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fatesdeepdive · 4 years ago

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Entry 15: Oops! All Supports #1

So, here’s the deal. This game has a lot of supports. Like, a lot. Doing four per chapter isn’t enough to get through them all. So, every couple updates, I’m going to start doing one of these updates where I just do ten random supports.

Support: Hayato/Sakura

C: Sakura offers Hayato some mochi. He says no, because mochi is for GIRLS and he’s a fucking five year old apparently. Sakura eats all the mochi.

B: Sakura gives Hayato some mochi and he reveals that he hides the fact that he likes sweets because he is a manly mature man who is an adult and not a child. The two of them agree to be pastry pals and hide the horrific fact that Hayato likes sweets from the rest of the army.

A: The two of them continue bonding over sweets. Sakura reveals that she hangs out with Hayato because there aren’t a lot of other kids in the army, a statement that is unfortunately false. Hayato comes out of the closet as a sweets lover.

S: You know how in most S-Ranks the characters get married? In this one they go to a bakery. Which is better, given that they are children, but it’s weird because the game now describes them as husband and wife and, spoiler alert, they immediately have a kid. A terrible kid who I hate. Also Sakura calls Hayato mature, which is ridiculous.

Review: Neither of these children should be in our army. Like, seriously, they act like little kids in this one. They work better as a couple with each other than other characters, because it’s less creepy, and the S-Support is cute, but goddamn Fire Emblem has a weird child soldier fixation.

Support: Corrin/Kaden

C: Kaden is hungry and Corrin gives him a candy. Kaden agrees to repay her by helping her go shopping.

B: They return from the market.

A: Kaden shows Corrin the cool kaleidoscope he bought.

S: Kaden proposes because he spent a single day with Corrin and is now obsessively in love with her.

Review: Kaden is a fun character, and that keeps this conversation from being too abysmal. It’s a low stakes fluff conversation with a tacked on romance, not good, but also not unexpected.

Support: Kagero/Takumi

C: Takumi is having trouble hunting when Kagero sneaks up on him. Kagero agrees to teach Takumi how to be stealthy so he can hunt better.

B: Kagero tells Takumi to sit under a waterfall to learn patience. Takumi complains. Kagero points out that Ryoma did her training without complaint, which activates Takumi’s inferiority complex and makes him do the training.

A: After training, Takumi points out that Kagero manipulated him by comparing him to Ryoma.

S: Takumi proposes to Kagero because she doesn’t sugarcoat things.

Review: This one is...fine. I don’t really have any strong thoughts towards it, to be honest.

Support: Azura/Silas

C: Silas approaches Azura about the fact that she is super suspicious, accusing her of being a spy. Which, to be fair, would be a fair assumption in Conquest.

B: Silas wakes up to find Azura standing over him and assumes she’s there to kill him. Azura reveals that she just killed the monster that snuck into our heavily guarded fort to eat Silas. Which is doubly ridiculous because Azura sucks at combat.

A: Silas says he’s sowwy.

S: The two of them reveal secrets: they have crushes on eachother.

Review: This support felt really short. Setting that aside, it’s completely average.

Support: Jakob/Orochi

C: Orochi gives Jakob a fortune. Her prediction? That Jakob sucks.

B: Orochi promises to give Jakob a fortune about Corrin, for reals this time. But first, Jakob needs to buy her a ton of expensive herbs.

A: Orochi gives a theatrical prediction, which scares Jakob into ordering her to not tell him the future.

S: Jakob asks Orochi to predict who he will marry: she predicts who you’d expect.

Review: Not bad; Orochi fucking with Jakob is fun.

Support: Saizo/Setsuna

C: After Setsuna crawls out of bed at noon, Saizo decides to train her to be a better retainer.

B: Setsuna explains that she is a moron who Hinoka basically babysits 24/7, exasperating Saizo.

A: Saizo, after talking to Hinoka and finding out that she likes Setsuna, gives up.

S: Setsuna, disappointed that Saizo has stopped training her, tells him that she wishes she could be as good of a retainer as him. Also she loves him. Saizo says he cares about her, not love specifically, and agrees to help train her.

Review: Setsuna is growing to be my favorite character. There’s just something hilarious about her being an airhead, especially when she’s paired with someone as straight laced as Saizo.

Support: Hinata/Hinoka

C: Hinata spots Hinoka training really intensely. She explains that she can’t rely on her retainers and dislikes relying on people.

B: Hinata monologues about what happened in the C-Rank conversation. Hinoka hurts herself while training and Hinata tells her she can rely on people.

A: Hinata points out that the two of them are companions who fight together and Hinoka and she begrudgingly agrees to lean on him.

S: Hinoka says she loves Hinata because he made himself available. Hinata accepts the proposal, which makes sense; she shares a lot of DNA with Takumi.

Review: This one was dull and repetitive. Hinoka needs to rely on people and stop pushing herself, repeated ad nauseum until she agrees.

Support: Azama/Oboro

C: Azama overhears Oboro talking to herself while cleaning and makes fun of her. Oboro gets pissed and scares him.

B: Azama makes fun of Oboro again, causing her to get angry and scare him off. Oboro asks him why he acts the way he does, intentionally being a dick to get a rise out of people, and he says he doesn’t know.

A: Azama is depressed because he can’t figure out why he’s so awful all the time. Oboro says she has an idea, and Azama calls her dumb a bunch. Oboro explains that Azama only knows how to relate to people by being mean, comparing him to a little kid.

S: Azama explains that he’s mean to Oboro because he has a crush on her and is apparently secretly a six year old, given his behavior. This also implies that he’s mean to everyone because he has crushes on them. Azama apologizes.

Review: This one had a good set up, delving into why Azama is such an asshole, but falters on the execution. He’s an asshole because...he’s an asshole. I do like the comparison between him and those boys who pull the pigtails of girls they like, but there isn’t an explanation of why this grown man acts like that.

Support: Kaze/Mozu

C: Kaze helps Mozu peel potatoes. He turns out to be really good at it, because Hoshidan ninja train by doing household chores. Kaze agrees to train Mozu to be better at potato peeling.

B: Kaze explains that potato peeling, like combat skills, requires practice.

A: The two of them have a potato peeling contest, which Mozu wins. Mozu admits that she feels out of place next to the others and wishes she was stronger.

S: Mozu makes Kaze potato soup, which is simple but comforting, just like her. Kaze says he loves her.

Review: Overall a fairly bland support line. That said, the fact that Hoshidan ninja do the whole wax-on/wax-off Mr. Miyagi Karate Kid shit is ridiculous and I love it.

Support: Hana/Kaden

C: Hana encourages Kaden to train more. Kaden points out that training too much will leave you exhausted during battle.

B: Kaden hurts himself during battle. Hana helps bandage him up and points out he should have trained more. Kaden reveals he got injured protecting a little birdie. Which is sweet, but also dumb.

A: Hana admits that Kaden is a kind person and Kaden admits he needs to train more.

S: Kaden beats Hana while sparring. He tells her he loves her because she forces him to confront his faults and pushes him to improve.

Review: This one was mediocre. It’s weird, it sets up both sides having a point in the C-Rank, then Hana is proving right when Kaden gets hurt, then the training argument is rendered meaningless when it’s revealed Kaden hurt himself for a bird.

Man, doing so many supports in one sitting burns you out. Overall, this game’s supports are rarely awful, but goddamn a lot of them are forgettable and bland. Of this lot, I’d say there were only three I liked (Kagero/Takumi, Saizo/Setsuna, Jakob/Orochi), and even then none of them were especially deep, just amusing enough to enjoy.

#fire emblem fates #fe 14 #fire emblem birthright #fire emblem

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kaylabliss · 7 years ago

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Since I'm posting again...

I figure I'll post about why I've disappeared from Tumblr for about a million years. I missed all you people that I don't actually talk to but enjoy seeing posts from.

This year has been total shit. I don't know what my last "update" was, but I doubt anyone else will remember either.

I'm finally on ADHD medication (as of November), which has made a very slight difference in my ability to function. However, I'm thinking of asking for something different. I'm on Adderall XR, and I'm wondering if Vyvanse would be more helpful. It costs twice as much, but if it helps, it would be worth it.

Despite taking daily amphetamines, I've gained even more weight and I'm at my highest weight since pregnancy. (I'm not taking Adderall for weight loss, of course, but it would have been a really nice side effect. I have little to no appetite, but I still eat way too much because depression anxiety and laziness.)

In January, we found out Toys R Us was closing. My partner has been a supervisor there for ten years, so this was a pretty devastating blow for us. His last day was in April. Fortunately, he was only unemployed for about a month. In the week after TRU closed, he helped a local mom and pop toy store owner move some shelves that they'd bought from the TRU liquidation. That got his foot in the door, and now he's actually making more money there than he was at TRU.... To the tune of an extra $250 a week. Better yet, they love him. And his boss? Small world, he was my favorite patient at my old job. So we're going into this with me already knowing and liking his boss! And a fun bonus: when new movies come out, they rent out entire rows at the theater and all the employees and whoever they want to invite can go see it. Eric went to see Solo with them-- I've been trying to convince him to go out and do things with people for literally our entire relationship, so I was THRILLED about this. Also, the store sells mostly older collectibles, so when he saw what his toys were worth, he was psyched. He sold two of his old action figures this week for $400, and he gets 60% of that on consignment.

The salary increase and extra money is great, because in February, my car broke down. The transmission died, and as it was a POS 1996 Lexus, it would have cost four times what the car was worth to fix it. So we've been sharing a car, which has been difficult, but thankfully both our jobs close at 8 and we're right across the street from each other. While he was still at TRU, he was sometimes getting off around 10, which meant keeping my daughter out way too late. But now we can start saving for a down payment on a car, and actually afford car payments without having to live on ramen.

Also in February, his mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. This has been hard. Last week, she had her final surgery to remove the cancerous mass from her lung. She came home on Thursday and she's doing well. Aside from the anxiety over her diagnosis, this has been hard in about a dozen other ways. She had some moments where she was legitimately scared that she wouldn't get to see Shilo grow up, and this was made even harder when she lost her hair. She looked different, and Shilo acted scared of her. I don't know if she was having trouble recognizing her or what. And then to top it off, they've always been pretty well off financially and have always been able to help out their kids when needed-- including us. But there was a lot of things their insurance didn't pay for, and they had a $100 copay for each radiation treatment for six weeks. We haven't needed help with money, thankfully, but under normal circumstances they may have been able to help us get a new car. They also missed their granddaughter's graduation in Texas, which I know was disappointing. Eric's unemployment was actually helpful though, because he was able to stay home with Shilo for the greater part of his mom's chemo and radiation.

All that aside, there have been a lot of daily stressors and disappointments for me. I don't know how much I should really go into here, since someone could stumble into my blog.... Eh, I think I have it locked from public view, so.

One of the biggest things that bugged me was my mom. I didn't get to see her for Christmas because on Christmas eve, it was more important to her to go pass out coffee at a local men's shelter. (I know it sounds noble, but sometimes I wonder. She's wound up dating several of the men there.) I had to work on Christmas day. I didn't see her until the end of January at my niece's birthday party. She didn't bring Shilo's Christmas presents with her, because we had planned to do lunch before the party but neither of us felt well enough for it, so she decided not to bring the presents. I brought her and Lily's presents, because I knew it could be a while before we could get together, and it was already a month late. After that, she said several times she would come over with them. One day, she had told me she was going to be down the street at Walmart and would drop by... She actually called me from Walmart to ask me for diet advice.... And didn't come over when she was done.

In May, she finally just brought the presents to me at work, because she was at a dentist appointment in the same complex I work in. I didn't ACTUALLY see her until last week.

In all that time, she knew about all the crap I've been going through, and she hasn't checked on me one single time. In fact, the week after my car broke down, she called me to brag that she had traded in her perfectly good, brand new car for an even newer car. This was particularly infuriating to me, because I was busting my ass working overtime and working every single holiday and I was barely making rent (forget any chance of getting even a cheap functioning car), but she's on SSDI and is taking on this huge car payment for literally no reason.

Then, when we finally did get together and go to lunch, she spent the first fifteen minutes listing every celebrity who has ever @ her on Twitter (despite me saying repeatedly "I have no idea who that is" and showing zero interest in the discussion because c'mon), talked about herself the whole time, and didn't ask me any questions about how things are going. When I did manage to get a word in, it was about Shilo's behavior at school, and she took over the conversation again to tell me about this place where you can drop autistic kids off for a few hours (but they're not even a licensed childcare facility, which makes me nervous, and they don't list their prices on their website which means I can't afford them). They also have family classes and actives and whatever, but still, I'm sure I can't afford them.

One of the things that really hurt me though? She had been "too busy" to see us for nearly six months, but she had time to make a 400 mile round trip to the other end of the state to spend time with my high school roommate and her children... Two weekends in a row, including on Mother's Day weekend. But yeah, too fucking busy to see her own daughter and granddaughter. When I tried to confront her on it, she was really blasé about it and deflected the conversation.

And? She didn't tell me that she broke up with her boyfriend months ago, and was not living where I thought she was living. In fact, I'm pretty sure she straight up lied to me about it, because she sent me what appeared to be an accidental text about moving, and when I said "wait what, you're moving?" she said "oh yeah from one trailer to the other" (they were living in a trailer park where you can only stay six months due to the sewage system or something, so they bought two trailers so they could move to the second every six months).

It's all made me feel really alone. I miss my grandma, because she never would have treated me this way. My mom is the only "family" I have, and she has zero interest in being part of my life.

Anyway, done with that section.

Shilo has been very violent at school, to a point where we actually got TWO behavior referrals in one day (a slip explaining her behavior and consequences-- usually involves missing recess, having to eat lunch in the principal's office, and/or writing an apology letter). It's been frustrating, and I haven't been sure what to do since I work so much and have my own issues with executive function and lack the ability to keep a stable routine. I'm hoping next year will be better, and I'm going to get a behavior intervention plan added to her IEP so we can figure out WHY she acts this way instead of just trying to correct the behavior after it happens. They do try to circumvent the behavior, mostly using social stories before transitions and things, but I don't think it's working.

Another big thing is that I got my IUD removed, and while I'm pissed about having a real menstrual cycle again, I'm shocked at some of the effects the IUD had on me that I didn't even realize. It turns out it was really dampening my sex drive, and portions of my personality. Suddenly I was interested in sex again and attracted to anything that moves lmao. An increased sex drive is a bad thing for me though, which I won't go into here.... But in short, let's say that it's caused some hurt feelings due to rejection.

So yeah, that's most of it. If you actually read my wall of text and whining, thanks! You're a champ.

#personal #complaining

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seedfinance · 4 years ago

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The Worst Personal Finance Advice on TikTok (and Why It’s Wrong)

Money / financial planning

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TikTok isn’t just about viral dance videos. It has quickly become a popular resource for personal financial advice – but unfortunately, not all is well. While there are some legitimate money experts on the app, there is a lot of financial advice on TikTok that is misleading or downright wrong.

Related: Top 10 Money Professionals To See On TikTok Most Influential Money: Where do Americans get their financial advice?

GOBankingRates asked personal finance experts to debunk some of the worst money tips on TikTok – so if you see any of these popups on your #fyp, keep scrolling.

Starting an S Corporation can help you avoid taxes

In a popular TikTok video, a woman claims that “if you start an S corporation and you own 100%, you can buy anything that you own under that S corporation and you won’t pay any tax on anything you own The video also claims you can hire your children for $ 12,000 a year tax-free for you and return that expense to your household.

Why this is wrong: “S-Corporation is only allowed to buy things that are considered common and necessary expenses for their own business,” said Bill Smith, chief executive of the CBIZ MHM National Treasury. “For example, if it buys a lawn mower to mow your lawn with, it will be treated as a taxable distribution to you. There are countless instances where using a company as a personal checkbook is discussed and they are not limited to S companies. “

The claim that you can “hire” your kids for $ 12,000 a year tax-free probably refers to the annual gift tax exemption – which wouldn’t even apply here.

“S-Corporation does not have the annual gift tax exclusion for individuals (which is up to $ 15,000 for 2021),” said Smith. “The standard penalty for 2021 is $ 12,550 (not sure when the video was released). Assuming the child is working lawfully and the compensation is reasonable, there would be no income tax but there would still be employment taxes. S-Corporation would not deduct the $ 12,000 salary if the children were not working or the compensation was inadequate. It seems to mix up the standard deduction and the annual gift tax exclusion. There is no aspect of this that includes “giving back to your family household”. What it seems to be saying is your kids can work tax free, but it implies they don’t have to do anything to get their $ 12,550 in 2021. That is imprecise. “

See: 10 finance books that will change your life (and finances)

Anyone can teach themselves how to day trade and be successful at it

Much of TikTok’s personal finance content revolves around day trading and how various users have been successful with it. However, this is not an investment strategy that experts recommend.

Why this is wrong: “To be consistently successful in day trading, you must have significant capital, time and emotional stamina – qualities most people don’t have,” said Will Rhind, founder and CEO of GraniteShares, a New York City-based ETF issuer with over $ 1.5 billion in assets under management. “While first-time day traders are initially lucky, they are more likely to suffer losses over time. You could lose all of your investment or, worse, get into debt if leverage was used. It is important never to speculate with more money than you can afford to lose. “

Rhind recommends focusing on building long-term wealth rather than short-term gains.

“You are probably better off investing your money in a diversified investment vehicle that eliminates the guesswork,” he said. “Exchange traded funds, for example, offer tax-efficient, cost-effective and transparent exposure to a basket of securities that are traded on a stock exchange like a share. There are thousands of ETFs that are suitable for a variety of investment goals, such as capital growth, wealth preservation, income generation and inflation hedging. “

Find out: Best expert money advice for millennials

You can turn $ 56,000 into $ 1 million in 11 years with compound interest

In a TikTok video, a woman asks @curtisray for financial advice and says her husband makes $ 80,000 a year and she makes $ 56,000. Ray recommends that the couple live solely on the man’s income while the woman pays her entire salary into a compound interest account. He “works the numbers” and states that your investment of $ 56,000 will become $ 1 million in 11 years – tax-free.

Why this is wrong: Andrew Meadows, senior vice president at Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, notes that living on a single income is easier said than done.

“Who can get by on $ 56,000 a year for no pay?” He said. “Even if this example shows a dual-income household, this is about what you are willing to give up. In addition, you have to wait 11 years to receive this “million”. It sounds simple: forego an annual salary (if that’s even possible) and you’ll be a millionaire in 11 years. While it’s true that it’s tax free – your contributions are taxed before they are deposited, but you are not taxed on interest – you don’t quite get to a million when you look at 2% interest and account fees. Neither do I see the calculations for the fees; There are always fees that people miss out on that can eat up your savings. “

Ray’s advice may not be “wrong,” but few financial matters are as mundane as he makes them seem.

Learn: How Much Do TikTokers Make? Here are 5 of the top earning TikTokers

“Finance is a nuanced business, and getting rich quick is often only for the chosen and fortunate,” said Meadows. “Beware of all the things that are omitted in this advice. If you listen critically, you will find that you are missing the information: What is the level of interest? Who is it through Is this facility insured? What are the fees? While some things may be true, simply stringing numbers together with loose logic is not going to make quick money. I’ve always been told, ‘If it looks that easy, why doesn’t everyone else do it?’ And while this may be a solid investment for some, one size doesn’t fit all. “

Don’t make a down payment on a home unless you have an obligation to do so

In another TikTok video, Ray says it’s best to make the smallest deposit possible and then put the rest of the money you’ve saved on a home in a compound interest account.

Why this is wrong: Alex Klingelhoeffer, CFA, CFP, at Exencial Wealth Advisors, said this is not necessarily “wrong” advice, but it may not be the best advice for everyone.

“This advice comes from a good source,” he said. “If, like a mortgage, you can borrow at a low rate – 3-4% – and invest 7-9% in the markets, then normally you should. In fact, most people have a mortgage and investments. What this advice ignores is the behavioral side of investing. Most people will clearly chase the markets, see the market fall, sell, and be disappointed with the experience. In fact, I’ve seen this countless times with people who walk into my office at 40 and make the exact same mistakes in their 20s. “

In addition, owning a home is a safer investment than the market.

“The problem with this system is that it is anti-fragile,” said Klingelhoeffer. “If you lose your job, have poor health, or have some other problem, your investments could go down while you need cash. Is the money available in a HELOC? No, because if you only have 3% less, you have no equity to speak of. Again, this comes from a good side, and in a spreadsheet I can turn anyone with enough leverage into a billionaire. In the real world, the fluctuations will undo this strategy. “

Continue reading: Old School Money Advice That You Shouldn’t Follow Any More

Early purchases in newer cryptocurrencies will make you rich

TikTok user @superhexwin suggests shopping in new cryptocurrencies – like HEX – to get rich, noting that people who shopped early on in Bitcoin and Ethereum are now extremely wealthy.

Why this is wrong: “Yes, assets can and do rise astronomically. As is well known, two pizzas were once sold for 10,000 Bitcoin, which would now be worth 350 million dollars, ”said Klingelhoeffer.

However, the rise in Bitcoin does not indicate that every cryptocurrency in the market will experience the same increase in value.

“As of 2021, the main use of crypto is a bigger fool, meaning you buy it to sell to someone else,” said Klingelhoeffer. “There are a lot of coins out there today and 99% of them will be worthless in less than three years. Why? There is a limited supply of people willing to invest a large portion of their net worth in crypto and those who do will want some liquidity. Until there is a coin with a demonstrable real world benefit that is better than traditional banking in terms of functionality, power consumption and most importantly, legality, crypto is just a space to speculate and see if you can make a winner. I don’t envy people who go to the casino for the same reason. It’s fun – buy with what you can afford to lose. “

More from GOBankingRates

Last updated: June 21, 2021

About the author

Gabrielle joined GOBankingRates in 2017 and brings a decade of experience in the journalism industry. Before joining the team, she was a writer and reporter for People Magazine and People.com. Your work is also at E! Online, Us Weekly, Patch, Sweety High, and Discover Los Angeles, and she was featured as a celebrity news expert on Good Morning America.

source https://seedfinance.net/2021/06/22/the-worst-personal-finance-advice-on-tiktok-and-why-its-wrong/

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rounaq-comm3p18-blog · 7 years ago

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Audiences in the digital age

Prior to the digital age, the term audience was depicted as a mass group of people sharing a physical location for an event. In today’s society, the term audience has developed due to various social media networks that allow individuals to be audiences off. Due to easy connectivity with content, the digital age has brought forth instant communications and exposure to an unlimited number of events. In this blog, I wanted to explore the audience experience prior to the digital age till now. By utilizing course concepts such as uses and gratifications, encoding/decoding etc. My aim is to highlight the shift in the audience experience. Also, by using real-world and personal examples to provide evidence of the apparent shift and how it can affect future generations.

I could still remember the day I used a computer for the first time. I was about 10 years old and the software was running on Windows 95. There wasn’t much I could do in terms of communicating except when dial-up was connected which was on the rare occasion when my parent's video called my cousins abroad. With the advancement of technology, we started receiving more features on pcs such as faster software, updates and new programs. Now, we jump to 2017 to where personal computers can fit into our pockets with the creation of smartphones. These smartphones outperform computers in the sense that it allows individuals to access the internet and its constant in an instant and on the go. With all this change in a short time, how has technology actually affected our social lives? Even when social networks were created I did not imagine it would get to a point where I don’t have to leave my house to see and chat with people. This is best explained with expectancy-value theory, where individuals have a built-in set of beliefs when it comes to new creations. I felt strongly about seeing people in the physical sense and having a conversation with them that I did not believe in the future of social networks but was I wrong. Nowadays social interaction is mostly taken place over the internet, whether it is through a social networking application such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram or something a little more traditional such as e-mail. With all this interconnectivity, large corporations took advantage of all the customer data and begin to use marketing techniques to target specific individuals to sell products and information to.

As humans in the 21st century, advertisements are a daily part of our lives. We see plenty of advertisements throughout our day from watching television to connecting with people on Instagram and even the busses we travel on are all flooded with companies trying to sell products. Sullivan defines this concept as ‘the audience commodity”, a tool for media corporations to sell user data to it corporations (Sullivan 2013). The leisure time we use to consume content is now used to market similar products or content in order for corporations to make big profits. This idea is not really new to us, the Nielsen rating system took advantage of heavy television viewing by families by monitoring the peak hours of viewing and what kind of programs individuals were consuming. Clearly, this information is very valuable in the hands of a company such as Hasbro toy makers. As consumers, companies try to extort the viewing time of the public. I first noticed this when I was in elementary school and every day after school I would watch Pokémon on YTV. During the commercials, Hasbro would air toy ads generated for young boys such as ads for ninja turtle toys and hot wheels. Also, as I grew older I noticed the trends of the toys were changing and these companies were adapting to change by advertising a new product to cater to specific markets. In the article titled “The Rise of Market Information Regimes and the Historical Development of Audience Ratings”, Karen Buzzard presents the notion that “in order to create knowledge about market activity, organizations find ways to pool information through the use of independent suppliers, such as Nielsen” (Buzzard, 2015). Therefore, these conglomerates actively approach an organization like Nielsen to gather data to target specific demographics.

Currently, the television industry has drastically changed in order to adapt to the digital shift. Even in my parents’ house, we had our cable cancelled years ago because everyone had their own phones and laptops and we would just watch whatever shows we enjoy by streaming them. In an article discussed in the seminar by Shyam Sundar and Anthony M. Limperos titled “Uses and Grats 2.0: New Gratifications for New Media” examine the theory of uses and gratifications for the digital age. They state that “it is problematic to conceptualize convergent media like the Internet as a single monolithic source. Instead, it is more useful to disaggregate such media into their constituent affordances (e.g., interactivity) and study the uses and gratifications obtained from each of those affordances” (Sundar, 2013). The internet is a lot different than the television viewing experience due to television being more a monolithic source where the programs are on a strict schedule and audience have to allot time to tune in to watch programs. With the internet, the audience has more choices with streaming services such as Netflix where programs of different variety are offered with the benefit of no advertisements. With a lot of active audience on the internet, services have specific uses such as Netflix is utilized for streaming movies and TV shows, while YouTube is used for content creators to make a short more personalized video, tutorials and more. By examining this shift, the advertiser has deviated their old ways to adapt to the internet age. Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram specifically tailor advertisements to audience needs.

Majority of the time social media advertisements campaigns have gone viral due to a specific message such as the Molson Canadian advertisements presented in lecture. But with so many active audience members, miscommunication and interpretation of meaning and messages can end up badly for the advertisers. For example, earlier this year Pepsi released a video campaign staring Kendal Jenner. The advertisement depicts a protest taking place and oppressed young people are marching and then Jenner joins the protest in and marches up to a police officer and hands him the soda. As he drinks the soda, a large smile appears on his face and the protesters are content with joy. Upon viewing this ad, I understood the fact that it was depicting a movie like a sequence where the conflict is solved by this brave gesture and everyone lives happily ever after. I believe Pepsi wanted to signify bold actions and create this sequence to display that message with the soda being the sign and handing the soda as the signifier. But while America was in the midst of constant protests and riots from the black lives matter movement, police brutality was a sensitive topic in the community. Due to these horrid events taking place, the audience decoded this message at poking fun of the serious on-going issues. The encoded message that Pepsi had to offer was depicted as a mockery of individuals taking a stand against police brutality against minorities in society. I believe cultural differences between societies have a different connotation of the denotative level of meaning.

In Canada, we are fortunate enough to have various ethnic groups residing in one place. It provides a full rounded view of issues when dealing with other cultures and religions. I moved to Canada when I was 13 years old and it was culture shock personally because I had to adapt my behaviour to fit into society. Since I moved to Canada at a fairly young age, there were not much language barriers, I learned to read and write in English in my school in India and adapting to the Canadian accent took a couple of years. The biggest problem I faced was being a visible minority, my background in Sikhism and majority of Sikh do not cut their hair. The men wear a turban and most people believe that it is just a tool to tie up the hair. That is correct but it only serves as a denotative meaning. The connotation of the turban is that it is a sign of safety. Muslims and Hindus have had many conflicts even until today where they are fighting for territory in Pakistan and India. When the Mughals empire ruled the majority of Asia, the Muslims invaded India and began to behead Hindus due to orders from King Jahangir. A Sikh guru at the time rose up and declared that all Sikh keep their hair and tie a turban and when Hindus saw a turban and they were in danger, they knew they could go to the man in a turban and they would remain safe. Therefore, the representation of the turban was evident to me because I knew it represented something much more than myself. Due to events that took place on September 11, 2001, the representation of the turban immediately signified a follower of Islam, terrorist and an outsider. Western media changed how the turban was viewed and this displays the strength of audience power. The audience has the power to propagate an ideology, for example, Star Wars was just a film at the time of its release but the audience took it and turned into a popular culture icon with fan literature, memorabilia and more. Similarly, the mass audience established a stereotype of a turban being related to radical Islam supporters.

The way we behave as audiences have changed drastically over the past 20 years. Audiences have become more active in the digital age due to more connectivity through the internet and various social networking applications. By growing up in this shift where digital communication seemed like a fantasy to now where VR is starting to be incorporated into phones. This change causes a shift in human behaviour and dominant hegemonic positions. Ultimately, being an audience in the digital age allows individuals to gratify their needs with plenty of alternatives and the way we communicate in the future is always subject to change because of the constant advancement in technology.

Sources Buzzard, K. (2015). The rise of market information regimes and the historical development of audience ratings. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 35(3), 511–517.

Sundar, S., & Limperos, A. (2013). Uses and grats 2.0: New gratifications for new media. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 57(4), 504-25.

Sullivan, J. (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power. Sage Publications Inc., New York, NY.

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advancedthetapractitioner · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday Good Fortune is on it's way!

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Friday March 28th Mercury goes direct OUT of Retrograde and things level off a bit more, and it may surprise you when I say this, but I want to encourage you to consider playing with gambling and lottery or any games of chance on a small scale. I want to empower you to enter even a bake sale raffle at your club or church just to open up the chance of winning. I believe the excitement, anticipation and the wondering are their own special kind of fun and bring us joy. My acupuncturist and I went to the horse tracks in Florida one day and we toyed with muscle testing/applied kinesiology/finger and sway testing in order to at least get the probability of what order the horses would come in at the finish line on that day, in that race. It did not line up like the favored ones at all, but we said, “Oh well, let’s bet it exactly like it tested just for grins." On a 10$ bet in a matter of minutes we won thousands of dollars! So yes it’s possible, and yes, we’re coming out with an Abundance Audio MP3 in April that will add more excitement/kismet/good luck and good fortune in your life. Stay Tuned...

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bigtinyworldtravel · 5 years ago

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Perito Moreno Glacier was on our bucket list as it is one of the most amazing places on Earth. We were fortunate to find an opportunity to do a short trek on the glacier and we were blown away. The blue color of the thousand-year-old-ice and the lake below is awesome. The glacier is everything we had dreamed it to be and more. El Calafate was our home base where we enjoyed local Argentine foods and beers. From there we traveled about an hour and a half each day to visit Perito Moreno. When we first arrived at the glacier, we couldn’t believe how large it was. To be able to walk on it proved to be one of the most memorable moments of our lives.

Arriving in El Calafate

El Calafate is the main town near Perito Moreno Glacier, which is about an hour and a half drive away. It is a charming town that is geared towards tourism with its many shops and restaurants. We stayed in an Airbnb close to the center of town, which gave us access to just about anything we wanted within walking distance. We enjoyed trying the local beers and sampling some Argentine cuisine. This is one of our favorite towns in Patagonia with all it offers. As an added bonus we had our dad join us for the Patagonia leg of our world trip. With an extra person, this felt like more of a vacation than our typical lower budget travel. That didn’t help our waistline.

First Look: Perito Moreno Glacier

Upon arriving in El Calafate, we were interested in how to tour the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is the main attraction in the area. It is easy to visit as you just pay a park entry fee of 500 Argentine pesos ($8 USD) per person and drive to the viewing platforms (check the website for updated rates). Make sure you bring cash as they do not take credit cards. If you do not have a car, there are also plenty of buses and other options available to get you to the glacier. As we approached by car, we got small glimpses of the glacier. It was massive! Upon arrival, we walked along the boardwalk and took many photos of the glacier close-up. If there is a word beyond epic, this place is it.

We made our way closer and closer, watching the ice fall from the front of the glacier. The process is called calving, where bits of ice start dropping off the front of the glacier and then a small section above weakens and falls down. This can create some large waves depending on how much drops. These larger chunks of ice then become icebergs. It was very exciting to see, and I even have one in my time-lapse in the video below. We couldn’t believe how massive this glacier is at 96.53 mi², which is larger than Buenos Aires.

Booking the Perito Moreno Ice Trekking Tour

We wanted to do some kind of boat ride or another tour while we were there. So we stopped by the office at Hielo y Aventura as we saw an advertisement for an ice trekking tour. We always wanted to do something like this, especially after missing out on it in Norway two years ago. The least expensive option was the Mini Ice Trek, which was still 8000 Argentine pesos ($125 USD) each (as of this writing). They also had the Big Ice Trek that was longer and covered more ground. It was also considerably more expensive at 15,000 ARS ($230 USD), but looked more epic. We decided to do the Mini-Trekking package to keep our costs down and still enjoy walking on the glacier.

We worked our way through the booking process and found they only allow people between the ages of 10 and 65 with no exceptions. This made us question the decision as our dad just turned 66 a few months before and would not be able to join us. What do we do now? After thinking about it long and hard, we ended up booking the ice trek and our dad found a kayaking tour instead. We were all pretty upset, and it made him feel old when he was in better shape than we were. We sought out some pisco sours back in town to numb our frustrations.

The Ice Trek

The day started early as we arrived at the dock to catch our boat. We waited with anticipation as fellow passengers slowly arrived. Then the boat came, and we cruised across the glacial waters to the base of the glacier. The trip was quick and offered views of Perito Moreno that we didn’t get from the boardwalks. It was fantastic!

When we landed, we separated into two groups and then proceeded to hike towards the glacier along the lake. It was a lovely walk through some woods and along a beach with some killer views along the way. Once we arrived at the ice, we suited up with ice crampons and helmets, which they provided.

Then we lined up in single-file and followed our guide on to the ice. It was a gentle climb up and definitely not too difficult. Some parts felt a bit more slick and I feared falling down. I kept imagining the ground opening up and swallowing us, but it was fine. I stamped my crampons into the ice one after the other and was ecstatic with the surrounding views around me. Our guide instructed us to follow him for our own safety and not to leave the line. Some of the guides were way ahead of us with chainsaws carving out the trail for us and scoping out ahead to make sure our route was safe.

We were not allowed to take photos when walking, but had designated safety zones where we could. The stops never seemed long enough and we were frustrated that we didn’t have enough time to take photos. There were some small glacial pools where we could dip our water bottles in to get fresh water along the trail. The water was so pure.

About an hour into the trek our guide went ahead of us stating that he would meet us again at the bar. We laughed thinking he was joking. Then we arrived with the rest of the group and found him standing there with a cart of glasses full of glacier ice and a bottle of whisky. Heck yeah! They weren’t skimpy about it either and I had two solid glasses. Even our travel kitty Holee approves.

After getting slightly inebriated, we proceeded back down the glacier and hiked to our boat. We enjoyed the late afternoon light as we passed by the glacier one last time on our way to the dock. Here is our route from the dock to and from the glacier including where we walked on the ice. The Big Ice Trek would have a similar route with a larger circle on the Ice.

Our Return

We met up with our dad after his ice kayaking excursion. After our experience, we were convinced he enjoyed the kayaking more than he would have enjoyed our ice trek. He is not a fan of larger crowds and had already hiked a glacier in Greenland on his own. So overall it was a win-win, and we had a new reason to tease him about his age. We headed back to the Airbnb and enjoyed another evening of good food and drink in town. Did I already mention that I love El Calafate?

Video

Watch our video and get a feel for what it is like to walk on a glacier and imagine stepping onto the ice yourself!

youtube

Mini-trekking Details

Total Trip Time: 4 Hours (excludes travel time to and from El Calafate)

Time on Ice: 1.5 Hours

Cost: 8000 Argentine pesos ($125 USD) per person as of February 2020

Clothing Needed: Basic warm layers with a coat, hat, and gloves, and sturdy hiking shoes or boots.

Food: None provided, bring your own

Age Restrictions: Ages 10 to 65

Difficulty: Moderate

Where you can book

Fun Facts

The glacier grows an average of seven feet per day, but loses an equivalent amount of mass to keep the glacier the same size overall year-round. This is one of a few non-receding glaciers in the world.

The glacier rises about 240 feet from the surface of Lago Argentino but also has a depth of 558 feet below the surface.

This glacier is fed by a huge ice cap that is the third largest behind Antarctica and Greenland.

The best time to see glacier calving is in the late afternoon when the sun hits the glacier and large shards of ice fall off every half-hour or so.

As the glacier expands each year it creates a dam between two lakes and then ruptures every few years.

Final thoughts

The trek was incredible and we hope to do a more extensive one at one of the other edges of the world. We loved visiting glaciers in Norway and Patagonia, but this was the first time we ever walked on one. I thought it would be a lot scarier than it was, but most of the risk was that we could slip and fall.The ground wasn’t going to open up and swallow me whole as I feared. It was hard to believe I was finally walking on a glacier. It was such a special and magical place unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If you end up in El Calafate, I definitely recommend doing an ice trek and knocking this off your own bucket list. It was worth every penny.

What was the most memorable place you have ever visited?

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#IceTrekking on the #PeritoMoreno Glacier is an otherworldly experience. This magical place made us feel so small. Check out our included video to feel like you are on the ice with us. #bigtinyworld #Patagonia @natgeotravel Perito Moreno Glacier was on our bucket list as it is one of the most amazing places on Earth.

#full-time travel #glaciers #Ice trekking #long-term travel #Perito Moreno #Travel #travel couple

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thedivinefish · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and a download for winning and being "lottery lucky"!

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divinefishingtips · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and a download for winning and being "lottery lucky"!

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365dailyaffirmations · 6 years ago

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TGIWednesday and a download for winning and being "lottery lucky"!

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destructiveshade · 6 years ago

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Lightspeed: Chapter 5

FOUR MONTHS LATER

“Neo, what’s the distance from that yacht to me?” Zxan asked the A.I. that he programmed as he surveyed the scene through the Heads Up Display that lines the inside of his nanotech helmet.

“Approximately 21,120 feet, sir.” Neo responded.

“How fast do I have to be running to run on the water?”

“30 meters per second.”

“And how fast is that in Miles per hour.”

“About 68 miles per hour, Zxan.”

“Thank you Neo.”

And with that, he took off after the yacht. When he reached the yacht, he saw the kidnappers and very quickly assessed the situation. Three on the roof, three on the middle, and three right in front on the first floor.

“Didn’t your mothers ever tell you that kidnapping is rude?” Zxan quipped. All of the men whipped around to look at the trespasser that was standing casually on their boat.

“Yeah, but that was right before I slit her throat in her sleep.” Said a big man that had a very large knife strapped to his hip.

“Eww. Dude, that’s jacked up.” Zxan said with a shudder. “Wait! I have an idea! Let’s go around the yacht and share our biggest secrets with each other!” Zxan finished with an excited voice.

“Or, how about we kill you and continue with this contract that we were hired to do?” The big man said which was followed by an uproar of cheers from the other men.

“You know what? I could go with that.” Zxan said. Then, in the blink of an eye, the big man heard eight splashes and was suddenly the only one standing on the deck. “This is crazy, like, when am I supposed to start dying?” Zxan said, pretending to shake and be scared.

“What did you just do?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard about me? I’m new to town here. My name is Lightspeed.”

“What kind of stupid name is that?” The man asked, genuinely confused.

“Well, I was given that name because the speed of light is fast and I’m faster than that.” Zxan said, over exaggerating a bit, but moving his finger faster than the man’s eyes could process to prove his point.

“Oh. Then you know what? Maybe I’ll even the odds.” The man said as his body slowly transformed into a Tyrannosaurus rex. But the odd thing is that the T-rex was purple.

“Why are you purple?” Zxan said, laughing. “Is that the only color you can be?” He doubled over, laughing uncontrollably. Then the T-rex attacked, but Zxan was faster. Way faster. He waiting until the last second, until right before the T-rex bit down onto him, before he moved. But he didn’t run all the way around. He moved just out of the way.

“What’s wrong, buddy? Am I moving too fast for you?” Zxan said, making fun of the T-rex. Which only pissed him off more because he started chomping at Zxan faster and more frequently, but Zxan moved, every single time.

“Listen dude, I don’t have any more time for this.” Zxan said as he knocked the feet out from under the T-rex. He then proceeded to hit him in the face a bunch of times. With the last punch, the t-rex turned back into the large man, who tried standing up, but Zxan kneed him in the face, knocking the weak man back to the ground.

“Please stay down. Okay?” Zxan pleaded with the man. “I don’t want to keep hurting you, but I will if it means that it ensures the safety of Ms. Curren.”

Zxan flashed away and then flashed back in a second.

“Where is she?” Zxan asked quickly.

“She was never here. She’s not with us at all. This was a distraction for the heroes of the city. But you, you’re no hero. You’re a messenger boy. You’re nothing.” The man said.

“Well, I gotta run. Stay here.” Zxan said, as a joke. He had disabled the engine and destroyed the rudder, so he knew the man wasn’t going anywhere. Then he was off. He reached Wayne tower and ran up the wall to the very top of the building. When he reached the top, he stopped.

“Neo, scan the city for Ms. Curren.” Zxan said as his helmet peeled back, revealing his short brown hair and his ocean-blue eyes. “Neo, now.”

“Scanning sir... There’s no sign of Ms. Curren in the city at all.” Neo responded.

“Is there a way for us to broaden the search?”

“Theoretically, if we hack the cctv for the surrounding cities, we can check all of them, at the same time, for Ms. Curren.”

“Let’s do that then. We need to find her at all costs. This is the mayor’s fucking daughter.”

“Sir, there is no need for that language. And I already started the hack.” Neo replied. So Zxan just waited patiently while Neo finished the hack. After a while, Neo informed him that the hack and scan was complete and there was no sign of Assia Curren anywhere within the entire state.

“They couldn’t have moved her out of the state that quickly. What happened?”

“There is signatures of a quantum blast. And there was a blackout, 20 minutes ago while we were on the yacht. It is possible, in our day of technology, that whoever took her either killed her or sent her forward in time or back in time, or maybe even to an alternate universe.” Neo said.

“That’s assuming that alternate universes exist.” Zxan retorted.

“Definitely not sir. It is because they do exist. You know that.”

“Just because my great great uncle Barry said that he travelled to alternate universes doesn’t mean he actually did.”

“Fair point, but mathematically it is impossible for them to not exist.”

“Fair enough, but how would I be able to track her to the alternate universe and get her back?”

“I’d suggest talking to Alyss about it.” Neo responded.

“Alright. Maybe that’s exactly what I’ll do.” Said Zxan, then his helmet reappeared over his head and he sped down the building and took off in the direction of Alyss’s house.

When he got there, he took in the scene which always seemed to blow his mind. The peach trees that stood in front of the house and the rose bushes that lined the walkway always reminded him of knights and their soldiers guarding the royal family inside. He sped over the walkway and went through the house so fast that anybody that didn’t know better might have thought it was just a large gust of wind.

He stopped outside of Alyss’ door and knocked. When she opened the door, she ushered him in. His helmet dematerialized, revealing his face once more. She kissed him.

“How’d it go?” She asked casually, knowing that he must have caught the bad guys or he wouldn’t be there.

“It went great, except that she wasn’t there.” He answered truthfully.

“What do you mean she wasn’t there?” Alyss asked in alarm.

“Well, when I got there, this guy told me that they were just a distraction for me. So I kicked their asses and then took off.”

“Then why aren’t you looking for her?”

“Because Neo informed me that there was a massive blast and a power outage that followed. We think that she was either teleported to an alternate universe or she was murdered. We don’t know how we would get to an alternate universe, so I came here to talk to you about it.” Zxan explained. Annoyed with himself that he couldn’t have saved Ms. Curren sooner.

“Well, if you wanted to travel to an alternate universe, you’d have to build a temporal field disruptor, just like with time travel. Except, you’d have to add in a quantum diffuser, to split up our known universes into however many there are. But even then, you’d have to know which one she was sent to. You don’t happen to know that, do you?” Alyss asked.

“Dude, we didn’t even think of that.” Zxan said, somewhat dumbstruck.

“Actually sir, I did think of that.” Neo inputted. Zxan was shocked at Neo’s input. He didn’t consider to even ask that question. Much less expect Neo to input without him asking said question.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Zxan asked Neo.

“Well sir, you didn’t ask. It also didn’t seem very appropriate to add that in since we weren’t 100% sure that she was sent to another dimension. But, while we’re on this topic, I should add that we still don’t know where she could’ve gone if she is, in fact, still alive.” Neo stated. Zxan was stunned silent. He for sure had no idea if Ms. Assia Curren was alive. She may or may not be alive, and if she is, then he definitely had no idea where she was.

“Babe, any idea how to help us?” Zxan asked Alyss sweetly.

“Fortunate enough for you, I do, in fact, know how. I just don’t have the equipment.” Alyss responded dejectedly.

“I have a friend that could help with that.” Zxan said with a smile. “Here,” he said as he held out a metallic glove to her. “Put this on.” She took the glove and put it on. After she put the glove on, he pushed the button on the back of it. The glove quickly formed a sleeve and kept expanding across her body until she was covered in Zxan’s nanotechnology, which created a suit of her own.

“Neo, solidify the neck nanotech in my backup suit.” Zxan said after his helmet took shape over his head.

“Yes sir.” Neo responded. Alyss’s neck stiffened as Neo did what he was told. She freaked out for a second,

“Zxan! Zxan, what’s going on!” She exclaimed, “I can’t move my neck!”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I had Neo stiffen the neck in your suit so that you don’t get whiplash.” Zxan told her.

“Why would I get whiplash?” She asked, even more panicked.

“Cause I’m gonna carry you. And we’ll be going super fast.”

“Oh. Makes sense.” She responded. Then Zxan turned his back towards her and kneeled. She hopped on his back, he stood up, and they were off towards Wayne Tower. They reached it in almost no time at all, and were inside even sooner. When they stopped in the lab, Alyss got off of Zxan’s back, and he pushed the button on the glove again. The nanotech devolved back into the glove and Alyss took it off and handed it back to Zxan, who’s suit dissolved into his wristband.

“Woah!! You updated your watch?” She nearly shouted.

“I mean, yeah, I had the tech, you know? Thanks to Mr. Wayne.” Zxan replied.

“I have never been more jealous before in my life.”

“Well, then I guess you’re lucky, because I made one for you too.” He said tossing her the same watch but in a dark purple color. She looked ecstatic and quickly put it on.

“OW!” She exclaimed as a needle punctured her skin from the watch. “What was that?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry babe. That was Neo.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Well, that needle injected a nanobyte into your bloodstream and is currently making its way to your brain. The nanobyte will transmit Neo directly into your brain and you can communicate with him directly. And, thanks to Mr. Wayne’s genius tech, I believe we can telepathically communicate with each other. Well, technically, it would be like a phone call but directly from our brains to each other.” Zxan explained. Alyss, awestruck, stood there staring at her new watch and back to Zxan.

“How do I get the suit to come out?” She asked. And almost instantly, the suit began to cover her body. It looked like a replica of Zxan’s LightSpeed suit, except hers was black and purple, with eagle-like wings folded against the back and flight thrusters attached to the back of the calves and between the shoulder blades, which also happened to be right where the wings protruded from her suit.

“Woah, this is so cool!” She shouted at she looked herself over.

“Check it out in this mirror.” Zxan said as he pointed to a wall nearby. Alyss walked over to the mirror, which scanned her and made a holographic 3D model that she could twist and look at from different angles.

“This suit is impressive.” Alyss whispered under her breath.

“Well, I wouldn’t say impressive. But I did design it myself and I added the thrusters and wings so you could at least almost keep up with me. I made it be as fast as I could, but it’s not quite as fast as I am.” Zxan beamed.

“I love it, Zxan. I really do.” She said, blushing.

“It’s really nothing. I knew you would need one eventually. I have to ask you a small favor though.” Zxan said hesitantly. “The thing is, I need you to come with me to this alternate dimension.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re smart and I’ll need your help tracking Ms. Curren.”

“Okay.” Alyss said.

“Wait, it was that easy?”

“I was going to ask if I could go with you anyway. But it sure was nice of you to call me smart.” She replied with a smile.

“Well you are smart. It’s not like I was lying or anything. Plus, I don’t know even half of what I’m doing or how I’d find her.”

“Leave that part to me.” She said as she looked around. As her suit dissolved back into the wristband. She started grabbing items and putting them together using the tools around the lab.

“Hey, Alyss,” Zxan started and she looked over to him, “stay here and keep working, I’ll be right back.” Then he left the lab and the door slid closed behind him with a “Whoosh”. He ran down hallways, making seemingly random lefts and rights, until he came to an elevator. He pushed the button and the doors opened, then closed behind him as he entered. He pushed the button that had the numbers 350 on it. When the elevator reached the floor, the doors opened, and Zxan ran to the set of closed doors 15 feet away from the elevator. He knocked, and waited for the response.

“Come in.” Said Howard. Zxan opened the door and walked over to Howard as he talked.

“Mr. Wayne, the boat was a decoy and Ms. Curren wasn’t on the boat. But Neo informed me of a blast that may have sent her to another dimension. We’re going to try to track her down.” Zxan said, rapidly.

“Do whatever you feel is necessary.” Howard replied, obviously distracted.

“Okay sir.” Zxan said, turning around. Then he paused. “Mr. Wayne, are you okay?”

“Yes. Just don’t want to lose another innocent person.”

“We won’t, sir. We’ll get her back.” Zxan said, then left to go back to the lab. When he got there, he found Alyss holding a device that was roughly the size of a game console.

“So here’s how it works.” Alyss started, “We can calibrate your wristband to start the device. Then it will open up a portal to every conceivable dimension possible, 12 at a time. Then, we just choose one and walk through it.”

“Okay, dope. I think I could do that.” Zxan said. Then there was a long uncomfortable silence. Then they began to walk through their plan of action. After some calibrations, Alyss was able to know the signal down to only 3 possible dimensions. The problem is that the three possible dimensions are pretty bad.

“The first option is where Hitler won the war. The second is completely controlled by children, anyone over the age of 16 gets sent to prison on death row. And the third is where some guy named Leo Chandler took over the world and his offspring currently run the 7 different continents of Earth. Oh! Also, they colonized Antarctica with a vast population. But that was before this Leo Chandler took over the world.” Alyss explained.

“Alright, let’s skip the Hitler one for now.” Zxan said.

“Agreed.” Alyss said hurriedly. Then they each went home to say goodbye to their parents for possibly the last time.

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therealestatesparkblog · 6 years ago

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6 Tips for Raising the Rent Painlessly (Without Losing a Single Tenant!)

Like most pieces of the property management puzzle, raising the rent is part art, part science. Theres a human element to itthats where the art comes into play. Fortunately, even that can be systematized. Far too many landlords hesitate and fear raising the rent. But its a part of the business, as raising prices is a part of any business. Inflation waters down the value of your rents each year, all while expenses ranging from taxes to insurance to repairs continue to rise and cost landlords more money. Here are six (and a half) tricks to avoid falling behind other rents in the neighborhoodand earn your best possible returns on your rentals. 6 Tips for Raising the Rent Painlessly (Without Losing a Single Tenant!)1. Raise the rent incrementally every year. If theres no other piece of advice you follow in this article, follow this one. Where so many landlords run afoul of rent hikes is that they wait. They let the rent fall far behind market level, and then try to raise the rent to normal market pricing all at once. But by that point, its such a large leap that it jars the renters budget, and they end up either leaving or resenting the landlord thereafter. Instead, raise the rent by 2-4% every single year like clockwork. It will keep the rent competitive at market levels, and its a manageable increase for your renters. Perhaps most important of all, it sets expectations among your renters. Theyll come to accept annual rent hikes as a fact of life, like paying taxes or politician sex scandals. Bonus half tip: Schedule your lease terms to end in April or May, regardless of when the renters first move in. When the day finally comes when your renters non-renew and move out, it will be much easier to find replacement renters in late spring/early summer than other times of year! 2. Never raise the rent by more than 8%. Raising the rent by 2-4% wont scare off your renters. At 5-7%, they may start considering whether to move. Above an 8% rent hike, many tenants will move on principle, if not because youve busted their budget. Again, dont put yourself in a position where youre $200 below market rents! Its not fair to you, and its not fair to your renters when you raise the rent by so much at once. Raise the rent incrementally every year to avoid this position. Related: The Ultimate Guide on Raising Rent 3. Consider offering another option. If you do raise the rent significantly, consider offering your renters an alternative to avoid the hefty hike: locking in a longer lease. Imagine the following scenario: The rent is $1,500, and youre raising it to $1,590. Your tenants arent happy. But you offer a way out, youll lock in the rent at $1,550 for them if they sign a two- (or three!) year lease renewal. Why would you make such a sacrifice? Because turnovers are where landlords lose the most money, and the most time in labor and headaches. The longer you can keep each tenant, the lower your turnover rate, and the higher your average returns. 4. Remember that better relations with your renters = higher renewal rates. Maintaining warm relationships with your renters is easier than you think. First, follow the best practices we outlined in this article aboutboosting your renter retention rate. Heres a quick and easy one: Whenever you call your renters about anything, spend 60 seconds warming them up first by asking about their personal lives. Keep a brief file on each tenanttheir childrens names and ages, their interests, their jobs, and what was going on in their lives the last time you talked to them. These files take only 30 seconds to keep updated each time you speak with your renters. It takes attention, not hard work. Example: Hi Betty, how are you doing? The last time we talked, little Bobbie was in the playoffs in his little league. Howd he and the team end up doing? or I know youd been worried about that merger at work. Howd that go? You get the idea. Its amazing how big of an impression these small gestures make on your renters. They shift the context from an adversarial money-grubbing landlord relationship to a collaborative human relationship. When you deliver the bad news that the rent is going up, theyll take it much better knowing it comes from someone who bothers to ask about their lives and their children, rather than a faceless, soul-less check-casher. 5. Implement dual communication: phone and written notice. By law, you must send written notice of rent increases. It must also be delivered within a certain timetable, usually 30, 60, or 90 days before the lease expires. But that shouldnt be the only form of notice. No one likes receiving bad news by letter; its impersonal and bureaucratic. Related: Why Landlords Cant Afford Not to Raise the Rent Call your renters to deliver the news the same day you mail the written notice. Be friendly, professional, and polite but firm. After investing a minute or two in the small talk we discussed earlier, present the news like this: Betty, I wanted to reach out and give you the courtesy of a phone call before sending off the renewal form. This year, the rent is going up by $40. Youve obviously been a great tenant, and wed love to have you stay on. You should be receiving the renewal form over the next few days, and well email you an electronic version as well since thats easier for most people to check off, e-sign, and reply back with. If they push back against the rent hike, just respond with, I understand, Betty. But rents go up alongside our expenses; its just a part of life. Wed love for you stick around, and we may be willing to negotiate a lower rent increase if youre willing to sign a longer-term lease. But if you decide to move on, we understand, and well work together for a smooth move-out process. See? Nothing to be afraid of. 6. Poll about property upgradesand sometimes make them. Want your tenants to keep renewing year after year? Another way to build trust and human connectionand to improve the value of your propertyis to ask them what upgrades theyd like to see. Then, implement them sometimes (but not always). Once or twice a year, when you talk to your renters, tell them, Hey, Betty. I wanted to check in and see what kind of changes youd love to see around the property. I cant promise anything, but we value you as a renter and want to do what we can to keep you with us for the long haul. The ideas and suggestions you get will run the gamut, of course. Some will be outlandish, while others will be great ideas. Look for ideas that are affordable to implement but that will improve the value and marketability of the property long-term. In other words, look for improvements that will justify higher rents for future tenancies, not just help you keep this one renter happy. For example, many smart home upgrades are inexpensive to implement, but fun and exciting for tenants, and in some markets, they justify significantly higher rents. No one likes hearing that their bills are going up, but renters wont think twice about it if they can see tangible improvements around the propertyespecially improvements based on their own ideas! Be a Friendly-But-Firm Professional In all your communications with tenants, be professional, friendly, and firm. Never argue. You do not negotiate with terrorists. Build a human relationship with your tenants. Set expectations by raising the rent every year. Its not just taxes and death that are inevitable, but also that your rents will rise every year! But not by much. Youre not looking to bust your renters budget. Youre simply keeping pace with market rents in your neighborhood (and your ever-rising expenses). If raising the rents is uncomfortable for you at first, write out a script similar to the examples outlined above. You are not your tenants adversary. You are a service provider, they are a customer, and you want to work with them in a friendly and professional way, while still enforcing the rules and defending your boundaries. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers. What have your experiences been in raising rents? Share your stories! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/raise-rent-without-losing-tenants

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fesahaawit · 7 years ago

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Net Worth Update: $840,243.99 (+$37,000)

Happy Net Worth Day!

As I was updating our numbers this month, it dawned on me that I have now tracked my net worth every single month for 10 years straight now. TEN YEARS!!! That’s 120 net worth reports in a row – crazy!

And in fact, a week from today is actually this blog’s 10 year anniversary too, which is a whole other win for someone who could barely hold down a job for 10 months no less 10 years, haha…

We’ll get to all that next week, but today we celebrate our *Net Worth Anniversary* by going back in time and pulling out the very first report we ever published!

Back when I was a nubile 28 year old with no kids, no wife (I was engaged), no responsibilities outside of our too-big-for-us mortgage, and when I was pretty much doing the bare minimum at my 9-5 while doing the absolute maximum out at the bar scene ;)

Here’s what past J$’s finances looked like a decade ago:

Not too bad, all things considering? Some hefty debts there with the car loan and credit card, but at least there’s some investments that help make up for it! Haha… And I see some pretty creative tracking there as well with the “condo investment” listing (i.e. a loan I gave my brother where I apparently tracked the payments back to me vs just putting them back into savings?) as well as the calculating of “home equity” instead of just listing out the home’s value in one section and the mortgages in the other. (Which I later corrected to better give me a fuller picture of things)

Here’s a clip from that first report too… When my mission was to hit that elusive $100,000 – the hardest milestone of all!

401k: My favorite category of all time :) What’s not to love about company matches, direct deposits, and tax benefits? If all goes as planned, this will be my 3rd year of maxing out my 401k! I have been more than blessed w/ generous company matches, so it would be absolutely asinine not to participate. I expect this category to go up at least $2,375 each month, markets willing.

And it would have been ass-inine of me to not participate in that retirement plan as they were matching 100% of contributions up to the legal limit of $15,500 – all fully vested from day 1! Which meant putting in $15,500 myself, and getting a free $15,500 in return – just like that (!!!). You’ll notice the cash losses at the top of that chart there which were due to me jacking up my contributions to like 90% and living off of less than $100 a pay period until I fully capped out, haha… Who in their right mind *wouldn’t* go after all that free money??

(Answer: 95% of my colleagues, womp womp… No one understood just how insane it was, and by the time they did our company was on the path to imploding and people were scrambling to find new jobs… (Long-time readers might remember the ordeals back then, from paychecks not clearing to some of us eventually taking our employer to court – all of which I do not miss one bit, ugh… (though I do miss those sweet matches which are non-existent in self-employment! ;) ))

Ten years later we’re still maxing out our retirement accounts too! It’s been the backbone of our entire net worth all these years, and even if that was ALL we ever did we’d still be sitting pretty… That compounding adds up!

But alright, out from the past now and back into reality… Time flies when you’re nerding out!

January’s Net Worth Breakdown:

[As always, these reports are shared to better start discussions around money, and to showcase a *real life* financial snapshot which is so often hidden in this world of ours. It’s the #1 thing that drew ME to money blogs all those years ago, so it’s something I’ve committed to doing myself to further keep the motivation and love of tracking going… So without further adieu, welcome to net worth report #121!]

CASH SAVINGS (+$810.63): Woo – it’s up and not down! Which is a big win, considering it’s one of the only areas you actually have control over when you’re so invested in the stock market, haha… And thank goodness this report only covers January, as Friday was a WHOPPER of a market crash – wow! I haven’t seen numbers like that since the 2008 era – remember pages like these??

SPAVINGS FUND! (+$61.85): Another month, another socking away of spavings! I.e. “spending savings” where you have to actually spend money in order to save money, haha… Here’s a list of some of my spavings from throughout the month, plus some random money I threw in like found change on the ground or gift cards that I used, thereby saving me from having to spend the money:

$1.00 Panera rewards

$30.15 USAA dividends

$3.00 Starbucks free coffee (a perk of being a regular!)

$1.00 Panera rewards (a regular, who cheats on ’em w/ Panera ;))

$1.70 – bagel made at home instead of usual purchase @ Panera

(The rest of the list literally involves nothing but coffee or bagel-related items, so I’ll spare you from the boredom, haha… And while I initially thought I’d be applying all this money towards an IRA, I’m actually considering using it for something more fun/experimenty like with bitcoin or something? Since it’s all “free” money and I wouldn’t feel as bad losing if it came to that??)

THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN (TSP) (+$1,098.33): Another great bump here, this time courtesy of Mrs. BudgetsAreSexy! Her ol’ retirement contributions and matches are piling up, and though her job is not nearly as secure as it once was w/ all the administration changes, we’ve made it another month and will continue being thankful for each future one granted to us as well… She loves her job, but it’s getting shakier by the day.

ROTH IRAs (+$8,046.57): A nice bump here too, all due to the markets… And again before the major crash on Friday. Thankfully none of it really matters if you’re not touching the money for decades, but for those soon retiring or cashing out it can most definitely sting :( We’ll have to see if this is finally the start of a downturn, or if it’s yet another finicky one-off that we’re so accustomed to seeing.

SEP IRA (+$27,922.77): Same goes with this bad boy too – nothing new added, and is fully dependent on the market! It’ll soon be time for our yearly maxing out though, which will help us reallocate some of those cash reserves we’ve piled up from the sale…

Here’s how our investments have fared since moving everything over to Vanguard (we’re fully in VTSAX – my favorite “lazy” portfolio of choice!):

CAR VALUES (-$646.00): Another usual dip, as tracked through Kelly Blue Book (Kbb.com). Here are the present values of our two cars, which may or may not change come baby #3 ;)

Lexus RX350: $9,801.00

Toyota Corolla: $3,130.00

CAR LOAN: (+$0.00): I know this doesn’t belong here anymore now that we fully paid it off (woo!) but I can’t help staring at it so I’m leaving it in for one last month before taking it down, haha… It’s the little things in life!

And that’s January!

Here’s how the past 12 months have gone for a more broader picture:

And here’s how our kids’ net worths are faring… Mainly just some changes in market prices:

Now a *LIFE* update!

A lot of you liked this part from last month where we balance out all the $$$ talk with more of the stuff that actually matters (i.e. living!), so we’ll go another round here and see how it goes :)

Baby news: Super healthy and growing!! We had a scare last week and had to head over to the hospital for 24 hours to be monitored, but fortunately the problem was mommy-related and not baby-related, although of course it still sucked for the mommy, haha…. (she’s all better now though!)

More baby news: it comes out in THREE MONTHS – ACK!!!! I’m ready but also NOT ready at all, haha… it’s always been so far away and now he/she is almost here!

Speaking of he/she news: I finally caved and found out what “it” is :) My wife did not enjoy the fact she had to keep hiding it anymore, so in an attempt to be a good husband I welcomed the news and now the cat is out of the bag… Though I’m thinking I may just put it *back into the bag* as far as this blog here goes, and try to milk the fun secret even longer, haha… You guys wouldn’t hate me too much for not spilling the beans, right?

In Time/Work news: I’m officially use to my new schedule now since selling Rockstar, and it’s loaded with about 80% of awesomeness and 20% of unease, wondering how best to use my free time :) I thought I’d be able to just “be” and relax for a third of the work day, but I keep catching myself getting antsy whenever I’m not doing something productive, so it seems I still have a ways to go on that whole work/life balance front (probably due to years of over-hustling!). Of course, the whole problem goes away in three months when the baby boy girl (ack – almost slipped on that one) comes out, so for now I should probably just keep my mouth shut and try to appreciate it as much as I can… I will say I’m loving hitting inbox zero every day now instead of every year, so that’s something! I also created an “art center” for my kids in the middle of the work day when I was tired of seeing their supplies scattered in 13 different places, so I am finding ways to cope :)

Book deal – I’ve also been contacted a couple of times this month for a book deal! I’m not quite sure I’m ready to take on *that* level of project as yet, but it is always fun to think about… I might be reaching out to some of y’all later if I decide to move forward in hopes of getting connected to a good agent out there, but for now it’s sitting on the “make sure you REALLY want to do this!” pile before taking any next moves, haha… I want to stay productive, but that’s a whole other beast!

The updating of jmoney.biz… I’ve also been spending more time updating and creating some new pages on my resume site to finally get everything into one main spot, not unlike my kids’ art supplies. I now have an updated press page, a projects page, a failures page which y’all are already familiar with, and then lastly an updated consulting page as I’m starting to pick up more of that stuff too. It’s amazing how you can condense a decade worth of work into just a handful of bullet points! It’s a fun exercise to try if you’ve never done it before :)

A charity idea? Lastly, I’m batting around a pretty wild philanthropy idea that I think can be SUPER helpful for a best friend of mine, but I’m anxious to put it into action because it’s a much longer (and crazier) play than I’m used to… But it IS fun and CAN do some loads of good for him, so maybe I just pull the trigger and put it out there to the world? Where I’ll either be laughed out of the room, or called a super genius? Haha…

And that’s a wrap! Money + LIFE… Two of the best things!

Let us know what’s good in your life lately, and of course if you have any questions whatsoever with these updates, just pass them on over as you know I’m an open book.

I don’t have the answers to everything, but I DO know that tracking your money is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself, and I’m so glad I started those fateful years ago… If you’re new to the site or $$$ management in general, I’ve listed a few of my favorite tools for tracking net worth below.

Here’s to a great new month, and making each day count!

********** PS: Here are a couple of spreadsheets to help track your money and/or net worth if you’re looking to get started (and love manually tracking it as I do :)):

The “Budget/Net Worth” spreadsheet – the colorful Excel template I personally use.

The “Money Snapshot” spreadsheet – a simple Excel template I created for my former $$$ clients

If you’re not a spreadsheet guy like me and prefer something more automated, you can try your hand at Mint.com, or it’s super-competitor Personal Capital (both of which are free). Tons of financial bloggers love and rave about PC, and you can find our full review of them here from one of my early-retired millionaire friends: Why I Use Personal Capital Almost Every Single Day. Hope this helps!!

Net Worth Update: $840,243.99 (+$37,000) posted first on http://lionelcapital.blogspot.com

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riseofthebelieversrp-blog · 8 years ago

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Hello, Storytellers~

Summer's in full swing! (Which is great, but up here it's kinda chilly. What gives?!) It's sunny, it's warm, it's beach season and we couldn't be happier! Summer is the season of high energy and high muse - which means lots of plotting, lots of writing! But don't forget to go outside for the occasional ten seconds of fresh air. <3

Welcome to our blog’s first newsletter! From hereon in, we’ll be submitting it every month on the first. Keep an eye out!

THE WELCOME WAGON

We're welcoming a total six new candidates this month! Say hello if you see them in the cbox! March, as brought by Shade! She's looking at the Obsidian King~ Cam, who has expressed interest in Dorothy! Gen, looking at the Merry Men of Robin Hood! Leopard, who totally slipped in under the radar - if you see this one, nab them and say hi! Rosary, a friend of Nico's! Shelby, who found us through an ad on tumblr! Last minute Zira, an old friend of Carma's, who's dragging York along with her!

IN THE WORKS

We're looking at fae, Egyptians and fairytales this month! Be sure and take a look at these apps, and stay tuned to see them complete~

March's Rauvelore ap Ievos

Gengar's Iollas Dacan

Hakuna's Osiris

Shelby's Maddie Hathaway

Nico's Alice Liddell

Though there's not yet an app, Rosary has a character named Lucy Seeker in the works! Wonder what she's all about!

ENTERING THE STAGE

We had a whole slew of characters joining us in May, including a grand total three canines, a feline, a few immortals and a Night Mare.

Ocean's Cafe Noir

Skel's Averin Lucida

Bass Invader's Pestilence

Spotteh's Gregorio Pantaleon

Momo's Pippa McBride

Micken's Ranger

Reed's Cerberus

Moulder's Pretty Boy

Lloydy's Asheton Hollins

Lulu's Jack Dawson

WANTED CHARACTERS

Of all the Big Five, a couple are still in need of filling! Those are North, the Guardian of Wonder, and Sandman, the Guardian of Dreams. Further, we'd like to take a moment to remind people of the Wanted Ads out there~ If you're musing on a character idea, take a look at the Wanted Ads out there to see if there are any roles your idea can fill! Don't hesitate to poke people and see if they're willing to be flexible on what they've got!

SITE UPDATES

It's Summer Skin time! As before, you have the option to choose between a DAY skin and a NIGHT skin. Go to your User Control Panel, and on the left-hand side, look for skin preferences! You should see SUMMER DAY and SUMMER NIGHT available. Special thanks go to Ionahi of tumblr, who we commissioned for the artwork in both skins! Tumblr Features: Starting this month we are opening up a new thread for Wanted Ad features! Those of you who would like a wanted ad featured on our tumblr page, post in that thread with the requested information! A single member can request a specific wanted ad once a month. That same member can request different wanted ads once every week. Guides: The community has done it again, giving us two new guides to pore over! First we have Shade's Guide to the Fae, formatted in a google doc, and second, Momo gave us the Land of Sweets from the Nutcracker. NPC Character Gudielines: Staff is going to be slightly revising the role that NPC characters are able to take! This shouldn't affect anyone currently, it will simply help to give a more distinctive boundary between "full character" and "NPC character", as we don't currently have much to distinguish them.

THE STORY SO FAR

The Starlit Masquerade is underway! So far most of the guests have arrived in some fashion; some have partnered off for a dance, while the rest are simply chatting it up in....what we can only hope is civil discussion. But soon, they will be joined by their most gracious host, with words on the Guardians! I wonder what all will be said - and how might that information be used by less savoury sorts? Could the Anti-Guardians be gleaning information from their enemies, even now?

SPOTLIGHTS

Momo's Poesy: If you've heard anything about the power struggle in New York's gang community, this girl's at the center of it. The gang scene has been severely shaken up ever since Poesy decided to dig her claws into it; she's clever, she's crazy, and she's on her way to the top. Moulder's Volker: This is a man who's lived a long life haunted by his family's curse. Male members of the family are possessed, through each generation, by a demon of sorts known as Oor, who turns the host into a sociopathic cannibal. With a son of his own, he's looking for a way to free himself of the curse before it passes on to his child.

GOSSIP INSIDER

Know the tricky thing about masks and code names? All the good gossip is speculation until everything is revealed! That said, the gossip rags are soaking up spilled tea everywhere! Let's wring 'em out and see what we can find out~ A masked lady in blue and silver was asked to dance by a dashing man in green - are those robes? Who wears robes in this day and age? And who taught this man to dance? He's crushed the lady's delicate toes! Wow, did you see the gown on that woman with the horned mask? The one with the emeralds and gold? Whew, she looks like she belongs in the Palace, that's for sure! But it also looks like she'd found her place with Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome over there~ Now there's an energetic duo on the dance floor! She's clad in gold and he in white, but if you squint a bit... I think - maybe - one of them is glowing? Perhaps it's just a trick of the many lights... Yeah, that's it. Couldn't possibly be...? Could it? Overheard in the Amber Room: two ladies discussing how overwhelming the party is! They're not wrong; the party is being held in one of the grandest locales in Russia, is being hosted by a being that hasn't been seen in several years, and no one knows who anyone is! It's the very definition of the word, but fear not, ladies - everything will be okay. Just enjoy the party~ Overprotective Chaperone Alert!! Hyperion has found himself in the company of two unchaperoned young women and is, apparently, very upset about this! So much so, in fact, that when one of the dates finally appeared, he was very curt with him. There's still one date missing and he seems to be silently fuming about this. WHAT KIND OF STRANGE DOG IS THAT?! It's not like any dog we've ever seen, folks, and I'm willing to bet that it's not a real dog! Honestly, we're still wondering how it even got in and to whom it belongs, but the guy in red seems to know it... Speaking of the guy in red... RABASTAN! That's his name! Yeah, he was overheard saying some rather rude things to a lady - granted, her words weren't terribly ladylike - but that was seriously uncalled for! And it just goes to show that words hurt - but fear not, Rasalas! A fellow lady is there to show solidarity and to give advice and comfort. Just let Gemma take care of you, it'll be okay~ Looks like the champagne wasn't enough for some! Arcturus set out to steal some wine and succeeded! Now, with stronger drinks in hands, he and several others in the Cameron Gallery are discussing the other guests in broader terms. People come to the balconies for fresh air and a reprieve, but they tend to leave in pairs - according to one set of loose lips. Several couples have been spotted, but the one that intrigues me the most is the man in the cape and his dazzling lady in blue. She seems tense... wonder why... HOLY MASQUERADE, BATMAN! Gotham City's Dark Knight has been spotted talking to a pirate lass, a pretty lady in yellow, and a gentleman who... ALMOST... got a date! In any case, I hope Batman has an eye on the two gentlemen in the corner; they are lowkey competing with him for the title of 'Most Likely to Brood at a Fancy Party'. And, thus the curtains close on the Starlit Masquerade Gossip Corner~ We shall now resume with our regular programming. There would appear to be an unattended child running around in Burgess with a bag way too big for him. Fortunately, a nice ol' dad is here to help him out. Hey, who said that you have to be a Guardian to have fun? Ginger's throwing her own shindig, and she's got all the really cool people there. Booze and soft drinks around! Seriously, who let Douglas take anyone for a tour around the Moon Clipper? At least Thoth seems to be serious about it... Avast, it's a meeting of pirate folk! Or...well, a former pirate and a cabin boy....girl. Wonder what the Jolly Roger wants with Asheton? Oh jeez, Jamie's gotten himself into the clutches of a rising power in the gang world. And who's there to save the day but one of Ryder's own gang members? Yeah, it's a bit of a hairy mess. Let's hope our belief-less boy comes out okay! Who's that sniffing around the fae world? Why, it's a handsome skeleton~ He's caught the eye of an equally curious hot mom. No, a real hot mom, as in she's on actual fire. It seems our favourite light sprite doesn't understand that wraiths don't like bright glowing girls. She just wants to make a friend, Sab, have a heart! Maidie's in a mess! A mess whose name is Hydra. Whatever dastardly plans does the snake man have for her?! Will she make it out alive?! Ever wonder what training a ditzy light sprite might look like? Well, Deit's about to find out... Tars needs to seriously stop getting caught unawares. It's happened with the wrong person now...wonder if Taer plans to tattle? The friendly mom routine is winding to a close~ Kary is about to learn the true nature of the Beldam. And it's a real shame, too; they were getting along so well. Oor seems to believe he can strike a bargain with the Nightmare King. Could he have anything in his favour, or is it a lost cause? Snow is beginning to uncover the mysteries that lie beneath Roman's mask....just how much will he share? Apparently mouth to mouth isn't an expression of romance in these two cultures; Emil and Sabellius have instead become a strange pair of friends. Or that's the idea, anyway. It's a bird! It's a plane! ...Actually a bird isn't far off, but Daniel's being a superhero again and Kay's left to wonder....huh? Stand aside Emil, there's a new dad for Maidie in town, and his name is Niulang! Well there's no lions or tigers or bears, but there sure is a wolf, and Frollo hates wolves. What's that? She's also a woman? Oh, now he hates her more. Burn the witch, am I right? It seems like the Aquarians are about to get themselves into a bit of a pickle...there's danger on the horizon, and only one of them seems to be aware. Ever wondered why the Guardians think how they do? Pandora's asked the Guardian Expert, Pitch, to explain! Wait.... Hold on, hold on! There's a gunfight by the lake, between two Guardians. Both of you, calm down! You're on the same side! What's this? Childhood friends?! West is about to learn a shocking truth about her sweet friend Pippa. The Lady of the Lake stands before the ruins that brought about the existence of the Stromkarlen. Is there any dark magic here to be revealed? Damn, what a view! Douglas sure knows how to treat a lady to a nice spectacle. I guess there are some perks to living on the moon, eh? An evil scientist and an evil potionmaster have finally met! Only one seems to be even remotely pleased about it.

#rotb #rotg #rise of the guardians #jcink rp #jcink premium #rotg rp #newsletter #forum rp #wanted characters #admin:Carma

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advancedthetapractitioner · 6 years ago

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davidpires578 · 8 years ago

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My Journey As A Creative Designer - Woodworking and Beyond #1820: Evolving

We all work for certain goals in our lives. Be it personal or professional, there always seems to be something to strive for and give out lives purpose. I began my own business many, many years ago. I was in my 20's then and looking for a way to earn some extra income for my young family while doing something that I enjoyed. I had always loved 'making things' and thought that would be somewhat of a utopia for me. Justifying doing something that I love and being paid for it as well. It would be the perfect answer. Things didn't come easy. There were many times that I made decisions that cost more money than I earned. There were no clear-cut rules as to how to succeed. Only trial and error, which sometimes came at a great cost. But eventually, I began to figure things out. One thing that I feel is the most important is the ability to be flexible. To change as things around us change. They do, you know. Whatever works for us one year or season comes with no set guarantee that it would be successful the next. That is because the world is also changing every single day. If I learned anything, it is that the quicker I allow myself to adapt to these changes, the more successful I will be. It keeps me on my toes and always in search of new ideas and products to offer our customers. It makes what I do exciting and fun and doesn't allow for me to become stagnant. To me, it is part of the joy. With that said, I noticed that lately, our little business has taken on a somewhat different look. We are still offering scroll sawing and woodworking patterns (as a matter of fact, Keith has recently created some of his best designs to date!) but I have noticed that the painting and wood surface production portion has been taking up more and more of my own time. It seems that my wood surfaces are catching on with decorative painters and I am just thrilled about that. It makes things rather fun. This doesn't mean that I am not designing anymore. It only means that I am not able to focus solely on designing and need to allow myself time for production work. Since I really enjoy working in my shop, I think that is a good thing. It is nice that others appreciate the time and care I put into cutting the wood pieces I offer and I am happy to be able to do so. I remember back to when I began painting and finding good sources for wood was difficult. That was in part what introduced me to scroll sawing in the first place. So for most of my creative life, woodworking and painting have gone hand in hand. I am glad to see it continuing in that manner. Not only does it allow me the chance to work directly with customers, but I have been able to get to know some of my favorite designers and meet new and upcoming designers in the craft industry. I like this personal contact with people and to me, it makes the end products so much more meaningful. It is a wonderful way to do business. I have really been enjoying myself lately. I suppose the downside of that (if any) is that it will limit my own design time. But I think that as I settle into this new role in my company, I will be doing a bit better on that part. I have always been a believer of "quality over quantity" and I would rather put out fewer designs that are of a higher quality than more that are not. I believe that with a little dedication and some good time management, I will be able to make it work. In the meantime, Keith is always coming up with some of the nicest scroll saw designs on the market. I feel so fortunate to have such a talented partner. Without him, I am sure our business wouldn't be in the place it is. I am so grateful. As always, I have several new ideas in the works. I have ideas in both the painting area and I am working on some new woodworking and scroll saw designs as well. I hope to be able to offer them soon and I will certainly keep blogging here when I have some new things to show you. I mention this all because the frequency of my blogs may decline a bit while I get things settled into this role. For over six years now I had blogged nearly every day. But lately, I have found that it didn't seem appropriate to do so. If I spend a day working in the shop cutting out pieces, I don't feel that is of much interest to you, my readers. I used to show piles of wood pieces from time to time so you would all see what I was up to, but I feel that lately, one pile looks much like the next as far as blogging is concerned and I once again feel that I want my posts here to be "quality over quantity" and post only when I have something that I feel will truly interest you to talk about. I think you all will agree. So things may be a bit spotty while I am settling in, but I hope when I do post, you all feel that the posts I offer are helpful and inspiring. I never want that to change. I spent the last week doing lots in my shop. I had an unusually large amount of wood orders and instead of my usual one to two days per week up there, I spent probably five. The quantity of work that I accomplished was good though and it gave me a good sense of satisfaction. I was even able to get ahead a bit and cut some pieces to have in stock. That is pretty cool. Keith was busy designing, as usual, and I have a couple of new things that will interest my scrolling readers. First off, he made this new plaque:

His SLDK706 Simplify Your Life plaque is a beautiful addition to Keith's word art plaques. I think it will be something that many of you will enjoy, as we all need to take some time to take a breath and enjoy just 'living.' Keith also created a great new offer for our customers:

This SPECIAL OFFER allows our customers to get all 20 of his Self-Framing, Leaf-Bordered wildlife patterns at half price. We hope that those of you who are looking to collect this handsome set of patterns will take advantage of it. It is a great opportunity to have the entire collection. Today I am going to be writing a newsletter and we will be updating a few things on the site. I am also finishing up my new scroll saw pattern and I need to take the photos and finish writing out the pattern for it. I think it will be something that scrollers of any level can enjoy creating and will have lots of uses. I appreciate you all who keep following us through our newsletters and my blog here. I realize that I have been spending a bit less time here and on social media than previously. However, as our business demands more of my time, I have had to adjust my schedule and do what is necessary to keep the business healthy and growing. I still enjoy hearing from you and seeing your projects. So many of you who began as customers or readers have become dear and valued friends. I hope you keep coming back to read as well as commenting and sharing my posts. My goal of sharing creativity has not changed and if anything, has strengthened over these past years. Without you all, I wouldn't be able to achieve it. Thank you so much. I wish you all a wonderful Monday! Have fun today and do something that makes your heart happy!

#woodworking #wood #working #miter #saws #Woodworking

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