actually believes this. She marries Banks, and gets another shopgirl position. But watching people spend money all day is demoralizing. Her whole life was suddenly demoralizing. (Banks was getting “really, really famous and I’m like, I’m just a loser who works at the Alexander McQueen shop.”) In a fit of panic, she applies to college at the New School, where she…meets a virginal 18-year-old Lena Dunham, crying in a bathroom stall after their Fashion and Identity Formation seminar. (Lena transferred to Oberlin soon thereafter, but their friendship was clearly written in the stars.) She graduates, and Banks gets her a better job, working at the gallery Luxembourg/Dayan. They divorce, remarry, and divorce again. She’s still in her twenties, by the way, and coming to the only worthwhile lesson from that decade: it’s just easier if you make something of yourself than to be somebody’s +1.

“Not only did I feel contaminated by the failure of a marriage that I had been counting on to save me from ever having to accomplish anything myself, but I also suddenly understood that I’d been foolish to believe that a rich person could like me on my own now that I was without an art-star husband,” Bennett writes in her newest zine.

It makes sense, in retrospect, that someone so committed to seeing herself as a loser, a word Bennett uses a lot to describe herself—despite everything always being, in my opinion, kind of glamorous—would become a historian of fuck-ups and bad behavior. (For the record, Bennett remains in the art world to this day; she has the same job as Jennifer Lawrence’s fiancé.)

No one tell her she’s cool; the work would suffer.

[mandrykj-blog]

ENVR 2000 Blog #2

Jack Mandryk

7842862

Part 1 

One Challenge I see with the slow movement is convincing younger generations to buy into slowing their lives down. For example I listened to the podcast about the MPo1 (Figure 1), a Slow Phone that can only make phone calls. kids are now getting smart phones at younger ages making them more dependent and conditioned to rely on them for entertainment and a connection to friends and family. I think it would be difficult to sell a Slow Phone to a child that is conditioned to all of the capabilities of their smart phone. Especially since, many children now do not cope with boredom as well without a smart phone or tablet.

Figure 1. Three Slow Phones. Neby, P., 2015, https://www.punkt.ch/en/

Another challenge with Slow phones is retrofitting. Everyone with a mobile phone now in days has a smart phone. They have grown dependent on the many uses of their smart phone for navigation, entertainment and varied ways of communication. I think it would be very difficult to convince people to trade in their own phone and then purchase a new one that has only a fraction of the capabilities. 

Lastly, Petter Neby states that talking on the phone is the most stimulating way to communicate (Neby, 2015). When a loved one says “I love you” through the phone it is much more meaningful then getting it through a text or email (Neby, 2015). However, talking on the phone is not always the best way to communicate depending on the users environment. Some environments are too loud to speak on the phone and some it is rude to do so. Also if you simply do not have the time to call someone it would be inconvenient to do so. 

An opportunity in the slow movement and of a slow phone is getting to experience the world around us and enjoying the different environments we experience everyday. With a Slow Phone one would not be distracted by apps and social media forcing them to look out into their environment for real entertainment and conversation. As Petter Neby says, there is plenty of better entertainment around us than apps on a smart phone (Neby, 2015).

Another opportunity with Slow Phones is without the distraction of apps and social media on phones most people would be more productive through out their day whether it is with school work, a job or personal goals. For example my friend and I spent an hour and a half one day just laying around looking a memes on Instagram. That is an hour and a half I could have spent on this assignment but instead wasted it on virtually nothing. 

Lastly, a Slow Phone has the ability to bring back Boredom (Neby, 2015). Petter Neby states that no one is doing nothin anymore and that the Romans had a period of time set a side everyday just to sit do nothing and relax (Neby, 2015). I think this would be beneficial in todays society because everything is so fast and rushed that our mind and body just need time to relax and debrief. 

  Personally I would like to slow my time between classes down. I often find myself feeling reluctant to study, do assignments or meet up with friends because I would rather be playing games on my phone or browsing social media. To slow my life down I could buy Petter Neby’s MPo1, though I already have a working cell phone and I rely on it for other apps such as Google maps and an Alarm clock. Another way I could slow my life in between classes is to delete all of my games and social media accounts off my phone leaving no option but to find something productive to do or just relax with a friend.

Part 2 

a. My worst rated personal care product is my Old Spice wolfhorn shampoo and conditioner with an overall hazard rating of 5/10 (EWG, 2016). It rates low on the chart for cancer and endocrine disruption but is very highly rated for allergies and immunotoxicity (EWG, 2016). Its most hazardous aspect is fragrance rating at a 8/10 on the hazard scale with concerns of allergies, irritation and organ system toxicity (EWG, 2016)

My second worst rated personal care product is my Old Spice classic deodorant. Its overall hazard rating is 4/10 and has low rated for carcinogens and endocrine disrupters (EWG, 2016). Its worst chemical component is Triclosan and is rated as a 7/10 on the hazard scale (EWG, 2016). Triclosan has concerns of irritation, use restrictions and ecotoxicology (EWG, 2016). 

My best two personal care items are my Softsoap hand soap and my Crest Pro-Health toothpaste. My Softsoap had an overall hazard rating of 3/10 with a low rating on the carcinogen and endocrine disruption categories (EWG, 2016). My Softsoaps worst aspect was its fragrance scoring a 8/10 on the hazard scale (EWG, 2016). Its biggest concerns are allergies/immunotoxicity and irritation (EWG, 2016). My Crest Pro-Health toothpaste had an overall hazard rating of 3/10 with low ratings in carcinogens and endocrine disruptors (EWG, 2016). Crest Pro-Health toothpaste’s worst ingredient is Peg-6 with concerns of organ system toxicity and contamination (EWG, 2016).

b. My factors for deciding if my purchases were Good, Bad or Ugly were personal cost and environmental impact. For example if an Item was high in cost and bad for the environment I would have categorized it as Ugly. If an item was costly but good for the environment it was categorized as bad and if its cost was relatively low and was good or had no effect on the environment it was categorized as Good. In one week I spent $248.29. Only $33.32 of that was categorized as Good, $178.37 of my total was categorized as bad and  $36.60 was categorized as Ugly. Some of my worst Items were takeout from restaurants such as Tim Horton's which gives you bags, cups and containers that are un recyclable. 

c. Typically my household’s e-waste was just thrown directly into the trash but now I understand that there is a much more environmentally friendly way to dispose of such items. After doing some research I found that there are places in Winnipeg where I can properly recycle my old phones and if I can’t make it to one of their locations I can simply send it through the mail. The recycling is run by The Manitoba Stewardship Organization and they will take everything including cell phones, smart phones and PDAs (Manitoba Stewardship Organizations [MSO], 2018). There location in Winnipeg is in Oak Park, that is where I plan on taking my used Phones from now on. As for my future electronic purchase plans I plan on only purchasing a phone when I absolutely need to. I can extend the life of my electronics by treating them better and not getting caught up in all the fancy boasts the companies make when releasing a new product.

Figure 2. Recycle Symbol collage. Recycle Manitoba, 2018 http://www.recyclemanitoba.ca/ 

d. There are lots of ways to improve the sustainability of ones household. One large component of improving the sustainability of ones house is reducing the house hold waste. Techniques such as shopping with a plan, eating leftovers, knowing the difference between a best before date and an expiration date and eating foods that may not look perfect (Hunter, 2018a). These are all examples of ways to improve the sustainability of ones house. My worst habit is definitely shopping without a plan. This often causes me to purchase more food than I can eat. There have been several times this year where I have purchased too much fruit. The fruit then goes bad and I am left with little or no choices but to throw it out. I plan to make a list and meal plan for every week each Sunday night so when I go grocery shopping on Monday I know exactly how much food to purchase. This will ensure that I do not waste any food. I also plan to getting better at cooking and learn what to do with bananas when the get older, such as making banana bread or muffins. 

Part 3

Zoos

a. Zoos should play a large role in conservation and education. Ideally zoos should practice specific breeding, research, population management and reintroduction in attempt to conserve animals and their habitats (Hunter, 2018c). Zoos should breed species that are at risk for future release into the wild as well as conduct plenty of research on the animals they have in captivity to ensure that all of their needs are being met (Hunter, 2018c). It is important for zoos to try to educate the population so that they can understand how to help the animals in their own way and stop behaviour that has the potential to harm different species. Zoos should try to educate people through the use of large informative exhibit signs, brochures and websites (Hunter, 2018c).

b. I think it can be ethical to keep animals in zoos but it has to be done properly. This means that all of the animals needs are met. That being said I don't think it is ethical to keep large, social animals in zoos because of how hard it can be to meet their needs. For example Elephants are large, social animals that are greatly effected by being in a zoo (Hunter, 2018c). Just one Elephant needs a lot of space to be healthy, but they also need large number of companions, this results in even more space needed for their enclosure. Most Elephants in captivity are not as healthy as their wild counter parts having less than half the life span when in captivity (Hunter, 2018c).

c. I enjoy visiting zoos that give the animals everything they need to be healthy and happy.

Food a. What I like about my food system is that I eat fairly healthy and cheaply. I have recently moved out of my childhood home and have never really know how to cook. Since I don't know how to cook I mostly eat fruits and vegetables such as apples, bananas, cucumbers, broccoli and carrots. 

b. I do not like how much organic waste I produce. I travel every second weekend with the men’s volleyball team and I often find that I don’t get a chance to finish the food I had bought for the week and it often goes bad while I am away. I also dislike the fact that I rarely ever get to enjoy local food anymore. When I lived with my parents in Lockport, Manitoba we would grow a garden full of asparagus, beans, tomatoes, potatoes and pumpkins. Now that I live in the city that is not something I get to enjoy as often. 

Oceans a.  My biggest concerns with the oceans are oil spills such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oil spills have terrible long lasting effects on the ecosystem they occur in such as dolphin deaths , deformed fish and coral death (Hunter, 2018b). Oil can even affect the shore by sinking into the sand causing a low degradation rate (Hunter, 2018b)

b. I can help the oceans by reducing my demand for oil and educating others on how they can do so as well. I can reduce ,y demand for oil by doing things such as using reusable water bottle and using forms of active transport as much as possible. 

References 

Environmental Working Group. (2007-2018) EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. Retrieved from  https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Honore, C.,& Neby, P.(2015, September). A Slow Phone. Podcast retrieved from http://www.carlhonore.com/unlock-slow/podcasts/

Hunter, K. (2018a). Food 1 [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/291962/viewContent/1435613/View

Hunter, K. (2018b). Oil and Us [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/291962/viewContent/1423959/View

Hunter, K. (2018c). Zoos [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https://universityofmanitoba.desire2learn.com/d2l/le/content/291962/viewContent/1450073/View

Manitoba Stewardship Organization. (2018). Recycle My Cell. Retrieved from http://www.recyclemanitoba.ca/ 

[2beautiful2burn-blog]

WWE: Wrestlemania 34 - Not feelin it

With Wrestlemania 34 this Sunday in New Orleans, it's one of the most exciting times of the year for lots of people. For me personally, it's just another weekend. I hate to say that, but it's just an undeniable feeling for me. This is coming from someone who watched WWF/E from the time he was 5 until the time he was 26. It got to the point that I was just waiting around for things to change for the better - or at least, the way I remembered them being when I became a fan. Only they never did. That was likely impossible, as what I was remembering is undoubtedly through the rose tinted filter of nostalgia. Add in 3 hour long slogs of Raw every Monday night, and a lifelong fan was lost.

Not that any of this really matters. WWE is more profitable than they have ever been. Even the people that complain about the product still feed the machine with monthly $10 WWE Network subscriptions. Some of those people will even be in attendance Sunday night, just to voice their displeasure when Roman Reigns inevitably beats Brock Lesnar to become WWE champion. As somebody who was in attendance at Wrestlemania 30 (also in the New Orleans Superdome), I can attest, even the nosebleeds ain't cheap. So that's a lotta coin to drop on something you're unhappy with. 

I remember WM 30 being the first time that a Wrestlemania was taking place at a location within driving distance. Still, I wasn’t sold. I remember feeling like I should be excited, but just couldn’t muster the energy. After all, initially, the original main event was set to be Randy Orton defending the WWE title against Batista, fresh from an underwhelming return made even worse by the fact that he was not Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan was the underdog who was undermined by the WWE powers that be (both in real life and in storyline) over and over again. Time and time again. Over and over and over.

...he got screwed over and beaten a lot.

Then, without any satisfying conclusion (or any conclusion at all really), he was pushed to the side in favor of the oversized, larger than life returning former champion and current movie star. It didn’t go over well. Luckily, the fans clamoring for Daniel Bryan to be in the Wrestlemania main event became so undeniable that WWE canceled their Orton vs. Batista plans, and made Bryan the focal point.

With this change, I was in. I’d been watching Bryan wrestle since I was in middle school. I had the rare opportunity to follow him from the very beginning of his career, every step of the way, all the way to the main event of WWE’s biggest show of the year. I really doubt I’ll ever experience anything quite like that as a wrestling fan ever again. Win Bryan won the WWE title, I damn near shed a tear, even from my $200 nosebleed seat (I’m serious - it was as high up as you could possibly be in that building). I reminisce on all of this to say - WWE MADE me go to this show. There was no way I was gonna miss it, and it will undoubtedly go down as my favorite experience as a wrestling fan.

Of course, this was also the night that Undertaker’s 20+ year Wrestlemania winning streak came to an end. That’s right, I can say I was there. It was honestly the most surreal thing I have ever seen. My best friend and I looked at each other mouth agape (yeah, like that one guy they showed in the front row). Surely there was a mistake? The ref miscounted. The ring bell rang itself on accident. But, no, we had witnessed history (of a predetermined sport, but still). That, plus seeing Daniel Bryan, who was unequivocally my GUY for 10 years, win the WWE title, I kinda consider WM 30 my series finale as a WWE fan. All those years as a fan had been leading to it, and it blew my freaking mind.

Things also went pretty downhill after that. 3 hour Raws became more commonplace. The Shield broke up and went from being revolutionary performers to pretty run of the mill guys. Bryan got injured and had to retire. CM Punk was gone and not coming back. I went from never missing a Raw or Smackdown, to only sometimes reading results. WM 31 followed a year later, and wasn’t bad, but couldn’t match the year before in my mind. WM 32 followed, and was pretty rough. Royal Rumble leading into WM33 was extremely disappointing, and at that point, I vowed to not be let down anymore. Years of overall general disinterest as a fan mounted, and I gave WWE the deuces. WM 33 was the first Wrestlemania I ever missed. And I haven’t watched a Raw, Smackdown, or PPV since.

WM 34 will be the 2nd Wrestlemania that I’ve ever missed. Not only that, but I could easily be there (hopefully in better seats). I won’t be. Here’s why:

1) Daniel Bryan is back. Now, I’m not totally abject to this. I just personally feel that he accomplished all there was to accomplish. He’s married, and his wife just recently gave birth to their first child. I don’t think pushing his body is the best idea when considering all of these circumstances. Then again, it’s his body, and ultimately, his decision. Of course, I’m (selfishly) elated to see him back. He’s an all time favorite of mine, and he’s still relatively young. I know he can still deliver. Here’s the problem. WWE are not positioning his return as the colossal event that it is. We have been led to believe that he would never wrestle (for WWE at least) again. They buck these expectations by having him tweet out the news that he’s returning. Then they have him get beat up and hospitalized on TV the same night. Sure, it makes you hate the guys that jumped him, and makes you want to see him get even. After all, now that he’s cleared to wrestle again, he CAN get even. But, unfortunately, this is not the point here. The point of Daniel Bryan’s return is so he can team with Vince McMahon’s middle aged, non-wrestler son, Shane. Shane is a Wrestlemania staple, only this year, they didn’t have much planned for him. It’s quite a coincidence that WWE goes from being so against Daniel Bryan’s in ring return UNTIL they need something for Vince’s son to do at Wrestlemania. I hope I’m wrong, but it doesn’t look very good regardless. Bryan’s return (in New Orleans nonetheless) is worthy of a main event position. Instead, we’re getting a lukewarm tag match in the middle of the show. A huge moment totally squandered by WWE. Any long term fan will tell you - this isn’t a rare occasion.

2) The main event is lame and predictable. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar already wrestled for the WWE title at WM 31. It was actually pretty bad ass. It didn’t end with a legitimate finish (Seth Rollins won the match even though he wasn’t in it, because wresting is bizarre), so it makes sense that they would need to wrestle again to settle the score once and for all. The only problem is, Brock is leaving for a UFC return, and the fans that pay big money to attend WWE events, like Wrestlemania, hate Roman Reigns. This ain’t a good mix. The last time Brock left WWE, he got booed out of Madison Square Garden (at WM 20) and called a sellout - and that wasn’t even the main event. This cannot, and will not end well. Apparently, a lot of people think, “Surely, Vince McMahon won’t send the fans home unhappy from one of the biggest shows of the year?” Only he does - over and over. I’m sure Frank the Clown, Mick Foley, Honky Tonk Man, Jim Cornette, Disco Inferno, Juventud, The Midnight Rambler, Just Joe, plus everyone else and their mama will blog/podcast about how disappointed they are. But nothing will change. So long as WWE fans pay big money to boo, they’ll keep being served the same product they claim to hate.

3) I’ve already seen AJ vs Nakamura. These two already wrestled a few years ago at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year, WrestleKingdom. And it was pretty awesome. Now, if anything would get me to watch this year, or even get me in a seat in New Orleans, its this match. I’m sure it will be an awesome match. But I just don’t care. I’ve already seen it. More importantly, the build has been practically non-existent. Nakamura’s Rumble win reeks of just throwing internet fans a bone. It’s not the main event, but it will appease fans while they boo Lesnar vs. Reigns. I don’t want to root against either guy, and that’s a problem. I like them both equally, and don’t want to see either lose. In turn, I can’t really get excited. This is a case where I would have preferred a hard heel turn from one of them. Either of them. I mean, give us something. I would have honestly preferred to have seen AJ face someone like Orton, a known awesome heel performer, and, in a perfect world, seen Nakamura face Brock (whether for the title or not). Then, I would’ve been there. I’m sure it will be an amazing match. I’m sure fans watching live and at home will love it. I’ll be sure to catch it somewhere down the line. But I won’t be paying to see it live.

In conclusion, I realize that as a 20 + year wrestling fan, I kinda feel like I’ve seen it all. I’m not very easy to please in that regard. I just refuse to continually consume and be displeased with a product just because I grew up with it. Plus, I can honestly say that in the year and a half that I’ve been watching New Japan Pro Wrestling regularly (via their monthly paid New Japan World service), I’m enjoying it as much as I enjoyed the Attitude Era when I was a kid. Sometimes, maybe even more. It’s important to let go of nostalgia, and move on if you don’t enjoy something. The WWE is not the same company, in any way, that I once enjoyed. They themselves acknowledge that they’re not a wrestling company anymore. And, hey, like I said, they’re more profitable and powerful than they’ve ever been. They certainly don’t need me. And if you’re unhappy with their product, they clearly don’t need you.

[stjohnintelligencer]

St John Tea Transcripts - November 21, “1917″

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: Good evening everyone! Thank you so much for joining me for tea tonight!

[19:00] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t really have any major announcements tonight. Tea this evening is more about me telling you what’s been going on with me and to talk a little bit about the season change in St John Woods and Christmas stuff.

[19:00] Kitty (vinje): Hello everyone!

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: It's been an age since I have had tea like this!

[19:01] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): hi Kitty

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: Usually I ask you to hold questions until I give the ok, but tonight, feel free to ask questions as we go. The information I will be discussing is different than what I usually talk about at tea.

[19:01] Gabrielle Riel: Ready? I do recommend that you buckle your seatbelts for this. It’s going to go down some paths that you would not expect...

[19:01] Kitty (vinje): ohh

[19:01] Pru (prudencejekyll): Ready

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel tucks Kitty's seatbelt around him

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): gulp

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: Here we go!

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t know if any of you have noticed but I have not been in SL very much over the last three months. I have basically logged in to play gigs and handle the most basic of land administration tasks...and that’s it.

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): looks for my flask

[19:02] Gabrielle Riel passes Kitty 2

[19:02] Kitty (vinje): ty

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: St John is riddled with vacant parcels that I have simply not had the time to process. We are in pretty rough shape right now in terms of our tenancy levels.

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: That’s due to several things.

[19:03] Gabrielle Riel: First of all, a lot of long-time residents downsized or left SL altogether this year. This has been an issue everywhere not just in St John.

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): (( whats his ma,e wamts a parcel for his theater again ))

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): Name*

[19:03] Kitty (vinje): but go on

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: Secondly, the SL economy changes due to the things that happened in 2016 have come home to roost. The fact that I could not afford the sim buy-downs hurt us badly. Also the prim increases on the mainland did cause some residents to leave for that better value.

[19:04] Kitty (vinje): dang

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: I understand why LL made those changes. They were smart business decisions, but they did hurt us.

[19:04] Gabrielle Riel: Third: some of you might be aware of this and some of you might not, but I, my estate and my residents have been stalked by certain avatars/alts since at least 2009. Well, 2009 in terms of my estate. I have personally been stalked by alts since 2007.

[19:04] Kitty (vinje): oh no is my cold dead body gonna be dragged away?

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: What do I mean by “stalked”? Well, it manifests in several ways. One is just a general nosiness. There are some people that literally have nothing better to do than to be nosy about what’s happening in St John and what I am doing in general.

[19:05] Gabrielle Riel: Is that weird? Yep. A little pathetic? In my opinion, yes. Sometimes these alts lease land. Sometimes they show up at Tea even though they aren’t St John residents. They come to Tea to know what’s going on or to save the transcripts for someone else, which is incredibly silly as I post unedited transcripts after each tea.

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: Another type of stalking goes like this: an alt moves to St John and is relatively quiet for the first 2-3 months of residency. This is not too hard to accomplish as the typist(s) is/are running a million other alts all over the Steamlands and in SL in general. It’s not hard to be quiet when you’ve got that many avatars to manage!

[19:06] Kitty (vinje): hi zen

[19:06] ZenMondo Wormser: Hello.

[19:06] Gabrielle Riel: After the initial quiet period, the alt starts to make friendly and social overtures to other residents. They make social connections, which can be somewhat easy to do in here, and especially easy for a manipulative sociopath.

[19:06] Pru (prudencejekyll): waves to Zen

[19:06] ZenMondo Wormser: Sorry I am late I had to make sure no one showed up to my class

[19:07] Kitty (vinje): ahhh

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Eventually the alt(s) focus(es) their “friendly” conversations with the other St John residents they have befriended on one thing. Me.

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: How everything I am doing sucks. How my sim design and landscaping sucks. How I am using the wrong scripts here and there. How I am doing *everything* wrong. All the ways I am such an awful person and horrible estate owner. It turns into a non-stop Gabi-bashing session...all the time.

[19:07] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:07] Gabrielle Riel: Eventually the alt convinces their “friends” to dump their land. It’s amazing how many people will allow themselves to be manipulated in this way, but sociopaths can always bank on the weakness in so many people.

[19:07] Kitty (vinje): dont forget your sassiness

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel grins - oh just wait

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: Voila. Vacant parcel(s).

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: I have always found it to be incredibly ironic that the alt(s) is/are able to manipulate others into dumping their land...and yet they stay on, not only as that functional alt, but as many others in the estate. So, they generate vacancies and at the same time lease parcels. It’s like this obsession to destroy and yet stay connected to me at the same time.

[19:08] Gabrielle Riel: If you are sitting here, you are likely not someone the alt(s) would ever approach. They avoid long time loyal residents and fixate more on quiet ones or less social ones.

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: I have been dealing with this scenario since 2009. All from the same root(s).

[19:09] Gabrielle Riel: This non-stop, ongoing stalking is one of the reasons we have vacancies at the moment. It’s also one of the reasons I produced this podcast in August: https://archive.org/details/RielConversationsAllAboutAlts . Because I felt it was important to provide information to my residents about alts and how to identify them.

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel moves on from the alt reason

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: Another reason we are hurting is due to abandons we had in Parish after we had to rebuild the sim. The rebuild was absolutely necessary in order for St John to survive. I knew we’d take a hit and lose some residents, and we did. We just lost more than I had hoped and it made a bad situation worse.

[19:10] Kitty (vinje): oh no

[19:10] Gabrielle Riel: There is one final reason we have so many vacancies and I alluded to it when we started tea: I have not been online much and therefore unable to process parcels for leasing.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: Why have I not been online? That’s complicated, so I will try to keep it simple.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: 2017 has been one of the worst years of my life, my actual life.

[19:11] Gabrielle Riel: It has also, hands-down been the worst year of my SL in 11.5 years.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: That is saying a lot. I’ve had rough patches before. Back in my early years, I was bashed in blogs. Called a c*nt in print and was accused of having multiple personality disorder. However there were also incredible high points during those times. It all balanced out.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: There was no balance this year. It has just sucked.

[19:12] Gabrielle Riel: At the beginning of 2017 I was SL-engaged with plans for a massive Mardi Gras SL-wedding. While it’s good that ended up not coming to fruition, it was still very difficult to deal with as it all fell apart.

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel: My close friends here right now can confirm my statement: “it was SO messed up”. Painful. Horrible. Heartbreaking. For me and for him. I wish him well and I wish him happiness. I am fairly sure he does not wish the same for me, but that’s how it goes sometimes when you sever a connection.

[19:13] Kitty (vinje): grrrr

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel scratches Kitty behind the ears

[19:13] Kitty (vinje): k

[19:13] Gabrielle Riel grins

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: In addition to SL stress, I was also weathering incredible RL stress.

[19:14] JivenKitty: sends the "gentleman" an old furball

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: Some of you know a little bit about my real life. I think I have mentioned here and there over the years that I have a son and that he has special needs.

[19:14] Gabrielle Riel: While it might seem like I am this active person with a radio station and a Second Life estate, the reality is that 90% of my life is taken up with caring for my son.

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: The tasks involved in his care are a lot. I mean a lot. That’s all I am going to say about it. Just know that it’s not something most people could handle and I handle it...and I handle it like a damn superwoman.

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: The need for me to focus on my son’s care has done nothing but increase over the years, so when I hear about someone bitching about “why hasn’t Gabi done this” or “why hasn’t Gabi finished that” or “where the hell has Gabi been” or “look at all those empty parcels”...

[19:15] Gabrielle Riel: I only have one thing to say:

[19:16] Kitty (vinje): who says that?

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: *Kristin pushes the nice, professional Duchess aside and takes over*

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: Fuck you. I dare you to walk in my shoes and handle it as well as I have.

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel regains control

[19:16] Gabrielle Riel: Oh LORD! I just swore at tea! Smelling salts all around!

[19:16] Kitty (vinje): haha

[19:16] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:17] Imon (imon.nightfire): smiles

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel tosses Amelia a bag of smelling salts...can you pass these out please... you're an expert at it  ;-)

[19:17] Kitty (vinje): haha

[19:17] Gabrielle Riel whispers...we used to be Swooners...long story for another time!

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: I don’t think I have ever cursed in public...oh, save one time in December 2008 when I dropped the F bomb in ISC (Caledon group chat) over something that happened (that could have been prevented) that totally messed up a huge event I was having.

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: But hey...I’ve been here for almost 12 years and I’m damn tired after 2017! If someone hears/reads that and gets their panties in a wad and leaves St John, oh well!

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel grins - “panties in a wad” is such a Kristin and not a Gabi phrase!

[19:18] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:18] Gabrielle Riel: My Dad was a cop. I can swear like a cop. I can also kick your ass like a cop.  ;-)  Literally or figuratively!

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel crawls on top of Kristin and shoves her back into the closet

[19:19] Emmanuelle Huntress: or have one do it for her

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel grins at Emma

[19:19] Amelia Smythe quiletly passes the salts around the group

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: Anyway!

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: That’s why I have not been around. My son’s care has been all-consuming this year. And that is not likely to change.

[19:19] Gabrielle Riel: 2017 has been the “perfect storm” of horror for me. Hurricane Gabrielle was very appropriately named.

[19:20] Kitty (vinje): takes said smelling salts

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: So...now...here we are…

[19:20] JivenKitty: looks for opium pipe

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: I have a hope. That is that I will be able to spend some time working on St John over the coming weeks. I really need to get the estate in better shape. I need to get parcels set up for leasing. I have a lot of work to do.

[19:20] Gabrielle Riel: Just know that I WANT to do it. My RL will dictate my ability to make it happen.

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: Also, while I do not have any current plans to close any of our sims, know that it IS a possibility. We might be stronger financially if I were to consolidate residents and dump a sim or two.

[19:21] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: That option is better than the other option which is: Gabi dumps all her sims and leaves SL. And yes, that is also a possibility.

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel hears the gasps of hope from altapalooza land

[19:21] Gabrielle Riel: I said possible. Not likely. So don’t get your hopes up bitch(es)!

[19:21] Pru (prudencejekyll): grins

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel sighs and shoves Kristin back in the closet AGAIN

[19:22] Kitty (vinje): whew

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: So...what can you do to help? See if you have any friends that would be interested in leasing in St John! It’s that simple.

[19:22] Gabrielle Riel: And, yes, I know I need to process parcels first so they are available for lease! Don’t start marketing St John to your contacts until you see yellow on the map. My hope is to get parcels up for lease in the next week.

[19:22] Pru (prudencejekyll): My alt friends?  ;p

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: Hey, as long as they don't harass anyone I am FINE with them!

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): :)

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: That, my dears, is in a nutshell “what the hell has been up with Gabi for months”.

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: So...

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel: After that refreshing airing of all sorts of stuff, are you all ready to hear about season change and Christmas?

[19:23] Kitty (vinje): Hi Edward!

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel grins

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): Yes!

[19:23] Edward Pearse: Evening all

[19:23] Pru (prudencejekyll): Hi Edward. :)

[19:23] Gabrielle Riel waits for heads to cease spinning

[19:24] Kitty (vinje): yes!

[19:24] Emmanuelle Huntress: Yay winter

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: All good to go?  ;-)

[19:24] Pru (prudencejekyll): Bring it!

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: Ok! So most of you probably already know this so I am going to keep it short. As St John is based on New Orleans, we are a sub-tropical climate. We do not have “changing of seasons”.

[19:24] Imon (imon.nightfire): yes :-)

[19:24] Gabrielle Riel: With one exception: St John Woods. We have all 4 seasons there. Woods is in Autumn mode at the moment, but the transition to Winter will start after Dec 1. I don’t go all snowy right away. I do it gradually over the first 2 weeks of the month. We go full snowy by Winter Solstice, which is on December 21.

[19:25] Edward Pearse: Yeah but pretty sure New Orleans doesn't have talking cats either :-P

[19:25] Kitty (vinje): pfffft

[19:25] Kitty (vinje) whispers: do too

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: Of course it does

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: It's New Orleans!

[19:25] Imon (imon.nightfire): depends on how much you've had to drink

[19:25] Kitty (vinje): voila!

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: Winter lasts in Woods until March 1. That is when melt begins and it happens over several weeks, with Spring springing on the Vernal Equinox which is March 20.

[19:25] Gabrielle Riel: We also have a “freak snowstorm” in ALL of the St John sims on December 24, 25 and 26 for Christmas.

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: And speaking of Christmas…

[19:26] ZenMondo Wormser: I actually date a talking cat from New Orleans in real life, so...

[19:26] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): a fgew

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: The St John Christmas Ball will be Saturday, December 23 from 7-9pm SLT.

[19:26] Kitty (vinje): hahaha

[19:26] Edward Pearse: I was over in St Oswald last night. They're using the Botanical snow rezz thing. Worth looking at for comparison

[19:26] Gabrielle Riel: And could someone find me a nice date for it? I would be SO grateful because I SO don’t want to get lost in the memories of last year’s Christmas Ball! Thanks a bunch!  ;-)

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: Speaking more of Christmas…

[19:27] ZenMondo Wormser: (her name is Fidget she is on my facebook)

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: I need volunteers to help decorate the sims for the holidays. I’ll figure out what I want in each sim and let you know what to do...or just ask Kitty. He’s an expert at holiday decor in St John!

[19:27] Kitty (vinje): haha fidget

[19:27] Kitty (vinje): good cat name

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: It’s 1917 now, which means it’s totally fine to decorate with electric lights in Parish and Uptown. I do prefer that folks in Bayou and Lake keep their holiday decor more natural as electric service was still not fully out to rural areas 100 years ago.

[19:27] Gabrielle Riel: Folks in Woods: you can do whatever the heck you want. You are magic. Go nuts. If you do something I consider out of theme, I’ll let you know.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: I will be putting up a Christmas tree here in Duchess Square in Parish and in Uptown, just like I have for the last 3 years.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: If you would like to help with sim Christmas decorating, please just let me know.

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: Any Christmas questions?

[19:28] Gabrielle Riel: You guys are all long-time residents, you know the drill.

[19:29] Pru (prudencejekyll): nods

[19:29] Kitty (vinje): yeah we're good to go

[19:29] Gabrielle Riel: There is something that Amelia is working on that I would like her to mention.

[19:29] Kitty (vinje): ohhhh claps for Amelia

[19:30] Amelia Smythe: If you haven't noticed there is a huge area in front of my store now.  During the middle of December I'm going to run a small far for st john and other in theme merchants.

[19:30] Kitty (vinje): oops

[19:30] Amelia Smythe: fair that is

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): ohhhhh wow

[19:31] Gabrielle Riel: I am so not going to make out with you cat

[19:31] JivenKitty: nice

[19:31] Amelia Smythe: Right now I just need to collect names of the local merchants.  If you are one, please send me an IM

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): snickers

[19:31] Amelia Smythe: that's all for now

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): i didnt know it moved you, if i moved

[19:31] Edward Pearse: :-)

[19:31] JivenKitty: "right"

[19:31] Kitty (vinje): looks for mint mouth spray

[19:32] Edward Pearse bites tongue

[19:32] Kitty (vinje): i really hate sitting like im going to the bathroom

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: ty Amelia! We can send a notice about the fair as well.

[19:32] JivenKitty: wear a long gown, bring a chamber pot

[19:32] Gabrielle Riel: This is just the advance notice.

[19:32] Pru (prudencejekyll): wear one of your human costumes, Kitty.

[19:32] Kitty (vinje): i love that idea Amelia!

[19:33] Amelia Smythe: ty gabi

[19:33] Kitty (vinje): pfffft

[19:33] Kitty (vinje): damnit

[19:33] Gabrielle Riel: I have one last quick announcement. This is event-related. Starting this Sunday, my Swing Songs from The Nightingale show will run from 12:30-2pm SLT. This will be its time slot going forward. It will continue to be on the 4th Sunday of every month like it always has been, it will just be at this new, earlier time.

[19:34] Edward Pearse: Can you get me an updated poster sometime soon?

[19:34] Kitty (vinje) whispers: can i make out with Amelia?

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: I play that at The Serpah Club.

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: Yep - I made one today

[19:34] Edward Pearse: Cool

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel: It's actually on my FB notice for the event

[19:34] Kitty (vinje) whispers: ohhh did she say yep?

[19:34] Gabrielle Riel hasn't unbuckled your seatbelt yet cat, you can't reach Amelia

[19:35] Edward Pearse: Is there a Vet in St John?

[19:35] Kitty (vinje) whispers: damnit

[19:35] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): Ali is a baby doctor

[19:35] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): best I giot for ya

[19:35] Gabrielle Riel: Any questions? About anything?

[19:35] Pru (prudencejekyll): I know how to do it, Edward... I just need someone to hold him down.

[19:35] Kitty (vinje): gasp

[19:35] Gabrielle Riel: Including:  "Gabi when you are going to say "fuck" again at tea"  ;-)

[19:35] Kitty (vinje) whispers: omg

[19:36] Edward Pearse: Does that count as saying it?

[19:36] Gabrielle Riel: This was the second time I said it tonight.

[19:36] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): not it didnt have the same impact for me

[19:36] Edward Pearse: I'll get you a swear jar

[19:36] Kitty (vinje): i have one in the bar

[19:37] Edward Pearse: Or should that be a "cussing jar" here? :-)

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: We can stay and be social, however - I hereby declare this tea officially over in regards to important estate information…

[19:37] ƵƸÐ ℝÅƔƸN (cupcakesnatcher): thank you Gabi

[19:37] Gabrielle Riel: ...and damn I can not wait to post these transcripts.  ;-)

[telekineticmaniac]

Another Anime Convention 2017 — A Review

When I went to AAC this year, I had a moment in my vlogs where I realized just how much I didn’t get to share with you all in my con vlogs. I have a lot of fun filming amusing moments and recounting things that happen but the actual convention and all the bad things that may or may not happen at it, are never really caught on camera. So instead of just not acknowledging everything you don’t see in my con vlogs, and instead of taking up more space in my video schedule with a convention review for every con, I thought I would do some little reviews here on this blog so that you can know the nitty gritty of every con I attend. 

Also, I know it’s kinda of a boring first blog post after saying I wanted to get back into blogging, but I think do it’s important to address. And hey, there will be some totally new things coming your way soon so if you aren’t about this life, you only have to wait a little bit longer. If you are about this life though, totally keep reading!!

The Convention Programming:

Anyone who attends this con can say immediately that is a “beginning” convention. It is very small in both attendance and venue size, but has been growing at least throughout the few years I have attended. I’ve heard people have questionable things to say about staff and the organization of the con in the past, and I personally have had some questions and confusions with the layout and programming, however this year I noticed a huge improvement in all of those things. 

For example, to avoid people flaking out at the last moment, it was actually required for panelists to preregister before submitting a panel. A really simple rule set in place but and effective one as I heard much less stories of friends showing up to panels they were excited to see only to find an empty room. After a glance over the convention schedule, I saw that the content for the panels was however much the same as it has been in years past—lot’s of in character ask panels and joke-y panels. Although it’s not a huge variety like for example a con like Anime Boston may provide, it offers a type of panel that I find a lot of people immersed in specific fandoms really enjoy. 

And then of course there are the events that the convention is known for: the AMV contest and, to a lesser extent, the masquerade. As far as the masquerade goes, I’ve personally always found the numerous judges, categories, and awards to be more a friendly environment than most con’s masquerade atmospheres. It’s usually a very fun show that is more about getting on stage and having a good time rather than showing off the most incredible of costumes. That being said, I think it is incredibly successful at doing that and is usually a highly anticipated event of the convention. On a the completely different end of the spectrum, the AMV contest at this convention is insanely competitive for a “beginning” convention. One might say it even rivals the AMV contest that Anime Boston holds (which is saying something). The people who compete in it produce some of the best AMVs I have ever seen and it is wonderful to pop in a watch a few—or even just watch the winners broadcasted at the end of the masquerade!

Here’s my personal favorite of the AMVs I’ve seen at AAC over the years to show you exactly the ride you are in for with the AAC AMV contest:

The Crowd:

I’ve always loved the crowd at this convention and this year did not disappoint. I will be perfectly honest, I’m sad to see that the days of AAC being “Homestuck Con” are fading away. However the crowd of the convention continues to be rather accepting of non-traditional genres, like webcomics and podcasts. Although I tend to cosplay whatever the hell genre I want at whatever con I want, whether or not that falls under the over arcing genre of the convention, this can prove problematic at some cons. When I attended Boston Comic Con back in 2014 I received some nasty comments for being a Homestuck instead of cosplaying as someone from a traditional comic book. At Arisia, I have received comments about being a stupid kid who should go back to my anime conventions. This isn’t to say that the every attendee of BCC and/or Arisia was bad, but dealing with hate like this or even dealing with even microaggressions that prioritize specific attendees over others based on what fandoms people are in and what cosplay someone may be wearing certainly affects the overall tone of the crowd.

AAC remains kind of a safe haven for all parts of the nerd community, which I find rather interesting and wonderful all things considered. In a time where we as convention goers have to keep pushing things like “Cosplay is not consent” and reminding people that there is no nerd hierarchy, and continuing to instill the fact that people should absolutely be treated with respect, it refreshing to attend a small convention where overall the crowd is accepting. 

The Surrounding Area:

I have one immediate complaint and that is T H E P A R K. For those of you who know the convention and/or area well, you probably know that there is a beautiful park across the street from the Radisson, where the convention is held. It is where most cosplayers go to get photos because it features pretty stone walls, bronze statues, and a lovely fountain. One might even argue it is the only place to get photos (unless you have an odd and specific location in mind—like one year I got photos of Kaneki in the parking garage becasue that was the tone I wanted). So. WHAT THE HELL WAS THEAT GIANT, GROSS, YELLOW TENT RUINING EVERY POSSIBLE SHOT THAT COULD HAVE BEEN GOT IN THE PARK. I am bitter about the tent. It was honestly a huge let down for me because I was really excited to shoot by the fountain and the tent made that impossible. I’m hopeful that maybe it won’t be there next year, but if it remains up that will be a huge loss for cosplayers looking to attend this convention. 

Also random note, if you know Manchester, NH well and want to share with me what the purpose of the tent was, that would be appreciated. Maybe I’ll end up hating it a bit less.

But yeah, moving on to just talking about Manchester and the people there. I am a resident of Boston, so maybe it’s just me, but I always find Manchester to be so smol. The main strip of road the convention is placed on only has a few restaurants and shops and don’t think I’ve seen more than one hundred people out enjoying the nightlife at one—and there are even less people out during the day. Other than that being different than my Boston lifestyle and that throwing me for a loop, the people are generally friendly and curious about the convention. I have had some really horrible experiences when I have attended conventions involving people harassing me, stalking me, and worse, so generally this is pretty awesome.

This year however my friends and I (and many other attendees) had some serious problems with pedestrians sitting outside the Radisson and taking photos up people’s skirts without their consent. Usually people don’t sit around outside the hotel unless they are involved with the con, however this year the weather was so good it seemed that many people felt that they had a right to just invite themselves onto the hotel grounds, have lunch, and harass cosplayers. This was not okay. It upset a great many people—who were right to be upset. Cosplay is by no means consent and sniping photos that people may not be comfortable with someone taking is not okay. Con security was very helpful in trying to escort the people from the premises, but it was still upsetting and changed my view of the atmosphere of Manchester.

My Personal Experience:

Overall this con was very chill for me this year. I pretty much hung out with my friends and wandered the dealers room for the two days I was able to attend. We didn’t get to involved with the convention itself—we only attended the masquerade—but we did manage to meet new people and enjoy the crowd, which was just lovely. Other than the gross photo taking by passersby, it was quite a wonderful experience and a great end to my official 2017 convention season!

And obviously if you haven’t seen them yet, my convention vlogs can give you a real taste of my personal experience:

Bottom Line: Would I recommend this con?

I feel like this con is a very niche con. However it’s not one I wouldn’t recommend. To anyone looking for a really chill time—so first time con goers or people who are just looking to end their convention season with some relaxation—I would recommend you this convention. If you like anime or non-traditional genres that will certainly help your convention experience, but if you attend I would have to encourage you to make it what you want. It is chill. You are probably not going to stumble into the best event ever that will totally make the convention for you. But that’s not to say you cannot make your convention experience wonderful with a few good events, a nice place to eat, and some good company!!

And thus ends my first convention review!! I hope you found what I had to say informative if not enjoyable. If you have any questions about this review or suggestions for upcoming reviews, feel free to send me an ask (because Tumblr does not have a functioning comment system at all—yikes)! Until next time Manic Fam!

—MadDog

[lukerhill]

Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products

Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.

Household Cleaners

Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.

We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.

The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.

Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.

Laundry Stuff

Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.

Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.

Freshening The Air

A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).

Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.

And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.

Shower Stuff

Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel

The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).

So We Don’t Smell

We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.

When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!

The Kids’ Stuff

Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).

In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!

My Makeup

So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.

Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.

Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.

I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.

Nail Polish

This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).

The colors shown above are:

Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer

Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise

Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine

Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).

I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.

Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.

And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)

I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.

So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.

[interiorstarweb]

Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products

Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.

Household Cleaners

Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.

We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.

The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.

Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.

Laundry Stuff

Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.

Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.

Freshening The Air

A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).

Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.

And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.

Shower Stuff

Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel

The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).

So We Don’t Smell

We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.

When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!

The Kids’ Stuff

Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).

In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!

My Makeup

So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.

Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.

Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.

I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.

Nail Polish

This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).

The colors shown above are:

Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer

Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise

Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine

Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).

I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.

Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.

And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)

I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.

So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.

Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products published first on http://ift.tt/2uiWrIt

[lets-misa-blog]

7 Advanced Content Promotion Strategies for 2019 http://google-keyword-research.s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com check out concerning it here

Today I'm going to disclose 7 of my all-time preferred web content promo strategies.

As a matter of fact:

These coincide exact methods that I made use of to get 7,077 sees on one of my latest posts ... in less than a week.

Allow's dive right in ...

Prior To Your Promote ANYTHING, Maintain This In Mind ...

Many people fall short with material promo for one easy reason:

Their web content HAS AN ODOR.

For instance, inspect out this outreach email someone sent me recently:

Was this outreach email excellent?

No.

It's in fact rather awful.

However that's not why I removed it.

I erased it due to the fact that they sent me a bad infographic!

I actually can't stress this sufficient:

If your message is something like "5 Tips for Losing Weight" or "8 Reasons That Email Advertising And Marketing Is Necessary", don't bother promoting it.

But if you have something truly AMAZING, after that you'll find that individuals enjoy share your stuff.

With that said little caution off the beaten track, it's time for our very first method ...

Approach # 1: (Targeted) Blog Owner Outreach

So you simply released an outstanding item of content.

Currently what?

It's time to advertise it with blogger outreach.

In reality, among my newest blog post obtained a great spike in website traffic mostly due to a solitary tweet from an influential blog owner:

The concern is ...

Exactly how?

All you need to do is discover bloggers that share web content on your subject ...

... and also send them a non-pushy e-mail.

Here's a the real world instance of this process at work:

First, I sent a tailored email to a blogger that's already shared content on my subject:

(By doing this, I knew she 'd in fact WANT to read my blog post ... prior to I hit "send out")

Then, when she obtained back to me, I sent her a web link:

([ $-$] Pro Idea: Don't ask the person to share or web link to your content. If they believe your web content is excellent, they'll share it) Due to the fact that I had not been a pushy jerkface, this blogger mored than happy to get the word out:

That's all there is to it.

Keep in mind:

If you desire to discover A WHOLE LOT much more regarding blog writer outreach I recommend reading this in-depth overview: Technique # 2: Web content Roundups

Visualize if people published post with the sole function of connecting bent on high quality web content.

(The kind of quality content that you already publish on your website)

It would certainly be pretty wonderful, right?

The good news is for us, that's a real thing. And they're called material roundups.

(Additionally sometimes called "Web link Roundups")

Here's an example:

So: what are web link summaries?

Link summaries are daily, regular or monthly blog messages that connect to AMAZING web content. Right here's an example of a web link I recently built from a summary: Currently allow's malfunction the exact process I utilized to get this web link.

Initially,

discover summaries in your niche. Below are a couple of search strings that function actually well.

"Key words" + "link roundup"

"Search phrase" + roundup

"Search phrase" + "ideal of"

"Keyword" + today

Next,

pitch your material. Here's the email script that I personally utilize.

Hi

[Website Owner Name] , I just stumbled on your

[Saturday Roundup] this afternoon. Great stuff! I'm just connecting since I recently published a content marketing instance study that could be a great fit:

[Your Page] In any case, maintain the awesome work

Cheers,

[Your Given name] As well as if your post is a good suitable for that individual's roundup, you'll get a wonderful web link.

Method # 3: Email Newsletter Promo

This is HUGE.

If you desire even more people to read your web content, you need to start building your e-mail list.

(And after that let your clients find out about your new things).

Instance in factor:

A while ago I sent this tweet to advertise my latest blog article:

That Tweet obtained a grand total of 111 clicks:

I additionally sent out an e-newsletter to my e-mail subscribers.

How several clicks did the e-newsletter obtain?

7 THOUSAND.

(To be fair, I have twice as lots of e-mail subscribers than Twitter fans. Yet you get the concept).

And also if you wish to get going developing your e-mail listing, I recommend looking into this listing of 17 untapped list structure methods, tips and methods.

Strategy # 4: Web content Makeover

Content Change is basic:

You just transform among your blog site posts right into another layout (like an ebook, video, infographic or podcast).

For instance, I published this study on my blog a while back:

As you can see, this message generated great deals of social shares ...

... and comments.

Yet I understood that I could press even extra value out of this content.

So I transformed that message right into a YouTube Video:

That single video has generated over 150k views ... as well as numerous website visitors.

(All from a piece of material that I released YEARS ago)

Good.

Approach # 5: The Material Relaunch

In some cases the most effective means to advertise your web content

is to revamp and also relaunch it. (Likewise referred to as "The Material Relaunch")

Here's an example:

I recently spruced up and relaunched this listing of Search Engine Optimization copywriting tactics:

So I shared the blog post on social networks:

As well as sent a statement to my e-mail clients:

Which caused a substantial increase in web traffic (consisting of almost 5k site visitors in eventually):

Now:

The secret to this strategy is to actually transform the post's "Published" date in WordPress.

Why?

When you transform the blog post's "published" date, your blog post appears at the top of your blog feed.

To transform the day, just head over to that article and click the "modify" link under the article's day:

Then transform the day to today ...

... as well as hit "update".

Like magic, your message will certainly show up at the really leading of your blog site feed.

Technique # 6: The Material Roadshow

The Material Roadshow is just one of my best web content promotion techniques.

Why?

Since much like with approach # 1 from this blog post (Targeted Blog owner Outreach), you're getting your material before people that are legitimate curious about your subject.

The distinction is that with The Material Roadshow, you're not only seeking people that shared material on your topic.

You can likewise email blog writers

that blog about your topic. Allow me show you just how a the real world example of just how a Backlinko visitor (Emil) utilized The Web content Roadshow to obtain a HUGE traffic spike:

Emil lately released this article on his company blog site.

ANd he utilized The Web content Roadshow to obtain the word out.

Right here are the deets ...

First, Emil searched for blog owners that covered his topic (employee wellness, human sources and also various other associated topics) on their blog

And when he located a piece of wonderful content similar to this one ...

... he emailed the author:

In this situation, Kristi asked Emil to send his material to her material roundup:

He did ... as well as obtained a wonderful back links in return:

Method # 7: Email Individuals and also Brands That You Discuss In Your Post

This is basic. However it works.

Whenever you state or connect to a person in your material,

let them know. For instance, Emil pointed out Authority Nutrition here:

So he sent them a message to allow them understand that they've been featured:

As you can see, they gladly shared his post:

Bonus offer Strategy # 1: LinkedIn Republishing

LinkedIn is an

incredible location to organization your material. For instance, I released this research of YouTube ranking aspects on my blog regarding a year and also a fifty percent ago:

This post did well. Lots of people review my blog post as well as shared it on social media.

Yet I KNEW that there were countless individuals that can take advantage of my material ... yet had not seen it yet.

So I republished my web content as a LinkedIn article:

Which (along with my various other LinkedIn messages) brought about a good piece of targeted website traffic:

Benefit Method # 2: Make use of "Click to Tweet" Buttons

This happens to me a minimum of once a week:

I read a short article, assume it's cool, so I decide to tweet it ...

... only I can't find a tweet switch.

So I say "oh well" as well as shut the tab.

Profits: You intend to make sharing your web content on social networks very easy.

Get in: Click To Tweet Buttons.

Here's how it works:

First,

locate something "tweetable" in your material. This can be a bite-sized suggestion, method, quote or statistic.

As an example, I utilized click to tweet switches to advertise this post:

Since my message was a list blog post, I thought about each tip on my checklist "tweetable".

Second,

create a click to tweet link. Head over to ClickToTweet.com as well as write your tweet:

As well as the device will create a special link for you:

Finally,

include that link in your material. Whenever a person clicks on the link ...

... they obtain a pre-written tweet for very easy sharing:

It's that very easy.

Final thought

It's more difficult than ever before for your content stand apart.

Also if your web content is AMAZING.

Actually, Derek Halpern suggests that you invested 20% of your time developing and 80% of your time promoting.

I don't necessarily agree with that proportion. But I DO agree with the premise.

As well as I wish these 7 marketing methods assist you get the word out regarding your next blog site message, video clip or podcast episode.

[vincentbnaughton]

Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products

Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.

Household Cleaners

Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.

We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.

The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.

Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.

Laundry Stuff

Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.

Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.

Freshening The Air

A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).

Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.

And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.

Shower Stuff

Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel

The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).

So We Don’t Smell

We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.

When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!

The Kids’ Stuff

Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).

In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!

My Makeup

So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.

Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.

Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.

I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.

Nail Polish

This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).

The colors shown above are:

Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer

Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise

Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine

Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).

I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.

Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.

And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)

I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.

So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.

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